Envoy Mortgage Case Study

The Business

Envoy Mortgage is a full-service mortgage bank headquartered in Houston, TX with approximately 600 employees located nationwide. In 2010, Envoy’s IT Director, Mark James, began searching for a solution to their current telecommunications problem – a Cisco Call Manager running an outdated version of software. Managing and maintaining a system of this size had become costly and they had very little redundancy built into the system, leaving a large, dynamic company vulnerable in the event of a disaster.

Discovery

Enter Terrapin Solutions. Using a consultative sales approach, Terrapin’s goal is always to uncover the true objectives of the customer and determine if there is a Cloud Solution that satisfies those requirements and even exceeds expectations. During the discovery process, Terrapin also conducts a detailed analysis to ensure the solution makes financial sense for the business.

For James, the objectives were clear: upgrade or replace the current Cisco Call Manager while reusing as much of the existing Cisco hardware as possible, improve communication between the 200-employee corporate office and the various regional offices across the country, and lower the current IT staff costs required to manage the existing Call Manager.

The Cloud

Envoy Mortgage explored the possibility of upgrading their existing system. But with an upgrade in the 6-digits including software and hardware, it quickly became obvious that a hosted solution would be a better fit. Terrapin Solutions recommended iCore for several reasons:

• The existing Cisco infrastructure allowed for the reuse of all phones, routers, and switches.
• Envoy needed a robust application layer which iCore could support.
• iCore’s size provided the security that Envoy needed. With two data centers, there was a level of redundancy built into the system that had been previously unavailable.
• Moves Adds and Changes were now going to be handled quickly and efficiently either by a streamlined IT staff or by iCore within 24 hours.

Customer Benefits

Envoy Mortgage chose to deploy iCore’s Voice over Private Internet solution in a few regional offices that were in need of replacement systems. Once those were successfully installed, they turned up the solution in their main office. Very quickly they began seeing the benefits of a Cloud Solution.

1. Their initial investment was almost entirely an operational expense. Aside from a few phones, this was a zero capex expenditure.
2. There were no separate vendor contracts and what were previously long distance calls became local calls, which lowered costs by nearly 15 percent.
3. MACs could now be handled by a staff with limited expertise and individuals could program a significant amount of their calling preferences on their own, leading to a savings of around $4000.
4. The inherent flexibility in the system meant that in the event of a business climate change, users could easily be turned on or off. If there is a new user, James only needs to send them a phone and they are quickly active. In addition, James only worries about the size of the pipe. If there is enough bandwidth available, Envoy can support the growth.
5. Envoy would no longer be faced with the need to upgrade software and/or hardware to keep abreast of technology changes. Instead, these would be handled by iCore.

These benefits drove the decision to go with Terrapin Solutions. But determining the total cost of ownership of competing solutions is also important. In this case, Envoy could potentially save $130,940 over 36 months by choosing iCore through Terrapin. Coupled with other soft dollar savings that a hosted environment provides and the ease and flexibility of maintaining a system of this size, the decision was clear. Crystal clear, in fact.

Houston has many months of mild, albeit humid, weather. But being along the Gulf Coast means that hurricanes can be a risk, and if they land, they can do significant damage. James knew this was a possibility and having a solution that housed the intelligence of their communications structure in two redundant data centers located away from Houston was one of the safety measures he valued. Little did he know that shortly after installing the system, it would be put to the test in a weather event. This time, it wasn’t a hurricane, though – it was ice.

The ice storm of 2011 brought Houston to a near standstill. Over 100 car accidents were reported in a single day and freeway overpasses were shut down making travel almost impossible. This was a storm that hit the town hard. But for Envoy, it was (nearly) business as usual. James knew the storm was headed their way and sent people home with their phones. The decision to choose a Cloud Solution paid off almost immediately with safe, and productive, employees.

This kind of success story makes moving to the Cloud easy. And James says that call quality and service have been consistent, and the solution has either met or exceeded expectations. They are now exploring call center applications and a remote office in India.