NSC keeps the Opera's voice in tune

Opera Australia's choice in Avaya's systems brought up new problems. IT manager Grant Cresswell says the company's old Optus SHDSL network link, which it had used to host the call centre, would never have been able to cope with the new technology.

"We thought we would just use different telecommunication service providers; however, NSC recommended Macquarie Telecom. We took it under advisement and went back to see what Optus could do for us and in the end chose Macquarie Telecom," Cresswell says.

"Macquarie recommended its Metro Access Network, a business-grade ADSL 2+ network, which delivers up to four times the bandwidth of fibre Ethernet or leased line services and is ideal for our voice and data traffic environment."

According to Cresswell, that was how the company ended up with separate contracts for the project. "We had separated the two suppliers because we chose the system before we chose the carrier. We wanted to really make sure we got the best system."

Craig Neil, managing director at NSC, says this was the first co-sell project for NSC, whereby the integrator had a separate contract from the service provider.

"This was the first co-selling arrangement we had ever agreed on. In the past customers wanted us to bundle the project up with a service provider and have one main contract for the provider and a sub-contract for us. Once you get to a certain size it's better to have it all separated," he says.

The implementation of the new system was completed in the middle of July. Cresswell claims the only problems it had was with a modem product supplied by Macquarie Telecom. "The service provider replaced the product and we have had no complaints since," he says.