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• Boston-based group of restaurants and private events venues
• Renowned landmark that served as inspiration for hit television series
• Almost a million visitors annually

• Improve network performance across all of the properties
• Manage IT-related operating expenses
• Shorten response time

• Comcast Business Trunks
• Comcast Business Internet
• Comcast Business TV
• XFINITY WiFi®

• Up to 14x faster Internet speeds
• Significant annual savings
• Local sales and service reps for dedicated customer support

One of Boston’s most beloved institutions, Cheers Boston, attracts almost a million visitors per year. This local watering hole “where everybody knows your name” opened in 1969 in the basement of a historic brownstone in Boston’s Beacon Hill – and became famous as the inspiration for “Cheers,” considered among the best television programs of all time.

Today, more than 40 years after opening its doors, Cheers serves as the flagship establishment in a growing collection of high-profile restaurants under the leadership of renowned restaurateur and tourism expert, Thomas A. Kershaw. This collection now includes two Cheers locations, the legendary Hampshire House restaurant and private events venue, trendy eatery 75 Chestnut, and a fifth location – 75 on Liberty Wharf – set to open in the fall of 2012.

Behind these landmark venues is a team of professionals focused on running a smooth and efficient back-office operation while creating and managing the optimal experience for patrons and personnel. The organization relies on the strength of its Internet connection to conduct day-to-day business – running financial transactions, communicating with suppliers, and offering complimentary WiFi for restaurant patrons. So when staff members reported connectivity issues, they immediately reached out to their Internet provider for help.

“Unfortunately, customer service was a real and ongoing problem,” said Gail Richman, Director of Procurement for Cheers Boston. “There were too many hoops to jump through, which ultimately drew out the response time to a point that just wasn’t acceptable for us. We have a business to run and customers who want to get online. We couldn’t afford to wait what seemed like forever for a resolution to basic service issues.”

That’s when the organization decided to make a switch. After meeting with a local Comcast Business representative, the Cheers Boston team chose to standardize on Comcast across all properties. Specifically, the restaurant group would implement Comcast’s Business Internet and Business TV solutions across each of its locations, with the flagship Beacon Street Cheers facility getting Comcast Business Trunks implemented for voice as well. These services would support all of the organization’s back-office operations, form the backbone for the complimentary WiFi service offered to restaurant patrons, and provide the Internet capabilities offered to private event clients at the Hampshire House.

Of course, Cheers Boston had other objectives in mind when it made the switch – in addition to finding a responsive provider, the organization was also seeking faster Internet speeds and a reduction in monthly expenses. For years, the staff battled sluggish network performance and costly service fees due to the cumbersome T1-based network infrastructure they had been using. The buildings that house these establishments are century-old brownstones in crowded historical areas in downtown Boston. Deploying a modern network optimized for performance in a business environment had been too difficult and too expensive – until Comcast Business came along.

“Even though we’ve been a tourist attraction since the 1980s, our main building has been around for close to a century. As a result, we’ve struggled with the need for faster Internet speeds while keeping our costs in check for quite some time,” said Richman. “Since switching to Comcast, we’ve saved at our locations, and we couldn’t be happier.”

Comcast helped the Beacon Hill Cheers Boston site achieve up to 14x faster Internet speeds and savings annually by connecting its existing PBX telephone equipment to the Comcast network via Business Trunks. This allowed Cheers Boston to consolidate business lines while keeping its original telephone numbers. By using existing bandwidth more efficiently and bundling this service with Comcast’s Business Internet and TV services, Cheers Boston was able to save money, without needing to worry about critical internal communications traveling on a public network – and enjoyed similar results across its other properties as well.

“As we plan to open our newest location, it’s a relief to know that we already have the technology infrastructure in place to meet any bandwidth demands that we may have once we move in,” continued Richman. “Having a dedicated sales team at Comcast that understands our business and is honest with us about what services we need and which ones we don’t has been an immense help.”

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