UDS Enterprise VDI for remote workers in USA Call Centers

• Client name: Issues and Answers Network

• Sector: Private – Marketing Research

• Number of employees: Over 100

• Number of offices: 4

• Location: USA: Escanaba (Michigan), Iron Mountain (Michigan), MI Grundy (Virginia) and Virginia Beach (Virginia)

Issues and Answers Network (I&A) is a privately owned, full service market research firm that is headquartered in Coastal Virginia (USA). Since 1988, they provide research services and support to hundreds of clients in both the public and private sectors. In 2018 they implemented desktop virtualization to solve staffing shortages related to their telephone survey business. “VDI with UDS Enterprise allowed us to tap staffing resources from the entire country instead of being limited to small geographic areas”, explains Casey Newsome, Systems Developer at I&A. “Also, a cost savings was realized from having to open and staff multiple call centers,” he adds.

Thanks to this technology, they can hire independent contractors regardless of their location and let them connect to the same software installed on the corporate offices from their homes. “They connect to Windows desktops with our own application inside to conduct telephone surveys using their own devices,” points out Newsome.

They had been looking for a desktop virtualization solution for some months, but they didn’t find their perfect fit. “After several unsuccessful attempts at finding a solution we came across UDS Enterprise website. We tried the product and we understood that it was just what we needed,” tells the System Developer.

This VDI and vApp connection broker has helped them tackling the complexity of their IT infrastructure. “Now data collection is centralized and all IT resources are managed from one single location,” details Newsome.

The unique features of this software brings great advantages. Among all its functionalities, they specially value its monitoring capabilities and its compatibility with an endless number of technologies, which can be enabled to run simultaneously. “Being able to control the number of VMs on the fly for numerous subnets is very easy. The multiple authentication methods provide a great deal of flexibility in managing users,” indicates the I&A technician.

Call centers requirements change steadily. Each campaign they work in has its own specific staff necessities, so their IT platform needs to be ready to provide the requested services by all their customers without waiting times. UDS Enterprise delivers unlimited scalability possibilities and makes their daily work easier. “It’s much easier to coordinate and manage projects. Staffing resources are more flexible so it’s easier to react to cyclical changes,” mentions Newsome.

GREAT VDI PRODUCT AND SUPPORT

After nearly two years enjoying the high number of benefits provided by UDS Enterprise, they are very satisfied with its performance. “The product delivers what is promised and support has been excellent,” affirms Newsome.

The Systems Developer also greatly appreciates the comprehensive documentation produced by the UDS Enterprise team: “The product is fairly well documented so we have been able to limit support interaction”. When they have requested help, they’ve obtained a first-rate answer. “The support received both during the installation process and when required has always been quick and efficient”.

UDS Enterprise support service is one of the most valued aspects of this VDI and vApp software. The team behind this connection broker handle each request personally, carrying out a thorough follow-up of the issues and fixing them as quickly as possible.

Their assessment of UDS Enterprise is really good. “The product is very stable and as the virtual environment was much less resource intensive than expected, we have been able to deploy a higher number of virtual desktops than we had initially planned,” reflects Newsome.

They do not hesitate to recommend this software to other organizations, especially to those with a large number of users. “UDS Enterprise is great for any application where you need to provide a lot of desktops to a diverse set of users,” concludes. It shall be remembered that for these scenarios there’s an unlimited users subscription available which is really cost-effective.

VDI INFRASTRUCTURE

• Broker: UDS Enterprise

• Hypervisor: Hyper-V

• Connection protocols: RDP and HTML5

• Authenticators:

   Internal UDS Authentication

   LDAP Authentication

   Internal IP Authentication

• VDI OS: Windows 7

• VDI access OS:: Any

• Servers:

   Intel Pro Series Server Model R2308WTTYS

   CPU – 2 – Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2650 v4

• Storage:

   4 – Intel Enterprise 1.02TB SSD S3110 Series Set to RAID

   10 – Intel 8 Channel RS3WC080

• Network: System NIC – Integrated Intel 1gbE LAN