“We just invested millions in a high-tech manufacturing facility, so it really hurt when someone called our desk phones ‘dinosaurs,’” says Rino Lampasona, Vice President of Finance for Muraflex. The Montreal manufacturer’s modular architectural glass panels are the quintessence of modern office spaces. After that remark, he decided the dinosaurs’ extinction was right around the corner.
The Challenge: Enable work from anywhere
When Canada shut down for COVID-19, Muraflex enabled Microsoft Teams so employees could communicate from home. But one vital piece was missing: customers were calling the office – and getting no answer.
“Most of our clients are in the United States,” Mr. Lampasona explains. “They hadn’t shut down yet, so they didn’t understand why we weren’t answering our phones and our mailbox was full. It was unbelievably frustrating for all of us. We needed to act quickly.”
When the first shutdown ended, Mr. Lampasona called his telecom solution provider, Connect it Networks, about replacing the Avaya system with a cloud business phone system. The shutdown had convinced him that the solution needed to be native within the familiar Microsoft Teams experience.
The Solution: 8×8 Voice for Microsoft Teams
“We decided 8×8 Voice for Teams was the perfect solution for Muraflex,” says John Puma, co-founder of Connect it Networks. “Teams users can make and receive calls right from the Teams dialer, thanks to direct routing with 8×8 – that way, Muraflex keeps the Teams user experience they want, but with the 8×8 functionality they need. And they can do it on any desktop, tablet or mobile device, from anywhere.”
Simplicity was another important factor. “8×8 makes implementation so intuitive, we felt entirely confident doing it ourselves,” recalls Steve Beaucage, Senior IT Support Specialist. Muraflex had 8×8 up and running in time for the second national shutdown.
The Benefits: Improved productivity, enhanced brand image, and no more missed calls
Immediately, Muraflex stopped losing business due to missed calls. Productivity shot upward because staff working from home could discuss projects using 8×8-powered voice services in Teams, instead of emotionless back-and-forth emails. And getting rid of the legacy phone system improved the company’s tech-savvy image, making it easier to attract labor in a tight market.
“When you combine the benefits 8×8 gives us in customer experience, productivity and brand image, the return on investment is immediately apparent,” Mr. Lampasona says.Plus, Muraflex added the Teams app to company cell phones and started saving $83 per phone per month. Users like how Teams has become their communications hub, wherever they are. “Everything we love about Teams is made better with 8×8,” says Mr. Beaucage. “Collaboration tools are all under one familiar icon.”
Voice-enabling Teams also has a social aspect that fits with Muraflex’s philosophy of agility. If an employee has a personal circumstance, they can work remotely and still be productive. The company’s business continuity plan now includes staying in contact without the physical limitation of a building. The best part: customers won’t notice the difference.
Choosing 8×8 gives Muraflex future versatility in another way that ordinary dial tone providers can’t. If Microsoft Teams becomes unavailable, Muraflex can switch to using the 8×8 Work App on employee devices and keep communicating. And if Muraflex wants to add a Microsoft Teams contact center, it can simply add a new 8×8 license plan.
“8×8 is a huge leap for us. We’re not a tech company, yet we work like a tech company,” Mr. Beaucage says. “I can tell you there are not many manufacturing companies who can do what we’re doing today.”
“When you combine the benefits 8×8 gives us in customer experience, productivity and brand image, the return on investment is immediately apparent.”
See how Connect it Networks helped Muraflex transform their customer experience with 8×8 by downloading the case study below: