H.B. Fuller Company Reducing Costs and Improving Communications with IP Telephony

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1 SUCCESS STORY H.B. Fuller Company Reducing Costs and Improving Communications with IP Telephony Background Founded in 1887, H.B. Fuller Company is a worldwide manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals for a wide range of industries, including automotive, footwear, packaging, and consumer products. The company has 5,200 employees with headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, and direct operations in 36 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. H.B. Fuller s largest worldwide business category is adhesives, sealants, and coatings, which generated 92 percent of total sales in These products, in thousands of formulations, are sold to customers across a variety of industries in more than 100 countries. Challenge Implementing systems that enhance customer service and maximize employee productivity while lowering total costs is the central challenge facing businesses today. For a global company like H.B. Fuller, meeting this challenge successfully is especially crucial. Right now, we re working on improving communications across our entire organization, says Kevin Wetzel, Manager of Global Network Services for H.B. Fuller. He continues, At the same time, we re trying to reduce operational costs by centralizing telecommunications service and consolidating related functions. When you consider that our company has a presence in nearly 40 countries, this is no small feat. Migration to a converged network one that integrates data, voice, and video solutions in an IP-based environment is key to H.B. Fuller s strategy. We ve been working on consolidating voice and data at H.B. Fuller for about four years now, Wetzel notes. We started by combining voice and data across a single T1 connection and then we did voice over ATM with Cisco products in 1997, followed by voice over Frame Relay. Moving to a fully converged network with IP telephony was a natural progression for us. To better identify which solutions would help H.B. Fuller meet its business and technology goals, Wetzel and his team issued a Request for Information (RFI) for a data infrastructure in early We worked on an RFI for about a year and a half, with the goal of finding a solution that would enable our network to support voice, video, and data, Wetzel recalls. We also had numerous PBXs (private branch exchanges) that needed to be replaced and, rather than continuing down the traditional telephony path, we were ready to consider something new like IP telephony. Through the RFI process we found that Cisco delivered a more advanced quality of service (QoS) and deployment than our existing system. As a result, we replaced our entire data infrastructure with Cisco solutions last November (2000), which quickly reduced maintenance costs. All contents are Copyright All rights reserved. Important Notices and Privacy Statement. Page 1 of 5

2 The decision to move to a converged IP environment also gave H.B. Fuller a way to capitalize on its existing infrastructure investments. Some of the countries H.B. Fuller operates in don t have a communications infrastructure comparable to what we have in the United States, says Wetzel. This made telecommunications in certain countries very expensive for us. We do have existing WAN connections in those areas, however, and one of the main reasons we selected IP telephony was to obtain as much value as possible from what we already had in place. In addition to lowering total cost of ownership (TCO) by unifying voice and data services on a single converged network, H.B. Fuller chose an end-to-end IP telephony solution for the positive return on investment (ROI) it offers. We view Cisco s IP telephony solution as a real ROI winner, Wetzel says. The cost-savings numbers we arrived at through our own analysis are very conservative, but in most cases we ve been able to show TCO savings from 25 to 46 percent with IP telephony. Going from PBX-based telephony to IP telephony will save our company approximately $2 million over the next five years. This includes about $60,000 worth of savings in annual network administration and training costs, a $52,000 reduction in wiring costs at one site alone, the elimination of 85 percent of the costs associated with PBX upgrades, and the significant annual savings we ll realize in interoffice calling charges. We ll also save $37,000 annually in moves, adds, and changes. According to Wetzel, H.B. Fuller s IP telephony deployment has enabled the company to meet both its business and technology goals. As a company, we are continually looking to drive costs out of our operations and improve communications throughout our worldwide locations, says Wetzel. IP telephony has proven to be a better economic solution than traditional telephony for us to accomplish that objective on the business side. On the technology side, IP telephony has given us a one size fits all solution. Because we re able to centralize our call exchange and phone system, we ve got less administrative overhead, greater security, and can have multiple sites using this one technology, regardless of their size. We re able to consolidate operations, improve communications, enhance productivity, and reduce costs all at once. Solution While many companies consider cost reduction to be the number one benefit of convergence, migration to IP telephony delivers an equally significant return on the applications side. Organizations with a single IP-based network for all their voice, video, and data traffic are equipped with a solid foundation for rolling out value-added applications that can increase productivity, enhance customer care, and optimize organizational flexibility, generating a sustainable competitive advantage in the process. Examples of such value-added applications include Cisco CallManager, the software-based call-processing component of the Cisco IP telephony solution that extends enterprise telephony features to packet telephony network devices; Cisco Unity Unified Messaging, delivering every , voice, and fax message to a single inbox to simplify message management; and Cisco IP Contact Center, delivering intelligent call routing, network-to-desktop computer telephony integration (CTI), and multimedia contact management over an IP network. H.B. Fuller plans to deploy its IP telephony solution in two phases. Phase one covers 18 countries and consists of approximately 3,000 Cisco IP phones, three Cisco CallManager clusters (two in Minnesota and one in Costa Rica), and three Cisco Unity Unified Messaging systems. Phase two will see the rollout of Cisco IP Contact Center to approximately eight of H.B. Fuller s domestic and international customer service centers. Cisco hardware solutions will also play a part in this implementation. We ll be using the Cisco 1750, 2600, and 3600 (routers) for our gateways, Wetzel says. We re also deploying the Cisco Catalyst 6000 Series, and Catalyst 3524 desktop inline power switches, the Cisco VG 248 and VG 200 DSP Farm analog phone gateways, and survivable remote site telephony (SRST) because this is a centralized call-processing model. SRST was actually a key piece of this solution because it provides a level of redundancy that we wouldn t have otherwise had. Now if we have WAN circuit go out, that office won t lose the ability to place calls. All contents are Copyright All rights reserved. Important Notices and Privacy Statement. Page 2 of 5

3 Results The ability to centralize call-processing functions was another necessity for H.B. Fuller, and the company found what it was looking for in Cisco CallManager. The fact that CallManager can be clustered giving you the ability to centralize your system really sets it apart from the competition, observes Wetzel. Plus, CallManager is much easier to administer than a traditional telephony system. One of my team members has been a voice telecom person for 19 years and, at first, she was quite skeptical about a software-based PBX. Once she worked with CallManager though, she couldn t praise it enough, especially on the administration side. That s a real win for my team because we just don t have the staff to adequately manage telecom in all our locations. Now that we have a centralized model, we can manage our systems right here at corporate IT. With the deployment of Cisco IP phones, customizing features that deliver enhanced functionality to H.B. Fuller employees is another aspect of the communications environment Wetzel and his team can now manage in-house. The IP phones are a great fit because they re easy to use and they integrate seamlessly with our overall solution, Wetzel notes. I once heard someone describe these phones as a network appliance that just happens to be running voice as one of its applications, and that really rings true for me. With these phones, we re able to create speed-dial settings and personal directories, and support staff can modify user call settings easily over the Web interface. Eventually we will move this into the control of the user. We re also deploying some useful XML (Extensible Markup Language) applications that will deliver company-specific information flight status details for preferred corporate airlines, stock quotes, a world clock showing multiple time zones directly to every employee s telephone. Cisco Unity is also an essential component of H.B. Fuller s centralized IP telephony solution. Running on its own server, but integrated with Cisco CallManager, Cisco Unity delivers advanced voice messaging features with a robust automated attendant. Our company is organized around a global strategic business unit matrix and (Cisco) Unity fits well with that structure, says Wetzel. The Cisco Unity browser-based administration console gives us an easy way to build global distribution lists for the entire company, rather than having each location be responsible for that. We can also do seven-digit extension dialing to our international locations, which has helped us communicate more effectively. While enhanced customer care also requires effective communications, that s not the primary reason for H.B. Fuller s decision to deploy Cisco IP Contact Center (IPCC) in the second phase of its IP telephony rollout. Business recovery was the main factor for us with IPCC, Wetzel recalls. We have a number of small customer service centers around the world that are operating with traditional, standalone systems. If we ever had a problem at one of those sites, we would lose 70 to 80 percent of our customer service capabilities. IPCC gives us a centralized infrastructure that has the redundancy we need, so we can stay up and running no matter what. A call center now becomes a virtual call center, and we can ensure that each incoming customer call is sent to the most appropriate site each time. IPCC also gives us the tools to help our customers interact with us electronically we can use Cisco Collaboration Server integrated with IPCC to walk them through their transactions with real-time Web chat and familiarize them with e-business. Partnerships A comprehensive architectural plan and solid deployment partnerships are central to a successful IP telephony rollout. With Cisco AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data) and the expertise of gold-certified Cisco Services and Support partners Forsythe Solutions, Enventis, and Berbee H.B. Fuller has both. Cisco AVVID gives H.B. Fuller a clear roadmap for building its entire network infrastructure by delivering a standards-based, open architecture. We definitely couldn t execute such a wide-ranging IP telephony deployment without AVVID, Wetzel says. Our current environment has products from multiple vendors and we continually run into problems because of two software products not working together. With AVVID, that s no longer a problem. Cisco not only understands the network, they also understand how to take an application through the network like making the integration of All contents are Copyright All rights reserved. Important Notices and Privacy Statement. Page 3 of 5

4 voice as an application appear seamless on the network that really sets them apart from the competition. H.B. Fuller will also improve its competitive position by taking advantage of IP. We re going to expand into Asia Pacific with this technology, Wetzel notes. We re also looking at audio and video broadcasting to assist us in improving our communications. The key here is the AVVID infrastructure and Cisco s ability to do QoS; that s going to keep allowing us to put additional applications over the network. H.B. Fuller will reach potential customers in at least 18 countries when the first phase of deployment is complete. The initial rollout will cover Switzerland, France, Sweden, Spain, Poland, the United States, Columbia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Italy, and Germany, says Wetzel. It s been going pretty well so far and we ve found that in some cases predominantly with our international locations the calls we carry on our IP network have better quality than the ones carried on the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) service. Fuller. Their willingness to do technology refreshes and flexibility in meeting our needs has made Forsythe an excellent partner, and Berbee is helping us build our XML applications. Our last implementation with a traditional telephony system took about year s worth of planning. This time, with an IP telephony system and help from our partners, we cut our implementation time down to about two and half months. The great advantage of the shorter implementation cycle is that we re able to leverage this technology much quicker and start realizing a financial return. According to Wetzel, realizing a positive ROI is merely one of many benefits that a Cisco IP telephony deployment delivers. We chose Cisco because they re the furthest ahead with IP telephony technology, Wetzel says. Cisco offers an enterprise solution that s fully integrated, and they offer support in whatever country we re deploying in there aren t many vendors who can do that. Plus, we have a team from Cisco that s just excellent. They re committed to helping us be successful, from proof of concept to the build-out from our central environment. That s a benefit you can t put a price on. Wetzel credits H.B. Fuller s implementation partners with providing exceptional service and significantly decreasing deployment time. Enventis has done a great job for us, providing that gap expertise for my group to ensure that our IP telephony rollout is going smoothly, Wetzel says. Forsythe has also been a very strong partner for H.B. All contents are Copyright All rights reserved. Important Notices and Privacy Statement. Page 4 of 5

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