Ready to Grow

Verteks deploys ShoreTel UC with ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center to provide Triage Management with a strong platform for continued growth.

Wind or hail damage is a stressful situation for any homeowner, and finding a reputable and qualified roofing contractor only adds to the anxiety. Triage Management Services helps to relieve that anxiety.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based firm has built a network of prescreened roofing contractors who specialize in the repair of wind and hail damage. Operating under the name First Choice Repair, the company also streamlines the estimating process and insurance paperwork for homeowners, and backs the contractor’s five-year warranty on workmanship with its own guarantee.

Triage has been growing rapidly, and needed a phone system and contact center solution that would better support its business requirements. The company called on Verteks Consulting to replace an aging NEC system with a state-of-the-art ShoreTel solution.

“We had an older system that just could not accommodate our growth,” said Karen Spiegelberg, Manager of Business Applications, Triage Management Services. “We needed something a little more robust and easier to work with. We started looking around at various companies, and consulted with a few. Then we came across Verteks and decided to give them a shot.

“They were very accommodating from the get-go. They came to visit us, sat down and listened to our needs, and came up with a solution. They were fantastic to work with in getting us what we needed and not trying to oversell us on a system that we weren’t quite ready for.”

Key Component

The contact center is an important part of Triage Management’s business — not only for customer support but for generating revenue. The ShoreTel Unified Communications (UC) Solution with ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center has call management features that enable the firm’s small staff to efficiently handle growing call volumes.

“It’s very key to us,” Spiegelberg said. “Right now, we’re using it to manage inbound calls and route them appropriately. It helps us keep those lines open, which keeps revenue coming in. We’re also excited about being able to use the outbound dialer in the near future.”

“Verteks is great to work with. They are more than just a vendor — they are a partner in helping us grow our business.”

The company has about 65 agents taking calls, as well as managers and other personnel who utilize the system. The ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center solution gives Triage the flexibility to adapt to meet changing business requirements.

“We really like having the ability to dynamically create groups,” Spiegelberg said. “We’re not a large company and our agents tend to cover multiple groups at one time. That’s the flexibility we were looking for, and that’s what we found with the system.”

Triage is also taking advantage of the management and reporting tools that are built into the ShoreTel system to improve its operations.

“Our managers love it,” said Spiegelberg. “They can see if one group is starting to get heavy traffic, and if they need to ramp up we can put more people in that group quickly. They can quickly shift people around in responsibilities and priority of how they want calls handled. It has definitely helped them better manage their staff.”

All the Right Tools

Verteks took the time to learn about Triage Management’s contact center operations and design a solution that would meet the company’s needs now and in the future. ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center has the ability to support multiple communications channels, such as online chat, in addition to phone calls. It can also expand along with the business.

“We’re definitely looking at online chat — that’s big to us. We’re excited to have those extra tools available,” Spiegelberg said. “And we’re already talking about adding hardware and additional licenses. Verteks has been very helpful in planning all of that. We met with them recently and started laying the groundwork for the next phase of this project.”

ShoreTel UC serves as the platform for Triage Management’s corporate communications. End-users like the capabilities of the ShoreTel UC solution, which offers many features that simply weren’t available on the old NEC system.

“It was a little intimidating to the folks when we first made the cutover,” said Spiegelberg. “There was a lot to learn, and we were asking them to take on new technology and still maintain productivity. But they’ve had it now for a year and half. I think if we threatened to take it away, we’d have mutiny on our hands. A lot of our folks don’t even dial anymore — they use the ShoreTel Communicator to dial the phone. They really do love the flexibility it gives them.”

A True Partnership

The Verteks team handled the ShoreTel implementation from end to end, doing a lot of work upfront to set up the system according to Triage Management’s requirements. Verteks was also on hand to ensure a smooth cutover from the old PBX to the new ShoreTel system.

“The disruption to the business was very minimal because Verteks took on all the initial coding. We sat down, mapped out what we wanted and they coded it,” Spiegelberg said. “From there it was a case of disconnecting the old system and getting the new system in place. They had engineers onsite during the cutover to help us out.”

The ShoreTel system is very reliable — Triage has experienced only minimal downtime due to factors external to the system. The system is also easy to administer and boasts a very low total cost of ownership (TCO). Should a problem arise, Verteks is there to provide ongoing support.

“They are very quick to respond to any of our needs,” said Spiegelberg. “I joke with Don [Gulling, President of Verteks] because I have him on speed dial. And Don recorded my name for me on the phone system, so if you call you hear his voice announce my name. I tell people that’s my assistant.”

All joking aside, Spiegelberg says Verteks has played a key role in giving Triage Management the communications tools it needs to support its ongoing growth.

“Verteks is great to work with,” she said. “They are more than just a vendor — they are a partner in helping us grow our business.”