Severud Associates is an award winning structural engineering firm that has been in business since 1928.  They take pride in their use of current technological advances and engineering techniques to develop solutions that best meet their client’s needs. 

In order for Severud to accommodate the increasing business demands on technology and to better serve their clients, in mid 2007 they decided to upgrade their PBX system with voice-over-IP telephony.  During their discovery and vendor selection process, BBH Solutions was asked to present a Cisco Advanced Unified Communications solution. 

“BBH showed us the difference between Cisco and other solutions we were considering,” said Gustavo Amaris, IT director for Severud Assoicates.  “It was clear that the infrastructure of the Cisco Solution would allow us to transfer our large CAD files quicker and to communicate more effectively with our clients.”

BBH Solutions assessed Severud’s business requirements and recommended a Gigabit network solution, which converged Voice, Messaging and Data applications.  Severud made the decision to move forward with an eighty-two user Cisco Unified CallManager Express with a Unity Express voicemail solution. 

In addition, BBH re-terminated Severud’s patch panels and end-user points for optimal performance.  Severud’s patch cords and network server racks were also reorganized, and Wireless Access Points were added for wireless phone handsets and guest internet access.

With their new Cisco converged network, Severud utilizes unified voicemail functions, call accounting, after-hours call control, and the ability to dial directly from their Outlook contacts.  Staff members are now capable of remote access to their extensions with the Cisco Unified Communicator “soft phone” function.

“We were extremely happy with our decision to bring on BBH for this project.  Along with a new voice system, we got the added bonus of a network that can handle the heavy load of our data files,” Mr. Amaris added.

BBH Solutions continues to support Severud Associates with a network and voice services agreement, which includes management of their Cisco SmartNet renewals.