Synaq, national provider of managed Linux services, recently transformed the call centre operation housed within Benefit Recovery Services (BRS) from a Windows-dominated environment to that of Linux.
The Johannesburg-based Linux services provider created a customised kick-start CD called ShrinkWrap that automatically configured each terminal at the 60-seat call centre with a custom Linux installation providing each agent with only the necessary tools and eliminating the need for human intervention.
Benefit Recovery Services is owned by a consortium of shareholders and was established to identify and recover unclaimed monies that lie in financial service companies, find untraced beneficiaries to ensure appropriate distribution and assist pension and provident fund trustees, fund administrators & former members in implementing the requirements and principles of the Pension Funds Second Amendment Act, 2001.
The company's fully-equipped call centre and administration section is dependent on efficient ICT infrastructure that is cost effective to manage and maintain, with no risk of downtime.
Synaq was brought in to convert the existing infrastructure from Windows machines to Linux desktops without impacting on the daily operation of the business. The company adopted and ran a unique installation method that worked automatically and seamlessly to derive the desired results.
"We managed to migrate BRS' call centre operation within hours by implementing ShrinkWrap, a CD manufactured and designed for this purpose. The implementation saved on licence renewals, hardware upgrades, anti-virus software and most importantly, time," explains David Jacobson, technical director at Synaq. "The design and use of the CD is an innovative method in implementing Linux and Open Source Software. It not only makes very good technological sense, but very powerful business sense as well."
Ian Lewin, Executive Director at BRS, said the company featured a back-end system that runs off HTML and the chief reason for the deployment of the new operating system software on user systems is to leverage off the Firefox browser facility.
"Microsoft licensing was prohibitive to our growth. We opted to go the Linux route in order to prevent any downtime when we re-wrote our Windows-based recording software to that of a Linux system. The results have been phenomenal - not a single machine has been down since installation and we have quite literally saved in the region of R2 000 per machine," says Lewin.
Jacobson adds that the straightforward installation and short-term results of this migration project demonstrates that a Linux investment can add value within certain environments, conducive to this technology and infrastructure.
"We advocate open source technology within the framework of an ICT infrastructure as a viable alternative. As our involvement with BRS proves, there is often no impact on the business in terms of downtime and the Linux route can lead to a significant saving," he concludes.
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