Foodworks & Over The Wire
A Successful Collaboration
FoodWorks and Over the Wire: A successful collaboration
Organised hackers are now more frequently targeting small businesses, taking advantage of their vulnerability when they’re not part of a holistic managed system.
Over the Wire is FoodWorks’ chosen partner for telecommunications solutions for their supermarkets.
With over 370 stores trading under the FoodWorks brand, Australian United Retailers Limited (AURL) is Australia’s second largest leading independent supermarket retailing group.
Brad Slater, head of technology at FoodWorks, sat down with us to talk about the key problems shops face each day, and how Over the Wire’s solutions have made an impact on those stores that are already integrated.
“I constantly hear about line dropouts, poor service, slow Internet connections and virus attacks from stores with different internet service providers (ISPs),” he explains.
One of the main reasons for these problems, he suggests, is the fact that FoodWorks cannot mandate a particular broadband solution for all stores – each store owner makes that decision at their discretion. Further adding to this volatile situation is the fact that organised hackers are now more frequently targeting small businesses, taking advantage of their vulnerability when they’re not part of a holistic managed system.
The Challenge of
Working With The NBN
With the NBN replacing existing copper-based phone lines and ADSL services, FoodWorks stores were front and centre of this technological shift that is rolling out across the country.
For those stores who are not a part of the current agreement between FoodWorks and Over the Wire, it has been difficult to coordinate their migration onto the NBN.
As part of the initial scoping process to find the right solution provider, FoodWorks highlighted these key challenges as areas that needed to be addressed by their new solution.
The NBN is a wholesaler and only works with Tier One telcos who have contracted to supply its services. Coordination across all parties associated with delivering the service can prove frustrating for many when, for example, coordinating installation and appointment dates.
When a new or existing NBN service develops a fault, having that rectified in a timely manner proves difficult as the NBN has a lack of knowledge of each site and its specific requirements. The NBN is changing the way Voice services are delivered and Over the Wire is ready to assist in making the transition to IP Voice.
How It Works
“Our stores need a reliable data connection to access services such as Eftpos, phone recharge and the stock inventory system. This means that shops cannot afford any downtime within our broadband service,” Brad Slater emphasised.
To allow FoodWorks stores to function as normal, even when there is a system dropout, Over the Wire’s 4G Failover network serves as the ultimate failsafe.
This means that in the event of a network outage the automated 4G failover solution will allow the store to continue to run whilst the primary service’s fault is being investigated. Once the primary service is fixed, the Over the Wire solution will automatically failback.
Previously each minute a store was offline would result in financial loss. FoodWorks stores using Over the Wire’s 4G failover service benefit from the fact that the store’s ability to function normally is retained, and can continue to trade.
The Benefits of
Our Collaboration
Brad Slater says FoodWorks and Over the Wire worked together to meet the challenge of migrating over 100 stores from another vendor, over the course of six weeks.
“Over the Wire’s strong project management of the migration process itself has been one of the key benefits for FoodWorks,” Brad Slater pointed out when asked about the integration of our system.
“Every FoodWorks store needs to be online to function at full capacity, The Over the Wire FoodWorks solution mitigates the risk of a network dropout with a backup 4G service.”
Over the Wire’s 4G failover network serves as the ultimate failsafe.
Over the Wire is the Ideal Choice
The intimate knowledge that Over the Wire has of FoodWorks’ requirements directly reflects onto all the shops we have migrated, something Brad Slater said makes us the perfect choice.
Over the Wire partners with multiple carriers and does not treat each store as a “one size fits all” solution. Over the Wire selects the right connectivity options that are suited to each individual store location.
“The fact that the Over the Wire staff understand the uniqueness of each of our stores and our overarching IT architecture is key. Rather than get bumped to an overseas call centre, who don’t know our network, the Australian-based team at Over the Wire’s network operation centre understand how we function and the individual infrastructure of each store, which is a great help for us.”
Over the Wire offer FoodWorks store owners priority support through their own dedicated 1300 FoodWorks Support Hotline. This means that we are able to eliminate waiting times and provide help that is guided by an in-depth understanding of the business.
Furthermore, Over the Wire is the only provider of such a specific network solution at our price point. The collaboration between FoodWorks and the Over the Wire team not only offers a reliable connection, but does so in a way that is profitable for business operations.
- We go the extra mile for our FoodWorks customers.
- We offer true collaboration and top-quality services.
- We are the best choice for your FoodWorks store.