Housing provider empowers staff with unified communications

The Challenge: Fragmented communications

Housing Solutions had invested significantly in the Microsoft stack and relied heavily on Teams. However, its legacy, on-premise telephony system lacked integration — and the impact was being felt within the contact center, across the organization, and by customers.

Normally, the contact center team aimed to resolve 80% of the 5,000 calls they received each month without needing to contact colleagues. But an increasing amount of enquiries were arriving via email in Outlook channels, so agents were having to switch systems constantly to stay on top of communications.

Agents also needed a way to transfer calls easily to colleagues with an ‘available’ status within Teams — so more enquiries could be resolved right away, rather than customers just being promised a call back.

“We wanted to switch to the cloud and unify our communications, integrating with our Microsoft stack,” says Richard Harvey, Head of Digital and Information Services at Housing Solutions. “And with one of our servers about to go end-of-life, we had to act swiftly.”

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

Housing Solutions selected 8x8 platform, which encompassed 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams, 8x8 Work, and 8x8 Contact Center. In making its choice, the association took in expert guidance from its digital transformation partner, Social Telecoms.

The 8x8 platform unifies the contact center, voice, video, and chat — and works seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Teams, empowering employees to resolve more enquiries ‘in the moment’.

“Integration with our Microsoft stack was key, but we could also see that 8x8 is a company that launches new features ahead of others, which was hugely attractive to us, going forward,” says Harvey. “Implementation went smoothly and completed on time. The modern, familiar look of 8x8 instantly made our Microsoft users feel more comfortable with their new tools.”

Today, Housing Solutions has a unified, agile platform that empowers staff to collaborate better and solve more customer enquiries faster — whether working from home or in the office. Integration with Teams means that everyone can see who’s available to take a customer call.

Managers have analytics to help them meet peak call times more easily and follow an audit trail of communications. The organization can also retune its services, guides, and public messaging, based on keywords that are trending in call recordings. It’s easy for contact center supervisors to change guides without needing help from IT.

There’s more innovation ahead too. “We’re now thinking about using video diagnosis with repairs, rolling out automated satisfaction surveys, and sometimes having residents’ meetings via live video calls,” says Harvey. “With 8x8, we have a strategic IT partner that supports our goals and opens up new possibilities.”

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

Housing Solutions selected 8x8 platform, which encompassed 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams, 8x8 Work, and 8x8 Contact Center. In making its choice, the association took in expert guidance from its digital transformation partner, Social Telecoms.

The 8x8 platform unifies the contact center, voice, video, and chat — and works seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Teams, empowering employees to resolve more enquiries ‘in the moment’.

“Integration with our Microsoft stack was key, but we could also see that 8x8 is a company that launches new features ahead of others, which was hugely attractive to us, going forward,” says Harvey. “Implementation went smoothly and completed on time. The modern, familiar look of 8x8 instantly made our Microsoft users feel more comfortable with their new tools.”

Today, Housing Solutions has a unified, agile platform that empowers staff to collaborate better and solve more customer enquiries faster — whether working from home or in the office. Integration with Teams means that everyone can see who’s available to take a customer call.

Managers have analytics to help them meet peak call times more easily and follow an audit trail of communications. The organization can also retune its services, guides, and public messaging, based on keywords that are trending in call recordings. It’s easy for contact center supervisors to change guides without needing help from IT.

There’s more innovation ahead too. “We’re now thinking about using video diagnosis with repairs, rolling out automated satisfaction surveys, and sometimes having residents’ meetings via live video calls,” says Harvey. “With 8x8, we have a strategic IT partner that supports our goals and opens up new possibilities.”

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

Housing Solutions selected 8x8 platform, which encompassed 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams, 8x8 Work, and 8x8 Contact Center. In making its choice, the association took in expert guidance from its digital transformation partner, Social Telecoms.

The 8x8 platform unifies the contact center, voice, video, and chat — and works seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Teams, empowering employees to resolve more enquiries ‘in the moment’.

“Integration with our Microsoft stack was key, but we could also see that 8x8 is a company that launches new features ahead of others, which was hugely attractive to us, going forward,” says Harvey. “Implementation went smoothly and completed on time. The modern, familiar look of 8x8 instantly made our Microsoft users feel more comfortable with their new tools.”

Today, Housing Solutions has a unified, agile platform that empowers staff to collaborate better and solve more customer enquiries faster — whether working from home or in the office. Integration with Teams means that everyone can see who’s available to take a customer call.

Managers have analytics to help them meet peak call times more easily and follow an audit trail of communications. The organization can also retune its services, guides, and public messaging, based on keywords that are trending in call recordings. It’s easy for contact center supervisors to change guides without needing help from IT.

There’s more innovation ahead too. “We’re now thinking about using video diagnosis with repairs, rolling out automated satisfaction surveys, and sometimes having residents’ meetings via live video calls,” says Harvey. “With 8x8, we have a strategic IT partner that supports our goals and opens up new possibilities.”

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

Housing Solutions selected 8x8 platform, which encompassed 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams, 8x8 Work, and 8x8 Contact Center. In making its choice, the association took in expert guidance from its digital transformation partner, Social Telecoms.

The 8x8 platform unifies the contact center, voice, video, and chat — and works seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Teams, empowering employees to resolve more enquiries ‘in the moment’.

“Integration with our Microsoft stack was key, but we could also see that 8x8 is a company that launches new features ahead of others, which was hugely attractive to us, going forward,” says Harvey. “Implementation went smoothly and completed on time. The modern, familiar look of 8x8 instantly made our Microsoft users feel more comfortable with their new tools.”

Today, Housing Solutions has a unified, agile platform that empowers staff to collaborate better and solve more customer enquiries faster — whether working from home or in the office. Integration with Teams means that everyone can see who’s available to take a customer call.

Managers have analytics to help them meet peak call times more easily and follow an audit trail of communications. The organization can also retune its services, guides, and public messaging, based on keywords that are trending in call recordings. It’s easy for contact center supervisors to change guides without needing help from IT.

There’s more innovation ahead too. “We’re now thinking about using video diagnosis with repairs, rolling out automated satisfaction surveys, and sometimes having residents’ meetings via live video calls,” says Harvey. “With 8x8, we have a strategic IT partner that supports our goals and opens up new possibilities.”

Housing provider empowers staff with unified communications

£120K

60%

150+

The Challenge: Fragmented communications

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

At-a-Glance

Platform Housing Group

Sefton Council

Thirteen

Housing provider empowers staff with unified communications

£120K

60%

150+

The Challenge: Fragmented communications

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

The Solution: Rapid roll-out goes smoothly

At-a-Glance

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