Operating a multi-site restaurant chain is no easy feat, especially if the network a company uses isn’t up to par with the fast-paced industry.
Lexington, Ky.-based Thomas & King – which operates 90 Applebee’s and seven Johnny Carino’s restaurants in Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania – knows this first-hand. Unhappy with its former provider’s help desk and engineered network, the company awarded Contingent Network Services with a three-year contract to install a wide-area network for its 97 locations.
Contingent deployed its EverWorX Managed WAN to link the restaurants together, via a private broadband network, which permits faster credit card processing, remote network monitoring, energy management and high-speed Internet. The contract is worth about $1 million, the company said.
Thomas & King said it wanted to cut costs by 50 percent, increase credit card transaction processing, and protect customers’ data with a managed suite of security offerings. In addition, it wanted to have access to trained help desk support, which its former provider, AT&T, didn’t offer with its Multiprotocol Label Switching, or “MPLS” solution.
“During the life of our WAN contract, it became clear that we were over-provisioned for the needs of our business,” Cynthia Clark, information technology director at Thomas & King, told TMCnet in an interview. “We knew that we wanted a managed service and believed that a collection of broadband solutions would meet all our business needs.”
The move by Thomas & King to use a solution that leverages Internet Protocol Security or “IPsec”-based virtual private networks helped the company lower its costs, Russ Maney (News - Alert), principal and co-founder of Xponential Group, a Louisville, Ky-based technology procurement services company that represents Contingent, told TMCNet.
“While an MPLS network connection typically requires at least a T1 circuit into each location, IPsec-based VPNs can run over lower bandwidth, and therefore much less expensive than DSL or business cable modem connections,” Maney said. “Thus, while both EverWorX and MPLS can solve similar quality, reliability, and security problems, EverWorX can do so much more cost effectively, especially for small company locations, such as individual restaurant franchise outlets.”
Contingent Network Services designs, deploys and supports the data communications networks and systems, and manages it all through a single point of contact. The company’s full-service network integration and technology solutions include managed and project services for wireless systems, virtual private networks, local area networks, Voice over Internet Protocol, or “VoIP,” network management, server/desktop installation and implementation, structured distribution and support.
Contingent’s EverWorX solution does more than other telecom platforms. For example, the company offers a 99 percent uptime service guarantee. If service is suspended, clients don’t pay. And if a site loses connectivity or has other problems, technicians can be onsite in two hours or less to make the necessary repairs. Contingent's Technical Assistance Center also offers around-the-clock help, as well.
Thomas & King rolled out EverWorx across its 97 restaurants after completing a month-long trial at three locations. Since launching the service, the company offers speedier credit card processing and Intent access across it locations. In addition, the firm cut its WAN costs by 53 percent and its up time has improved significantly, Clark said.
“We are very happy,” Clark said. “Any issues that arise are addressed professionally and completely.”
Contingent’s EverWorX is a big cost saver. A typical multiprotocol Label Switching-based package for a fast-food chain requiring point-of-sale connectivity, phone lines, and Internet access would cost between $500 to $1,000 a month, per location, Maney said. Yet, it’s far less expensive with EverWorx, he said.
“A similar, EverWorX-based package of these services costs around half that, partly because of its ability to function just, as well over less costly bandwidth than a full T1,” Maney said. “For large restaurant chains with hundreds or thousands of locations, the math quickly gets very impressive. A $300 a month savings across 1,000 locations is a cost savings of $3.6 million per year. That’s a lot of hamburgers.”
Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering unified communications, telepresence, IP communications industry trends and mobile technologies. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.
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