Voyage of discovery at 2B Interface

2B Interface is a five year old staffing and recruitment agency specialising in providing skilled temporary staff to UK companies – either as individuals or in contracted teams. The company has also grown dramatically over the past couple of years and its existing systems have not scaled to meet current business needs.

The decision to design

So it took the decision to design and implement its own bespoke IT system linking front and back office functions integrating VoIP unified communications to future-proof its investment.

Customer profileFounded by successful businesswoman, Beatrice Bartlay, 2B Interface originally provided EU nationals for roles such as woodworkers, metal workers for the UK shop fitting industry, broadening the range of skills required to meet increasing demand.  Most were employed directly by the agency and supplied by contractors, overcoming any reluctance by UK companies to employ foreign nationals themselves.

Business caseIn common with many organisations in the recruitment sector 2B Interface is in regular contact with both potential and existing customers as well as its own workforce. 

The past couple of years

2B Interface has also grown dramatically over the past couple of years and its existing systems have not scaled to meet current business needs.  Furthermore, 2B Interface had already invested in a number of mission critical business applications – including Sage Payroll – that it needed to maintain as a crucial legacy system.

Solution and implementationBeatrice Bartlay explains further: “We had looked at a number of solutions on the market and what was plainly clear was that there was no single solution; nothing could address the business needs we faced.  In our ideal scenario we needed to protect our investment in legacy systems while at the same time move the business forward with a solution that could grow with us.”

Bedford based Power Computing was selected by 2B Interface for the supply of branded hardware and infrastructure components. Power Computing has worked with 2B Interface for over two years and has built up an enviable reputation in that time, having developed a stable hardware environment to support the business’s Windows-based platform.

Integra ICT was selected to install and roll-out a new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony system.  VoIP is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or any other IP-based network.

Marcin Jamroz, marketing manager at 2B Interface added: “Power Computing worked with us to identify the best hardware and infrastructure configuration to meet the needs of our business. But this was not the whole solution.  It was absolutely vital for us that we had a future-proofed telephone system that could be routed to the correct office staff at any time of the day no matter where they were based. Furthermore, we also had to find an effective records management application that could be integrated into not only our legacy systems, but also into this new VoIP based system.”

Power Computing CEO Michael Ianiri stated: “We have a long standing business relationship with 2B Interface so when they approached us to help with the design, implementation and roll-out of this bespoke project we were naturally delighted.  For us the challenge was to help identify best-of-breed solutions that could be integrated seamlessly into legacy systems and yet deliver a solution that future-proofed the investment being made.”

“We selected Voyager Mid-Office and Commercial because it represented to us the most effective solution to our business need.  There is no doubt that in this industry the link between back and front office applications can sometimes be weak and error-prone.  From timesheet processing to commission calculations and margin reports by client or placement, all are vital and paper based records are time consuming, often open to error and never available in real-time,” stated Marcin.

Business benefitsFrom the outset one of the biggest benefits of the new VoIP telephone system is that any incoming calls can now be automatically routed to a VoIP phone, regardless of where that number is based geographically.  For 2B Interface this means that calls can be directed to the best person to answer a query – be it a question over chemists from a worker, to a contract and invoice query from a client. Individual numbers have been allocated to both clients and the workforce to ensure that separation is maintained.

The new VoIP based system is also fully redundant ensuring that at all times the telephone lines are up and running.  This critical functionality has ensured that 2B Interface has an effective business continuity solution in place.

Beatrice continued: “We used to have problems when we took on a new consultant, particularly with passing on information and accessing previous communications and history, that’s no longer the case. Although Voyager provides you with a vast amount of information, it’s very intuitive and all the information is on one screen which is great.”

“Voyager enables us to record our activities in detail and share this information across the company. Each of us now has full visibility of what’s happening. This means that when candidates phone in, anybody can talk to them, confident in the knowledge that the information on the system is up to date. We’re therefore working a lot smarter and providing our candidates with a much better service - that’s important to us,” stated Beatrice.

“Furthermore, integration into our Sage payroll and billing system is also dramatically reducing our operating costs.  We are now able to automatically issue contracts to our clients as they are on the phone, all T&C’s are immediately posted out and a full record is kept of who has worked where and when.”

The most advanced systems created for our industry

“There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the most advanced systems created for our industry.  We have not only delivered incredible cost savings throughout the business, we have maximised the investment in our legacy systems while improving our own business processes.  And all within six months and a return on investment within another six months,” concluded Beatrice.

“For a company of our size this level of investment was necessary for us to take the business forward to the next level.  Working in partnership with Power Computing has delivered a solution that is right for us and there is no doubt in my mind that we could not have delivered the system without their dedication and support.”