MeteoGroup improved their communications and productivity with VoIPstudio

Industry

Meteorology

Company Size

500-1K Employees

Headquarters

Utrecht, The Netherlands

Founded

1986

About

MeteoGroup was one of the world’s leading providers of full-service B2B weather solutions. Its research and forecasting services supported businesses and organisations in making more effective, critical decisions. Established in 1986 as the first private-sector weather company in Europe, MeteoGroup operated offices in 17 countries.

The Challenge

Some of MeteoGroup’s offices were large, housing up to 150 staff, while others were much smaller, with only a few employees. In addition, some of the company’s forecasters worked remotely from home. When the group decided to open a new office in Canada, a VoIP solution became the clear choice due to its flexibility, functionality, and potential for cost savings.

Installing a physical PBX system was not considered practical. The long-term goal, led by Epco Dijk, Teamleader of the Technology Backoffice, was to eliminate the use of multiple telecom providers and disparate systems across various offices and regions. The objective was to centrally manage and configure all telecom systems for staff, regardless of location.

Although the team had previously explored VoIP providers, those earlier efforts were met with challenges, including quality issues and technical difficulties.

Our office in Manilla had issues, because our provider didn’t have an Asian datacentre, so call quality suffered. When we discovered VoIPstudio, we were pleased to see they have distributed data centres. Once we started talking to them, we soon realised they could do everything we wanted.

The Solution

MeteoGroup began its implementation of VoIPstudio with its Canadian operations, supporting around 8–10 users. Following the successful deployment there, the company expanded the rollout to offices in England, Poland, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, and France. Plans were in place to extend the solution to larger offices in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands during 2017. Once fully deployed, the platform was expected to support approximately 500 users across the organisation.

One of the key advantages of adopting VoIPstudio was the ease with which the telecom solution could be rolled out to both new and existing users. In the United States, for example, remote forecasters were able to set up their systems quickly and without complication. The platform also allowed for seamless customization to meet the unique needs of different locations. In Canada, for instance, local preferences such as a 12-hour time format and region-specific date displays were accommodated through custom provisioning templates. These configurations were managed centrally, with devices automatically applying the correct settings upon connection.

I have found them to be very, very responsive and willing to help out. For example, we have a corporate directory where we can find all our users in a central system. That was to be sent in plain text over the internet but our security officer wasn’t happy with the arrangement. So VoIPstudio came up with a solution involving an SSL gateway which tunnels the traffic towards the corporate directory in a safe manner. Our security officer is happy and now we have the directory up and running.

We have a clear view of overall costs and most importantly of all, just one bill.

We have everything in one place – a central management environment where I can request numbers throughout the world. Unquestionably, I am very happy with VoIPstudio!

The Impact

The ease of managing the VoIPstudio solution proved to be a major advantage for MeteoGroup, helping to enhance overall communication efficiency while reducing the workload for internal support teams.

The company was able to centralize its entire telecom environment, enabling the team to manage global numbers from a single interface. Whether requesting a number in Berlin or Tokyo, all operations were handled within the same system. This provided a comprehensive view of the entire organisation’s telephony structure, including geographic breakdowns and number assignments. Cost visibility also improved significantly, with a clear overview of total spend and the convenience of receiving just one consolidated monthly bill. All essential features were included, eliminating the need for separate add-ons and simplifying budget management.

Productivity gains were seen through the use of features like Follow Me and Ring Groups. MeteoGroup’s geographically distributed weather room – connecting team members from countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany –operated more seamlessly. A single call could ring across multiple countries simultaneously, something that would not have been feasible with a traditional PBX system.

We have a geographically divided weather room, with different people joining from, say, the UK, The Netherlands and Germany, but they are all reachable on the same number. With a single call, there is a phone ringing in three countries. That just wouldn’t be possible with a traditional PBX.

VoIPstudio offered a user-friendly telecom platform that was easy to configure, with strong management tools and flexible customization options. The service consistently evolved to meet user needs, contributing to a more streamlined and effective communication experience across the company.