AniCura consists of prominent animal hospitals and clinics specialised in pets. The company was born from combining resources to create better animal care and was founded in 2011 as the first unification of animal hospitals in the Nordics. The company offers a wide variety of medical and surgical services.

AniCura has 350 animal clinics and hospitals in Europe that provide safety for pet owners through availability and patient security. The company’s 7 500 dedicated employees care for 3 million patients each year.

AniCura is an impressive group spread over 45 different locations – from Sundsvall in the north to Malmö in the south. In 2017, they made an IT project where the goal was, among other things, that the receptions could collaborate more effectively.

“Our vision is to be able to help each other between the regions. If we have specialists available in one region but not in another, we should be able to refer to someone there easily”, says Ulf Ståhl, IT manager at AniCura.

Different PBX solutions in each region

AniCura had virtually different PBX solutions in each region. During the project, they asked both large and small clinics to produce a requirements specification.

“Our goal was for everyone to come together under one solution. This facilitates collaboration between the clinics and is more cost-effective”, says Ulf.

Ulf Ståhl, IT manager at AniCura, says that he has been able to hand over much of the operations to Telavox and thus be able to focus on the core business and the strategic work. Photographer: Daniel Nilsson

Compared a lot of telephony providers

Before they could launch the grand plan, AniCura made an advanced evaluation of various telephony providers. They had some requirements: Are there integration possibilities to other systems? How’s the interface? Is the app intuitive and user-friendly?

AniCura also placed great emphasis on the supplier’s commitment during the process – were they available? And what were the supplier’s approach and strategy when it came to implementation and training in the system?

“It was an important criterion to receive support during the transition”, says Ulf.

The essential thing for Ulf was that the delivery should go as painlessly as possible.

“It creates a sense of security for the employees. The phone must work when worried pet owners call us. The first impression is crucial”.

Big savings to switch to cloud PBX

After AniCura’s supplier evaluation, the choice fell on one that stood out.

“We developed three typical cases, both small and large clinics, and examined how much they called and so on. We looked at the costs of upgrading the old solutions with new equipment and cloud services. But in the end, we chose Telavox, which was the best in terms of price. We saw the possibility to save big by switching to the cloud, and Telavox’s solution gave the most value for our money”, says Ulf.

Photographer: Jonatan Fernström

Ulf is very satisfied with the work process from old exchange systems to cloud-based services.

“Adjustments are always difficult for people, even if the old is not perfect, you still know how it works. We have received a lot of help and support from Telavox. They trained our employees in the system and if someone wanted rehearsal, there have never been any problems”, says Ulf.

Proactive and committed supplier

Ulf says that the project would have been massive if Telavox had not had such proactive and committed Customer Success Managers and salespeople who made sure that everyone got what they needed – mobile phones or even softphones? Which technical solutions are suitable for each clinic? What does the wifi network look like?

“We have saved a lot of time as I did not have to be a driving force in the projects. Telavox has taken care of that. We have instead been able to focus on strategy and being good customers. All 45 clinics would be contacted and onboard. We could only tell our Project Manager, Morgan Arnhed, that now is the time for Södertälje. Then he called the head of the clinic, asked the right questions, and reported back to us”, says Ulf.

Photographer: Jonatan Fernström

Since AniCura switched to Telavox, Ulf says that they have saved considerable sums of money and time.

“I estimate that we have reduced our telephony costs by about 30 percent”, states Ulf.

There are no intermediaries

Ulf appreciates that Telavox develops everything itself and therefore can be more flexible towards customers.

“It is fantastic that we can have a dialogue with the performer himself without any intermediaries. When I visited Telavox, I got to talk directly with the development department. The possibility of integration is important to us. For example, to be able to integrate with our journal systems with the Telavox app. At present, we do not have any specially built integrations, but I know that it is possible, ”says Ulf.

Their Customer Success Manager also gives you tips on how to meet customer needs.

“I discussed with our Project Manager, Morgan. How can we use the statistics tool to plan staffing? Are there many conversations during a long weekend? How long are the calls? We use all this data so that we have the right number of employees on-site who can meet our customers’ needs, ”says Ulf.

Saved both money and time

Ulf can warmly recommend Telavox to other companies.

“We are very satisfied. We have received a tailor-made solution according to our requirements. When we compared suppliers, Telavox was a much smaller investment. Not only in dollars and cents but also in time and effort. The power of innovation is impressive and there is an open interface with great potential. In addition, Telavox is committed to our business and wants us to save as much money as possible through flexible agreements and more. ”