The move turned a deferred upgrade into a delivery deadline
The firm selected ShoreTel Sky hosted calling instead of operating a new VoIP server itself. Its IT manager wanted to avoid adding server maintenance and backups to an already small support function. Reported service costs were comparable with the old PBX’s service and support costs.
The decision changed the distribution of work. Hosting moved the central calling platform into a service arrangement, while the office still needed physical networking and handsets. The project’s value to a small IT team came from that division of responsibility. It did not make the local installation disappear; it made the continuing server responsibility less dependent on one employee.
Carrier preparation preceded the local installation
The hosted service arranged connectivity, number porting and its server-side setup. At Philadelphia, the firm’s IT manager installed the router, switch and new phones with remote guidance from a service technician.
This sequence illustrates why a phone migration is more than distributing handsets. Existing numbers have to reach the new service, and the local devices have to reach the platform that handles those calls. Those two directions meet at the user’s extension. The completed installation connected carrier work, hosted configuration and physical deployment rather than leaving them as separate purchases.
The firm extended the service at its own pace
Four of the nine offices had converted over roughly 18 months when the 2014 account was published. Once an individual office rollout was initiated, the service preparation took about six weeks. Those are different timelines: one describes the firm’s phased program, the other a location’s preparation period.
The phased approach gave the small team a way to expand the service without treating every office as one simultaneous change. It also preserved a distinction between the completed sites and the locations still using the earlier arrangement. The account does not support a claim that all nine offices converted within six weeks.
The outcome included how attorneys handled calls afterward
Attorneys reported useful changes such as dialing from computer contacts and receiving voicemail by email. They could retain messages in client files. Platform maintenance, upgrades and service support moved to the hosted provider.
Cartennas’s assessment is that the office move created an opportunity to change both equipment and support responsibility. The documented rollout joined advance carrier work to a guided onsite installation, then expanded through additional offices. The user benefits came from the completed calling workflow, while the IT benefit came from reducing dependence on locally maintained servers. This historical case explains that operating decision without treating its legacy handsets as current purchasing recommendations.