8el automates Telephone Preference Service (TPS) for McMillan-Scott
Corporates react to Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations that rule against business to business marketing calls
Reading, UK, January 10th, 2005 --- Telecommunications specialists 8el has secured a contract worth £150,000 per annum to supply leading publishing and advertising firm McMillan-Scott Plc with a fully managed, upgraded voice and data communications network. For the first time, 8el has also implemented an automated screening process in its solution to address new rules on business to business marketing calls. As a result, all McMillan-Scott’s outbound calls will be checked against the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) register before connecting.
The TPS holds a list of telephone numbers and subscribers who object to receiving unsolicited marketing calls. Following a change to the law in June this year, it is now illegal for businesses to make calls to those companies that have registered with CTPS, the central opt out register for corporate subscribers. 8el’s solution will save McMillan-Scott time screening their contact lists against the CTPS data manually and risking fines of up to £5,000 per call for failing to do so. 8el’s solution connects all McMillan-Scott sites to the CTPS database centrally through the 8el core, saving the expense of having to implement individual TPS functionality at each site and eliminating the chance of being fined.
The contract win follows McMillan-Scott’s search for a more cost effective and resilient voice and data network to replace their existing infrastructure. Due to go live before the end of the year, 8el’s solution also comprises direct voice connectivity, a ‘Class of Service enabled’ Wide Area Network and remote user access via 8elConnect, a Secure Socket Layer service.
By converging voice and data traffic over the same network, 8el’s solution delivers increased efficiencies whilst lowering the overall total cost of ownership - both key factors in McMillan-Scott’s purchasing criteria. Additionally, compared to alternative suppliers, 8el’s design incorporated built in resilience in the form of ISDN back-up lines; guaranteeing service in the event of a primary network failure.
Said Nick Hawkins, Chief Financial Officer at McMillan-Scott, “We wanted a fully managed solution that meant we would have a one-stop-shop for voice, data and the new TPS functionality. Not only that, we wanted to reduce overall costs. 8el were able to deliver to the letter and further strengthened their offering with other benefits including superior monitoring and support.”
8el’s customer service engineers will provide 24/7 support, backed by an SLA guaranteeing continuity of service. McMillan-Scott will also benefit from 8el’s network monitoring tools 8elWatch and CallWatch. Accessible via a secure web page, these services give complete visibility of voice (CallWatch) and data (8elWatch) network activity. Using these tools, McMillan-Scott’s IT team can download standard or tailored reports to help better predict business requirements.
About McMillan-Scott
McMillan Scott are a publishing and advertising house specialising in providing cost effectivepublications and advertising solutions for UK businesses and organisations, they have developed a range of related products and services to suit an increasingly broad and sophisticated audience. McMillan-Scott maintains 250 employees across 4 UK sites, located in Manchester, Macclesfield, London and Altrincham. In addition McMillan-Scott operate through 3 agencies in Northern Ireland, Birmingham and Newcastle.
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