Jones the Florist is Cincinnati's premier florist. In continuous operation since 1865, it is one of the region's oldest businesses. With Internet and 800 number services in addition to their bricks-and-mortar operations, Jones operates in a highly competitive retail market where 24/7/365 service is expected by every customer.

In the Fall of 2003, Jones entered a new era as the business was sold to David Fisher and members of his family. Jones turned to IntelliTree to upgrade its network infrastructure and manage its expanding IT needs. Since that time, the business has experienced accelerating growth with many new products and the acquisition of new businesses which have greatly increased the complexity of day-to-day operations.

With such a high volume of sales coming in via phone and Internet, the reliability of the network is critical. Existing systems must be reliably maintained and new systems must be deployed with minimal interference and downtime.

To deliver the level of service required, IntelliTree upgraded the Jones network to the Managed IT platform deploying and supporting more than 40 workstations in 5 different locations, and providing secure access for remote and traveling users. In addition to maintaining the Jones network with Managed IT service, IntelliTree has provided Jones with a number of mission-critical IT solutions and services:

  • Solved 3rd party vendor WAN connection and router problems required to support phone and point-of-sale systems, and insure connectivity to national floral networks including Teleflora and FTD.
  • System-wide deployment, integration and maintenance of data-base-driven order processing software.
  • Custom configuration of UPS shipping software to operate with Jones' network and order processing databases.
"We became a Managed IT customer in 2004 and the network that IntelliTree designed, installed and maintains for us continues to run flawlessly. Since then, we've moved our corporate office and its entire network to a new building, added dozens of new applications, and integrated two entirely new businesses into Jones the Florist operations. The acquired businesses had existing computer systems and networks with their own order processing and customer databases. IntelliTree's engineers quickly learned the new systems, worked directly with 3rd party vendors, and seamlessly integrated all network operations. Their Managed IT platform was able to incorporate all the new systems and functionality into our existing network.

Our success in meeting the challenges of growth is due in no small part to solutions and services provided by IntelliTree. They have allowed us to confidently increase our dependence on technology to increase efficiency, improve services and lower costs. I don't worry about technology – IntelliTree just makes it happen."

– Barry Finestone, Executive Vice President