Benton Express, Inc.

Introduction

Benton Express, Inc. has been helping companies meet their goals and deadlines through on-time and affordable deliveries. From their start as a film transport service to their current role as a general commodities transport and distribution provider, Benton Express has focused on expedited deliveries backed by a level of service and integrity not commonly found in the industry.

Problem

With headquarters in Atlanta and more than 18 locations across the Southeast—all of which rely heavily on telephone communications—Benton Express was investing a significant amount of money on their leased phone systems without receiving much value in return. Benton’s Director of IT, Jeffrey Smith, knew that networking the phones for their 140 office users would make a significant impact on cost as well as efficiency.

Smith had already conducted significant research on another phone system when he attended an Adcap information session on Cisco telephony. He was impressed with the command Adcap CTO, Rolf Versluis, had on the sales and consulting process as well as the technical details. “It was refreshing to talk to a more technical person,” said Smith. “Rolf quickly convinced me the SIP solution would work better with a Cisco phone system and that they were the best people to implement it.”

Solution

After a thorough needs analysis, Adcap installed the Cisco ASA 5510 for firewall and WAN VPN termination, and completed a WAN/LAN upgrade utilizing the 2821, Catalyst 3750, Catalyst 2960 and 2811s to support the IP voice system. Benton Express chose a comprehensive Cisco telephony solution that incorporated a variety of elements, including: Unified Personal Communicator 7.0 (CUPC), Unity, Contact Center Express, Mobility Advantage, Unified Presence 7.0 and the MCS 7816. Users enjoy SynApps handset paging, the Xmedius fax server and a variety of phones including the 3911, 7942, 7962, 7965 and 7937 conference phone.

After the initial rollout, Adcap also worked with Benton Express to configure the Palo Alto Next Generation Firewall to support their network and move seven of their remote locations from VPN to MPLS.

Results

“We’re saving quite a bit of money month over month with the new system,” said Smith, “But to me, the technical expertise—having a vendor that knows my environment intimately—is truly invaluable.” Benton Express purchased Adcap’s Gold Managed Service Contract, which has allowed the company to utilize Adcap support for any issues that arise as well as adding locations or rolling out new technology. “I depend on the expertise of the Adcap employees,” said Smith. “They have the answers about anything network or security related.”

For Benton’s office users, the features of the new system have made a big impact on productivity. “Our employees are really leveraging the flexibility and mobility of Communications Manager, and the Xmedius fax server is saving considerable time and money by sending faxes directly to email,” said Smith. “I’ve really been impressed with Adcap’s knowledge and flexibility,” said Smith. “They provide solutions. And if one solution isn’t suitable to your budget or goals, they find alternatives and make you aware of the benefits and pitfalls associated with them.”