Gieves and Hawkes adopts VoIP system

Gieves and Hawkes, the Savile Row tailor, has consolidated its voice and data infrastructure into a single hosted service.

This has allowed the company to save 7.5% on data communications costs and 22% on external call costs.

Gieves and Hawkes installed a VoIP system and a 2mbps Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) link from Viatel, providing free calls between its two offices in Savile Row, London, and Esher, Surrey.

The new system also allows staff to taken their phone number with them when they travel from site to site.

The Viatel system replaces a BT telephony system and a national call service from Cable and Wireless. The MPLS link replaces a leased line system from Easynet between the company’s offices.

The company decided to upgrade its telephony system partly because of the increasing costs of its leased line infrastructure.

Also, as the new system is from one supplier, it is now easier to report and resolve faults compared with the previous system which was provided by three separate suppliers.