Schnuck Markets, Inc. Selects Vertical InstantOffice
Food Chain Leveraging the Strategic Insight from Voice Communications to Improve the Customer Experience
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (March 13, 2006) -- Vertical Communications (ASFT.OB), a leading provider of next-generation, IP-based phone systems and applications that help businesses better serve their customers, today announced that Schnuck Markets, Inc., one of St. Louis’ largest food chains, has chosen Vertical InstantOffice, the company’s award-winning integrated communications platform, to aggregate, track and manage its voice communications. Schnuck Markets expects to deploy a number of Vertical’s high-value retail applications – including the company’s Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Advanced Call Management Suite (CMS), MultiSite Manager (MSM) and MultiSite Reporter (MSR) – to all of its stores, located predominantly in Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee. The cohesive management of its voice communications will allow Schnuck Markets to deliver improved customer service in the form of fewer call transfers and shorter hold times.
“As one of the Midwest region’s largest food chains offering a full line of groceries, pharmacies, video rental outlets, in-store banking and florist shops, Schnuck Markets needed a solution that could integrate all of our customer-facing applications into one platform,” said Jim Mueller, director of IT for Schnuck Markets. “Vertical was a natural fit for us because InstantOffice was designed as a unified platform that consolidates data networking and voice applications. This allows us to track, manage and optimize voice communications in a flexible, timely way to support our business goals, while consolidating the number of vendors typically needed for this type of solution.”
Vertical teamed with Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. (Fujitsu) on the Schnuck’s project. Fujitsu markets and sells Vertical’s communications solutions to the retailing industry and has a long-standing relationship with Schnuck Markets. Schnuck Markets has also used Fujitsu U-Scan self-checkout since 2002.
While Schnuck Markets’ previous architecture required separate vendors for the phone system and IVR application, Vertical’s InstantOffice solution is integrating the automated prescription refill IVR application, auto attendant and advanced call routing solution onto Vertical’s one platform. InstantOffice will collect a wealth of data at the individual store and department level to track the customer experience, reveal and resolve call management problems, and evaluate and maximize the company’s enterprise-wide communications infrastructure.
In addition, Schnuck Markets has chosen Vertical’s MultiSite Manager and MultiSite Reporter applications for their abilities to push important configuration changes to all of its stores at once, as well as to simultaneously pull key operational business intelligence, such as call abandon rates and length of hold time. Having the ability to make quick changes and easily pull critical pieces of information will set Schnuck Markets apart from supermarkets whose disjointed systems are too cumbersome to be able to respond immediately to customer and management needs. By responding quickly and appropriately to customer intelligence, Schnuck Markets will be able to enhance its customer service, fine-tune staff productivity, drive revenue growth and manage its business more effectively.
“Schnuck’s needed an IVR solution that would differentiate it from the competition by turning its customer phone calls into an important source of business intelligence, allowing Schnuck’s to in turn offer superior, educated customer service,” said Bill Tauscher, chairman and CEO of Vertical. “With our InstantOffice unified platform, Vertical will help Schnuck’s to extract untapped value from the customer phone calls that come in daily. By centrally managing its voice communications, Schnuck’s will be able to optimize its customers’ interactions and enhance the company’s overall business processes. As a result, Schnuck’s will be better positioned to retain and grow its loyal customer base.”
Vertical’s relationship and certifications with both PDX and NDC Health have also allowed Schnuck’s to immediately deploy InstantOffice in 20 stores. Schnuck Markets expects to deploy the Vertical solution to the rest of the Schnuck’s chain throughout 2006.
About Schnuck Markets, Inc.
Founded in St. Louis in 1939, Schnuck Markets, Inc. currently operates 102 stores (including five Logli stores) and 99 pharmacies in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Mississippi and Iowa.
About Vertical Communications, Inc.
Vertical Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of next-generation IP-based voice and data communications systems for business. Vertical combines voice and data technologies with business process understanding to deliver integrated IP-PBX and application solutions that enhance customer service and business productivity. Vertical’s customers are leading companies of all sizes – from small to large and distributed – and include CVS/pharmacy, Staples and Apria Healthcare. Vertical is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. and delivers its solutions through a worldwide network of systems integrators, resellers and distributors. For more information, please visit the company’s Website at www.vertical.com.
About Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc.
Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702), collaborates with retailing companies to relentlessly reduce their costs and facilitate consumer interactions that drive improved profitability for its customers. Fujitsu’s Pervasive RetailingÔ approach enables companies to minimize the time, cost and risk of creating interoperability between disparate applications and devices that support a multitude of consumer touch points. Fujitsu’s offering includes solution software, point-of-sale store technology, U-Scan self-checkout systems, self-ordering systems and multi-vendor lifecycle services. For more information on Fujitsu's retail solutions, please visit www.us.fujitsu.com/retailing.
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