Tech incubator arms start-ups with 8x8 agility

Dynamic workspace in the heart of London

Owned by the Canary Wharf Group, Level39 is Europe’s largest technology incubator and it manages one of the UK's largest co-working spaces. Its four floors at One Canada Square in London are home to over 200 'member' companies that employ over 1250 staff.

These tech-centric companies enjoy dynamic workspaces that include Level39's 16 meeting rooms, a bar, restaurant and multiple stunning events areas.

Level39 also provided telephony services via an on-premise system. However, the tech was outdated and inflexible, preventing Level39 from offering telephony capabilities to match the rest of its best-in-class facilities. The existing system couldn't even handle Caller ID.

Managing telephony services was also consuming valuable resources for Level39's technology, front of house and finance teams.

"We are a tech incubator, but we were having to act like a telco for almost 1000 daily users — and we still couldn't offer the features people expected," recounts Qaunain Meghjee, Head of Technology of Level39.

Companies switch to new platform

After careful analysis, Qaunain Meghjee concluded the best approach was to switch to the latest industry standard — unified communications as a service (UCaaS). He realised the cloud-based 8x8 X Series unified communications platform was the ideal solution.

8x8 got to work, on-boarding member companies, porting and redirecting their numbers and giving them a web dashboard.

“It was a radical approach as we had almost 1000 users from over a 100 companies," says Qaunain Meghjee.

"Users can decide if they want to use a mobile app, laptop or desk phone and can access services from anywhere. They can self-serve — managing their own teams, numbers, diverts and voicemails. It was all so easy. No-one even needed an instruction manual," he recalls.

Platform adapts easily to fit everyone

The X Series dovetailed perfectly with Level39's network and hardware. It proved incredibly versatile — meeting the unique needs of hundreds of businesses, all at the same time.

"Some companies wanted desk phones with a wealth of extra features, while others wanted the 8x8 mobile app. Now they could get both — and more besides," says Qaunain Meghjee.

The X Series also offered massive advantages to companies with teams based overseas. 8x8 could give them phone numbers for London and other capital cities with free UK and international calls. Companies could connect global sites — and yet manage their entire telephony via a single 8x8 login.

Now Level39 can spend more time on its core business — running sessions for its members with investors, mentors and partners. The workload on the front-of-house team has reduced by 15% and there's been a finance/administrative saving of 20%. A further £250,000 has been saved as Level39 no longer needs to maintain, support and insure its old telephony hardware.

Remote working capabilities prove invaluable

During the COVID-19 emergency, the X Series enabled companies to hit the ground running when it came to business continuity.

Companies can reconfigure everything for remote working in the time it takes to drink a coffee. MP3 messages can be dragged and dropped into the dashboard, call routing sorted, diverts set up in moments and voicemails accessed easily.

Sorting daily 'team huddles' has been simple. Audio and video conferencing bridges can be activated at the click of a button. File-sharing and other collaboration tools have proved invaluable too.

Constant innovation and stand-out support

"As soon as our member companies start using the X Series, they realise how easy it is — and how much control they get," says Qaunain Meghjee. "8x8 are always innovating and they offer outstanding support 24/7.

"8x8 were willing to go at our pace — and what was best for our member companies. Their focus wasn't about selling licenses, it was about getting the best outcome for everyone, which is what we achieved."