The Challenge
Since 1892, CM Almy has been a leading supplier of church-related products, apparel, and furnishings. The company relies on its wide area network and telecommunications system – stretching from Pittsfield, Maine to Greenwich, Connecticut — to support its extensive databases and customer service center. Despite its sophisticated, integrated business system, the company's telecom system was based on a limited, outdated Voice over Frame Relay solution that supported only six calls simultaneously. 

The Solution
Omnia recommended that CM Almy migrate to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and adopt Voice over IP (VoIP) technology using ShoreTel™ equipment and Kentrox Q-Series™ QoS Access Routers. Omnia chose equipment that was quick to install and allowed CM Almy to take over network management immediately — keeping costs down across the board.

Results
Omnia’s equipment choices saved CM Almy significant capital costs as well as reducing its installation, ongoing maintenance and management expenses. The Q-Series routers provide VPN tunneling, an SPI firewall, and WAN access—functions CM Almy needed, but usually require separate devices that can cost several thousand dollars apiece and require ongoing resources for upkeep. 

"With Voice over IP, we now feel like one company," said Jim Johnston, IT Manager. "We can call our other locations by just dialing an extension, and we can even transfer sales calls to the customer service center. Our WAN expenses are lower, and we are running at three times the speed."