Field Engineer – accelerating the pace of digital change

Rolling out a retail voice and data network in record time

When a major national retailer says to its service provider that it wants to roll-out vastly improved telecommunications services to every one of its network of nationwide stores, the natural reaction of the provider is an understandable excitement about the size of the potential contract.

The next reaction though is much more considered, because the retailer is now asking the supplementary question – how quickly can the provider complete the full roll-out?

That exact situation occurred here, in the USA, earlier this year when a nationwide retailer of reading glasses, contact lenses and other eyewear, wanted to upgrade the communications capability of all its 750 stores across the country. A move to a new digital platform, with better use of data sharing for inventory purposes, with the adoption of VOIP handsets and terminals in all stores, with much greater bandwidth in every outlet, was going to require site visits to every store to complete the digital rollover. Read More…