Telecoms and connectivity specialist Timico has succeeded in slashing the number of connectivity-related helpdesk calls for major card processing service provider for the petrol forecourt sector, Suresite. 

Since beginning its relationship with Timico in October 2011, Suresite has seen a significant improvement in the speed of transaction processes and has already experienced a 50 per cent reduction in calls to its helpdesk from petrol retailers reporting connectivity issues. 

With an average of 100,000 transactions a day across Suresite’s petrol customer sites, at a typical daily value of £4 million, Suresite’s retail staff have to be able to remain focused on their customers - keeping queues to a minimum and ensuring payments are taken quickly and efficiently, rather than tackle expensive and time-consuming downtime.

Nick Healy, Director of Suresite Card Services Limited, said: “In meeting Timico, it was clear straightaway that they are not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ network provider. The flexibility they showed in both the network design and delivery stages allowed us the scope to build a future-proofed network within our budgetary constraints, without compromising on quality and reliability.

“We received very positive feedback on the robustness of Timico’s service from the outset. The demands are such within a retail environment, that however hi-tech your EPOS or other in-store kit is, without the underlying guarantee of always-on connectivity, it will be next to useless in supporting the customer experience.”

Following the success of an initial five-site trial, Suresite signed up for a complete rollout of a 200-site-Wide Area Network across the UK earlier this year. With forecourt retail customers including names like Harvest Energy, Gulf and Jet, Timico connectivity has succeeded in taking fast and efficient payments in a fully PCI DSS compliant environment.

Trefor Davies, CTO of Timico added: “Petrol forecourts are high-volume, fast-paced retailers – not only do you have a regular stream of customers in need of fuel, but many petrol stations are now fully equipped grocery stores. Everyone knows how frustrating it can be to wait an age at a petrol station, so super-fast and reliable connectivity is essential to cut down the queues and keep customers happy.

“The very fact that connectivity-related calls to Suresite’s helpdesk have been cut in half is testament to the reliability and effectiveness of our service.”

Timico is now in the process of rolling out a project to connect Suresite’s 200 petrol station sites via a Timico DSL broadband line into the Suresite network, including an on-site Cisco router. The fully resilient WAN, with firewall, is connected via an IPSEC tunnel and a Timico point to point circuit to FIS Global - the banking and payment technology specialists who take care of the merchant services element of the transactions.

Suresite’s network is fully managed and monitored by Timico 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from its purpose-built Network Operations Centre based in the company’s Nottinghamshire data centre. Real time, in-depth performance statistics are available for all elements of the network, including the onsite Cisco routers.

For more information about Timico and its bespoke connectivity services, please visit www.timico.co.uk