Legal Technology Journal

A look at the benefits Scottish firm Brodies has gained in replacing its entire telephony infrastructure with a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) solution for 400 people across two sites.

It is 140 years since Western Union commented: ‘This "telephone" has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.’ Since then, telephone systems have gained functionality but have essentially been based on the same proprietary technologies for decades. Whilst few would doubt the essential place of the telephone in a law firm, systems have typically been considered the poor relation of the IT network. But with VoIP now outselling traditional PABX systems, voice and data convergence is now firmly on the agenda. Is it really worth the hassle?

In August this year, Brodies acquired Glasgow-based Bishops, and in the process moved from being a single-site law firm in Edinburgh to a two-site practice with a headcount of more than 400. Although the existing computer networks at the two firms were integrated from day one of the acquisition – including full document management, practice management and Microsoft Exchange/Active Directory integration – the telephone systems remained separate. Whilst it would have been possible to continue to operate in that manner, with a dedicated switchboard in Edinburgh and another, entirely separate switchboard in Glasgow, it was felt that it would cause a number of frustrations for staff and clients as there was no way to transfer calls easily between the two sites with the existing systems. It was with client service firmly in mind that the decision was made to move to a VoIP solution throughout, addressing all current issues whilst delivering a scalable system more geared to multi-site working, hot desking and improved disaster recovery. Whilst the cost of the installation was not insignificant, a large proportion of the investment will be recoverable through savings made as a direct result of the system upgrade.

So why take the VoIP route? Brodies had a very particular set of challenges facing it in August that made VoIP an obvious choice. First, the existing systems in use in Edinburgh and Glasgow had recently gone end-of-life, meaning licence keys for software upgrades were no longer available, expansion cards were becoming harder to obtain, and further investment in proprietary handsets just didn’t make sense. Secondly, as a result of recent expansion, the firm was beginning to run out of network cabling points around both offices, which meant either a large, disruptive recabling programme, or looking at alternatives that required fewer cables per user. Thirdly, as a result of the acquisition, the networking equipment in the Glasgow office was going to be replaced anyway, which gave the opportunity to install power over ethernet (PoE) network switches to support VoIP handsets. And finally, having installed a large LAN extension between Edinburgh and Glasgow to support a centralised server infrastructure, it made good sense to utilise the data link for voice calls between sites.

Taking the plunge

After looking closely at the market, VoIP switches were installed in the Edinburgh and Glasgow offices during November. These are linked by a high-speed LAN extension through Brodies’ disaster recovery site on the outskirts of Edinburgh. GSM gateways were then added at each location to channel calls made from the VoIP system to mobile phones out across SIM cards rather than land lines, and a fax server with e-mail integration was installed at each location that replaced an existing combination of multi-function devices with fax cards and physical fax machines.

The system solves a number of problems. Broadly, these fall into client service and cost-reduction categories. On the client service side (and I include the firm’s own users as clients here), the VoIP connection between sites has enabled Brodies to reinforce its ‘one firm, two sites’ message very clearly. All the telephone handsets are the same, so a member of staff can work from any office with exactly the same equipment. The hot-desking feature allows staff to log out at one office, travel to the other site and log on again there, with their DDI and voicemail transferring across with them. The mobile integration allows the option to transfer to a mobile phone as well as to a secretary or to voicemail. Additionally, the switchboards in Edinburgh and Glasgow can pick up each other’s calls, improving response times at peak periods and improving service in the event of a staff shortage. In terms of cost reduction, all internal calls between sites are routed over the data network and calls to mobiles are routed over the mobile network, which reduced the number of external land lines required. Because the sites are linked by a resilient data network, each office’s land lines act as backup to the other site, improving disaster recovery and reducing the requirement for lines still further. It is also worth noting that the VoIP system only requires one cable per user – the PC and phone share a network socket – so the requirement for cabling infrastructure is half that of a traditional office environment with PC and telephone utilising separate sockets.

What happens if something breaks?

With regard to fault tolerance and disaster recovery, IT team worked hard to remove single points of failure. The high-speed LAN extension has allowed, effectively, the implementation of the two switches as a cluster, so if one fails, the handsets look to the remote site and the configuration is picked up from there. Similarly, the fax servers are installed so that in the event of a complete failure, traffic is all routed through the other site without the need for any end user involvement and likewise, the GSM gateways can take traffic from both sites if necessary. This has allowed the use of smaller (and therefore cheaper) fax and mobile devices at each site than would otherwise have been required, with the peak traffic being diverted to the remote site when needed.

And speaking of fault tolerance, what about the ‘eggs in one basket’ risk of routing voice traffic across the firm’s data network? It has always been a criticism levied at VoIP that, in the event that the computer network goes down, the voice traffic is lost as well – at the very point that it becomes critical. To address this, the IT team looked at what would cause a complete network outage. Power loss is the main risk, but this has been addressed by uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) that were in place already on the network, server and existing PABX infrastructure. The other potential risk comes from a failure of the network switches themselves, and that could either be related to hardware or software configuration. Fault-tolerant network switching is pretty standard practice these days and Brodies’ network stacks are designed to cope with a partial failure. Change control procedures are also in place to ensure that software updates and programming changes are undertaken in a controlled manner. In actual fact, this was all in place already to support the IT network: all that has changed is the introduction of VLANs on the switches to accommodate the handsets and separate them from the main LAN, the implementation of quality of service (QoS) across the whole network to prioritise VoIP traffic over other data types, and a move to a faster response on our network maintenance contracts.

The financial aspects

So all is well in terms of client service, ease of use, fault tolerance and disaster recovery. The obvious next question is can it be cost-justified and what savings could be expected? To answer that, we need to go back to the particular situation that Brodies is in. Turnover is increasing, headcount is increasing, and the firm has made two acquisitions in the past 12 months. Simply by moving to VoIP, some major recabling work has been avoided alongside all the cost and disruption that it would have caused. Then, looking at the system itself, there have been end-to-end process savings with the fax server installation and Outlook integration, and by allowing the two offices’ telephonists to handle each other’s incoming calls.

In terms of hard revenue savings, the number of land lines required has fallen (it may well be reduced even further over time), expensive land line to mobile calls have been moved across to the firm’s mobile account, and all internal calls between sites are now free of charge. Perhaps most surprisingly though, if you accept that the network switch point was required anyway for a PC connection, the cost per user of the VoIP handset and associated licensing is actually less than the cost of the previous system handset and its share of the digital line card in the PABX. The call-logging software allows the firm to aggregate Edinburgh and Glasgow call traffic and report on line utilisation, cost by call type and telephonist utilisation, which will allow the IT team to tailor the configuration over the coming months to strike the best blend of cost, fault tolerance and client service. Over five years, the savings identified above will outweigh the total cost of installing the entire VoIP solution.

The future

The next step is to further develop remote working. With VoIP, internal extension numbers can be routed to broadband users. Combined with digital dictation and electronic matter files in DMS, Brodies is moving to a position where a fully functioning office environment is available to any member of staff with a laptop and internet connection, whether that is at home, in a hotel, or on the move with a 3G data card.

The benefits of hindsight

Finally, having painted such a rosy picture of another big-bang implementation, could anything have been done differently? With hindsight, it would have been better to add features such as hot-desking only once the system had bedded down – the number of helpdesk calls from people who just couldn’t resist pressing the logout button was extraordinary. It might also have been a good idea to tidy the patch panels in advance of the roll-out weekend, as it would have saved frayed tempers as the sun was setting on Sunday evening, but they’re small points given the potential outcry that could have come from meddling with the lawyers’ favourite piece of technology. 

Andrew Powell is IT director at Brodies LLP.