Case Study #3: Financial Management Firm

CPA firm takes its own cost centers to task

Who understands the need to keep expenses in line more than a financial management consortium? A small CPA firm with a single location and 15 employees had always been on top of their own balance sheet, keeping rigorous control over internal expenses and making sure that no unnecessary expenditures were being made.

As a financial management company that frequently advises its own clients on prudent use of funds, it was time for them to take their own advice and have a long, hard look at their own office expenses. The obvious place to start was with their own antiquated telephone system and the enormous long distance bill they received every month. The firm had eight analog phone lines and a separate DSL Internet connection.

The challenge

It had become evident that the CPA firm's existing phone system was no longer meeting its needs. The company understood that today's systems offered many more additional features and functions that were currently unavailable to them, and many of these features would help improve their efficiency and help them communicate better with clients. And while the small company's monthly phone bill was manageable, a move to an on-premises IP PBX system would be an easy way to cut costs while improving services at the same time. High on their list of priorities was the ability to have unlimited nationwide long distance, and an efficient voicemail and auto-attendant service.

The solution

It didn't take long to transform the CPA firm's aging telephone system into a modern, cost-saving wonder with more features, lower cost, and remarkable ease of use. We installed an Avaya IP Office 500, along with a four-port voicemail PRO. The integration of SIP trunking also provided for extra cost savings, eliminating the need for a local PSTN gateway.

As a result, staff members were able to place calls throughout the entire United States without worrying about toll fees. The DSL line needed to be upgraded to accommodate the extra voice traffic, although the additional bandwidth expense was more than offset by the monthly savings. The DSL was upgraded to a T1 connection. Savings were immediately achieved by eliminating the analog lines and replacing them with eight IP lines and Direct Inward Dial service.

The cost

The result was a monthly bill that any CPA would love. the initial capital costs for installation was $12,590, and monthly fees for the Direct Inward Dial and the Internet service totaled only $400. The savings in monthly service was $150, but that was only the beginning—the company saved an incredible $2,750 per month in long distance fees, allowing the VoIP system to fully pay for itself in five months.