Woods Coaches are a family owned and run Coach Company based in Leicester. The Company was established in 1950 by George and Elaine Wood with one Coach. The company now runs in excess of 40 vehicles working on a mix of business including their own program of Holidays, Short Breaks and Day Excursions together with Coach Charter for Corporate, Leisure, and Educational Clients. They enjoy an excellent reputation which is backed by their membership of the Guild of British Coach Operators, The Confederation of Road Passenger Transport and the Coach Tourism Council.

With a lot of its business undertaken over the phone, the efficient management of WoodsCoaches contact centre is critical to the growth of the business. "We wanted to upgrade our traditional communication system to one with more functionality that would give us better control whilst also providing good return on investment," said Kevin Brown, Sales Director of Woods Coaches. "Installing an IP-based system provides the most economic package, whilst also presenting us with options for developing into a multimedia contact centre in the future.

So for example, if customers want to do business with us via other channels such as email or webchat, we will be able to provide that service." Mark Beardsley, Sales Director, NT Voice & Data commented, "Woods Coaches have taken a forward looking approach to the management and upgrade of its contact centre. IP Office and the introduction of IP telephony allows the company to easily adapt its communication system - for example, to accommodate new employees and offices as the company expands."

In the future, Woods Coaches plans to integrate its IP contact centre with its CRM system so that current customers' details appear automatically on screen when incoming calls are received. This will improve contact centre staff productivity whilst also delivering a better service to its customers.

Woods Coaches all-in-one converged communication system comprises: Avaya IP Office IP403; Avaya 20 Series handsets including 2030 and 2010 Digital telephones; and an IP softphone to support remote workers, along with the following IP telephony software modules: Voicemail Pro, Phone Manager Pro, Callista Call Management software and a voice compression module.

Avaya Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than 1 million businesses worldwide, including over 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®. Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet Protocol (IP) telephony systems and communications software applications and services. Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications - and distinguished by comprehensive worldwide services -Avaya helps customers leverage existing and new networks to achieve superior business results. For more information visit the Avaya website.

NT Voice and Data Solutions, based in Nottingham, provides a complete service in the provision of telecommunications equipment and conferencing facilities. Havingbeen an expert and leader in the field for over 20 years, it offers a full range of solutions to suit any business need: from small switches and key systems to full corporate VOIP networks.