Juggling multiple contracts for different phone service vendors
For a modern workforce, mobile means more. More flexibility and agility. More opportunities in more places. But that can also lead to more headaches if you have to manage multiple contracts and communications systems just to keep your distributed workforce connected.
WIS International is a leading global inventory and datacollection services company with more than 15,000 employees in over 200 physical and virtual office locations, all of whom work together to serve more than 4,500 worldwide clients. Due to conducting physical inventory counts and merchandising for customers, employees are often working on the move. With all those locations—and with employees constantly working onsite at different client locations—managing communications was a challenge.
For years, the company had been setting up each office and location-based project with a separate phone service and internet provider in order to make and receive calls and transmit data. That proved to be costly and inefficient. “Since our phone service contracts were negotiated by individual managers, sometimes they would get a promo plan at a discount. Then when the promo ended, the bill would more than double. It created budgeting challenges,” said Larry Wagner, WIS International Controller. The company began seeking a cost-effective way to simplify and streamline its communications operations.
Keeping critical contact numbers easily accessible
WIS International also needed a solution that would help it provide customers with the best possible experience. When working onsite with a customer, area managers frequently set up their own physical or virtual office, complete with phone system. They also build a team tailored to meet the specific needs of each project. As the project is completed, team members often get reassigned to work on new projects with new area managers. Having such siloed operations made it difficult to keep contact information current and available to whomever needed it. “Somebody might be assigned to an office or team for six months and would get transferred to another team, so then we would have to find out all places where their cell phone number was listed, from recruiting to customers to in-house, and try to change it out,” said Director of Special Operations Charlene Boucher. This time spent trying to track down its workforce was time taken from serving customers.
When WIS International discovered One Talk℠ from Verizon, it knew it had found a solution that addressed its primary communications pain points—and delivered so much more.
A unified communications system for a dispersed workforce
One Talk is a cost-effective, mobile-first business phone system that increases administrative efficiency by replacing multiple phone-service contracts with a single contract. And it empowers companies to easily manage phone services across desk phones and employee-owned devices, creating a unified, streamlined experience.
One Talk makes it easy for a mobile workforce to connect with customers, coworkers and recruitment candidates by providing one number across multiple devices. Plus, One Talk has more than 50 business-grade phone features that can be accessed from employee-owned devices using the mobile app. So employees can stay agile, accessible and productive wherever they are.