Spectrum Enterprise Receives a TMC INTERNET Telephony Award for Partnership with Castelo Cold Storage

We are excited to learn that Spectrum Enterprise received a TMC INTERNET TELEPHONY 2021 Excellence Award for our partnership with Castelo Cold Storage.

According to TMC, the award recognizes and honors the companies that have developed exceptional IP Communications solutions that are leading the way in this still-growing industry. Winners represent prominent players in the market who consistently demonstrate the advancement of technologies.

“The INTERNET TELEPHONY Excellence Award is based on live deployments showing real value, not merely hypothetical results,” said Erik Linask, group editorial director at TMC. 

“The benefits of a complete managed network and unified communications solution have enabled Spectrum Enterprise clients to improve their operational efficiency and customer experience significantly.  This is a prime example of why all businesses should consider investing in new technologies.”

“It’s also a reason why managed services have become increasingly popular — companies are able to dedicate more time to revenue-generating activities while having the peace of mind knowing their networks, connectivity, and communications are managed by their trusted partners,” said Linask.

Castelo Cold Storage, which has a 20,000 square-foot warehouse in Pharr, Texas, knows that keeping pallets of frozen fruits, vegetables and other perishable merchandise at the proper temperature is crucial for its business. Launched in 2012, the company was challenged over the years by an outdated technology infrastructure. The phone system desperately needed an upgrade. Its fixed wireless internet service that relied on a radio antenna was unreliable and didn’t provide the necessary speed and connectivity to support warehouse operations.

Without adequate network service and WiFi, employees had to walk throughout the warehouse several times a day to check thermostats and verify proper temperatures. Just one temperature change could jeopardize an entire customer’s inventory.

The spotty WiFi caused inefficiencies with inventory scanning. Employees had to walk 15 minutes to the front office for a reliable WiFi signal, just to scan labels. This delay was a risk factor for produce to spoil, and it slowed down the unloading process for truck drivers that were on a tight schedule for deliveries. Employees worked overtime to clear the perishable goods from trucks.

Castelo Cold Storage owner Ricardo Diaz needed a modern network solution so that his 35 employees could work more efficiently and his warehouse could maintain proper temperatures to comply with USDA and FDA regulations.

Spectrum Enterprise team members designed and implemented a solution that included Managed WiFi, Dedicated Fiber Internet (DFI), and Managed Router Service (MRS), along with Unified Communications (UC).

With the modern network solution, produce stays at the proper temperature at all times. Employees, customers, and drivers can communicate seamlessly with a reliable voice solution, with no more dropped calls or clicking. Employees that once unloaded perishable merchandise from 75 trucks a day can now unload pallets from more than 150 trucks a day. Additionally, employees can process deliveries in one-fifth of the time that it previously took using scanners connected to the previous WiFi solution.

Looking ahead, Diaz is planning to leverage the DFI service to support cloud-based applications such as scheduling and inventory systems. He’s broken ground on a new 30,000 square-foot building behind his existing one, and has plans for a third warehouse in Laredo, Texas — both supported with Spectrum Enterprise fiber connectivity services.

Diaz knows he has a reliable technology partner with reliable solutions to support him. “I see this relationship with Spectrum Enterprise only continuing to grow,” he said.

Read the case study that was the foundation for the TMC award.