McCormick, based in Haddenham UK faced stability and capacity problems with their phone system in early 2009. The existing system couldn't be cost effectively expanded, resulting in areas of the site not being equipped with handsets. Frequent crashes of the heavily used voicemail system resulted in extended outages with repairs being difficult due to the age of the existing equipment.

The Solution:

Following an extensive selection process with multiple vendors, McCormick UK selected a Cisco Systems Unified Communications (UC) deployment delivered by Nettitude. Building on infrastructure developed between McCormick and Nettitude over the preceding years, telephony services provided by a high availability Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) cluster and Unity Connection voicemail were deployed to serve users within the UK Head Office, and a second large office in Littleborough. Integration between the CUCM cluster and the existing telephone systems was configured to allow a phased migration of users from "old" to "new" worlds. Across the two sites, over 700 users have been converted to run on the new infrastructure and the old equipment has now been successfully decomissioned.

Being based on IP, new handsets can quickly be located wherever the Local Area Network is present without relying on any special cabling.

The Benefits:

The new UC infrastructure has provided massive positive impact to the McCormick UK business. The administrative overhead of operating and maintening the old equipment has been removed, freeing up the IT team's time to be working on more strategic activities and projects. Increases in stability of the environment have resulted in extremely satisfied end users, with the business now being able to rely and utilise the technology within its operation rather than being hindered by it. Connectivity to a UC solution being run by McCormick UK's parent company was established quickly and easily, provisioning a single UC environment encompassing both companies.

The entire project was successfully delivered between McCormick and Nettitude on time and in budget. Users were migrated using a phased approach with no loss of functionality or service.

About McCormick:

Since 1889, McCormick has been the Company to turn to for flavour expertise. Today the world relies on our treasured consumer brands, trusted ingredients and culinary know-how.

Retail outlets, food manufacturers and food service businesses - they all depend on our spices, seasonings and flavourings. McCormick is so prevalent throughout the food industry that it's very likely you enjoy the taste of McCormick every day.

To find out more about how Nettitude can help you with your Unified Communications requirements, please complete our contact form, and a Consultant will respond to your enquiry.