Zucca Trattoria

Zucca Trattoria is a bustling midtown Toronto restaurant that serves authentic regional Italian cuisine to a steady stream of local patrons.

Owners Andrew Milne-Allan and Blair Aspinall don't just run the business; they also work in the restaurant. Andrew is chef and Blair is host.

"We are a small, neighbourhood restaurant with excellent food and regular customers," says Blair of the 50-seat eatery, nestled in an Edwardian building at Yonge and Eglinton.

Blair admits that he and Andrew are always busy - tables are in high demand as people come from near and far for Zucca Trattoria's homemade pastas, grilled fish and roasted meats, as well as scrumptious desserts.

And then there is all the work they do behind the scenes to keep the business running smoothly. Blair admits he has a lot to take care of on a daily basis at the restaurant, so he doesn't have time for problems, such as headaches over his phone system.

He was using a competitor's service for Zucca Trattoria's communications needs but was finding he was spending way too much time dealing with issues - time he should be spending running his business.

"The company was not able to deliver on the price they originally quoted me and I couldn't get one bill from them," explains Blair. "I had two bills on two different billing cycles."

And when he called the communications provider to deal with these issues, no one took responsibility for dealing with the problems.

"Every time I called I got transferred from person to person and after wasting 20 minutes of my time they still couldn't find someone to help me out. Many times my calls weren't even returned," explains Blair. "I was pulling my hair out and having to put way too much effort into the phone system."

Blair called Allstream Small Business and was immediately put in touch with a representative who now takes care of all his restaurant's communications requirements. The rep offered him a choice of four bundles, plus a list of add-ons, so he could customize his communications package and pay only for the services his business required. There was no contract to sign and the restaurant kept its existing phone number.

Blair chose a simple package tailored to the needs of his restaurant: an incoming phone line, a roll-over phone line and a designated fax merchant POS line.

"My representative was amazing," says Blair. "She got me everything I wanted in one phone call. Allstream Small Business was definitely less expensive as well. The cost savings are at least 20% over my previous provider. And I now have one consolidated bill. Allstream Small Business makes it very easy for small businesses."