Gloucestershire County Cricket Club

MiVoice Connect enables GCCC to consolidate all their communication and collaboration tools into a single, user-friendly interface, enhancing customer interactions and allowing for better monitoring of monthly mobile costs.

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club (GCCC) is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. Founded in 1870, Gloucestershire have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The club played its first senior match in 1870.

The Challenge

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club’s legacy ISDN phone system was approaching end of life and was no longer compatible with modern requirements and use case scenarios. In order to provide a fit for purpose customer experience and to maintain a reliable and resilient communications system for the stadium and wider club, they needed to upgrade their telephony infrastructure.

GCCC undertook a detailed tender process with several suppliers. They decided on Croft for many reasons, primarily because of their vast experience working with other sporting clubs, and understanding the complexities associated with technology deployment in sporting venues.

They also chose Croft for the benefit of centralising their telephony services with a single provider, having previously used several different suppliers for mobile, landline, support and management.

The Solution

Croft recommended that GCCC replace their legacy Mitel phone system with another Mitel solution – MiVoice Connect, virtualised in VMWare. MiVoice Connect brings together all communication and collaboration tools into one simple interface. It allows employees to connect quickly and easily via phone, Instant Messaging, desktop sharing or conference calling, without having to open a separate window or log in to new applications.

Croft also migrated GCCC’s mobiles to plan.com. This allowed GCCC to bar specific usage such as gambling, a requirement from the cricket governing body. Coaches and the management team also travel internationally so it’s also important to track their location to ensure a relevant bolt-on is applied and monitor their mobile spend. Changing the mobiles over to plan.com was also very quick and easy, set up efficiently by Croft behind the scenes, with no disruption to service. Once the numbers were live, Croft used the my.plan portal to set usage alerts, limits and bars for all users to control costs and usage.

Croft migrated GCCC’s non-IP ISDN telephony solution to a new IP system on SIP, which they vigorously tested before it went live. When it came to the actual migration, all they had to do was port the numbers over, which made for a risk-free, seamless cutover and minimal downtime. Croft deployed two Konftel video conferencing phones, which connect via an OCC (One Cable Connection) hub. It is a simple plug and play configuration via a USB connection, giving GCCC the flexibility to bring any device to any meeting room. The telephony solution was implemented on an Opex basis, so it is flexible and can be quickly adapted, depending on GCCC’s data usage. Croft provided training for end users and administrators of the phone system and now support the Mitel solution on a 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday support contract, over five years.

We had a culture where we were slightly reluctant to change. But Croft held our hand through the entire upgrade process, and we are delighted with our new phone system. It was all so easy with Croft, and if I’m honest, I wish we’d done it sooner!

Joe Kaniecki
GCCC Head of Partnership

The Results

The ticketing system is now streamlined with specific lines for Conferences and Events, Hospitality, Ticketing and Membership. Alternatively, customers can hold for reception. Calls can now be monitored, and reports created to assess call volumes. In addition, it is quick and simple to change and record IVR messages when necessary.

GCCC can closely track mobile usage, with full control over all mobile devices and use abroad during pre-season tours. This has kept monthly mobile costs consistent and avoided any bill shock.