When Manchester, N.H–based toy manufacturer Kid Galaxy (www.kidgalaxy.com) decided to convert its phone system to VoIP, it found the decision to be anything but child’s play.

With its parent company in Hong Kong, Kid Galaxy is a small company that sells its products largely through catalogs and specialty toy stores. The company counts a variety of radiocontrolled cars and airplanes among its product line, including GoGo Autos, KG Racers, My First RC preschool toys, and Back Yard Flyer.

Kid Galaxy had been using a Centrex service from a major carrier. When the company moved to a different location, it decided to convert its in-office communications and 1-800 number service to telephony.

“We use our 1-800 number for a variety of reasons,” says Lisa Couture, National Accounts Manager for Kid Galaxy. It varies who’s trying to contact us. Incoming customer service calls to retailers placing orders to direct calls from our sales reps in the field.”

“The Centrex service had the basic features we needed, but it was expensive,” adds Couture.

“We are a small company without any IT staff, and we didn’t want to buy and manage a PBX or go back to the high costs and low functionality of a Centrex service.”

When Kid Galaxy changed offices in July 2006, the company relied on T1 service from CLEC provider, One Communications. Overall, Kid Galaxy sought to reduce its bandwidth costs. Couture says Kid Galaxy’s 11 employees at headquarters field 100 to 200 calls per day.

In the fall of 2006, Couture turned to the CrystalBlue Voice Service from Portsmouth, N.H.-based Whaleback Systems (www. whalebacksystems.com). Part of the appeal was Whaleback’s close proximity to Kid Galaxy.

Whaleback technicians installed a PBX appliance at the Kid Galaxy office over a dedicated cable connection. The VoIP provider ported the direct inward dial (DID) phone numbers and monitored the phones from its 24-hour network operations center.

Whaleback channel partner Just Results installed 13 Executive IP Handsets, while Kid Galaxy selected the Polycom SoundPoint IP 501, a three-line IP phone with a full-duplex speakerphone.

Whaleback’s CrystalBlue provided a variety of services, from an auto-attendant feature to call forwarding to employees receiving voice mail in their e-mail inboxes. CrystalBlue offered national flat-rate calling as well as fully managed VoIP service.

“We had a month’s testing period with Whaleback,” says Couture. “They made it easy for us to make the transition. And a big plus was the customer service. We came face to face with Whaleback sales reps, who explained the system and made an effort to solve our problems.”

Training was relatively simple. According to Couture, employees were given a manual, while Whaleback spent a day going over the functionality of the phones.

“Our 1-800 number now goes to a directory, which directs people to specific stations for specific needs,” says Couture. “This cuts down on the number of transfers.”

Couture says that when there are technical difficulties, she usually sends an e-mail to Whaleback. Whaleback responds immediately.

“The local presence and Whaleback’s ability to operate with us is a key factor,” she says. “For us, service is everything.”

This proves that, like Kid Galaxy’s line of RC toys, remote telephony service should not be on autopilot. Otherwise, VoIP service can crash and burn.

Greg Tally can be reached at gtally@vonmag.com.