Previous tool's call quality and reliability failed to make the grade
In an environment where communication is crucial, Kingsway Christian College’s existing on-premises telephony system was far from capable of delivering the quality experience that reflects the school’s reputation. The system was showing its age, too. Maintenance had become difficult and calls would drop frequently.
To better serve its stakeholders, the college was determined to make the switch to a modern communication system.
“We were having multiple calls dropping out. If you were calling a mobile phone, you wouldn't be able to hear the other person. We were having phone issues daily; probably six or seven times. That led us to explore some options and alternatives to find a solution not just for on-campus, but one that would allow us more flexibility and scalability,” said Daley Grainger, Network Administrator of Kingsway Christian College.
After exploring various cloud telephony systems on the market, the school implemented 8x8, a multi-award-winning Unified Communications system through Scope Logic, a platinum 8x8 partner based in Perth.
When asked about his experience working with Scope Logic, Grainger stressed how much the open, genuine conversations with Scope Logic provided value in solving the problems and made him feel supported. “It wasn't a one-off, transactional kind of deal.”
Kingsway Christian gets an A+ in modern communications by signing up with 8x8
The 8x8 all-in-one Unified Communications as a Service (UCaas) platform Scope Logic provided to Kingsway Christian College included 8x8 Work with phone, chat and video conference applications that are Microsoft Teams compatible, as well as 8x8 Frontdesk - an advanced receptionist functionality. An analytics dashboard also forms part of the solution.
The roll-out occurred in 2021 during a covid lockdown. The college retained its old phones until it was ready to switch to 8x8. The Scope Logic team deployed the 8x8 system after a week of implementation with no calls affected. This was especially important, as maintaining consistent, responsive communications with students and parents was a top priority for the school.
Once deployed, the 8x8 platform delivered instant improvement to Kingsway Christian College’s phone reliability with a 99.999% uptime guarantee. The system also provided Grainger and his team with an IP (Internet Protocol) phone functionality that can be used to facilitate intercom and paging communications, making the school communications truly unified.
Kingsway Christian College’s employees can now provide consistent service to their students from any location or device, including desktops, laptops, smartphones, or tablets.
“The experience right now is amazing. 8x8 has really allowed great flexibility. On one occasion a member of staff was stuck in Queensland and another person had to go over to the east to do some family work, and they were both able to work remotely. The phone just went with them,” said Grainger.
Achieving crucial reliability and first-class agility
It is now simple for the IT team to make licensing changes, configure features to accommodate staff changes and support the needs of various team members. They can easily configure and manage 8x8 online from any desktop for easy configuration of phone numbers, users, auto-attendant customization and more. Best of all, the new solution required far-less administration and maintenance when compared to their aging PBX systems.
Grainger described the administration as almost “no-touch” required. “We've set up 8x8 and I literally can count on one hand how many times I've had to touch the admin portal. That's the best thing about it; it just works.”
8x8 offers call management features that help Kingsway Christian College improve its response to managing calls. The system professionally queues callers, with IVR enabling them to reach a particular department within the shortest amount of time. Call forwarding functions allow staff to be reached even when out of the office. “From a caller’s perspective, it definitely brings more professionalism,” said Grainger. The enhanced management of calls has improved the communication experience for all school stakeholders.
The biggest impact the college anticipated was 8x8’s collaboration capability and its ability to integrate with business-essential applications like Microsoft Teams. “The decision-maker for us was the ability to integrate Microsoft Teams with just a couple of clicks.”
Kingsway Christian College is in the process of reviewing its integration requirements to streamline collaboration, and is planning to fully leverage 8x8 reporting and analytics. The school is keen to use these features to enable data-based productivity to improve service management.
