Frontier Revitalizes Chamber of Commerce with New Phone System

Frontier Communications
revitalizes Chamber of
Commerce with new phone
system and network
Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, Coeur d’Alene, ID
Frontier Communications West Region – Case Study
A city’s chamber of commerce sets the pulse for its entire
economy. It nurtures business collaboration, ensuring
the entire community benefits. That model only works,
however, if a constant stream of communication flows
between the chamber and the city’s business owners.
networks were the last thing addressed. We moved
10-year-old equipment into a new building.”
The Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, now a
pace-setter for the city’s economic heartbeat, used to
be crippled by unreliable Internet and phone systems.
The city’s retail base has expanded substantially in
recent years — new stores and entertainment venues
have opened, and tourism is flourishing. With so many
opportunities, seamless communication is a must, but
wasn’t always available in the Chamber.
“The phone operated on an old card system, and some
of its components just flat-out didn’t work,” Wilson
said. “Call forwarding wasn’t an option, and the
ability to conference was hit and miss, depending on
the phone.”
The Needs and the Solutions
We were limping,” said Steve Wilson, president and
CEO of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce. “The
Chamber moved into a new building eight years ago
— we were very excited, but the phone and Internet
More than 20 employees operated for a long time
on an outdated phone system that couldn’t support
some basic functions.
The Internet network also had its share of deficiencies,
which directly affected the Chamber’s day-today operations. “Our staff services 1,100 Chamber
members — these are business people with their own
agendas, and speed of response is critical,” Wilson
said. “People don’t want to wait half a day for you to
get back to them — there were several situations when
slow email impeded productivity on our end.”
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Case Study – Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce
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Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, Coeur d’Alene, ID
Frontier Communications West Region – Case Study
The Need and the Solution (continued)
When a transformer exploded in the neighborhood, a
power surge that should have been blocked overwhelmed
and disabled the Chamber’s network. “That was the
catalyst,” Wilson said. “We turned to Frontier to upgrade
the network after that.”
Some increase in quality should be expected when a
new system is installed, but with that often comes a
steep learning curve that sometimes takes a great deal
of time and effort for staff to overcome, depending on
the support available. This particular facet of the project
impressed Wilson more than any other.
Several concerns surrounded the decision to switch the
phone system and Internet network. The first was cost —
as a nonprofit, the Chamber had a minimal budget for
internal technological upgrades. An additional concern
was disruption of everyday operations due to installation.
“Our staff are helping folks every day with time-sensitive
projects,” Wilson said. “There’s nothing worse than
messing with phones, the Internet connection and our
ability to stay connected.”
Accepting these challenges, Frontier drew up what
Wilson called a “very attractive” lease program for the
phone system, taking on carrier lines and leasing Mitel
equipment at a cost the Chamber could afford. After the
power surge disabled the Chamber’s Internet network,
Frontier was also able to rebuild the network hardware,
while simultaneously increasing Internet bandwidth.
The Results
“It was as smooth as silk,” Wilson said, regarding the
installations. “The angst my team had about getting
displaced and issues arising — none of that happened.”
The transfer happened in a matter of days. On a Monday,
Frontier personnel worked behind the scenes, assessing the
project and laying groundwork. By Thursday, new phones
were being installed. The Internet network replacement,
which happened several months before the phone system
installation, was also seamless and resulted in significant
upgrades for Chamber staff.
“Speed increased dramatically,” Wilson said. “We can
now connect to cloud services, and the email network
was rebuilt, as well. I’d say it improved efficiency by 30
to 35 percent.”
To find out what Frontier Business Edge can do for your
business, visit us at frontier.com/businessedge.
Case Study – Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce
“One thing that really surprised me — the technicians doing
the work behind the scenes and installing the phones
were also incredibly knowledgeable about the user end,”
he said. “They obviously use the phones as well as set
them up — they showed us what to do, how to set up our
units and how to use them.”
Wilson singled out Frontier’s General Manager Tom
Murn, Business Account Executive Natalie Chiles and
Technical Supervisor Stephanie Leisenring as being
particularly helpful.
“The entire process was painless,” Wilson said. “Frontier
facilitated a solution the Chamber could afford that
greatly increased our efficiency and, thanks to their
support, was a smooth transition for all personnel.”
Let Frontier Help You
Frontier customizes and provides communication
solutions to all businesses – small, medium and
enterprise – with a focus on the education, government,
health care, professional and retail verticals.
For more information regarding services and equipment
available, contact Randy Maurer, Regional Sales
Manager, at 208-664-7152.
confident.
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