Faculty members are inundated with messages from students trying to reach them. They are overwhelmed trying to manage both voice and email messages. Many, in fact, simply choose not to set up their voice mail systems. With EVM, the faculty member no longer has to check multiple places for messages since they will all be sent to the email inbox"
Marie Shero
SUNY Geneseo
Mutare Software addresses the needs of a wide range of markets, offering innovative solutions that help streamline costs, automate communications, provide emergency response, meet regulatory requirements and increase productivity. We have built our reputation on the satisfaction of our customers, backing every application we deploy with incomparable service and support. Nothing, however, speaks better to that claim than the feedback of the customers we have served. Read a sampling below and understand why the Mutare name is among the most trusted in the industry.
Location: Worldwide
Market: Manufacturing
Application: EVM
GE is a $16.6 billion, multinational company with more than 10,000 employees producing thousands of GE business-related voice, fax, and email messages transferred around the world daily.
EVM was originally installed on the GE Octel platform. The customer gained the functionality of EVM without the cost of replacing entire voicemail system in 40 locations. They now have mixed Octel, Intuity, and MM platforms, all with EVM, so the user experience is the same, enterprise-wide. GE's sophisticated communication infrastructure links its multiple locations into one high speed network. Each location has a server for message storage and transfer, but the application servers (running the EVM software) are centralized, so EVM installation modifications and support are uncomplicated.
Notes Russell Ashton, GE Manager of Voice Technology: "Our rollout was very smooth, and the feedback from employees has been overwhelmingly positive. As one user put it to me, 'I feel I am so much more in touch with my messages.'"
Location: Washington State
Market: Healthcare
Application: ENS
Franciscan Health System currently has 4 hospitals and 41 clinics. ENS is fully deployed at 3 of the hospitals, partially at the 4th, and partially deployed in the clinics. There are approximately 6,700 people in the database. There are roughly 6,000 employees and others on the FHS system, including physicians, staff, and volunteers. Next year a 5th hospital will be added to the mix.
ENS was installed in 2005 and implemented through the first six months of 2006. It is used daily for replacement staffing calls at St. Joseph Medical Center, St. Clare Hospital, and St. Francis Hospital. In the past, when an absence prompted the need to find a replacement, calls had to be made to up to 40 individuals who might qualify to fill the position. With ENS, all 40 calls can be made in one broadcast with targeted follow-up calls if necessary. The position can be quickly filled by the first person responding. FHS is also using EEN for emergency activation of the disaster plan, staff recall, and urgent notification for a variety of circumstances.
Recently SFH converted all of the pager codes to ENS so that broadcast messages will reach pagers as well as other mobile devices; that same process is underway at SJMC.
The disaster notification system is tested quarterly, and it is used to send out alerts 1-2 times a month. Franciscan recently created a silent notification system (pager and e-mail) for use during a violent situation where an overhead announcement could create further problems.
From the emergency side, ENS administrators within the hospitals can send group notices to small or large groups quickly. The response to the notification depends on the time of day and the type of event. It was recently used during a major windstorm to notify the hospital "BIO" group of the need to immediately track and report carbon monoxide poisonings. Since the message goes directly to the ED charge nurses, tracking was implemented immediately.
Location: Detroit, MI
Market: Government
Application: Inmate Inquiry
As the only corrections facility country-wide, Saginaw County Jail receives thousands of calls a month -- sometimes as many as 125 calls an hour -- from inmate relatives, friends and attorneys.
When jail administrators spoke with their local phone service provider about the potential for automating some of those phone calls, they were directed to Mutare. Mutare programmers there were able to construct a voice response application with dedicated number and keypad commands that guide callers to the information they need, from bond amounts to court appearance dates to jail visitation hours. Additionally, they were able to accomplish the task remotely, saving the county money and time that would otherwise be spent for on-site work. Any glitches discovered after the system went live were reported via e-mail to Mutare and quickly remedied.
Says Jail Administrator, Lt. Bill Gutzwiller: "Days here can be extremely stressful when you're dealing with multiple prisoner intakes along with the needs of their lawyers and family members. It is our job to expedite the smooth transition of inmates in and out of our facility. Anything that makes that task more efficient while sparing our staff additional stress is a great value - and the Auto Inmate Inquiry application does exactly that."
Location: New York, NY
Market: Government
Application: Custom
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation employs nearly 1,900 full time employees and approximately 3,000 seasonal workers. The Department was looking for a system that would allow them to keep track of daily absences for this large and mobile population. Building on the Parks and Recreation Department's existing Octel message server, programmers at Mutare were able to develop a custom application to streamline, standardize, and automate the department's entire absence reporting process.
Prior to Mutare installation, absence reporting methods varied throughout the city's five boroughs. Most involved either phone calls to a live receptionist or voicemail recordings. In Brooklyn alone, calls were taken by 40 different voice mailboxes, auto-copied to a single administrator, hand-recorded and then filed for future reference. The cumbersome and potentially error-prone process could take up to three hours each day.
With the new Mutare application, all absences are called into a dedicated phone number. Callers are guided through a list of questions that allows them, via phone keypad, to identify themselves, the borough they work in, their work location and the reason for their absence. At the end of the call, the employee is given a confirmation number. Prior to each shift change, the application automatically sorts recorded absences, emails those absences to their respective field supervisors, and/or creates a text to speech message for supervisors who have yet to receive computers. Absentee information is also viewable via a link on the Parks Intranet.
Staff members no longer need to decipher and hand-record hours of phone messages. Field supervisors have access to full and accurate absence reports before the beginning of every shift. And, with the application's archiving and report-generating features, department administrators are able to sort, review, and print historical data - a valuable asset for payroll administration, planning and budgeting.
Location: Detroit, MI
Market: Government
Application: Custom
Wayne is the largest county in the state of Michigan and includes the city of Detroit and surrounding suburbs. Among the most caller-intensive departments is the County Treasurer's office, which receives thousands of property tax calls every day, primarily from homeowners and realtors. The county set up an interactive website to help ease the caller load, but the phone remained the primary communication tool, particularly for those without web access. They determined that a customized voice response system for common phone requests was the answer. Manager Sherry Bittles recommended Mutare, having previously worked with them on a patient care management application which, she says, "went flawlessly."
Mutare was able to fashion a voice response application for the County's Avaya system that provides automated responses to a wide range of questions, from tax liability and delinquency status for individual properties to information on regulations and procedures. The challenge was to come up with a sophisticated application that is easy for the callers to navigate and easy to for Treasury Department staff to manage.
Notes Bittles: "What really makes Mutare stand out is their ability to communicate with the client - they know how to ask the right questions to pinpoint our needs, and then explain the technology in a way that everyone can understand. And, they completed our project on budget and ahead of schedule."
After the application was installed, the number of calls to County Treasurer receptionists dropped dramatically.
"We're happier, and our callers are happier. They get the information they need, any time, around the clock, with no waiting. We have received Zero complaints since putting this system in place.
"I knew that we could count on Mutare to come up with a solution to our phone call overload, but what really impressed me was how easy they made it for all of us."
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Market: Education
Application: ENS
St. Joseph's University was looking for an on-site, university-wide system for rapid mass delivery of critical notices to faculty, staff and students.
The University already had Mutare's Enabled VoiceMail (EVM) system and was very positive about their experience with that application deployment and features. They turned to Mutare again for their Enterprise Notification System.
ENS gives college administrators the ability to rapidly deliver messages, via simultaneous voice, text and email broadcasts, to every phone, cell phone, PDA and pager on the system. The Web-based interface allows for the creation and selection of customized lists (students, staff, administrators, first responders etc.), and includes the option for verification from recipients. ENS implementation at St. Joseph's University additionally included a utility that automatically updates contact information through a daily query of the university's employee and student databases, sparing the administrator this time-consuming chore. This is a very welcome feature in the college environment, where 1/4 of the system's student users turn over every year. For added protection, St. Joseph's purchased a back-up server that is located at a disaster recovery site 50 miles from campus. Through a high-speed link, that system mirrors the data on the on-campus server and may take over broadcast functions should the main server be disabled.
Location: Connecticut
Market: Healthcare
Application: ENS
Primary installation at customer site with Mutare-hosted backup - the system is used for staffing to find replacement staff.
Location: Barrington, IL
Market: Healthcare
Application: ENS
GE Healthcare, which sells medical devices, uses ENS as a system to notify groups of technicians about customer issues. Technicians are usually on the road. When a customer opens a ticket, it triggers a notice to each of the technicians in that customer's region (via their mobile devices). The use of ENS reduces the time it takes to locate an available technician and facilitates prompt service to the customer.
Location: Champaign/Urbana, IL
Market: Education
Application: ENS
Major State University with more than 42,000 students, 3,000 faculty members and 3,500 staff, U of I purchased ENS to serve as an on-site broadcast system in the event of a large-scale emergency event.
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Market: Education
Application: ENS
Purchased a 4-port ENS system to serve students (3,700), faculty, staff, and administration.
Location: New York
Market: Education
Application: EVM
SUNY Geneseo purchased Mutare's Enabled VoiceMail (EVM) for use university-wide. With EVM, users are able to access and manage voice mail messages from their email inbox. EVM is perfect for a diverse college environment because it works with all email systems, there is no desktop software to deploy or support, and messages can be accessed from any device with Internet access. It was a welcome improvement for many college students who prefer email over voice mail for their messaging. Additionally, says Assistant Director of Telecommunications Marie Shero, "Faculty members are inundated with messages from students trying to reach them. They are overwhelmed trying to manage both voice and email messages. Many, in fact, simply choose not to set up their voice mail systems. With EVM, the faculty member no longer has to check multiple places for messages since they will all be sent to the email inbox. Conversely, our faculty often find students are hard to reach by phone. With EVM, they can leave a voice message and know it will appear in that student's email inbox as well where it is more likely to be seen. We tested the product for 40 days and had nothing but a positive response - the system is very easy to set up, requires no real training, and it works. We are thrilled to have this program."
Location: Chicago, IL
Market: Legal
Application: EVM
A global law firm with 16 offices. Purchased EVM for Intuity serving 2,200 mailboxes on 11 Intuity/Audix systems worldwide.
Location: Ohio
Market: Government
Application: Custom
The Cuyahoga County Department of Employment & Family Services provides essential support services to parents, child care providers and caregivers throughout the county. Before Mutare’s software was installed, staff members were fielding thousands of phone calls a month. Working with Cuyahoga County’s existing voicemail system, Mutare was able to develop a voice response application that fields, sorts, relays and, in many cases, provides immediate resolution to incoming caller requests from department of employment & family services clients - 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The system works as follows: after dialing the new Child Care Hotline, the caller is asked to identify him or herself by an assigned I.D. number. The application then guides the caller through a series of touch-tone menu options designed to gather all information necessary to respond to various requests - from checking the status of a provider payment, making changes on a child care voucher, or reporting absences. When prompted, the caller is linked to a second application that will read back the name of the assigned caseworker and caseworker supervisor, and even dial the number.
With the ability to record both touch-tone and voice responses, the application creates a digital file of each caller's responses and relays them to the email inbox of the appropriate case or staff worker. "It is set up to handle a wide variety of requests, making sure that all of the information is relayed to the right person. Not only does that spare our employees the need to route calls or call back for additional information, but it also assures the customers a quicker response,” says Tom Drescher, Manager of Information Services.
To illustrate the value of the new application, Tom notes that in the month of April, his agency received nearly 7,000 payment inquiry calls. For 5,200 of those calls, the application was able to identify the status of the payment and automatically report that information to the caller. "Assuming each of those calls would have taken at least five minutes, that's over 430 hours that our staff was spared in one month alone," says Tom. "It's really taken the burden off of our call center and made a real difference in our productivity." Just as important, says Tom, the new system has improved the quality of support experienced by E&FS families at a reasonable cost to the County.
Location: Minnesota
Market: Government
Application: EVM
As Telecommunications Specialist for Olmsted County, Minnesota, Nena Tolman oversees the voice messaging needs of the numerous agencies operating under the County umbrella. "We pass between 10,000 and 15,000 voicemail messages a day," she notes. "We have people who are often away from their desks and phones - social workers, city workers, educators. Having a reliable way to receive messages regardless of where they are or how the message is sent is a major priority."
The County purchased Mutare’s EVM not only because of its seamless integration with their existing voicemail system and ability to convert voice and fax messages into email attachments, but also for its ease of use – little if no training was necessary for the nearly 2,000 county workers using the application.
“I very much appreciate that voicemail notifications are delivered with the sender’s ID so I can immediately prioritize call-backs," says Tolman.
"I’m constantly hearing about how easy and useful this system is. In addition, installation was completely painless, requiring no additional hardware purchases, no special training for our users, and no extra time or adjustments at all to keep it operational. We just loaded it on and started clicking away. I, for one, couldn’t be happier about that."
Location: Millinocket, Maine
Market: Government
Application: ENS
There's not much a town can do to control Mother Nature. But with a little planning and the right tools, public officials can help make sure local residents are prepared to protect themselves and their properties when nature takes a turn for the worse.
In Millinocket, Maine, that tool is a new mass messaging application developed by Mutare Software. When integrated with the town’s existing Internet and telephone networks, Mutare’s Enterprise Notification System (ENS) enables town officials to quickly send custom voice and text alerts to targeted groups of residents. It is, according to Manager Eugene Conlogue, a welcome addition to the community’s comprehensive emergency response program.
Millinocket’s interest in a telephone warning system for its citizenry peaked two years ago when record rainfall caused flooding of the Millinocket Stream, a scenic waterway that winds through the town center. A dam approximately eight miles upstream from town not only controls the flow of water but also generates hydroelectric power for the region. The dam’s operating company, Brookfield Power, recognized the impact flooding conditions could have on downstream residents and, on behalf of the surrounding communities, obtained a $70,000 grant to purchase the Mutare system. Operating from a single, stand-alone server housed at the regional hospital, the ENS system is shared between Millinocket and the neighboring community of Medway. While ENS can accommodate a multitude of customized contact lists, Millinocket’s immediate concern was to provide early warning of potential flooding for residents along the river banks. Towards that end, the town offered all affected homeowners the opportunity to have their contact numbers and/or email addresses included on an ENS list. Should the town receive notice of rising river levels, a local ENS administrator can initiate a broadcast notice to every phone, cell phone, email address and PDA on the selected list. Because ENS is web-based, broadcasts may be initiated any time, from any location, using any phone or web browser.
“Installation was very smooth,” says Conlogue. “Mutare stayed with us every step of the way with their quick response to our questions and thorough training for those of us operating the system. Our residents now know that they will be contacted directly, and quickly, in the event that flooding becomes a threat, and they are grateful for the opportunity to take early action.”
Since testing ENS’s effectiveness, Millinocket is preparing to roll the system out community-wide to address a broader range of emergency situations, such as gas leaks, water outages or natural disasters advisories. Residents may sign up and provide their own contact numbers through the ENS self-populating website. With the flexible ENS lists, administrators are able to group users according to any number of criteria, such as by neighborhood, building or geographic location, so notices can be targeted to specific groups depending on the circumstances.
“We are fortunate that no new flooding has occurred since we installed ENS,” says Conlogue, “We also recognize that nature is unpredictable. There is great peace of mind, knowing that we have a quick, reliable, and easy to mange warning system in place, ready to respond, when the unexpected happens.
Location: Connecticut
Market: Retail
Application: Custom
Crystal Rock has provided bottled water to homes and offices throughout the northeast since 1914. The company takes pride in its product as well as its reputation for superior customer service. When Crystal Rock merged with another refreshment provider and completed frequent acquisitions thereafter, the combined company’s customer base grew dramatically and the task of keeping up with service calls to customers grew exponentially.
Crystal Rock turned to Mutare Software, a custom IVR developer with a similar reputation for quality service. Mutare developed a custom application that automatically queries the Crystal Rock database each morning, identifies those customers scheduled for a delivery in two days, and delivers a phone reminder to each. The reminder message allows customers to prepare for an upcoming delivery and gives them the opportunity to reschedule, if necessary.
The Mutare system also provides a self-service auto-response feature for incoming calls from customers. The IVR provides information about the customer’s delivery schedule and account status, as well as a tool for payment by phone. Currently the system handles an average of 100 payment calls per day.
“We had a very good experience working with Mutare,” says Mike Konopka, Crystal Rock IT Manager. “The Project Manager was extremely knowledgeable and responsive. If we had an issue, he did whatever it took to find a solution, even if it required contacting other third party vendors to coordinate on our behalf. That’s something you just don’t see much with a lot of providers.”
Crystal Rock’s system has been in place for five years, “and it’s still doing exactly what we had hoped, says Konopka. “It has been a great support for our customer service operators and a welcome service to our customers.”
Crystal Rock, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vermont Pure Holdings, Ltd., is the largest independent and third largest Home and Office distributor of its kind in the United States. The Company bottles and distributes natural spring water and purified with minerals added bottled water under the Crystal Rock® and the Vermont Pure® trademarks. It markets its bottled water brands, as well as coffee and other home and office refreshment products, to customers throughout New England and New York. Vermont Pure Holdings Ltd.’s common stock trades on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol: VPS.
Location: Florida
Market: Utilities
Application: EVM
“We’ve never deployed an application so simple, yet so powerful” says Kris Bremer, Systems Analyst for Keys Energy. “Our users rely heavily on Mutare’s EVM for unified messaging, and from the day we installed it three years ago, it has worked flawlessly. I have had not a single complaint.”
Keys Energy provides electric power to approximately 28,000 customers in the lower Florida Keys. It is among the 84 power utilities nationwide to receive the Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) designation from the American Public Power Association – a distinction given only to those companies that meet the highest standards for consistent and safe power delivery. With nearly 300 miles of electric lines to maintain, Keys Energy operates around the clock to meet the region’s demand for uninterrupted power. Keeping communications flowing between customers, the main office and its highly mobile workforce is fundamental to that mission.
With EVM, critical voicemail messages are sure to reach their intended recipients, regardless of time or location. EVM continuously monitors the voicemail inbox, copies new messages, and delivers them as an email attachment to the user’s email inbox. Recipients receive text notification of waiting voicemail and are able to access and play their messages from their desktop or PDA, anytime, from any location.
“Our deployment with Mutare was seamless,” says Bremer. “As for troubleshooting, there has hardly been a need. Right from the start, EVM has done exactly what it’s supposed to do, and that is to make life easier for us and make us more responsive to our customers.”
Location: Texas
Market: Utilities
Application: EVM
“Speaking from a support aspect, the thing I like most about EVM is the fact that I don’t need to know much about it.” That, says Telecom Analyst Felix Melendes, is testimony to the flawless performance of the unified communications solution Mutare Software installed at CPS Energy more than two years ago. “I really appreciate how smoothly the implementation went and the knowledge of Mutare’s support team. We simply have never had a problem, which makes me, and our users, very happy.”
Felix first heard about Mutare’s Enabled VoiceMail (EVM) through Scott Golla, National Account Manager for Cross Telecom, one of the nation’s largest providers of integrated voice and data communications solutions. “We’ve had a very good relationship with Cross for a long time,” says Felix. “I knew that I could trust their recommendations for our telecommunications systems. When Scott mentioned that they had a solution that works with our existing Avaya Intuity voicemail system to provide unified messaging, I knew it was something we should see.” Scott engaged Mutare Software Regional Manager Linda Collins in presenting the features and value of EVM, a web-based application for enterprise users that copies voice and fax messages from voicemail and delivers them as attachments to the user email inbox. “My first thought was, ‘wow, we could use this!’,” says Felix, noting not only the benefits of EVM for internal collaboration but also improved responsiveness to CPS customers throughout the San Antonio region.
CPS purchased EVM, including licenses for 1,000 users, and installed it on a virtual server. “Personally, I can’t remember the last time I dialed into voicemail,” says Felix. “As a public utility, we receive a lot of customer calls. It’s a great convenience and a real time-saver to be able to access and listen to those messages from email. And, if I receive a message that needs to be directed to someone else, I simply forward the email with the .wav file attached. It couldn’t be easier.”
Location: Houston
Market: Transportation
Application: EVM
As Technical Manager for Message Services at Continental Airlines, Pete Romfh continuously evaluates messaging technologies that improve processes while supporting service excellence. “We have thousands of employees working around the globe, 24/7. Making sure that we keep communications flowing at all times is critical,” he says. “When we looked at our options and considered the available communications methods, we realized that the phone is still the most universally-available. With that in mind, we considered any solution that enhances voice messaging a particularly good investment. That certainly proved true with Mutare’s EVM. In an environment like ours where people need quick access to their messages, no matter where they are in the world, unified voice messaging and EVM breaks the time-space continuum. Whether you are on Outlook™ in the office, a pay phone in Paris, the Internet in India, or a wireless device in Washington, it makes no real difference. My people get their messages at a time that’s convenient for them from whatever location they are currently in.”
According to Romfh, among the most frequent requests he’s received from employees is for a solution that integrates voicemail and email for quick and convenient access to messages. “When I learned about Mutare’s Enhanced Voice Messaging for Avaya, I knew it would be a great fit. We went ahead and purchased the application a year ago and have been steadily bringing users on board. Now, a frequent comment I hear is ‘Wow- this is so cool! I will never log into voicemail again!’”
Romfh was particularly impressed with how smoothly Mutare’s EVM solution was installed. “It was seamless,” he says, “and the system runs like a champ. If we ever run into snags, it just takes a quick phone call to Mutare and, poof! It’s fixed. There was even a time when Mutare called ME saying they had detected an error and wanted to make sure everything was operating correctly. It turned out to be nothing, but I really appreciate that level of attention. It’s cool knowing that there is someone else out there watching out for us.”
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Continental Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,750 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 133 domestic and 132 international destinations. More than 750 additional points are served through alliance partners. With more than 43,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with its regional partners, carries approximately 67 million passengers per year.
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