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Business Telephone System Provider Completes Grocery Store Conversion: Part One

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Business telephone system provider TelWare recently converted voice, paging, data, and cellular systems in five Charleston, SC Piggly Wiggly stores for Harris Teeter, a grocery chain based in Matthews, NC that purchased the stores.

The challenge was to deploy IT solutions in all five stores within a 12-day window, with stores closing for only 5 days each, in an overlapping schedule.

Daunting, as well, was the enormous scope of the job. Technicians needed to identify and test all voice, data and paging systems. Any additional cabling for voice, data, and paging had to be installed to meet Harris Teeter standards. These standards required several locations for computers, printers, and phones for department managers and home-shopping personnel, as well as data locations for peripheral equipment in the fresh foods department.

In two stores, additional voice and data cabling had to be installed for the pharmacy department. Technicians also needed to install and terminate over 200 feet of six-strand fiber optic cable to support a new remote data switch, and two copper voice cables - one 25-pair and one 50-pair - to support a new phone system to be installed in the back of the store.

Business Telephone System Installation

The phone system, an Avaya IP Office switch with integrated auto-attendant, and two expansion cabinets would include six DECT IP cordless phones, four wireless VoIP access points (APs), and over 20 desk and wall phones.

To reconfigure the data network to Harris Teeter standards, technicians needed to install a new central data rack, router, switches, and servers, as well as Cat6 cables to the ISP demarcation point to extend T1 and DSL services to the data room.

To support wireless services throughout the store, technicians needed to install CAT6 cabling for six data APs and the voice APs. Technicians also needed to install a dual-band cellular booster system, with antennae mounted on the outside of the building for the reception of cell signals and inside the building for the broadcast of messages.

Despite the scope of the job, TelWare was up for the challenge.Eleven technicians tackled the first store on a chilly Sunday morning, amongst a flurry of activity. Piggly Wiggly was finishing up its inventory and removing its data equipment as dozens of Harris Teeter support staff, and store employees descended to remove merchandise and reset the store as a Harris Teeter. 

Along with the Harris Teeter staff, countless vendors were on-site to inspect, repair and modify the electrical, refrigeration and HVAC systems and clean every inch of the store, replacing signage and making general repairs.

Despite all of this activity, TelWare technicians were able to get all systems operational by the end of the day, including the data network and telephone in the fuel center—the only one of its kind run by Harris Teeter—leaving only some wrap-up work and the addition of some peripheral equipment to finish.

To learn more about TelWare’s exceptional business telephone system services, contact TelWare at (704) 220-6030 or sales@telware.com. We look forward to helping you upgrade your communication infrastructure so you can focus on more pressing issues, like the growth of your business!