When Communication was Vital, Optus was a First Responder
November 1, 2007

CenterPointe Behavioral Hospital is a private mental health facility in a pleasant St. Louis suburb. The hospital operates assessment and referral services and a 24-hour toll-free number so that every call for help can be answered immediately--until 10:30 on one stormy Saturday night, when a fierce lightning storm knocked out about 70% of the main processing cards in CenterPointe's phone system � shutting it down. That's when the emergency became the hospital itself. Frank Cook, the hospital's Facilities Manager rushed to CenterPointe and made a quick assessment of the damage; by midnight, he was in contact with his phone system supplier, Optus, Inc., in Jonesboro, Arkansas. CenterPointe's Optus account representative alerted Mark Duckworth for assembling the parts and testing, and before Frank Cook even arrived, Optus had assembled every part and completed a full system test. By one pm., Cook had driven to Jonesboro and was on his way back to St. Charles with the replacement parts. Parts replaced include IVS-2 PN-CP 15 FIRMWARE processor, PN-8DLCP digital cards, and PN-8LCAA analog cards. A few days later, an IM-16LX 4 PORT /90 HOUR voicemail system was added. As Frank remembers it, "By nine p.m., Sunday � less than 24 hours after the system was shut down � we had virtually a 100% working system." He was pleased by the other results, too. "My management team sent a lot of kudos my way over how quickly this was resolved. People kept asking, �How could you pull off something so big, so fast?' The answer is Optus." Frank liked the fact that he could reach someone at Optus almost immediately � even in the early morning or weekend. Being a closely managed, family-run company, Optus' commitment to quickly solving a customer's problems involves everyone, right up to the president. More importantly, Frank loved the fact that � as one of the largest suppliers of new and refurbished business telephone systems and components in the MidSouth and service nationwide � Optus was able to put together all the required equipment from stock in its warehouse. With other suppliers, the hospital might have had to wait days to get all the needed parts. "CenterPointe prides itself on being responsive to the needs of our patients and their families, day or night. I'm glad Optus shares our commitment to quality, round-the-clock care." Headquartered in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Optus, Inc. has been providing businesses with communication solutions for 16 years. Now a leading national supplier of new and refurbished voice, video and data business communication parts, solutions and services, the company employs over 150 sales, service and administrative professionals in five states.