Primus Telecom Steps Into Three Year Deal With Payless Shoes in Australia

Independent Australian shoe retailer Payless Shoes Pty Ltd has signed a million dollar, three-year deal with Primus Telecom, a part of Primus Telecommunications Group, Inc., to provide an integrated Voice and Data Network solution including network based EFTPOS system plus additional hosted services across its 232 stores as then as its Sydney-based company head office.

The deployment will include a Primus Private IP Network and Accella Hosted Phone System which will replace the existing legacy telephony services across all sites, and the deployment of a cloud-based Managed Firewall and VPN service.

Primus' PIPN solution is a fully integrated and managed private IP network based on an MPLS network. It utilizes the benefits of the latest dynamic routing protocols and MPLS traffic isolation and Quality of Service management to create the modern Layer 3 private network. The network is designed to efficiently integrate voice, data and video traffic, as then as EFTPOS transactions on a single data platform.

Primus' business grade Accella Hosted IP Telephone System or HPS will offer a single integrated phone system for all Payless Shoes sites -- and as well offers many of the Unified Communications features including voicemail to email, call forwarding and remote office capability on every handset, on every site.

Combined with carrier-grade network equipment, the infrastructure will provide a high quality, high availability and highly reliable solution backed up by comprehensive tracking and resolution of network events.

To ensure a smooth and seamless transition to the new infrastructure, Primus is building a parallel network for each site, including new data access, Accella HPS and Internet access as then as conducting a complete User Acceptance Testing program prior to service migration at each site.

Kerry Smith, IT Manager of Payless Shoes, believes the key to the success of the project was Primus' willingness to work so closely with the Payless business team.

"It was very refreshing to work with a company that was flexible enough to build a solution around our specific needs. Primus is a low bureaucracy, nimble and proactive company with a genuine commitment to delivering excellent results. The provision of a parallel network to ease the transition to the new infrastructure has given the entire company an additional level of comfort and confidence in the project."

"This upgrade will improve communications quality, efficiency, flexibility and reliability across all sites. We have worked very closely with the Payless team to ensure we deliver infrastructure that matches their current needs however also has the flexibility and scope to support their own business growth and future requirements."

Mr. Smith agrees that the partnership approach has delivered a solution that fits the unparalleled requirements of their business.

The retail sector

"Primus came to us with glowing credentials in the retail sector, and as the process unfolded the team demonstrated a genuine understanding of our specific business needs. Primus will allow us to get on with the running of our business by taking responsibility for the solution infrastructure," he explained.