InfoCision Goes Smart, and 'Wyse' On Thin-Client Computing

Thin client computing: PCs acting as terminals with processing and intelligence on a central server is smart, especially in contact centers. Why buy and install, maintain, and upgrade vast computing power that agents and supervisors don’t need, housed in big individual energy-sucking and space consuming boxes that only get in the way?

Thin client computing is smart also because it increases security. Users cannot download data or accidentally or deliberately install spyware and viruses.

In the case of quality teleservices firm InfoCision, going smart has proven to be a ‘Wyse’ choice. It recently and successfully deployed Wyse S30 thin client boxes at its 12 locations housing 30virtual centers comprising over 2,000 seats, replacing traditional PCs and in doing so reducing costs. The Wyse units are fed by InfoCision’s existing servers. All new seats and centers use the Wyse technology from the get-go.

“We were facing two issues: the need to control IT costs and to efficiently distribute complex software such as CRM and their inevitable upgrades and fixes,” explains Mike White, Chief Technology Officer, InfoCision. “We had been running PCs with Pentium P4 processors and 512MB RAM and 28GB hard drives. To serve these units it dedicated an average of four to six technical support people system-wide to handle issues such as memory and processor upgrades, replacing failed moving parts like hard disk drives and software installations.”

InfoCision looked at options including leaving full PCs in place and creating remote desktop sessions to the central servers and at web-enabling the applications. It decided to go with thin-client computing because it offered IT cost savings, reduced electricity expenses both directly, and indirectly from reduced heat leading to lower AC demand, along with lowered downtime, and increased flexibility.

“None of the options addressed the support issues associated with a PC i.e: memory hard disk, power consumption,” says White. “The increased flexibility came from the fact that we did not need to send a technical person on site if we had a technology issue (memory, hard drive, power supply). We kept spare thin clients at each site, and were able to instruct non-technical people how to plug them in, and could then configure them remotely.   Application deployment also became a nonissue, because the applications were installed on the server once, regardless of how many users need to access the application.”

The teleservices firm selected the Wyse solution in part because it meshed with its Windows environment. Wyse uses Windows Embedded CE 5.0 for the clients; the operating system supports Microsoft (News - Alert) Remote Desktop Services, which would allow it to run the applications on a hosted server. InfoCision uses a server farm that the thin clients log into. This architecture enables it to balance the server load and to provide redundancy in case of a server outage.

“We looked at our needs today and tomorrow and decided that thin-client was the way to go,” explains White. “We examined HP, Neoware (News - Alert), and VIC and found Wyse offered the most efficient and cost-effective management software for our environment.”

InfoCision tested the thin-client applications at one of its contact centers prior to rollout. It validated the testing so that most of the firm’s centers have the same configuration, and use the same applications. White says the testing period was a good representative sample of what the firm could expect when it went live with the technology.

One major issue was a core proprietary application that did not run within the terminal server environment. The application was a standard windows forms based application that utilized resources from both an application server, as well as the local PC. InfoCision’s software development team made changes to the application, making it work seamlessly in a terminal server-based computing environment.

“Initially the project was slow due to the need for testing of the server-based environment,” recalls White. “Once testing and proof of concepts were completed we were able to move fairly quickly: upgrading 2,000 agent workstations within six months.”

The results have been well worth it. The Wyse S30 provided InfoCision with an economical initial purchase cost and ongoing savings because of lower operating and support costs. The company now manages all of the workstations remotely with a few support personnel. Help desk tasks have been cut in half: from an average of about 400 per month to 180. By hosting applications on a single server, new software is distributed easily and quickly.

 “We did an ROI analysis that includes costs related to electricity, software, hardware and application deployment, management and support,” says White. “The solution has already reduced operating and technical support costs by nearly 75 percent. We also did an energy-savings analysis, and discovered overall electricity and cost savings over the next six years would be approximately $1.6 million. Finally, the S30’s read-only operating system ensures our ability to maintain corporate security policies without additional expenses of anti-virus and anti-spyware programs.”