Situation

• Creit Management Ltd. manages a wide range of properties on behalf of Canadian Real Estate Income Trust (CREIT), a publicly-traded investment trust listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
• Executives of the CREIT investment trust require mobile devices to enable them to work outside the office
• Creit's property managers and building operators used a combination of cell phones, pagers and Citizens Band radios to communicate with the company's central service offices, suppliers and tenants
• When a tenant called a service office to request non-emergency maintenance or repair work, an operator would create and print out a work ticket, which would be picked up later by the appropriate building operator or manager
• Each region made its own purchasing decisions and paid its own phone bills, with the result that the company found itself working with two different wireless provers
• When IT Manager Martin Ptak joined the company in 2004, he was frustrated by the lack of control, as well as the poor customer service received from one of the providers

Approach

• In order to centralize control of purchasing and billing and improve support for end users, Creit Management decided to consolidate its wireless needs with a single provider
• The company issued a Request for Proposals and chose the bid submitted by TELUS because it was the only enterprise-ready proposal and the price was highly competitive
• TELUS worked closely with Creit Management to ensure that every user received the most appropriate wireless device
• TELUS created a Web portal specifically for Creit Management, allowing the company to manage its own accounts, 24/7

Business benefits

• Creit Management saves considerably on its overall wireless bill
• All work tickets are now emailed to operators and managers on their Mike BlackBerry devices, ensuring that tenant issues are addressed much faster
• Operators and managers no longer need to visit the service offices just to pick up work tickets, giving them more time to focus on their jobs
• Executives at CREIT can work anywhere, anytime, using TELUS wireless network and their BlackBerry® devices
• The two-person IT department is now able to deal with all wireless issues and support every user
• Centralized billing gives IT management a clear view of the company's usage
• Airtime minutes are pooled across the company, allowing for more efficiency and lower costs
• Building operators use the Mike Direct Connect feature to communicate with each other and with service offices, significantly reducing the company's long distance costs

Solution

Creit Management Ltd. is a subsidiary of Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (CREIT), a publicly-traded investment trust listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  It was created specifically to manage the properties owned by the Trust across Canada.

Creit Management's property managers and building operators must be available and able to communicate with tenants, suppliers and the company's service offices at any time.  In the company's early days, they used a combination of cell phones, pagers and Citizens Band radios to ensure that they could always be reached in an emergency.  In non-emergency situations, service operators created and printed out a work ticket for tenant requests.  These tickets were picked up periodically by the managers.

Although the building operators and property managers used the same wireless provider, each region was free to make its own purchasing decisions and was responsible for paying its own bills.  In addition, executives at head office had chosen a different wireless provider for their BlackBerry devices and wireless voice and data plans.  As a result, there was no central control over the company's wireless communications, a lack of support for end users and missed opportunities to leverage the company's buying power. 

When IT manager Martin Ptak joined the company in 2004, he quickly discovered a number of frustrations.  "The service we were getting was very poor, especially in the sense of customer support," he says.  "We'd try to get issues dealt with by our account rep, but our calls weren't returned.  And in Nova Scotia, for example, one of our providers has to use a third party network, so we had difficulties with hardware issues and warranties.  "Ptak believed that the TELUS Mike network, with its Direct Connect feature, would be ideal for the company's building managers and operators, so when Creit Management issued a Request for Proposals, TELUS was included with the two existing providers.

To Ptak's surprise, one of the company's existing providers did not respond with anything that was close to meeting their needs, while the other suggested Creit Management work through its dealers.  "TELUS was the only company to offer us anything that was enterprise-ready," he says.  "We signed up, bought the devices we needed and migrated all our units."

For its building managers and operators, Creit Management chose a mix of Mike phones and Mike BlackBerry devices.  Employees now carry a single device that allows them to be available around the clock.  Instead of travelling to a service centre to pick up the latest work tickets, they receive them via email on their BlackBerry devices.  This saves them time and ensures that work is completed faster, leading to greater tenant satisfaction.  The cross-country Mike Direct Connect feature saves on long distance charges and makes it easy for managers to stay in touch with each other and with head office and service offices, at the push of a button.  And because some managers use more airtime that others, the company chose to pool its minutes for maximum efficiency.  Each manager's plan includes 1,500 minutes, which is more than enough for most of them.  Those who need more simply draw on their colleagues' unused minutes.

Executives have also been switched to the TELUS network.  Their BlackBerry devices operate on the TELUS PCS and high speed wireless data networks, enabling them to work anywhere, anytime, with access to all the corporate data they need.

Ptak noticed a difference almost immediately.  "One of the biggest assets we have found is our account representative.  I can ask any questions at any time of the day or night and know it will be answered within an hour or two."

It's also much easier for Ptak and his small IT department to support all of the company's users.  "Now that we have standard devices, standard pricing and standard plans, a user can call us and we can quickly take care of anything."  His in-house department also finds it easy to use their own TELUS Web portal to activate new accounts, close accounts when employees leave and change names.  "Everything is just so much easier," says Ptak.

While the company has not measured the benefits in terms of ROI or cost-savings, Ptak is confident that it delivers in every sense.  "Just two of us can support all our users across Canada," he says.  "All in all, my experience with TELUS has been very positive."