Tapestry
Tapestry Integration Specialists Leverage Brooktrout Software’s Show N Tel to Deliver Rexall Sundown’s IVR System on Time and Under Budget
“Had we used a different development environment, we would not have been able to deliver the application on time with the quality that we were able to provide to Rexall Sundown.”—Christopher Jones, Vice President – Technical Services, Tapestry Integration Specialists
When Rexall Showcase needed to simultaneously decrease the costs and increase the available hours of order processing for their distributors, they turned to Tapestry Integration Specialists for their expert help. Tapestry recommended an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system built on Brooktrout Software’s Show N Tel. Show N Tel would allow Rexall to get up and running quickly while still using their existing computer and telephone networks.
A $150M+ Nutrition Products Provider
Rexall Showcase International is a portion of Rexall Sundown, Inc., a leading provider of vitamins, nutritional supplements and consumer health products. Rexall sells 1,300 products worldwide with numerous distribution channels, including direct sales through independent distributors. The company was recently named one of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies in America by Fortune magazine and is one of the most dynamic stocks on the NASDAQ, (RXSD). The company is posting year over year much double digit sales growth fueled by the Rexall Showcase Division.
Success Creates Demands
Rexall Showcase’s rapid growth resulted in the need to support the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, work schedules of its independent distributors, while simultaneously reducing operational costs. In late 1997, Stacy Cordes, Rexall Sundown’s Vice President of Information Technology, began upgrading the company’s distributor support infrastructure. Rexall Showcase called on Brooktrout Software business partner, Tapestry Integration Specialists, for assistance. Tapestry Specialists, experts in developing IVR-based applications, had come to the aid of other customers including Union Pacific Railroad, TWA, Anheuser-Busch, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri.
“We were impressed by Tapestry’s depth of knowledge, price and service record,” said Cordes. “They had implemented sites with our Lucent Definity PBX; they offered an open, flexible system; and they agreed to give us the source code upon completion. Because flexibility is our competitive advantage, we needed to ensure speed to market and the ability to rapidly modify and upgrade our IVR system.”
The Solution
Tapestry recommended Brooktrout Software’s Show N Tel for Windows NT to meet Rexall’s IVR needs. “When we recommend a solution to a customer, we stake our reputation on it,” said Jason Pace, Tapestry’s vice president of sales. “We chose the Show N Tel software tool because it met our criteria for ease of use, power and connectivity to remote databases. In addition, its PowerBlockä technology allowed our programmers to accomplish a lot very quickly – what would normally require several lines of programming took only 1 or 2 steps. It also allowed us to build our own PowerBlocks for use in other applications. Everything pointed to Brooktrout Software as the solution.”
Tapestry designed the application to use Lucent (formerly Rhetorex) cards. The Show N Tel application is installed behind a Lucent Definity G3i PBX with 48 available ports using a line side T1 configuration. Built-in redundancy ensures continued service for Rexall’s customers.
Show N Tel’s ability to seamlessly connect to an Oracle database also played an important role in meeting Rexall’s deadline. The solution needed to meet the rigorous demands of telephony applications around the clock using load balancing and system redundancy since any disruption to service would be costly to its distributors.
The combination of Tapestry’s extensive telephony/IVR expertise and the ease of use and flexibility of the Brooktrout Software’s Show N Tel development environment allowed a rapid prototype of the initial system. Within three days, Tapestry built a working prototype that connected to Rexall’s legacy system, a remote Oracle database. Show N Tel’s PowerBlocks (high level objects that represent complete voice, fax, database and host connectivity and telephony functions) enabled Tapestry to speed up their application development. Tapestry dragged-and-dropped the PowerBlocks and visually linked them in the application’s logical call flow with the click of a mouse.
The IVR Order Entry system was implemented in two stages. The goal of the first stage was to enable distributors to order products 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This was accomplished in just three months. The second stage, designed to allow customers to check their sales commissions any place, any time, was completed in the same amount of time. An Internet solution performing the same functions was also implemented during this stage.
Achieved Results
By automating the order placing process, Rexall Sundown has been able to migrate 25% of the ordering to the IVR and Internet. Rexall’s Cordes reported that all goals were completed on schedule and with great success. “The IVR system has helped to better position our company to meet the challenges we face today and into the future by cutting operational costs and providing the ability for our distributors to conduct business at times that are convenient for them.”
According to Cordes, the application has been a huge success. “Over $1 million in orders were processed by the new system in the first weekend and it was extremely well received by the distributors,” he said.
Rexall plans on implementing several other applications in the upcoming months with Tapestry’s assistance including a CTI-based screen pop and routing application that will route specific distributors to specific agents. Upon an incoming call, the application will provide receiving agents with a “Screen pop” containing the distributor’s information and order history.
Brooktrout Software, headquartered in Southborough, Mass., is a Brooktrout. company (NASDAQ: BRKT). A leading provider of Windows NT® solutions, services and rapid application development platforms, Brooktrout Software’s products reduce the cost, complexity, and time to market for developing CT applications for the enterprise including IVR, call management and unified messaging solutions. Additionally, Brooktrout Software’s Professional Services Group (PSG) provides CT consulting, as well as turnkey and customized CT systems, applications and services. For more information, visit http://www.brooksoft.com.
Tapestry Integration Specialists, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is an advanced technologies systems integration firm that specializes in providing turnkey, automated call processing and call routing systems for customer service, order entry, and technical support call centers of medium and large business. Tapestry systems typically include combinations of interactive voice response (IVR), fax, Internet access, and advanced call handling such as “intelligent call routing”, and “screen pop.” Tapestry Integration Specialists has over 50 successful implementations in the manufacturing, distribution, transportation, insurance, finance, managed health care, and government services industries. Tapestry’s web address is http://www.tapestry.com.