City of Lansing: Government communication strategy
Up until 2018, the City of Lansing was utilizing copper phone lines for its phone service. Copper phone lines have limited bandwidth and are mostly best for POTS, or plain old telephone service. The out-of-date government communication system resulted in many different de-centralized systems and ultimately a headache for City Staff to administer the phone system.
That just wasn’t going to cut it for the City of Lansing. With nearly 12,000 residents and steady growth year over year, the city needed a system that could grow and adapt right alongside it.
City Staff selected Towner as the consultant to install its new, modern, easily managed phone system utilizing fiber optic delivery of the phone lines.
The VoIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol, phone system offers phone service over the internet. It turns traditional, analog phone signals into digital ones that can be sent via the web. Using fiber optic cables, VoIP offers a tremendously higher capacity than copper cables, meaning a greater return on investment and a maximized budget.
Towner’s implementation team took great strides to provide excellent attention to detail and informed logical decisions. For a project of this size, the planning phase was extensive and involved multiple rounds of discussions and changes. Towner worked diligently to make sure every single need was met and that the communication system would be able to efficiently scale at the pace the city needed it to.
And after implementation, onsite end-user training sessions were held for city employees so they could see first-hand how the new system worked directly from a Towner trainer. This part was crucial to the overall success and adoption of the new system.
Matthew R. Schmitz, Director, Community & Economic Development of the City of Lansing, says that working with Towner has made their communication strategy easy to modify and adapt and has resulted in many compliments from City Staff.
“We couldn’t be happier with the provided system, or with Towner themselves. Towner has been very responsive and a great asset to the City during the deployment of this major system upgrade.”
PRODUCTS USED
Towner installed a MiVoice Connect system for the City of Lansing providing them with a solution to meet their unique environment. To meet the needs of the city, the new system was installed in five separate locations networked together through VPN’s between each site and two Mitel ST100DA switches where installed at two main sites to provide failover and local survivability.
And to help users manage their status and see the presence of others in real-time without traversing the city, Towner fully integrated unified communications using the Mitel Connect Client integrated with Skype for Business. And to allow users to take full advantage of the increased WiFi and mobile calling capabilities of the new system, the city now utilizes a Mitel Mobility Router.
Benefits of upgrading your business phone system
The new system is centrally managed, easy to modify and adapt, and has resulted in many compliments from City Staff about the operation and ease of use of the phone system. Not only is the new system more streamlined in its functions, but its capabilities are also greater, which allows the city to be more productive and effective in its everyday job functions.
Improved communication
Towner’s business phone systems are built for making better connections with teams and customers. With innovative features and seamless communication options, teams can collaborate anytime, anywhere.
Simplified technology
Cloud phone systems and integrated communication tools simplify technology with more centralized, accessible, and easy-to-manage solutions that get the job done easier and more efficiently.
Business growth
Better communication creates more opportunities for growth. Towner Communications offers the most technology-forward business communication solutions that help businesses scale at faster speeds.
Increased savings
Towner’s cloud-based phone systems help businesses save money by cutting operating expenses for hardware, maintenance, and IT headcount, ultimately creating a better return on investment.
Learn more about our business communication solutions or contact us today for a complimentary consultation!
