Nectar Services Corp., a provider of managed VoIP communications
services and a wholly owned subsidiary of Juma Technology Corp.
(OTCBB: JUMT), today highlighted the remote agent solution and
on-demand telecommunications capabilities delivered to
1-800-FLOWERS.COM® (NASDAQ: FLWS), the world's largest florist and
gift shop.
The prominent online and phone-order retailer is benefitting
from tremendous cost savings on their telecom expenses by employing
Nectar's Enterprise Session Management (nectar/ESM) solution.
"The Nectar/ESM solution has allowed us to begin consolidating
our voice and data networks while providing the on-demand
flexibility to handle our seasonal needs," said Steve Bozzo, Chief
Information Officer for 1-800-FLOWERS.COM.
With drastic peaks in call volume and an army of Home Agents,
1-800-FLOWERS was paying costly fees to enable Remote Home Agents,
such as Internet access and long-distance toll charges. The
retailer also paid year-round for the additional telephone circuits
that were only utilized during the height of their sales cycle:
Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and the December holidays.
Nectar's Enterprise Session Management (nectar/ESM) solution
allows 1-800-FLOWERS to pay only for the call capacity that they
need, when they need it. During those dramatic spikes in call
activity, the retailer now uses Nectar to add more call capacity
and handle the increased volume. When the heavy call volume
subsides, 1-800-FLOWERS simply reduces capacity back to normal
levels; drastically reducing telecom spending with Nectar's
pay-as-you-go model.
1-800-FLOWERS is also reaping cost savings via Nectar's remote
home agent solution. The home agents now link to the 1-800-FLOWERS
global contact center via a secured Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) connection using a custom built configuration. With home
agents connected to the 1-800-FLOWERS network via Nectar, the
company is now able to eliminate the significant toll charges that
were traditionally associated with their home-based workers.
"We continuously hear about the cost efficiencies of home-based
workers, but in the Avaya-Citrix environment of 1-800-FLOWERS, and
so many call centers, the home-based agents were accruing
additional toll charges for every call they handled. Paying those
extra per-call fees drove the company's phone bills through the
roof and really made the model cost-prohibitive," said Joseph
Fuccillo, Chief Technology Officer for Nectar.
"With Nectar, we made the home-agent model work for
1-800-FLOWERS by eliminating those long-distance toll charges. By
greatly reducing the cost for U.S.-based home agents, we've put the
domestic model nearly on par with overseas rates, which enables
1-800-FLOWERS to continue employing workers right here in the
states," continued Fuccillo.
Fuccillo noted that 1-800-FLOWERS was able to change the
company's business strategy for home-based workers and re-design a
new program centered around the U.S. Home Agent strategy.
"Nectar also gave 1-800-FLOWERS complete telecom autonomy. We've
provided them with the ability to dictate how much usage they need
to pay for at any given time, and to manage that volume themselves.
It's an extremely powerful solution with astronomical hard-dollar
savings."
Technical & Economic Challenges for Home Agent Solution
To staff its virtual contact center, 1-800-FLOWERS employs a
large number of Home Agents that use the Avaya IP Agent platform in
a dual-connect mode, which essentially utilizes the Remote Agent's
home phone line to make and receive calls. The retailer also
maintains a Citrix environment to deliver its Point of Sale and
Avaya applications. Within this Avaya-Citrix environment, the Home
Agents' VoIP phones will only operate with limited functionality,
because the Citrix environment does not support VoIP
applications.
By operating in this limited functionality mode, 1-800-FLOWERS
was paying toll charges for every call routed from the global call
center to their pool of home agents. During the holiday season,
home agents handle tens of thousands of calls every day, all of
which were carrying a per call toll charge.
Nectar created a virtual dial plan of more than 20,000 local
Direct Inward Dials (DIDs) and custom built a soft phone for the
Home Agents. With the virtual dial plan, the Home Agents now use
Nectar's virtual local number whenever they launch the Citrix-based
soft phone. The deployment of this virtual dial plan effectively
eliminated the per-call, long-distance toll charges across the
entire army of Home Agents.
Addressing Drastic Call Volume Spikes
1-800-FLOWERS maintained a large number of telephony access
circuits across multiple Avaya Communication Manager deployments.
These access circuits were fully utilized during the holiday peaks,
yet remained significantly under-utilized during the remainder of
the year.
Nectar's SIP-trunking, nationwide DID coverage and
self-management portal enables 1-800-FLOWERS to trunk on-demand
during peak calling seasons and eliminate those under utilized
circuits and the monthly costs associated with them. With Nectar,
1-800-FLOWERS now utilizes their IP network for voice services.
Anthony M. Servidio, Chief Executive Officer of Nectar's parent
company, Juma Technology Corp., added, "We're in the business of
saving companies money. Our Nectar solution transformed the way
1-800-FLOWERS viewed their telecommunications expenses. Nectar
drastically reduced their telecom spend and improved operational
efficiencies."
About Nectar Services Corp. (www.nectarcorp.com)
Nectar Services Corp is an IP communications firm specializing
in managed services for voice and data networks. Nectar, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Juma Technology Corp. (OTCBB: JUMT), maintains
a suite of service platforms: Enterprise Session Management (ESM),
Hosted Telephony Systems (HTS) and the Converged Management
Platform (CMP). The Nectar offerings preserve investments in
existing telecommunications systems while transitioning to IP and
provide advanced monitoring and management for complex networks.
These innovative solutions deliver significant cost savings,
inherent business continuity, intelligent call routing and the
centralization of both applications and management. Follow us on
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nectarcorp.
About 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.
1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. is the world's leading florist and gift
shop. For more than 30 years, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. has been
providing customers with fresh flowers and the finest selection of
plants, gift baskets, gourmet foods, confections, balloons and
plush stuffed animals perfect for every occasion.
1-800-FLOWERS.COM® (1-800-356-9377 or www.1800flowers.com), was
listed as a Top 50 Online Retailer by Internet Retailer in 2006, as
well as 2008 Laureate Honoree by the Computerworld Honors Program
and the recipient of ICMI's 2006 Global Call Center of the Year
Award. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM offers the best of both worlds: exquisite
arrangements created by some of the nation's top floral artists and
hand-delivered the same day, and spectacular flowers shipped
overnight Fresh From Our Growers®. As always, 100% satisfaction and
freshness are guaranteed. Also, visit 1-800-Flowers en Espanol
(www.1800flowersenespanol.com). The Company's BloomNet®
international floral wire service provides (www.mybloomnet.net) a
broad range of quality products and value-added services designed
to help professional florists grow their businesses profitably.
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Contact: Nectar Services Corp. Melissa Nacerino 646-291-8264
Email Contact
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