Olsson Associates is a nationally recognized engineering and design firm that employees almost 1,000 people across the USA, creating and delivering infrastructure projects for the public and private sectors from planning stage to completion.
“Remote meetings are an important and natural part of business life for our consultants. They can work from everywhere: home, at the construction site, with customers and of course at the office. Our conference room is basically always booked, which is why it’s important to have technical equipment that is easy to use”, explains Randy Miller.

Irritating problems a thing of the past

He recalls a number of irritating problems they had with previous conference phones. “The sound wasn’t always that good and there were a number of other issues so I decided to try something else. I chose Konftel 300Wx and the portable Konftel 55Wx. I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I must say I am pretty overwhelmed. A key detail is how user-friendly these phones are, despite their high level of technical specifications. Our consultants already have plenty of other things on their minds so it’s great they only need to push a button to get started. It’s pretty much plug and play. “And that’s the way it is with Konftel! I haven’t had a single complaint since we installed Konftel in the offices I work with”.

Strict travel policy

Olsson Associates has some 30 offices in seven states, primarily in the Midwest. It always has a number of projects being run simultaneously by experts spread throughout the company. That’s why trips and meetings are a necessary part of the process and can sometimes even lead to having to charter the company’s own airplane. “We have a strict travel policy and within IT and Media it’s our mission to constantly improve communication between our various offices. By cutting down on trips we save money and even more importantly time. We’re building a shared database so that our experts have access to information about projects they are working on regardless of where they are in the country. Of course the conference telephone is also an important and flexible work tool, often used in combination with Skype for Business”

Randy Miller also sees exciting new possibilities with the portable Konftel 55Wx. “Right now I’m putting together a
portable ‘conference kit’ built around the flexible Konftel 55Wx, which acts like a hub for wireless microphones, speakers and cell phones. When someone’s out in the field and needs to make a presentation or hold a meeting it’s often difficult to know what technical equipment they’ll have access to. But with Konftel’s superb Bluetooth function they can connect wirelessly to pretty much any device and conduct their presentation or meeting with great sound quality”.

Practical recording function

“I have also noticed that staff with legal questions on the agenda appreciate Konftel’s ability to record conversations to an SD memory card. In-depth meetings and discussions are saved and can be
analyzed afterwards”, says Randy Miller. “It’s the future to integrate communication into the IT environment. The great thing about Konftel’s 300Wx is that it doesn’t really matter what type of sound is coming in; analog, mobile or VoIP. It connects conversations and delivers amazing sound regardless of where the calls come from. As someone responsible for IT I just love these kinds of products! In my job I often get feedback when things don’t work but in the case of these phones it’s been really quiet. That can only mean these conference phones are doing their job”, says Randy Miller.