Fairmont Area Schools Manager of Information Systems Lee Stewart had a problem. The school district’s telecommunications provider was slow to resolve support tickets, making it difficult to rely on critical communications systems that serve the district’s students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

Even worse, the provider would often send the district a bill before their ticket was resolved.

“If I submitted a ticket today, we’d be talking the same time next month when it might be done. It just didn’t really work,” Lee says. “Then, we’d get a bill for it before the work was done. The billing department was faster than the people in the field. That was kind of the straw that broke my back. We had to find a different solution.”

Here’s why Lee turned to Cady Business Technologies to resolve the school district’s persistent telecom issues.

Reliable Service

Telecommunications reliability is paramount for Fairmont Area Schools, which serves 1,800 students and their parents and 225 full-time employees. The school district’s telecom system must work seamlessly between its elementary and secondary schools, maintenance shop, offsite office, and athletic fields.

“We have roughly 1,800 students between two sites, and parents always need to contact teachers, and teachers need to contact parents, so the phone literally never stops ringing from 6am until 5pm at night,” Lee says. “Our system is also crucial for notifications, such as whether the school is open or closed. The list goes on.”

Cady provides reliable service via the district’s on-premise VoIP Mitel Phone System and a fiber backbone that carries service to all remote sites. The system features voice and voicemail, mass notifications, and twinning, which connects Lee’s business line to his cell phone so callers can reach him when he’s on the go.

Fast Support

Lee says Cady provides quick, expert support to keep lines of communication open for the school district – a complete 180 from his experience with the district’s previous vendor.

“With Cady, we get problems resolved in hours instead of days, weeks, or months, and that’s what we were looking for. When we call, a real person answers instead of getting a call center with a calling tree where a machine answers and sends you to voicemail,” he says.

He also appreciates Cady’s expertise and familiarity with the district’s Mitel Phone System, which had been a problem with previous vendors.

“We’re not paying someone to learn our system. That’s another frustration I’ve had with some phone companies. You’re paying someone to call Mitel,” he says. “Granted, sometimes you run into a situation where you have to call for support, but I don’t want to pay for people’s time to call support when we can do it ourselves.”

Local Technicians

Fairmont Area Schools is in a rural community with a population of around 10,000 in the city and around 5,000 in the outlying county. Though Cady’s central office is in Minneapolis, Lee appreciates that we’re still able to offer localized service.

“We’re a rural community outside of a major metro area, so it’s very hard to get good quality service,” he says. “For the taxpayers, it’s nice when you’re not dealing with someone in New York for repair. That’s what we had with our former provider, but Cady provides friendly, local service out of Minneapolis.”

Expert Guidance

Fairmont Area Schools’ phone system operates on PRI lines, which were previously prone to service outages. Lee says he is working with Cady to upgrade its system to SIP trunks to improve reliability. Cady is also providing expert guidance to expand the district’s E911 capabilities – all without needing to replace its entire phone system.

“If we didn’t have a company like Cady helping us through this quagmire of technology, it probably wouldn’t happen until someone came in and sold us a new phone system,” he says. “That’s usually what happens, but you don’t necessarily need a new phone system. You need new connections. For us, Cady is a comfortable shoe, someone we can call who will listen to our problems, fix them, and get us in the right direction.”

Cost Savings

Cady not only helps Fairmont Area Schools navigate the complexities of telecom technology, but we also identify opportunities to expand capabilities while reducing costs.

“People don’t realize that a phone system is pretty complex with call directing, the number of incoming lines, the load, things like that. It’s always nice to have talented people to be able to help with filtering that out so you’re not paying lots of money for things you don’t need,” Lee says. “Our phone system isn’t that old, and it’s expensive to keep replacing it all the time for some simple little feature. Cady helps us avoid expenses.”

Lee says he’s happy with Cady’s billing process and that Cady’s technology advisors always have an eye toward the future.

“Cady lets you know far enough in advance when renewal is coming up in case there’s anything you want to change or upgrade, so there’s a lot of forward thinking,” he says.

Reliable communications and white glove service are vital for school systems. Cady is proud to partner with Fairmont Area Schools and ensure communications remain a strength for their team and school district.

Cady Business Technologies is proud to be a Mitel Gold Partner.

Our strong relationship with Mitel over many years allows us to offer the reliability and expertise your Mitel Phone System solution requires.

Contact us today to help create a plan that will support your business needs and budget.