The Challenge: Fragmented communications with rudimentary capabilities
Previously, business communications at 98 Ventures was based on two technologies. The first telecommunications platform was used for outbound, automated calls. However, the solution was not robust enough to fit their needs, nor did it give enough visibility into their operations. “It wasn’t prepared for high volume,” recalls Andrew Leplatt, Business Analyst at 98 Ventures. “And the reporting was not good—we couldn’t see or manage our queues or access call data or recordings. It was very rudimentary.”
Another technology was used for VoIP calling. An IT consultant working on the project says “At the time, 98 Ventures was growing their contact center and they needed a better solution that could support these needs.”
The 98 Ventures team reached out to their long-time business technology partner, XtraNET, for assistance. The goal was to find a solution that gave 98 Ventures access to as much data as possible in order to inform their business decisions. “They also needed a communications solution that could incorporate both their office employees and call center agents,” says Ayaz Surka, President of XtraNet. “One of the reasons why I recommend 8x8 to my clients is that it’s a unified solution on a single platform, versus a bolt-on scenario with separate third-party CCaaS and UCaaS.”
The Solution: Flexibility and mobility with no hardware needed
Once a decision was made, the XtraNET team rolled out 8x8 Work to office staff across 98 Venture’s on-site locations, as well as its Greenville headquarters. The team also implemented 8x8 Contact Center for its growing team of agents in Greenville, who would handle all incoming calls from both clients and the clients’ customers. Implementation was smooth and went as expected with no issues and positive feedback from employees.
Now, everyone at 98 Ventures is on 8x8. Moreover, any employee that needs a direct line can make calls on any device, which aligns perfectly with the company’s policy on limiting the provisioning of mobile phones. Says Josh Mingus, Director of Information Systems, 98 Ventures, “What has made me happy is that we can now give people access to a system that is not hardware dependent. We don’t have to deploy, maintain, or replace company phones; instead, people can take calls from their laptops or personal phones without having to give out their personal number.” Leplatt concurs: “8x8’s mobile app is a lot cleaner than our previous provider because we just have digital numbers.”
Some of the larger facilities want a dedicated line for truck drivers to call in throughout the day to get updates or dispatch information, so they have a company phone connected to 8x8 and leave it on the desk for whomever is close by to answer calls. Mingus says, “8x8’s been a really good solution for those kinds of applications for us, as a ‘no hardware needed’ kind of alternative.”
The Results: Greater business agility and productivity
Since moving to 8x8, 98 Ventures has seen significant benefits. Since the company mostly operates out of client facilities, 8x8 has been a great fit as it bypasses the need to install phone lines and desk phones at those locations. “8x8 gives us the ability to just pull up the app on our phone or make calls from our laptop, which is exactly what our company needs,” says Mingus.
8x8 Analytics has been helpful too. Having easy, immediate visibility into data, without having to export data into a CSV or Excel file, has been especially useful. Says Mingus, “We have a couple of new senior leaders, with one overseas, and they are able to just go into the 8x8 system and see what productivity looks like right now, or where we have opportunities for improvement. It helps them ramp up faster.”
On the technical side, 8x8 has enabled Leplatt to simplify administration and support. “I love the cloud platform,” says Leplatt, “It’s simple to support, and I’m a big fan of the 8x8 Work app.”
For Leplatt, it was the increased capacity to take a higher volume of calls and the easier reporting. He says, “We can measure negative wording and conversations, so we can help improve the service quality.”
Even the XtraNET team finds lasting benefits with 8x8. Surka says, “We like 8x8 to the point where we even installed it internally for our own use.”
