Founded in 2001, Axis Telecom, Inc. is n independent information technology (IT)-enabled services firm. Its product portfolio includes voice and web services, support for outsourcing business processes, desk/technical services, and data processing services.

The company is a subsidiary of IECS Consultancy Limited, which offers personnel search, computer data analysis, large-scale manpower consultancy and export services.

Axis Telecom felt the need to modernise its communications network to keep pace with business requirements, competition and future challenges.

tele.net takes a look at the company's telecom-related initiatives so far...

Legacy system

The company's BPO unit was established nine years ago, purely as an outbound sales generating entity. Its communications network was designed on a robust Nortel backbone, with the company's "Passport" family of switches deployed at its office in Gurgaon and at its collocation site in Atlanta, USA, along with a Meridian 61C platform-based EPABX. This structure was based on an international private leased circuit (IPLC), which was leased from Tata Communications (then Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited).

Axis Telecom used Avaya products for its local network, SQL databases for diallers, Nortel phones, Plantronics headsets and a Comverse voice logger.

The shift

According to Aditya Oberoi, director, Axis Telecom, the equipment used in the company's legacy system was very high on maintenance, manpower, spare parts and replacement costs. The company had the option of purchasing similar solutions from Aspect and Cisco, but the infrastructure required upgradation every five years, which was a costly proposition.

Therefore, Axis decided to shift to a software-based communications network.The company set up a parallel system that ran alongside its legacy system until all the employees were accustomed to the new structure.

The company purchased a Contaque dialler from Avis E. Solutions, multiple voice over internet protocol (VOIP) gateways from Audiocodes and analog headsets from Plantronics. The dialler was Linux based and operated on two servers, one for the database and the other for dialling seats. The medium had the advantage of supporting an automatic call distributor facility apart from an interactive voice response system and primary rate interface links. This allowed Axis Telecom to switch back to an IPLC or time division multiplexing-based solution easily.

Today, the company also uses multiple wide area network technologies like DLC (local loop), point-to-point Ethernet links and the internet. The bandwidth for DLC connectivity and Ethernet links is 4 MB each. For last mile connectivity, Axis relies primarily on an optic fibre network provided by Bharti Airtel.

A host of enterprise applications like web hosting; VOIP; video, audio and web conferencing; email; and instant messaging facilities are also being deployed. For network security, Axis has opted for multiple security mediums including security logs, security audits, unified threat management and proxy servers.

Benefits and challenges

According to Oberoi, when the infrastructure was in the testing phase, the biggest challenge was to change the mindset of the company's agents and employees, who were reluctant to adapt to the new system. Over the years, though, the benefits have far outweighed the challenges. "We now have lower training costs for our technology staff, lower replacement costs for technology and lower maintenance costs. Though there have been a few problems related to training our staff, the arrangement seems to be working well so far. We have been able to achieve savings in terms of equipment-related costs and implementation time, and are no longer dependent on the large telecom technology providers that still control a big part of the BPO/IT market," says Oberoi.

Financially, too, the decision to modernise its communications infrastructure has worked for the company. It has enabled it to focus on improving the customer experience. "The financial implications of this shift have been positive for us. By reducing replacement and maintenance costs, we have been able to focus our technology budget on better VOIP minutes of usage, better bandwidth, etc.," he says.