Supply Side USA gets a complete communications package with 8x8

Integrated UC + CC Business Phone Contact Center Retail

Supply Side USA is a leading supplier of packaging, shipping, moving, and storage products, serving over 10,000 retailers in the U.S. and Canada. From boxes and mailers to bubble wrap and tape to in-store supplies, the company provides everything that shipping and storage retailers need to serve their customers.

"With 8x8, we can see exactly how our agent team is performing, coach people as needed, and better allocate our resources based on call volume. This has helped us really improve our level of customer service."

Monty Merza, Director of Analytics, Supply Side USA

"With 8x8, we can see exactly how our agent team is performing, coach people as needed, and better allocate our resources based on call volume. This has helped us really improve our level of customer service."

Monty Merza, Director of Analytics, Supply Side USA

"With 8x8, we can see exactly how our agent team is performing, coach people as needed, and better allocate our resources based on call volume. This has helped us really improve our level of customer service."

Monty Merza, Director of Analytics, Supply Side USA

"With 8x8, we can see exactly how our agent team is performing, coach people as needed, and better allocate our resources based on call volume. This has helped us really improve our level of customer service."

Monty Merza, Director of Analytics, Supply Side USA

The Challenge: How to modernize communications company-wide

Prior to adopting 8x8, Supply Side had very basic phone service in place for all office staff, including the customer service team. Phone numbers were provisioned through two different vendors, and employees were using a variety of messaging and video conferencing tools. There was no core system in place to manage business communications across the company. In addition, there was no visibility into customer service team performance.

“We knew that our team was efficient and productive,” said Monty Merza, Director of Analytics at Supply Side, “but we had no way of understanding how we serve our customers or how many agents we needed to be available at any one time.”

The Supply Side team decided to look for a modern cloud solution that would provide a centralized system that included a rich feature set with analytics, call handling, and quality management capabilities. They evaluated a few vendors, and one of their partners recommended 8x8. Merza recalls, “8x8 had all the features we were looking for—virtual contact center, chat, video conferencing—all together in one system. Also, you didn’t even need a physical phone at your desk, you could use 8x8 on your mobile phone.”

The Solution: Everything on one powerful platform

With the help of 8x8’s support team, Supply Side implemented 8x8 Work and 8x8 Contact Center in early 2020. “We had a really good experience with implementing 8x8,” says Merza. “It felt like white glove service from our 8x8 representative.”

Using 8x8 has also been straightforward. “It’s easy to use and people adopted it fairly quickly,” he says. “From an administrative standpoint, it’s also a very easy product to manage. I can do things like set up users, change permissions, and turn on and off features in just a few clicks. And because everything is now in one system, I no longer have to administer a bunch of different applications, each with a different UI and feature set.”

Employees particularly love the ability to access 8x8 on their mobile phone and communicate via voice, chat, or video. This is particularly useful for those who are often on the go, and they can easily flip calls back and forth between their mobile and desktop as needed. On top of that, Merza also appreciates the status indicator that shows people’s availability. “I love those types of features that enable us to respect each other’s time,” he says.

For the customer service team, a robust toolset also helps them better manage their time and workflows. With 8x8, managers can set up different queues for various types of calls and assign them to agents based on their expertise. The Agent Workspace interface gives agents insight into customer interactions, such as the number of calls on hold, and enables easy collaboration.

As new agents come on board, 8x8’s quality management tools help managers train them quickly. For example, using the barge and whisper features, new hires can listen in to calls handled by a seasoned agent or manager, allowing them to catch on faster through direct experience.

The Benefits: Greater agility, transparency, and efficiency

The pandemic hit just as Supply Side was launching 8x8. Because the company is an essential service, it was inundated with phone calls due to an increase in demand, but their new communications solution made it possible to keep the business running smoothly. “8x8 worked out to be a true blessing for us,” says Merza. “Our teams were able to seamlessly transition to working from home, and 8x8 helped us increase our ability to communicate with customers.”

Post-lockdown, supply chain issues continued to impact customer orders and it was hard to staff up quickly. Using automated messages and callbacks, the lean team could keep customers informed and connect with them in a timely manner.

One of the biggest benefits has been greater visibility into customer service performance thanks to 8x8 Contact Center Analytics. Merza says, “With 8x8, we can see exactly how our agent team is performing, coach people as needed, and better allocate our resources based on call volume. This has helped us really improve our level of customer service.”

For Merza, centralizing communication technologies on one platform has been a huge improvement. He can save time administering the system or onboarding new employees to company technologies. “8x8 gives us everything we need on one platform.”

The Solution: Everything on one powerful platform

With the help of 8x8’s support team, Supply Side implemented 8x8 Work and 8x8 Contact Center in early 2020. “We had a really good experience with implementing 8x8,” says Merza. “It felt like white glove service from our 8x8 representative.”

Using 8x8 has also been straightforward. “It’s easy to use and people adopted it fairly quickly,” he says. “From an administrative standpoint, it’s also a very easy product to manage. I can do things like set up users, change permissions, and turn on and off features in just a few clicks. And because everything is now in one system, I no longer have to administer a bunch of different applications, each with a different UI and feature set.”

Employees particularly love the ability to access 8x8 on their mobile phone and communicate via voice, chat, or video. This is particularly useful for those who are often on the go, and they can easily flip calls back and forth between their mobile and desktop as needed. On top of that, Merza also appreciates the status indicator that shows people’s availability. “I love those types of features that enable us to respect each other’s time,” he says.

For the customer service team, a robust toolset also helps them better manage their time and workflows. With 8x8, managers can set up different queues for various types of calls and assign them to agents based on their expertise. The Agent Workspace interface gives agents insight into customer interactions, such as the number of calls on hold, and enables easy collaboration.

As new agents come on board, 8x8’s quality management tools help managers train them quickly. For example, using the barge and whisper features, new hires can listen in to calls handled by a seasoned agent or manager, allowing them to catch on faster through direct experience.

The Benefits: Greater agility, transparency, and efficiency

The pandemic hit just as Supply Side was launching 8x8. Because the company is an essential service, it was inundated with phone calls due to an increase in demand, but their new communications solution made it possible to keep the business running smoothly. “8x8 worked out to be a true blessing for us,” says Merza. “Our teams were able to seamlessly transition to working from home, and 8x8 helped us increase our ability to communicate with customers.”

Post-lockdown, supply chain issues continued to impact customer orders and it was hard to staff up quickly. Using automated messages and callbacks, the lean team could keep customers informed and connect with them in a timely manner.

One of the biggest benefits has been greater visibility into customer service performance thanks to 8x8 Contact Center Analytics. Merza says, “With 8x8, we can see exactly how our agent team is performing, coach people as needed, and better allocate our resources based on call volume. This has helped us really improve our level of customer service.”

For Merza, centralizing communication technologies on one platform has been a huge improvement. He can save time administering the system or onboarding new employees to company technologies. “8x8 gives us everything we need on one platform.”

The Solution: Everything on one powerful platform

With the help of 8x8’s support team, Supply Side implemented 8x8 Work and 8x8 Contact Center in early 2020. “We had a really good experience with implementing 8x8,” says Merza. “It felt like white glove service from our 8x8 representative.”

Using 8x8 has also been straightforward. “It’s easy to use and people adopted it fairly quickly,” he says. “From an administrative standpoint, it’s also a very easy product to manage. I can do things like set up users, change permissions, and turn on and off features in just a few clicks. And because everything is now in one system, I no longer have to administer a bunch of different applications, each with a different UI and feature set.”

Employees particularly love the ability to access 8x8 on their mobile phone and communicate via voice, chat, or video. This is particularly useful for those who are often on the go, and they can easily flip calls back and forth between their mobile and desktop as needed. On top of that, Merza also appreciates the status indicator that shows people’s availability. “I love those types of features that enable us to respect each other’s time,” he says.

For the customer service team, a robust toolset also helps them better manage their time and workflows. With 8x8, managers can set up different queues for various types of calls and assign them to agents based on their expertise. The Agent Workspace interface gives agents insight into customer interactions, such as the number of calls on hold, and enables easy collaboration.

As new agents come on board, 8x8’s quality management tools help managers train them quickly. For example, using the barge and whisper features, new hires can listen in to calls handled by a seasoned agent or manager, allowing them to catch on faster through direct experience.

The Benefits: Greater agility, transparency, and efficiency

The pandemic hit just as Supply Side was launching 8x8. Because the company is an essential service, it was inundated with phone calls due to an increase in demand, but their new communications solution made it possible to keep the business running smoothly. “8x8 worked out to be a true blessing for us,” says Merza. “Our teams were able to seamlessly transition to working from home, and 8x8 helped us increase our ability to communicate with customers.”

Post-lockdown, supply chain issues continued to impact customer orders and it was hard to staff up quickly. Using automated messages and callbacks, the lean team could keep customers informed and connect with them in a timely manner.

One of the biggest benefits has been greater visibility into customer service performance thanks to 8x8 Contact Center Analytics. Merza says, “With 8x8, we can see exactly how our agent team is performing, coach people as needed, and better allocate our resources based on call volume. This has helped us really improve our level of customer service.”

For Merza, centralizing communication technologies on one platform has been a huge improvement. He can save time administering the system or onboarding new employees to company technologies. “8x8 gives us everything we need on one platform.”

The Solution: Everything on one powerful platform

With the help of 8x8’s support team, Supply Side implemented 8x8 Work and 8x8 Contact Center in early 2020. “We had a really good experience with implementing 8x8,” says Merza. “It felt like white glove service from our 8x8 representative.”

Using 8x8 has also been straightforward. “It’s easy to use and people adopted it fairly quickly,” he says. “From an administrative standpoint, it’s also a very easy product to manage. I can do things like set up users, change permissions, and turn on and off features in just a few clicks. And because everything is now in one system, I no longer have to administer a bunch of different applications, each with a different UI and feature set.”

Employees particularly love the ability to access 8x8 on their mobile phone and communicate via voice, chat, or video. This is particularly useful for those who are often on the go, and they can easily flip calls back and forth between their mobile and desktop as needed. On top of that, Merza also appreciates the status indicator that shows people’s availability. “I love those types of features that enable us to respect each other’s time,” he says.

For the customer service team, a robust toolset also helps them better manage their time and workflows. With 8x8, managers can set up different queues for various types of calls and assign them to agents based on their expertise. The Agent Workspace interface gives agents insight into customer interactions, such as the number of calls on hold, and enables easy collaboration.

As new agents come on board, 8x8’s quality management tools help managers train them quickly. For example, using the barge and whisper features, new hires can listen in to calls handled by a seasoned agent or manager, allowing them to catch on faster through direct experience.

The Benefits: Greater agility, transparency, and efficiency

The pandemic hit just as Supply Side was launching 8x8. Because the company is an essential service, it was inundated with phone calls due to an increase in demand, but their new communications solution made it possible to keep the business running smoothly. “8x8 worked out to be a true blessing for us,” says Merza. “Our teams were able to seamlessly transition to working from home, and 8x8 helped us increase our ability to communicate with customers.”

Post-lockdown, supply chain issues continued to impact customer orders and it was hard to staff up quickly. Using automated messages and callbacks, the lean team could keep customers informed and connect with them in a timely manner.

One of the biggest benefits has been greater visibility into customer service performance thanks to 8x8 Contact Center Analytics. Merza says, “With 8x8, we can see exactly how our agent team is performing, coach people as needed, and better allocate our resources based on call volume. This has helped us really improve our level of customer service.”

For Merza, centralizing communication technologies on one platform has been a huge improvement. He can save time administering the system or onboarding new employees to company technologies. “8x8 gives us everything we need on one platform.”