Customer service powered by empathy
“Good customer experience is all about valuing the customers’ time,” says Darren Murray, Head of Customer Experience for PrepayPower. “No customer really wants to contact their provider, so excellent customer experience is really about minimizing that impact on the customer with empathetic agents and an efficient, digital channel.”
PrepayPower is Ireland’s leading pay-as-you-go electricity, gas, broadband and home heating provider. Darren and his team have been committed to delivering reliable services to their customers since the organization’s inception in 2010. But, as the company grew, it became clear their existing communications platform couldn’t keep up.
Pulling the plug on an unreliable system
With over 350,000 customers depending on PrepayPower for seamless services, efficient communication was critical for day-to-day operations and delivering an exceptional customer experience. Their legacy system was unable to keep pace with the demands of a modern, fast-paced business environment. The team needed a solution to keep pace with their growth—one that could handle the pressure of peak seasons, provide robust data insights, and future-proof their operations.
Along with their technology partner, Workair, the PrepayPower customer experience team embarked on a search for a robust, flexible platform that could meet their present needs and support their ambitious growth plans. The goal was clear: to find a system that would unify their communications, improve reliability, and enable the company to deliver better service to its customers. Plus, PrepayPower needed a platform that could seamlessly integrate with their existing tools, support a distributed workforce, and provide the scalability necessary for future expansion.
A high-voltage platform in 8x8
After extensive research and careful consideration of multiple vendors, PrepayPower decided on 8x8 as their CX partner. They were impressed by how truly global 8x8 is, and the breadth of 8x8’s offerings, which included integrated voice, video, messaging, and contact center solutions. However, 8x8’s single, unified platform stood out most. This would eliminate the silos and inefficiencies created by their previous system and allow teams to collaborate more effectively. The team also appreciated 8x8’s affordability and commitment to continuous innovation, ensuring they’d stay nimble as their business evolved.
Charging ahead with a smooth migration
The deployment process began with meticulous planning. Transitioning from an older system to a modern, cloud-based platform can be daunting, but the Digital Transformation team, tasked with project managing the implementation, was determined to make the shift as smooth as possible. The 8x8 team worked closely with PrepayPower to map out every step of the migration process, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations. Training sessions were organized for employees, equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to leverage the new tools. The rollout was phased, allowing teams to adapt gradually while ensuring minimal disruption to customers.
In addition to 8x8 Work and 8x8 Contact Center, PrepayPower also uses integrations like Zapier, Power Automate, and Survey Monkey to strengthen their system and improve efficiencies. Plus, the organization is taking advantage of 8x8 Secure Pay, an integration that offers agents a secure payment page for easily and safely processing customer transactions that is PCI compliant, meaning it meets the Payment Card Industry standard. “With our previous system, we had to get customers who wanted to provide credit card details to call us back on an unrecorded line,” explains Geoff Keenan, the Digital Transformation Manager at PrepayPower. “So it was a poor customer experience and also meant there were a large number of calls we had no recordings of. Now, this is not an issue for us.”
A surge in customer satisfaction and employee productivity
With 8x8, PrepayPower achieved a level of operational efficiency and reliability that had previously seemed out of reach. Call quality improved dramatically, and the unified platform made it easier for teams to collaborate and share information. The contact center's advanced reporting capabilities enabled the organization to identify and resolve issues faster, enhancing both employee productivity and customer satisfaction. Internally, employees appreciated the user-friendly interface and the newfound ability to work more cohesively, in the office or remotely.
One of the standout features for PrepayPower was the real-time insights into call metrics and customer interactions, giving managers the data they needed to make informed decisions and continuously improve service quality. Particularly for the Customer Experience team, the cloud-based platform was a game-changer. Updates were automatic, maintenance was minimal, and the platform’s scalability meant that onboarding new users or expanding capacity was straightforward and efficient. “The most impressive part of 8x8 has been the connectivity of the system,” says Geoff. “We’re able to get access to data through 8x8 we were never able to access before.”
“We’re now hitting record CSAT and NPS numbers since we switched to 8x8,” says Darren. “CSAT is consistently hitting nearly 90% and NPS is over 60, which is far above the expectations we had before setting out on this project.” Customer feedback reflected the impact of these improvements, with shorter wait times, more responsive service, and smoother interactions overall. And for Darren, who knows and values the cost of his customers’ time, this was a huge win.
One reason for the improved customer support has been the option for customers to leverage one-way video capabilities. PrepayPower relies on video elevation when communicating with customers in relation to complex scenarios, such as trouble shooting broadband modem issues, or assisting customers with troubleshooting situations where they have no power in their property. Native to the contact center, Video elevation enables agents to switch from phone to one-way video with a few clicks—without dropping the call with the customers. “We mostly use video for situations where the customer has lost power, and we need to troubleshoot the issue with them,” says Geoff. “8x8’s one-way video capabilities have definitely improved customer experience—it's a lot easier talking customers through complex steps when you can see exactly what it is they're doing.”
PrepayPower’s decision to partner with 8x8 not only addressed the immediate challenges of an outdated communications system but also positioned PrepayPower for sustained growth. The platform’s scalability and flexibility mean that as the company grows, its communications infrastructure will grow with it. The partnership with 8x8 has been more than a technical upgrade—it has been a strategic move that underscores their commitment to delivering excellence, both to their customers and within their organization.
Keeping the energy flowing with scalable solutions
Today, PrepayPower stands as a testament to how the right technology, implemented thoughtfully, can drive meaningful change. From the beginning, their priorities were simple: to deliver a more empathetic experience through elevated CX while future-proofing the business. PrepayPower was clear about what they wanted, and with 8x8, they could turn those ideas into reality. “We absolutely feel future-proofed now, and we’ve barely started our journey with 8x8,” says Darren. “They’re consistently adding new features to the service, like the new best-in-class AI features, and their quarterly updates prove that this is a company that isn’t staying stagnant. They’re constantly upgrading and adding new features to meet the needs of customers like us.”
