3 challenges global tech companies face due to legacy phone systems—and the fix | #customersupport #supporticket

Highlights:

• Relying on outdated legacy phone systems creates needless challenges for tech firms
• Here are three struggles global tech company TechnologyOne faced as a result of its aging system—and how switching to RingCentral’s unified cloud solution solved the high-tech organization’s challenges
• Learn more in our latest high-tech research report: Collaborative communications for the new high-tech workplace

Hold the phone! The number of companies abandoning their old on-premises phone systems in favor of cloud solutions is growing: the UCaaS market is predicted to expand at a compound annual rate of nearly 24% over the next seven years, a new report found.

When it comes to adopting more flexible cloud communications tools, the tech sector is leading the charge, this new research shows. But the popularity of UCaaS among technology firms means that holdout organizations that continue to rely on inflexible, on-premises PBX systems will likely fall behind the competition, as they face more challenges than their peers communicating both internally and externally. When this happens, not only does productivity suffer. So does your ability to innovate— truly a core objective of many technology companies.

Collaborative communications for the new high-tech workplace

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How does relying on outdated legacy phone systems create needless challenges for tech firms? Here are three struggles global tech company TechnologyOne faced as a result of its aging system—and how switching to RingCentral’s unified cloud solution solved the high-tech organization’s challenges.

Connecting global locations

Founded in 1987, TechnologyOne was one of Australia’s first start-ups—and is a true start-up success story. From its headquarters in Queensland, the ERP SaaS company has grown to 14 locations across six countries. And while that’s an enviable trajectory, its legacy phone system just couldn’t keep up.

Switching to RingCentral prevents international growing pains because it eliminates the need for local solutions.

That’s because when it comes to implementing phone systems, each new location means reinventing the wheel. From telecom regulations to device power sources to long-distance calling plans, deploying PBX to a new country or location means working with new local providers who can meet specific regional requirements. While this creates additional work and cost redundancies, an even bigger problem is that the unique systems within each market don’t usually work together inter-regionally.

“(With our PBX system) we couldn’t even do call transfers in our support team from our Australia headquarters to the new U.K. office,” says Richard Nicol, TechnologyOne’s Group Director of Support & Enhance, of the old system.

Switching to RingCentral prevents these international growing pains because it eliminates the need for local solutions. Deployable from anywhere via a centralized admin portal, RingCentral’s UCaaS makes it easy to turn on messaging, video, and phone capabilities at any new office just about anywhere in the world.

RingCentral’s Analytics portal also provides IT with real-time information about what’s happening across TechnologyOne’s global network, making it easier to support the company’s broadly distributed locations too. “RingCentral analytics provides my team with actionable insights into all the key environments of our system for calls, messages, and meetings,” says IT Services Analyst Emily Tregea. “The portal has even helped us become proactive in addressing issues before our users realize they might have a problem. And it’s so flexible that I can even monitor our organization’s data in real time from my mobile phone using the RingCentral app.”

Data visibility challenges

HR databases. Shared calendars. Customer relationship management tools. Technology companies tend to have steep tech footprints of their own, with countless function-specific and company-wide software solutions in place to support all aspects of operations. When you add in the natural blind spots that can develop within a large, distributed company, the risk of decreased visibility and data silos grows.

For the first time, our customer support team can now immediately get a holistic view of who is calling, what they need help with, and where they are, so the agent can provide a fantastic experience for them

This can affect all aspects of work, from production to customer satisfaction. At TechnologyOne, for example, an inability to integrate call center phones with the company’s other platforms and databases significantly hindered workers’ ability to deliver effective customer support.

When you consider that 90% of customers base purchasing decisions on the customer support experience, it’s clear that an inability to connect the dots across offices and functions can be a major business risk. But RingCentral’s platform approach, which delivers out-of-the-box and customizable integrations, makes it easy for companies like TechnologyOne to connect and optimize communications workflows with its CRM and other tools to dramatic effect.

“RingCentral Contact Center has changed our lives completely,” explains Support Manager Tracey Bulley. “For the first time, our customer support team can now immediately get a holistic view of who is calling, what they need help with, and where they are, so the agent can provide a fantastic experience for them.”

Adds Nicol: “When our consultant picks up that phone, they know it’s Mary calling from XYZ Council, and it’s about this issue. They can answer that phone and say, ‘Hello, Mary, I hear you want to talk about case 1-2-3. I’ve got your case right here, and I know we can resolve it.’”

Collaboration across geographies

When you’re a small startup with all employees performing their jobs within close physical proximity, working together is fairly easy. Innovation is critical for tech companies, but very often these companies expand quickly to new locations, maintaining an ability to closely collaborate gets tricky. Everything—from standardized training to brainstorming and planning activities to company all-hands—is harder to do when each office employs its own communications systems. The key is keeping everyone collaborating in real-time, every day, from anywhere and on the same tools.

Having all of these tools on the same solution around the world helps us train people and makes it easy for us to stay connected

“RingCentral has been great for uniting our entire company across all offices, globally, and helping everyone communicate and connect more effectively,” says Jacqueline Ho, TechnologyOne’s IT Director. “Having all of these tools on the same solution around the world helps us train people and makes it easy for us to stay connected.”

Nicol also points to the ease of using RingCentral videoconferencing as a powerful example of the communication barriers that have disappeared. “(Before) we’d have 30 people join our meetings from multiple regions, and it wasn’t uncommon for it to take 15 minutes to get the software working for everyone. That was very disruptive and unprofessional, especially when you’ve got customers in those meetings.”

Driving global growth with smoother communications

For many technology companies, growing into new markets is an important part of the roadmap to success. But relying on outdated PBX systems can make expansion a more difficult proposition, introducing challenges that stand in the way of seamless global operations.

For growing tech organizations, localized on-premises systems simply aren’t up to the task of bridging borders and workforces. Instead, consider a unified communications solution like RingCentral, which offers the flexibility businesses need to meet the challenges of operating globally head-on.