Nexant
Nexant, a premier provider of technology solutions and consulting services to the international energy industry, needed a global roaming service to match the demands of its widespread worldwide activities. CI’s global roaming service powered by iPass not only provided a fast, easy and reliable service, it gave them cost savings far beyond what they had hoped for.
Nexant employs a large team of consultants who travel widely, providing essential technical advice to customers, often in remote corners of the world. Having Internet access when they are travelling abroad is a vital part of their ability to deliver a first class service.
“First and foremost we came to CI because they were recommended to us,” says Nexant’s IT Consultant, Tim Cox. “Then we found that they offered the most complete package with the best support. We chose the service because of the country coverage offered. Other global roaming services didn’t adequately cover remote areas like the Middle East, which we need.”
Around 50 UK consultants and another 20 based in the US use the service to access the Internet and internal company systems and send and retrieve emails. It is essential for them to be able to communicate economically, reliably and easily. CI's global roaming service has delivered on all three.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the service has been the significant reductions in costs that the energy technology company has enjoyed.
“Our international phone bills have fallen considerably,” says Tim. “In the past, employees would dial internationally through London and would often also have to pay hotel telephone tariffs, making international communications extremely expensive. With CI's global roaming service, connections to local ISPs are charged at local rates, so international and mobile call charges are much lower.”
“For example, one of our consultants who travels to Togo in West Africa, used to pay charges of £11 per minute to download his emails – £110 for a ten-minute call. That cost has been driven right down. A similar ten-minute call now costs just £2.50. We’re making big savings of that order all the time.”
As a consequence, Nexant finds the service pays for itself very quickly. “In many cases we save the cost of the service by the second month of the year,” says Tim. “That’s extremely fast payback.”
Important though it is, cost is only one factor. Reliability is essential too, as Tim explains. “Sometimes international lines are weak and people have to cope with interrupted calls and lost emails. But with CI's global roaming service, reliability has greatly improved. We are no longer dependent on international lines, so we suffer very few failures. The problem of lost calls has virtually disappeared.”
Three years ago, when Nexant first started using CI's global roaming service, they found it very easy to implement, despite having more than 70 users. The software was simple to install and easy to use, requiring minimal staff training. Employees were trained in small groups, with the emphasis on practical, hands-on training. “The majority picked it up straight away and were able to get going very quickly. Again CI was helpful in providing training for a core group of super users. They trained the trainers for us, and they then passed on their knowledge.”
Since then, overall feedback from Nexant staff has been very positive. “Everyone who has used the service has liked it,” says Tim.
Nexant also appreciate the personal touch when it comes to the management of their account with CI. “Our account manager is constantly in touch,” says Tim. “We never feel that he has forgotten about us. It’s a good feeling to know that he’s taking care of us and is genuinely interested in how things are going.”