First Telephone System - IMS, Derby

IMS was a successful Letting Agent in Derbyshire. They started with a handful of employees working from one office. Each employee initially had their own phone line with a portable handset. There was no telephone system in place. This had initially been okay but, by the time we visited them, they had grown significantly. There were far more employees but, without a telephone system, each one needed to have their own dedicated telephone line and, without system functionality, they were unable to transfer calls. This was a place that definitely needed a system.

The conversion to a system solution was not easy. Firstly we had to install the telephone system as well as install new cabling and provide each employee with a new handset. Then we re-routed the existing telephone lines into the new system and as such the old phones stopped working. It took time for some of the employees to get used to the new system but, once they did, they all agreed transferring a call was better than passing a portable handset across the room.

IMS’s growth continued. Shortly afterwards they opened their new Head Office in Pride Park Derby and here we installed a brand new system right from the start. They also opened more branches across Derbyshire, all with an EMtel telephone system. These systems were linked up so calls could be diverted or transferred across sites, meaning calls were always answered.

Today hosted VOIP solutions offer telephone system functionality at low cost. This functionality did not exist in 2006 so many small businesses had to operate without a system. Hosted VOIP solutions have their place but there are still times when a system wins, especially for larger businesses. A system can reduce line rental cost and can offer improved contingency. For these reasons we still sometimes introduce a telephone system to a company when it grows.

Chris Griffin (owner of IMS), sold the business in 2015. He has since started a new business which, like IMS, has an EMtel system.