877.M5HELP3George Comfort & Sons Free IT Staff and Support Virtual Work Force with M5 Networks VoIP Solution
M5’s solution seamlessly connects staff to clients, enables brokers to work from anywhere and provides analyzed call metrics data via customized web portal
The Challenge:
George Comfort & Sons is one of Manhattan’s largest commercial real estate firms, managing roughly nine million square feet of commercial property. With assets of roughly three billion dollars in global investments, George Comfort & Sons offers full-service property management and professional services. In late 2003 the executive vice president, Dana Comfort, began seriously looking for a new phone system. The system in place was mismanaged and inefficient, hindering office communications and disrupting basic operations. Comfort was specifically looking for a hosted provider that would take the task of management out of the office and put it into the hands of communications professionals.
The Solution:
Dana Comfort was familiar with the Software as a Service model and looked for a hosted provider that could configure, implement, and manage the new phone system. His basic requirements were consistent uptime and high call quality. His staff also required easily configured voicemail boxes, call transferring, and call forwarding. Brokers at George Comfort & Sons often needed to take work on the road with them, and forwarding desk calls to mobile phones would provide an increased level of convenience. Training sessions gave staff the tools they needed to take advantage of the new system. Once the system was up and running, the additional support features offered by M5 changed the way business runs on a daily basis at George Comfort & Sons. Executives can now take advantage of M5Connect integration with Outlook and have all contacts and calls synced with their computers and Cisco phones. Brokers work remotely as needed, forwarding all calls to BlackBerrys, with messages sent as attachments to staff email addresses. The M5 web portal allows staff to view up-to-date data for call logs and other metrics and can also monitor staff phone calls.
The Results:
George Comfort & Sons manages some of the most valuable corporate office space properties in the New York metropolitan area and provides investments, property management and brokerage services with other offerings. Integration with Microsoft Outlook is still the favorite of staffers there and makes keeping track of communications and contacts even easier than before. Promises were delivered upon, according to Dana Comfort: “When we call support, an M5 staff member takes the call and not a recording.” George Comfort & Sons now has the peace of mind that in any event, M5 will manage the phone system so that operations aren’t interrupted and every day is business as usual.
