Another Curtain Call

Since being established in 1983, Acre Jean has been the market leader in the hire and manufacture of soft goods to the entertainment industry. Their drapes are used at a multitude of events; from concerts to conferences, product launches to trade and fashion shows and their clients range from event and party organisers, to theatre and drama groups, as no job is too small or too large for them to deliver the perfect solution.

From their South-West London facility, they are able to offer a fast response delivery service using their own fleet, national carriers and an international freighting agent and ensure that the product is delivered on time. Experienced in-house personnel and a team of experienced installers are on-hand to ensure that your vision of the venue is transpired from sketch to reality.

A customer for three decades

Acre Jean have been a Palebeck customer since their establishment  starting with the use of a GX system, upgrading to a Panasonic A series during 1994 and then upgrading their system to the Panasonic KX-TDA30 in 2004 so that they had a system which would support ISDN lines and enable Direct Dialling In (DDI). At this point Acre Jean also refreshed their handsets for newer models which were compatible with the KX-TDA30.

During this upgrade Palebeck took the time to liaise with the Network provider on Acre Jean’s behalf for the upgrade of lines and arranged to be on site at the same time as the Network provider to synchronise the upgrade of lines with the installation of the KX-TDA30.

Setting up homeworking

Having been so happy with the installation within the Acre Jean facility, in 2012 Palebeck was approached to arrange an installation in the new Suffolk residence of Ross Maxwell, the Managing Director of Acre Jean, who wished to be able to work from home. Palebeck advised that by upgrading the system within Acre Jean to the Panasonic KX-NCP500 Telephone System, Ross would be able to have an IP extension connected to the office telephone system.

The KX-NCP500 system proposed, an exciting evolution in Panasonics Unified Communication portfolio, has been designed to optimise business processes and deliver a range of business features; integral voicemail, a full range of wired and wireless telephone devices and a PC application to make using your phone both easy and fast. As the system is powered by OneNet it is possible for telephony features to be transparently deployed across multiple networked sites and users and share resources more efficiently through key enhancements in features such as call distribution, centralised voicemail, multi-party conferencing and mobile integration.  

Overcoming obstacles

Upon this recommendation Palebeck also advised that he would require broadband at his home and that a Virtual Private Network (VPN) would need to be set-up between his home and the office. This would usually be straightforward, but was made complicated by the fact that the home router did not provide Quality of Service  which is required when using an IP extension so that there is no delay with the voice traffic and conversations are not interrupted if files are being downloaded.

Since the Broadband supplier refused to release the password details required to set-up a new router, Ross was left with two options: a SoftPhone version of the IP phone could be set-up, in which the PC would set-up the VPN, or an alternative Broadband could be installed for use with the fixed IP extension.  Ross decided that the IP SoftPhone was not going to be an option, as the telephone was for his home and he would not be sitting at his computer the entire time; ideally Ross wanted to work using a DECT (cordless) handset; delivering flexibility and mobility within the property. It was therefore determined that a new Broadband would be installed.

The installation of the line for the new broadband was not without its problems either due to the remoteness of the property. Ross’s patience finally paid off when engineers were able to install the software at Acre Jean’s facility in the KX-NCP500 and set-up the IP DECT Cell station and the DECT handset which Ross could then simply plug in, following Palebeck’s instructions, at home.

The benefits of homeworking

Thanks to Palebeck’s installation of the KX-NCP500 Ross can now work at home and communicate with the office for free via the Internet, and with ease. Incoming calls to the office are transferred transparently to Ross even though Ross is actually located many miles away. All of the features available in the office are available to Ross at his home in Suffolk.

The full power of this technology became evident when Ross recently contacted Palebeck to request that his IP phone be programmed to receive all incoming business calls in addition to the telephones in the office. This enabled Ross to help out with incoming calls during a really busy period. We were able to remotely program this feature (practically) while Ross was still on the telephone to us making the request.

For more information visit www.acrejean.com