When your phone system is the thing holding your business back:
How ARMA Insurance Brokers scaled across Australia without missing a call
When ARMA Insurance Brokers were told by their ‘big Telco’ that upgrading their phone system would mean nearly two weeks of downtime, it crystallised a problem they’d been working around for too long. Their infrastructure wasn’t built for the business they were becoming. They were growing at a rapid pace and needed to transition within days, not weeks.
They engaged SJH Communications to overhaul their setup completely, and the results have shifted the way their entire business operates.
The challenge
As ARMA expanded into new regional markets, each office ran on its own legacy system.
Internal transfers were clunky, collaboration between branches was limited, and staff who were on the road or visiting clients were effectively unreachable on the main business line. For a brokerage built on responsiveness and client trust, ageing infrastructure wasn’t just an inconvenience; it was a genuine business risk.
The strategy
Our approach centred on making sure the technology worked equally well for the ARMA team and their end clients.
Rather than applying a generic solution, SJH built a platform tailored to the specific demands of a high-call-volume insurance brokerage.
Equal weight was given to scalability, ensuring the system could grow immediately as ARMA acquired new businesses or opened additional branches. Underpinning everything was a commitment to local accountability; SJH became an extension of ARMA’s business rather than an outside provider who disappeared after installation.
The solution
SJH replaced the fragmented, on-site hardware with a single cloud-hosted VoIP platform, then made sure every member of the ARMA team could use it regardless of where they were working.
Mobile and desktop applications meant brokers could take and make calls on their work extension from anywhere. All nine offices were brought onto one unified system, making call routing between branches seamless. Every existing regional number was ported across with zero downtime.
Shane from SJH managed the end-to-end migration with direct oversight, keeping the transition smooth and ensuring the ARMA team felt confident navigating the new platform from day one.
“The ease of the transition was the biggest surprise for us. Dealing with Shane and the SJH team meant we didn’t have to worry about the how, we just knew it was going to work.” – Amanda Morris, CEO, ARMA Insurance Brokers
The outcome
The operational impact has been significant.
Brokers now work from the office, home, or on the road while remaining fully accessible to clients. Call quality is consistently strong across all locations, and the reliability issues, including dropped calls, outages and offshore support frustrations, are gone.
Perhaps more tellingly, it’s changed how the team experiences their working day.
“Having the flexibility to be anywhere and still have our clients reach us seamlessly has been a game changer for our staff culture and our client service.”
