The Challenge: An inefficient and frustrating legacy system
The call center at Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency (Wayne Metro) serves as the point of entry for all calls related to various programs and departments. Prior to adopting 8x8, the agency faced several challenges with its call center system.
Wayne Metro’s previous Mitel phone system was inefficient to maintain and required complex configuration, leading to issues with enabling agent productivity and call handling.
Joseph Coogan, Assistant IT Director at Wayne Metro, states, "It was frustrating in terms of functionality. If you forgot a configuration step, then agents would report that they couldn’t call out or receive any calls.”
The cumbersome nature of the Mitel system created frustration among community members and staff. Coogan explains, "Everybody called the call center directly, including our employees who had to do so on a daily basis to connect with each other. They found it frustrating."
The agency recognized the urgent need for a more reliable and user-friendly solution. After thorough evaluation, Wayne Metro decided to switch to 8x8. Coogan highlights the key factors that influenced their decision, stating, "The fact that it was all on the phone and integrated with our existing physical phones made 8x8 stand out. The real thing that kicked it over the top was the usability of the contact center."
The Solution: An easy-to-use, flexible solution
In March 2021, Wayne Metro successfully migrated to 8x8 Work and 8x8 Contact Center. Coogan commends the seamless implementation process, stating, "With over 800 staff members, our 8x8 implementation was pretty seamless. Our 8x8 customer success manager followed up on any issues and was always willing to step in and give us a hand. And technical support reps helped us resolve everything very quickly."
The agency's contact center, consisting of eight different channels supporting specific programs, now handles over 220,000 calls each month. Coogan emphasizes the importance of flexibility and mobility provided by the 8x8 solution, saying, "On my physical phone, it's always nice to be able to flip to the work app and continue uninterrupted."
Wayne Metro utilizes 8x8's call back and chat features to enhance customer interactions. With a hybrid agent schedule and limited physical space, the ability to seamlessly switch between devices became invaluable. Coogan adds, "As far as ease goes, setting up and training a person on how to use 8x8’s mobile and desktop applications is very easy. We don’t have to waste time showing people how to use 8x8 because it’s so intuitive.”
The organization's role as the point of entry for the Detroit Housing Network, managed by the City of Detroit, required efficient handling of water, housing, and homelessness-related calls. Wayne Metro capitalized on 8x8's speech analytics for staff training and monitoring, while the built-in CRM facilitated seamless customer relationship management.
Result: Supercharged efficiency and productivity
The adoption of 8x8 brought significant benefits to Wayne Metro. Coogan highlights the platform’s flexibility and ease of use that lead to improved staff productivity, "The ability to jump from a call on your desktop to your phone, especially when you have to leave the building, is always nice. The 8x8 desktop and mobile applications provide that level of flexibility."
Additionally, the up-to-the-minute data and analytics have been huge for Coogan and his team. 8x8’s customizable dashboards offer the ability to monitor key metrics and get insights to improve contact center performance. “The status page is great because I can just click on that every day and I can get a quick look at everything going on, all in one place.”
When asked about his overall experience, Coogan says, “I would recommend 8x8, especially because of its ease of use and the seamless migration process.”
