Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia gains flexibility and increased convenience with M5 Networks Australia

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) is a not for profit organisation working to reduce the impact of prostate cancer on the Australian community. PCFA raises money for research, provides support to men diagnosed with prostate cancer and their loved ones, and raises awareness of the disease.  PCFA engaged M5 Networks Australia to implement hosted IP phone systems across its Australian offices, and has reduced costs by over 25 per cent since October 2008.

Challenge: Limitations of traditional phone system

Like many not-for-profit organisations, PCFA receives limited funding from the government, relying largely on donations and regular fundraising activities to cover operational costs and support its vital work. With offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, and with hundreds of calls being made to and received by men and their families facing the disease, PCFA found that costs from its phone system were skyrocketing.

“Our branches in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane had been using serviced offices and were moving into their own premises so this was the perfect time to reconsider the systems we were using,” said Jan Morley, Operations Manager at PCFA.

While PCFA could have transferred the traditional fixed-line services to the new offices for a fee, they were hesitant to do so for a number of reasons.

“Our supplier was difficult to deal with,” she commented. “There was a lack of service, and we were getting increasingly frustrated with their responses to our issues,” she added.

“Our traditional phone systems were expensive, and were really not doing much for our business processes. We never really considered how this could change, as we were only vaguely aware of the technology that was available and what it could do, but we knew that we could potentially reduce costs. We decided to look at what was available before making a decision,” Morley commented.

Solution: Hosted IP phone system

M5 was recommended to PCFA by an external consultant, who felt that M5’s offering would solve its telecommunications issues.

M5’s solution involved moving the company to a single hosted IP phone system, which meant that calls between offices were free, individual staff members received direct dial in numbers, and a built-in conference call system was included (rather than an add-in feature with a price tag).

The system was first set up at PCFA’s head office in Sydney and then rolled out to the various branch offices.

“The set-up process was very smooth. We agreed on what we required, and then M5 set up all the necessary networking and data connections. It made the transition smooth and fuss-free,” observed Morley.

“We were very impressed with the solution that M5 presented to us. They took the trouble to observe how we were using our existing phone systems, and then pointed out to us how we could use their IP phone systems to save costs, and take advantage of the added functionalities,” Morley commented.

“M5’s impressive track record of excellent customer service also encouraged us to take up the service,” Morley added.

Benefit: Working with experts in hosted IP telephony

PCFA found that working with M5 was much easier and much more seamless than with their previous provider. M5 is also able to solve many problems remotely rather than having to make on-site visits.

“M5 sorts everything out for us if we have any issues. They are also very proactive – for example, they send us reminders before a public holiday that we need to divert our phones or record a message to say we won’t be in the office that day,” she said.

M5’s phone system also provides additional features that traditional fixed-line systems were unable to offer, such as integration with Microsoft Outlook and the ability to sync online address books with the phone systems.

“These conveniences make things easier for us. Furthermore, if we are travelling, we can log into the online web portal and access our voice messages from the portal itself. We don’t have to have someone monitoring it for us, or wait till we get back to pick up our messages,” she said.

Benefit: Significant cost reduction

Since installing the solution, PCFA has saved over 25 per cent off their previous telephone costs by taking advantage of free internal calls and low cost conference calls. PCFA is also able to communicate via phone between branches for free.

“Calls can be transferred between offices, and all staff have full visibility into the system, whether someone is on a call or available, for example” Morley commented.

“We also have the flexibility to easily add and disconnect new numbers as we require them without huge set up fees. For example when we are running fund-raising campaigns and want people to dial in to a specific number, we can set that up easily and monitor that number so that we can analyse response rates to our marketing activities. When the campaign is over, we can disconnect the line without much fuss,” she said.

“We’ve also cut costs with M5’s teleconference system; we’ve seen a reduction of about $12,000 a year.  This is a significant amount of money that can instead be put toward important work like funding research, offering support or raising awareness about prostate cancer” she added.

Benefit: Move to one phone system

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia now has just one invoice to process every month, as opposed to one for each branch office.  M5’s invoicing system also gives PCFA more insight into the volume of calls that are being made, and how they are being made.

“Having one phone system makes things much easier to manage. Our staff can move desks as they please and take their numbers with them, we can have calls re-routed immediately if necessary, and we can even make use of a company-wide phone book that every one can access,” she said.

“It’s as if the geographical barriers didn’t exist, really. It brings the organisation closer together and makes it more cohesive,” she added.