Bechtle

With 66 independent system house businesses, Bechtle is one of the largest providers of IT products, solutions and managed services in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Also, the Bechtle Group has established an e-commerce presence in 14 countries and is among the leading value-added resellers in Europe. Bechtle direct B.V. is responsible for the Bechtle operations in the Netherlands.

Challenge

Bechtle Netherlands makes use of Cisco IP Telephony in their office environment. Since many employees are mobile workers and frequently make use of different desks in the building, Bechtle deployed the Cisco Extension Mobility (EM) feature. This functionality allows people to log into any desktop telephone – using a username and pin code – and use it as their own. With their own extension number, contact list, and settings.

However, entering a username and pin code on a basic Cisco telephone keypad is far from easy. In fact, it is a cumbersome procedure and certainly doesn’t make the use of Extension Mobility user-friendly.

Solution

Bechtle looked for a solution and found it at RSconnect. The RSconnect Active Login Manager (ALM) is a Single Sign-On (SSO) solution which removes the need to log into a telephone. Each time a user starts his computer or laptop, the telephone at his or her desk is automatically logged in. And when the computer is shut down or locked, the telephone is automatically logged out. A separate login procedure for the desk phone isn’t necessary anymore.

Results

The Active Login Manager has been installed. Bechtle employees can now simply log into their computer or laptop and wherever they are in the office, the desktop telephone is automatically activated and ready for use.

“We are very pleased with the ALM solution. It has been installed without problems and works flawlessly. Extension Mobility has become a very user-friendly feature from the moment we installed the software.”