Welden & Edwards is a forward-thinking, progressive estate agency located in Tiverton, Devon. 

They got in touch with South West Communications Group after experiencing issues with their BT telephone system which they had selected over and above one suggested by swcomms several years previously but had begun to regret their decision. Dean Edwards got back in touch with us via our web chat facility. One of our communications consultants rang him back and arranged a visit for the following week where we established that the existing telephone system had reached its capacity and they were not prepared to invest more to upgrade it with BT to accommodate their growing business.

Having worked with multiple estate agencies, swcomms was well prepared to meet Welden & Edwards needs. We understood that being able to answer every call promptly is critical to their business as a missed call could result in a lost instruction or a missed opportunity of a viewing or sale. However, the very nature of an estate agent’s role is to be out of the office on such instructions or viewings, or in a meeting with clients.

We recommended a future-proofed cloud-hosted VoIP telephone system delivered over dedicated voice connections to meet Welden & Edwards’ needs. The Horizon solution from Gamma has the resilience, voice quality and scalability they require but is also delivers the features they need to support their work.

These included:

• Automated attendant
  This gives callers the choice of being put through to sales, lettings or estates management so they speak to the right person straightaway.  
• Hunt group
  This allows for the overflow of calls to ensure that every incoming call is answered.  
• Full call handling 
  Staff can hold, transfer and pick up calls with ease with a busy lamp field indicating if a member of staff is already on a call. Calls can also be transferred to mobiles and external numbers without cost implications.  
• PC integration
  Click-to-dial functionality via a PC screen application for easy dialling. 
• Out of hours messaging
  This gives out opening hours and a contact number for lettings issues.  
• Voicemail
  Reliable, simple and straightforward feature for every member of staff.
• Home & mobile working
  One of the partners has a handset at home so he can answer calls as if he is in the office. He also uses an app on his smartphone to twin it with his desk phone so he can take calls while he is on the move. Calls can be forwarded and transferred to mobiles or alternative landlines numbers very easily. 

“swcomms has provided an excellent solution for our business that enables us to grow and improve customer service. I was extremely impressed with the seemless installation.” Director Dean Edwards

Business continuity
Incoming calls can be quickly re-directed to an alternative landline or mobile number should the staff not be able to access the office for some reason. Aside from the additional features offered by, the Horizon solution, it also provides additional simultaneous call capacity to enable all members of staff to make or take calls at the same time meaning there is less chance of them missing a call or their callers being met by the engaged tone. In addition, a web-based portal provides data on call traffic, including missed calls, so the estate agency can adjust their staff levels accordingly.

All of Welden & Edwards’ calls to UK landlines and mobiles are free of charge while a set monthly cost, which includes line rental, direct dial-in numbering, ongoing support, automatic software updates, dedicated connectivity and account management, allows the estate agency to accurately budget for this revenue spend.

swcomms oversaw the entire installation, configuration and training process, which was all co-ordinated by a dedicated project manager to ensure smooth scheduling and to ensure the business remained contactable throughout.

The new Horizon solution is easy to manage too using the web portal, which can be accessed on site or remotely 24/7, allows for immediate system changes to largely eliminate using engineering resource, although swcomms is still on hand should Welden & Edwards need assistance.  Our service desk, account managers and customer service team are all poised to help them.

Download the case study here.