Case Study: Affinitel Communications chooses Samsung BCS to build Racepoint Group’s communications platform. Oh, and their image too.

In the world of public relations, image is everything. Press releases, Web sites and marketing materials are all designed and worded to make companies look good. And in turn, public relations agencies have their own appearances to keep up. So when Racepoint Group, a public relations agency catering to technology and Internet businesses, decided to open a branch in San Francisco, founders Larry Webber and Marijean Lauzier knew the new office would need a communications solution that could support their PR team, as well as show clients that they, too, are leaders in technology. And that’s why they chose Samsung BCS dealer Affinitel Communications.

“Racepoint Group has an image that they need to uphold as a vital part of its business,” Pankaj Amin, Affinitel president, said. “By installing Samsung BCS products in the new office, Racepoint not only can provide its employees, who are on the phone all hours of the day, with a reliable converged communications platform, but it also shows its potential new clients that they are also thought leaders in the technology industry.”

Affinitel recommended the Samsung OfficeServTM 7200 converged communications platform for its competitive price, reliability and ability to allow Racepoint Group to migrate to IP. The installation, which began in June and was completed in August, included the OfficeServ 7200 platform with Primary Rate Interface (PRI) trunking, along with 30 digital keysets.

The OfficeServ 7200 converges voice and data in addition to wireline and wireless communications, giving Racepoint Group the full functionality of traditional communications platforms plus the convenient and efficient access wireless provides. The platform supports voice and data communication with IP-based wired and wireless flexibility and handles voice calls and data using an array of modules, including Local Area Network and Wide Area Network modules and a 10/100Base-T Ethernet interface. This enables the agency to support VoIP applications, wireless phones, traditional phones, PCs servers and other peripherals needed to do business. In addition, Samsung’s fully integrated voice processing platform provides flexible auto attendant/call processing. Thanks to the Samsung E-Mail Gateway, it also delivers voicemail to SMTP e-mail clients as a .wav file attachment anywhere in the world.

Though Racepoint Group is not currently using VoIP applications, it was important to the agency that it be able to have those capabilities in the future so that it can network to another office location or allow people to work from home.

“This is an especially important time for our San Francisco office,” Karen Bouchard, vice president of finance and human resources for Racepoint Group, said. “We’re building the office staff at a very fast pace and need to be able to add new members quickly. We’re also on the phones with existing and potential clients all day, and we needed a reliable platform that our staff could depend on. And of course, going forward, we’ll need VoIP capabilities. Not only did the OfficeServ 7200 meet and exceed each of these needs, but Affinitel has made sure that our communications are up and running smoothly. Working with them has been a great experience.”

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