Effective and timely customer service is vital for small- and medium-sized business to compete in an economy where consumers demand more for every dollar that they spent. Unfortunately, SMBs can often find themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to customer service resources.
Such was the case with MFASCO Health & Safety, a Michigan-area wholesale distributor of first aid and safety products that didn't have a business phone solution capable of connecting their customer service representatives with shipping and inventory personnel.
The result was a flawed system where contact center reps needed to put customers on hold and physically walk down to the warehouse to give accurate answers on inventory or shipping status. As one can imagine, this led to significant hold times and less than ideal customer service.
"Customer service advisors are constantly leaving their desks to walk back to the warehouse and verify if a particular knee brace is in stock or how many rolls of athletic tape are in a bin," Mark Brinker, vice president of Sales and Marketing, noted in a recent case study.
"As a result, our customers were having to wait longer than they preferred while our service reps were getting tied down to the phone," he added. "What we needed was some kind of mobility solution that would work with a hosted phone service so they could get up and take the phone with them."
The answer was an SIP Cordless Phone System by Panasonic (News - Alert), a longtime leader in the SIP end points space. The system, when coupled with hosted PBX (News - Alert) service from Vocalocity, enabled MFASCO employees to access all the next-generation communication features of a big-business phone system without the hassle and cost of an on-premise legacy solution.
With the SIP Cordless Phone (News - Alert) System in place, MFASCO customer service reps can buzz down to warehouse or shipping personnel on another line, or walk down to the warehouse themselves while on the cordless phone.
The VoIP solution's DECT (News - Alert) technology allows employees to communicate with other portable handset users and the base unit without tying up one of the physical lines, leaving them open for more customers to call in.
"We have three lines but if all are busy, the customer service rep can still page the shipping department with an urgent change," said Brinker. "The battery life is good and the range surprised us. We regularly walk up to 100 feet and transmission is strong and clear with excellent sound quality."
Adopting the SIP end points solution has helped the first aid distributor improve efficiency, enhance customer service and allow for further growth. MFASCO can add more users by purchasing relatively inexpensive handsets and adding them to the system without any wiring or installation.
In addition, MFASCO only pays Vocalocity (News - Alert) a flat monthly fee for the service.
Click here to check Panasonic's entire lineup of SIP phones.
Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Carrie Schmelkin