- Manufacturing
- North America
- Enterprise
- Premise
Sauder Woodworking
A privately held, third-generation, family-run business, Sauder Woodworking Co. is North America’s leading producer of ready-to-assemble furniture and the nation’s fifth-largest residential furniture manufacturer. An authentic American original, 90% of Sauder® furniture is manufactured in Archbold, Ohio. With some of the most technologically advanced equipment in the world, the facility features nearly four million square feet of space, employs about 2,000 workers, and houses a wide variety of local and imported materials.
At a Glance
Sauder Woodworking needed to replace its aging public exchange system (PBX), which posed a high risk because it was outdated. The voice system was no longer supported, leaving it vulnerable to various communications problems.
Goals
Sauder wanted a modern and innovative Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications solution to ensure their employees could stay connected with each other. The system must also be scalable and reliable to support multiple operating units.
Results
After an extensive search, Sauder chose Unify OpenScape Voice for standards-based IP telephony across the enterprise, which interoperates seamlessly with their Enterasys infrastructure. This voice solution was deployed at Sauder Woodworking operating units throughout the United States.
Additional Unify solutions were implemented, including Basic Voice, Standard and Unified Messaging, IVR, Unified, and Web Collaboration. Several third-party solutions Unify and their local partner recommended were incorporated, including Call Accounting/Reporting, e911, and Room-To-Room video conferencing. VoIP has been deployed for all telephones, and they now use Unify stations for roughly 2,000 subscribers.
The unified and web collaboration tools have provided new, innovative opportunities for Sauder employees to interact with each other. Critical features like desktop sharing, chat, file shares, whiteboarding, One Number Service, presence tracking, and mobile support make sharing information and communicating convenient for everyone.
The enterprise voice system is highly scalable, carrier-grade resilient, and centrally managed. Employees also have access to rich features and functionality.
While the primary project driver was the elimination of a high-risk situation (an outdated and de-supported voice system), Sauder has gained an enterprise voice solution that is highly scalable, carrier-grade resilient, and centrally managed, with rich features and functionality.
Jan Arvay, VP of Information Technology, Sauder Woodworking
