Butler County Children Services

Butler County, Ohio

View a printable version of the Butler County Children Services case study.

Overview

Butler County Children Services (BCCS) is designated by state and federal laws to provide for the care and protection of children in Butler County, Ohio. BCCS is committed to protecting children by strengthening and preserving families. Through open communication, the agency partners with the community to ensure quality outcomes for the children and families it serves.¹

BCCS has a policy mandate to record all telephone calls. Call recording enables BCCS to ensure quality service for their clients, and they are able to provide a record of conversations with everyone they interact with including families, schools, healthcare providers, police and the court system. Call recording also helps increase security for employees who may be subject to threats from difficult clients. Call recordings are admissible in court and can be used to demonstrate a pattern of behavior.

As of the 2000 census, there were 123,082 households in Butler County of which over 35% included children under the age of 18.² To meet the continued population growth and increased demand for its services, BCCS recently built a new office facility in Middletown, OH, the second largest city in the county. To stay current with the latest technology, BCCS was interested in installing an IP telephony system.

Business Challenge

Putting in a new phone system for the new facility meant BCCS would also need a new call recording system. BCCS's existing office facility included a TDM-based PBX and third-party call recording system.

IT Project Manager, Mike Gustin, led the effort to evaluate the best course of action to meet BCCS's needs. As a member of the Butler County Information Services team, Gustin is involved in providing information technology to all county offices. BCCS partnered with the Butler County Auditor's Office to evaluate VoIP for the new facility.

"It wouldn't have made sense to go with old technology in the new facility," says Mike, "IP telephony represents the new way of doing things, and we wanted to make sure our offices would benefit from the cost savings and additional value it offers."

Problem

The problem was that the BCCS team didn't necessarily want to bring the legacy call recording system forward into the new facility. Though the existing system worked, it incurred operational costs and administrative overhead that the team felt they could avoid.

"With a TDM-based call recording system, you have to physically tap phone lines, run additional cable, do punch downs, etc.," says Mike. "It's very expensive to have the phone guys come out to do taps and run new lines every time we have a new employee, or have to do moves or changes."

Nevertheless, to evaluate all options, the BCCS team requested a quote to expand the existing call recording system into the new facilities and integrate with an IP telephony system.

"Incredibly expensive" is how Mike describes the quote from the existing call recording vendor. "It was more than the IP PBX and the CallRex system combined." True to their expectations, the BCCS team found that investing in legacy technology would mean higher costs and greater complexity.

"The reality is that our existing call recording system included a lot of expensive features that we were not going to use," says Mike.

Key Needs

BCCS simply needed to record all calls, both station-to-station as well as inbound and outbound calls. They need to easily search and retrieve calls, with the ability to export and forward call recordings via email.

They needed a call recording solution that would leverage IP telephony so it would be easier to manage and enable them to avoid the additional operational and administrative costs of their existing system.

Ideally, BCCS wanted a business-class call recording and monitoring solution that was easy to install, easy to use and was reasonably priced.

They needed a solution that would enable them to expand without a great deal of cost or complexity, and they wanted a solution with additional capabilities that could be added when they're ready, without having to incur the costs now.

Other items that scored points with the BCCS team included the "non interference" approach of the CallRex technology. CallRex doesn't require physical integration with the PBX, which reduces complexity of installation, troubleshooting and expansion.

"And we were happy with the costs," adds Mike. "It was so much less than the quote from the existing vendor that by choosing CallRex it was like getting the IP telephony system for free."

CallRex Professional

CallRex is an-all software IP call recording solution. CallRex utilizes innovative packet sniffing technology to identify and record VoIP traffic on the network. When calls are initiated or received, CallRex begins to record the associated packets and enables real-time monitoring of the calls.

The CallRex client presents managers and administrators with the status of employees' phones, showing which phones are in use, and which phones are being monitored and recorded, as well as call time, caller ID, outbound number dialed and more.

Multiple search criteria enable users to quickly find the call or calls needed. Call recordings can be played back through users' PC speakers, or exported and emailed as standard WAV files.

CallRex does not integrate directly with the IP telephony system; instead it utilizes port mirroring at the network switch to copy and record VoIP traffic on the network.

They also needed a solution that produced highly compressed call recording files in order to limit the amount of storage space required.

"Our VAR recommended CallRex," says Mike.

Selection Process

The BCCS team conducted a thorough evaluation and considered a number of call recording products.

"We liked the simplicity of the CallRex interface," says Mike. BCCS found CallRex to be easy to use, easy to install and easy to manage over time.

BCCS also rated CallRex for its expandability. "With CallRex, we just add licenses, and it makes life a lot easier. To expand the system, all we have to do is buy phones and licenses. We can do a roll out at our own pace, instead of a massive fork lift upgrade all at once."

Installation

CallRex software is installed remotely by a Telrex Project Manager. Installation typically requires a few hours, with network configuration performed by the customer or third-party network consultant in advance.

Mike says the overall installation process went smoothly, though the required configuration changes to their network switches created an issue that needed to be addressed.

"We thought we had port mirroring set up properly for the CallRex software," says Mike, "But we didn't find out until we actually had CallRex installed. I was happy with the way everyone came together to get it resolved, and overall it was a positive process," says Mike.

Solution Summary

• CallRex Professional
• 51 Unlimited CallRex recording licenses
• Windows Server
• ShoreTel IP telephony system

Benefits & Results

"From the perspective of the Auditor's office, we are very pleased," says Butler County Auditor, Kay Rogers, "This project fit perfectly with our continued efforts of delivering advanced technology while simultaneously reducing expenses."

"CallRex does exactly what we want," says Mike, "With the other system, we paid a lot of extra money for features we never use. With CallRex, we're getting good value."

Today, BCCS utilizes CallRex Professional to record 100% of their telephone calls. They perform monitoring on an as-needed basis, and they easily search and retrieve call recordings to meet a variety of requests.

"Many times the courts will ask for a call," says Mike. "A call recording is an undisputable record that is admissible in court."

BCCS also enhances employee security by recording calls. "Our employees work with all types of people over time. On occasion, requests may be initiated from one of our workers who have received a threatening call from a difficult client. When there's an issue, call recordings can be used to demonstrate a pattern of behavior."

And on a lighter note, "Sometimes people just accidentally delete a voice mail," Mike points out. "We are able to quickly search for the call and email them a copy. It has saved more than a few people."

Planning For the Future

"When we want to add screen capture, we know that we can do that with a CallRex add on module," says Mike. CallRex Professional includes the CallRex Multi-Media add on module that enables recording and real-time monitoring of computer screens.

Learn more about CallRex call recording solutions for ShoreTel.

¹Butler County Children Services Board website: http://www.BCCS.org/index.cfm?page=aboutUs
² Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler_County%2C_Ohio

View a printable version of the Butler County Children Services case study.