VoIP a perfect fit for Gieves and Hawkes

Bespoke tailor Gieves and Hawkes has moved over to a VoIP link between its two back offices to improve customer services and save on admin staff.

The tailor, which has a history dating back to the late 1700s, has 25 outlets in the UK and a flagship store in Savile Row, London. It employs around 160 people and has a turnover of £20m.

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The company's back office is split into two locations with design at Savile Row and finance and distribution at an office near Hampton Court. Telephone links between them was supported by a leased line supplied by BT.

David Collins, the financial director at Gieves and Hawkes said the service was basic and not even able to automatically route calls to the relevant office.

The company was forced to look for an alternative as the link became progressively more expensive and asked BT to upgrade it. But Collins said that as BT was in no great hurry he was forced to choose another supplier, Viatel.

Viatel installed a 2Mbps IP-based link between the two offices within three months and the new system went live last July.

Collins told silicon.com: "Being able to automatically route calls to the right office allowed us to get rid of one receptionist, which saved us £20,000 for a start. There are also significant savings on line rental."

Gieves and Hawkes pays for the service on a month-by-month basis but it is expected the cost of the link will be around £38,000 for the first year.

Collins said: "We are also able to get the benefits of hotdesking, where staff can log on to the telephone system wherever they are."