Success Stories

An elite country club is one who has carved out a niche and is thriving in an otherwise difficult marketplace. These clubs understand that technology matters and they plan accordingly. This facility is located in an upper middle class suburb of Chicago and features fine dining, golf, tennis, paddle tennis, swimming and lake access. The active membership of the club has been improving the facilities while attracting new families to its membership. Technology in a club is critical to its operation as all of the different parts of the organization must communicate on a central system. Typically a country club will have point of sale machines, kitchen printers, wireless access and back of house systems (accounting, membership, golf pro, tennis pro, etc.). This club also employs handheld surface tablets for real time ordering by their wait staff. Country clubs can be challenging as their campuses often are spread out over great distances. It is not uncommon for the maintenance facilities to be far away from the clubhouse. In this case, not only is maintenance a great distance but also the paddle tennis and pro shop are a considerably far away from the server room. TURNkey IT uses a variety of solutions to ensure connectivity in these scenarios: From line of sight laser solutions to vDSL modems that traverse existing copper phone lines, to ISP connections and VPNs that tie everyone together, TURNkey IT is well versed in using best in breed technologies that work reliably. TURNkey IT values the elite country club vertical market and will continue to pursue these opportunities in the future.

This metal processing company recently branched off from a parent company and had to completely separate from its former location. When the company moved into their new location they experienced a major server disaster that completely halted workflow. TURNkey IT was referred by their major steel software vendor who engaged the problem immediately. The company was also located in Gary, IN which proved to be no problem for TURNkey IT. TURNkey’s technical team used remote connectivity tools to immediately address the server problem. As a result, the metal processing company immediately engaged TURNkey IT and a technician was dispatched the next morning onsite to assess the network. Over the following months, TURNkey was able to design and implement a system that was secure, robust and reliable in all ways. The company has a Windows network, Allworx VoIP phone system and is a hybrid user of premise and cloud based systems. TURNkey was also instrumental in finding a better ISP for the customer and having fiber run to the facility at no additional charge. Today the company is able to focus entirely on their business and rely on TURNkey IT for their technological needs. The network is proactively monitored and when things break, they get fixed quickly as distance from TURNkey IT has virtually no part in supporting the network. Like all of the success stories listed here, it is the personal touch and ability to perform and react quickly that makes the “TURNkey” difference.

With over 50 employees in two states and field staff needing to be tethered to technical documents and systems, this next success story really shines. Previously, this company hosted their own email and felt like their systems were down more than they were up. Once TURNkey IT came on board, the problems almost instantly went away. Over the next two years, this company invested in their technology even replacing their antiquated but reliable Avaya phone system. As of 2016, this company has been migrated to Office 365 for Exchange and Skype for Business. The company also now employs the use of a premise based voice over IP system and has expanded into another state. Remote employees can now use their pc’s and remote phones as if they were sitting in the home office. The new system uses a hybrid setup of premise and cloud based servers. Locally and remotely, the users connect to premise based Microsoft servers and Allworx VoIP PBX with local disaster recovery NAS. The cloud is leveraged by sending backups of files and folders as well as VHD (virtual hard drive) contents. Office 365 is utilized for Exchange, IM, online meetings, and HD video conferencing.

This success story has to do with a doctor’s office in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. As one of our original “All IN” contracts, this team of two doctors and twelve support staff are able to enjoy the carefree lifestyle afforded by the “All In” program we offer. Every piece of equipment was replaced including all servers and PC’s yielding a completely warrantied network, connected to cloud resources with a useful life of 4 years. This allowed the customer to make one monthly payment for the equipment and service of their network. This has enhanced their productivity, security, and ease of access for sensitive patient records and their day to day business operation. In addition, it has provided the peace of mind that comes with a brand new, completely warranted network.

This facility is part of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate that operates semi-independently from their parent company(ies). Their systems are connected to a cloud data center and all devices are dependent on an internet connection. Although there are nearly 70 devices and one server located on premise, it is necessary to work with high level IT staff in a different state. TURNkey IT is able to coordinate local efforts with global initiatives and be the “boots on the ground” necessary to make the IT systems work seamlessly.

The final success story mentioned here is a sole practitioner in the Chicagoland area. Although our typical customer has an office with 50 pcs and 2 – 5 virtual servers, there are many law firms who are sole practitioners. That is, there is one attorney and one administrative assistant. These types of companies are just as in need of computer networking as anyone else. This appellate attorney is highly regarded in the legal community and constantly struggled with his computers. In fact, this customer may have been one of the last people to use Windows 95 in a production environment (finally replaced with [the now extinct] XP in 2006). TURNkey continues to update the technology that is used by this really smart guy. In fact, we are even connecting him to the cloud which makes him feel really hip.