Inland Associates Talk More for Less

MultiVOIP Saves VAR $1500 a Month in Calling Costs

Inland Associates is saving up to 30% on their monthly long-distance bills and increasing communication among their multiple locations with Multi-Tech's voice over IP products. The Kansas-based data communications value added reseller (VAR) uses and sells the MultiVOIP gateway for voice and fax communications over IP networks.

Routing voice-over-data lines became an objective when Inland switched to a Citrix thin-client computing environment.

"At no additional cost, we can run telephone calls over our 56K bps data lines and get essentially free long distance," says Dan Georgevitch, Technical Services Manager at the 30-year-old firm that has been a Multi-Tech VAR for nearly as long.

Recently, Inland installed a 2-port MultiVOIP in five remote U.S. offices. At headquarters in Kansas City, Inland installed a 4-port MultiVOIP, soon to be upgraded to an 8-port unit.

The biggest business benefit, reports Georgevitch, is that all 45 Inland employees can pick up the phone and talk to each other without worrying about placing a long distance call. "Having this opens up communication and collaboration," Georgevitch testifies.

"We are happy that we can use the same product internally that we sell nationwide to our customer," he adds. "Since the voice quality is very high it helps us sell the concept. Virtually any company with multiple branch locations can use the MultiVOIP. Installation is simple and the payback can be in one month or less."

Inland CFO Chuck Floyd is happy with the two-fold savings the company has seen: "I'm pleased with our upfront purchase cost savings. Even at retail prices, Multi-Tech's solution was one third of the leading router manufacturer's competitive bid. I'm also pleased with our long-term ongoing payback in lower telephone bills. We estimate, conservatively, that by placing long distance calls to customers through a nearby Inland office and by eliminating toll charges for long distance calls among employees, we'll save $1,500 a month."

Georgevitch points out that the MultiVOIP's unique design is intended to protect the company's investment. "We can change or add lines or offices simply and efficiently. Moreover, changes in phone systems can be accommodated easily since all the interfaces are already built-in", he reports, "which represents a big savings in time and efficiency."