Case Study

    Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

    Here’s how net2phone consolidated and enhanced BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana’s telecommunication capabilities, including reducing costs while increasing the ROI.

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    Here's how net2phone consolidated and enhanced BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana's telecommunication capabilities, including reducing costs while increasing the ROI:

    The BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana franchise's agents are constantly on the move and need flexibility with their mobile communication. With 1,000 mobile agents plus 200 corporate employees, they needed a communication solution that could easily unite offices and staff.

    Two years ago, Jon Hartman joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHHS) Michigan & Northern Indiana as Director of Enterprise Infrastructure. The business was formerly Prudential Real Estate, and had nine offices. However, when they franchised with BHHS, this quickly expanded to more than 50. The network had never had its own IT department, and was relying on various managed service providers (MSPs) to manage its IT infrastructure and phone systems.

    The Challenge

    Each of the 50 offices had their own telecom vendor, so there was an immediate need to consolidate the BHHS Michigan & Indiana's phone services under a single platform in the cloud to streamline communications across the regions. Jon's first step was to collect information and proposals for a hosted PBX provider.

    After a trial period with a potential vendor Jon found that it could not provide the flexibility, nor the cost savings BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana was after. Hartman ultimately selected net2phone - and it turned out to be a great decision for the business.

    BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana Real Estate is among the few organizations entrusted to use the Berkshire Hathaway name - and for good reason. Representing more than 1,000 of the best REALTORS in the business - who are assisted by a 200+ corporate team dedicated to supporting these agents - BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana is recognized for expertise and excellence in real estate. Their mission is to help people find the right city, the right community, and the right place to call home.

    BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana's agents are constantly on the move and need flexibility with their mobile communication. With 1,000 mobile agents plus 200 corporate employees, Hartman was looking for a hosted platform solution that could easily unite offices and staff that spanned from Northern Indiana to Eastern Michigan, all the way to Northern Michigan. Finding a cost-effective solution was also a factor. Initially, BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana had trial periods with other vendors that could not provide a reasonably priced solution for a company of that size.

    A cloud solution was another important factor. When BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana were without an internal IT department, the company didn't have the capacity to support a PBX system inhouse. It needed its phone service to be managed, backed up, and monitored by a dedicated remote team, and only manage its extension set-ups internally.

    The Solution

    Continuing his research, Hartman reached out to a local Michigan provider who referred him to 3CX developer of the next-generation software-based Unified Communications System, and partner of leading global VoIP provider net2phone.

    After setting up a demo on 3CX with net2phone, Hartman found that the service worked flawlessly. Management was easy, and any changes that BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana needed were made quickly and seamlessly.

    net2phone's certified, low-cost SIP Trunking service, paired with the 3CX, offered a feature-rich, scalable and equally affordable real estate business phone system - the perfect solution for BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana's needs.

    Fantastic Results

    Hartman made the decision to end the contract with their initial hosted PBX provider, and transitioned to using net2phone for SIP Trunking with a 3CX IP-PBX system. The company did have to pay some cancellation fees, but BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana quickly recouped those costs with the amount it saved with net2phone.

    One of the main benefits of the partnership with net2phone was the speed at which BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana's offices could be moved onto the new cloud system. The timeline was not weeks, not days, not even hours - just minutes.

    What's more, since the net2phone service includes unlimited calls for both domestic and international - all for one low monthly price, with no installation and no service fees - BHHS Michigan & Northern Indiana was able to save big bucks on its communication and infrastructure costs.

    Customer Quote

    "It worked flawlessly. Management was easy. Any changes we needed to make, they were on the ball and quickly made those changes so I was impressed."

    Jon Hartman, Director of Enterprise Infrastructure, Berkshire Hathaway

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