Buca di Beppo Restaurants Reservation System: A Centralized Call Center Presented 13 July 2006 By A.D. Otero

Background Buca di Beppo is an Italian food restaurant chain within the United States consisting of over 104 franchise locations [1] Mostly caters to evening diners so doors usually do not open until the late afternoon A majority of the clientele prefers to call-in their reservations If the local restaurant is not open at the time the call is made, or the local phone lines are tied-up, then a reservation can not be placed [1] Reuters (2006). Company Profile for BUCA. Retrieved July 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web:

Project Statement Anywhere between 1 and 5 reservation calls are not placed on a daily basis Average table party of 6 Average table tab of $138 [2] Buca di Beppo is potentially losing out on $14,352 per day 1 X $138 X 104 = $14,352 per day $430,560 per month!! $5,166,720 per year!! [2] ContanctCenterWorld (2004). Buca di Beppo. Retrieved July 9, 2006 from the World Wide Web: contact-center-case- study/Buca-di-Beppo.asp

Project Objectives Buca di Beppo should implement a centralized Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) based phone reservation system Will create a centralized phone system that will connect all of the 104 restaurants reservation capabilities together in a centralized location Customers will be able to dial their local restaurant reservation number at any time of the day and are automatically redirected to the central reservation system via the IP-enabled phone switch Callers can reach an agent at the call center (even when the local restaurant is closed) and place a reservation Reservations in the centralized database will be constantly synchronized with each restaurants local reservation system

Project Scope The central reservation office will be co-located at the Buca di Beppo corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota The central reservation center will include the reservation server with a database-backend customer preference database and VoIP phone switch All of the 104 restaurants preexisting phone switches will be migrated from the PSTN to support the VoIP features All 104 restaurants will be connected over dedicated Internet connections The local restaurant phone switches will be configured for call redirection to the central reservation center during off-hours A subset of restaurants in the Minneapolis area will run a pilot project of the call reservation system before the system is rolled-out throughout the US

Current Status All restaurants have a local connection to the PSTN All calls to the local restaurant are not processed if the call is placed during off-business hours Each restaurant currently maintains its own reservation database

Expected Benefits Estimated Calls Gained (Daily)1 Estimated Value of Each Reservation (Party of 6)$138 Number of Restaurants104 Estimated Daily Revenue Benefit$14,352 Estimated Monthly Revenue Benefit$430,560 Estimated Yearly Revenue Benefit$5,166,720

Expected Costs Task IDTask NameTotal Costs 1Analysis$19, System Design$978, Implementation of Pilot Program$17, Evaluation Phase$24, Implement System Wide Program$60, Total Costs of Project Implementation$1,099, Recurring Costs After Deployment$187,000.00

Profit Analysis

Return on Investment Return on investment (ROI) is calculated by subtracting the project costs from the benefits and then dividing by the costs ROI = (Revenue-Costs) Costs Based upon the estimated benefits and costs, a Return on Investment analysis yields a ROI rate of % within a two year window of system deployment This return increases to % if the ROI is extended to a five year window

Implementation Plan Success Criteria –Central reservation center is brought online –All remote restaurant sites are connected to the centralized call center via Internet –VoIP and database connections are verified –10 restaurants in the Minneapolis area will run a pilot project and data is collected for analysis –After a satisfactory analysis of the pilot project data, the final system is rolled-out to all 104 restaurant sites. –Customers are using the new reservation services throughout all 104 restaurant sites by the end of the project –Project is finished on time and on schedule –Project budget is not exceeded

Implementation Plan Communication Management Plan –Weekly Status Reports –Milestones –Risk Related Items –Event Related Items (as needed)

Risk Identification RiskRisk Description Probab ility Impact R1 Insufficient bandwidth between sites. LowHigh R2 Faulty hardware at restaurant or centralized sites. LowHigh R3 Software failure at centralized and remote sites. MediumHigh R4 Hacker attack on the VoIP or database infrastructure. LowHigh R5Cost OverrunsMedium R6Scope CreepMedium

Risk Mitigation RiskRisk Mitigation R1A dedicated, leased-line with a robust service level agreement (SLA) will be negotiated with the service provider. There should be specific quality of service requirements as well as penalties for violation of the SLA. R2A comprehensive warrantee plan should be purchased from the system vendors. Onsite ready spares should also be maintained with the delivery quota of 24 hours. R3System backups should be conducted on a daily basis at the centralized site as well as remote sites. R4Do not connect the reservation system to the public Internet. The system should remain private and all data should travel over the dedicated lines. R5Include costs for potential cost overruns in the Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM). R6Conduct meetings with stake holders to define scope.

Project Evaluation Project will be completed and coordinated using the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) framework Task IDTask NameExpected Outcome 1AnalysisFeasibility study and project scope. 2System DesignDetailed network design and databases schema. 3Implementation of Pilot Program A pilot program consisting of a subset of 10 restaurants in the Minneapolis area. 4Evaluation PhaseAnalysis of pilot program and decision on full system wide implementation. 5Implement System Wide Program A complete roll-out of the centralized call reservation system, including all 104 restaurants.

Resources Required Risk DescriptionTypeCostsQuantityTotal Cost Alcatel VoIP Capable PBX Material$5, units$550, Alcatel WAN GatewaysMaterial$2, units$220, Database SolutionMaterial$5, unit$5, Leased Line ISP FeesMaterial$1, units$187, Convergence Engineer (Data/Voice) #1 Work$40.00/h1400 hrs$56, Convergence Engineer (Data/Voice) #2 Work$40.00/h360 hrs$14, Project ManagerWork$40.00/h560 hrs$22, Database AnalystWork$40.00/h1120 hrs$44,800.00

Schedule and Critical Path A critical path analysis of the centralized call reservation system yields a critical path timeframe of 205 days 8 hour work days No overtime planned

WBS

Network Diagram

Conclusion If the centralized call reservation system is not implemented, Buca di Beppo will continue to miss out on benefits that are currently estimated to be $5,166,720 each year It is possible to reap the benefits of this lost revenue by simply partitioning a project budget of $1,099,800 for the inception of the call reservation system Breakeven point within two months of full implementation ROI of % over 2 years ROI of % over 5 years

Issues Covered ANY QUESTIONS?