CHRI Radio
NeoLore Helps CHRI Radio Transition to Greater Success
“I would recommend NeoLore to anybody who needs great IT management.”
Ottawa’s CHRI Radio started as a Christian music format station. “Although we still have the music, over the years we have truly become a media company with a number of areas,” explains Bill Stevens, the organization’s General Manager. “We now do many things—online contests, interviews, book reviews, podcasts. There’s an online store. The growth has been steady.”
However, growth has its own challenges. “There’s a lot of sophisticated technology involved in our day-to-day operations,” Bill says. “It’s often quite specialized. As we have expanded, it’s important that we can rely on the technology and continually get upgrades. For instance, if the station goes down, thousands of people will immediately be aware of it, not just our office. It’s a big responsibility. So, in that way, we don’t have a typical business.”
“The best kind of endorsement.”
Two years ago, CHRI began searching for outside IT assistance. “Until that time, we had one IT individual, who was excellent. He was the kind of person who would show up here at three a.m. if required. He was wonderful. However, we knew that he was considering retirement. Also, the IT demands were increasing. We began thinking of getting an external service. How to begin the search process? As luck would have it, a member of our board knew about NeoLore, and was using them at their own company. The kind of business he was in demands great IT, so we knew that if he recommended NeoLore, it was the best kind of endorsement. We went ahead and contacted them.”
NeoLore Networks believes that an effective managed service provider should offer numerous benefits, including cost reduction, increased efficiency, access to expertise, and improved business continuity. By outsourcing IT tasks, businesses can focus on core operations, reduce the burden on their in-house IT staff, and gain access to specialized skills and resources.
A Period of Transition
“I would say that, beginning with NeoLore, we are working through a period of transition,” Bill says. “The transition takes time because of the highly specialized software and hardware in place. For instance, we may have a person at a computer and they’re using an app in Microsoft Business Premium, creating a document, and the next moment they’re flipping over and uploading programming for the radio station. The two areas are very separate, and it can get complex and multi-layered.
“We’re a Microsoft office and a major project has been upgrading Microsoft technology, such as going to Windows 11. NeoLore is leading the way with this. We’re glad they’re in place and keeping us on top. Also, with donor lists, databases, and a commercial aspect to our operations, we’re very sensitive to security, and NeoLore helps that way too.”
“We get great comfort.”
“As I said, we can’t afford downtime,” says Bill, “and we get great comfort knowing that if we call NeoLore, somebody always picks up the phone. That’s not the case with many other companies, and it says a lot.” In terms of IT support, NeoLore provides:
- Support employees across time zones and work shifts with 24-hour IT assistance
- 5–15-minute response times
- One point of contact throughout an inquiry
- Specialists who can leverage remote access platforms and AI to give optimum solutions
“They’re real pros.”
“A lot of things can happen when your IT is in transition,” Bill concludes, “and it may become a bit of a forest. It’s great that we have NeoLore around to help us through. They’re real pros. I would recommend NeoLore to anybody who needs great IT management.”