Case Studies

Summary: Dr. Nichol works closely with Connections Call Center so that she can devote more time to her patients, and rest well at night knowing her business is being looked after.

Backstory: Dr. Nichol is a Canadian Certified Counsellor specializing in Couples Therapy. She is a very busy practitioner and sees up to six couples a day, back to back, with a short break for lunch. Dr. Nichole uses Connections Call Center for the following:
• Take messages
• Book appointments
• Take payment details for new clients
• Dispatch emergency calls overnight

Problem: Dr. Nichol had found that with her practice growing, she was spending time between appointments catching up on phone messages and appointment booking. This often leads to delays in her daily schedule. She also found that clients were calling overnight to book appointments, and not bothering to leave a voicemail. When clients had emergencies, they were given her cell phone number to call, however these clients started calling her at all hours for non-emergency issues as well.

Solution: Connections Call Center was able to take the phone lines during the day for Dr. Nichol, while she is seeing patients. Every call is answered by a professional agent, and no calls are missed. The call center’s agents are able to answer basic questions about the practice and billing as well. Dr. Nichol’s patients can also now call in and book their next appointment 24×7. Whether she is with a client, or sleeping soundly, appointments are being booked for her. If a client calls with an emergency, the call center is able to reach Dr. Nichol immediately for assistance as well.

Outcome: Since signing up with Connections, Dr. Nichol has seen the following benefits:
• Able to devote more attention to her patients without worrying about missing a call.
• Smoother workday – since Connections agents are able to answer basic questions and book appointments, Dr. Nichol has far less work to do between appointments, allowing her to keep to her schedule.
• Security – Knowing that Connections Agents will reach out to her if there is an emergency, Dr. Nichol can rest assured that her clients will be well taken care of in the event of an emergency.

Summary: Peninsula Sports Clinic utilizes the services provided by Connections Call Centre to take messages, book appointments, answer questions and dispatch emergency calls to the Doctor.

Backstory: Dr. Wong runs a busy clinic which specializes in sports injuries and rehabilitation. Her clinic employs several Doctors and technicians, who can assist patients with a variety of sports related injuries. Dr. Wong also performs surgeries throughout the day.

Problem: Clients phone the clinic at all hours of the day to book appointments, and they do not always leave messages on the answering machine. The receptionist also needs to take breaks from the phone to get caught up on paperwork, and take lunch during office hours. During these times, calls are missed, and clients either do not leave messages, or do not include all of the details that the clinic needs in their voicemails messages.

Solution: Connections Call Center is able to take the phone lines any time the receptionist is unavailable, whether it is for a lunch break, or afterhours. This means clients can call and speak with someone directly 24/7. Dr Wong has given Connections Call Center access to her appointment booking software, so Connections agents are able to book appointments for her patients 24×7. In case of an emergency, Connections Call Center is able to reach the Doctor to get help for her patients right away.

Outcome: Since signing up with Connections, Peninsula Sports Clinic has seen the following benefits:
• Receptionist is able to concentrate on paperwork catch-up without worrying about missed calls.
• Patients are thrilled that they are able to book their appointments at any time of day.
• Dr Wong and all of her practitioners have more time to dedicate to her patients.
• Security – Dr Wong and her team can rest easily outside of office hours knowing that Connections Agents will reach out to them if there is an emergency.

Summary: Stanley Plumbing and Heating was started by Paul Stanley back in the 1950’s. Since that time, they’ve grown into a very large company, servicing a large area from Lillooet to Horseshoe Bay. They have several sub-areas, each with its own on call technicians for plumbing and HVAC services. Stanley Plumbing and Heating uses Connections Call Center’s services to dispatch P1, P2 and P3 service calls efficiency, as well as take administrative messages for the office.

Backstory: As the business’s service area grew, the dispatching of calls became very complex. Area boundaries have evolved and changed over time, as well as the number of technicians employed by Stanley Plumbing and Heating. The company uses Connections Call Center for the following:
• Taking administrative messages
• Answer clients questions about the company
• Dispatch service calls depending on urgency

Problem: Due to the size and complexity of the service area, callers had trouble figuring out for themselves which of their multiple offices to call for service. Each office also had different response times, depending on the distance to the job that needed to be done. Service calls ended up being delayed, and clients often would go with a different company for their needs.

Solution: Connections Call Center was able to provide Stanley Plumbing and Heating with one toll free number that could be used for afterhours dispatch for the whole corridor. Every call is answered by a live agent, who has extensive knowledge of the area, and which technicians to dispatch. There are also clear rules put in place company-wide for response times for P1, P2 and P3 service requests. Connections ensures that they contact the closest technician to each job, and follows a strict escalation list to ensure that they have received their dispatches. .

Outcome: Since signing up with Connections, Stanley Plumbing and Heating has seen the following benefits:
• Satisfied clients – Callers are left with a great first impression of the company and feel appreciative their call was taken right away.
• Organization – Having all calls in uniform messages, the office managers can easily look back through their pages to find names, numbers and more.
• Quicker Response Times – With Connections following up on all calls and always able to dispatch the closest technician, Stanley Plumbing and Heating is able to offer some of the quickest response times in the whole corridor.

Summary: Packard Saw Mill knows that when an emergency call comes in, people’s lives depend on getting the information out to the appropriate parties as soon as possible. When a call comes in, Packard Saw Mill can rest assured that every agent in the building is working as fast as possible to dispatch the information to everyone that needs it.

Backstory: Packard Saw Mill is a mill with a crisis management and recovery team for multiple areas. If a worker is missing or injured, Connections will receive a call with all of the important information and dispatch teams according to the severity of the call.
• Take initial call including: which team needs to be contacted, name, phone number, location of the call, where team members are to respond to and what the situation is.
• Connections agents will call out on emergency contact lists to notify team members with the details.
• A script is followed to ensure no information is missed.
• Any agent on shift will call out the information to ensure this is done in a timely manner.

Problem: Packard Saw Mill found that when an emergency call came in they were not able to dispatch to their team members fast enough.

Solution: Packard Saw Mill hired connections to answer lines 24/7, 365. Connections Call Center is able to take the initial call any time of day and dispatch information much faster using multiple agents.

Outcome: Since signing up with Connections, Packard Saw Mill has seen the following benefits:
• Knowing emergency calls will be answered in a timely manner.
• Team members can rest assured that they will only be contacted in the event of an emergency.
• If they are contacted for an emergency, Packard Saw Mill teams know they will have all of the information they need to get to the scene.

Summary: Elemental Inc. utilizes Connections Call Centre to take care of basic technical support for their music player, which leaves their technicians free to deal with more serious technical issues.

Backstory: Elemental Inc. makes a music player with provides a convenient way to stream and download promotional music, then burn CDs and export full quality, broadcast-ready files directly into radio station’s playback system. The technicians at Elemental Inc. found that they were devoting a lot of time to minor issues, which was causing delays in completing their work. It was becoming difficult to filter out the callers that had serious problems from the rest of the callers.

Solution: Connections Call Centre is able to assist callers who have questions about the services, as well as minor technical issues. The call centre’s agents are able to provide current users with help resetting passwords and other minor technical problems as well as provide potential users with information about the software and how to sign up. When a caller needs a call back from a tech from higher tech support, a message is sent directly to the technician using their own software for ease of access for Elemental Inc. technicians.

Outcome: Since signing up with connections, Elemental Inc. has seen the following benefits
• Users of music player are happy to have minor issues and questions resolved immediately, instead of having to wait for a technician to return their call.
• Potential users are provided with answers to their questions, and/or directed to the website to submit a request for an account.
• Users from around the world can be confident their calls will be answered 24/7.
• Technicians are able to concentrate on fixing the big problems, while being confident that the smaller issues and questions are being taken care of by Connections Call Center.

Summary: Icon Networks is an advanced network and security systems integrator. They utilize Connections Call Centre’s expertise to filter calls, take service details and dispatch emergency service requests to technicians. This leaves their technicians with more time for resolving issues rather than taking and filtering calls.

Backstory: Icon Networks offers complete network design and security services with both onsite and remote installation and support services for commercial and business clients.

Problem: The technicians Icon Networks found that they were devoting a lot of time taking and filtering calls. It was becoming difficult to screen out the callers who had serious problems from the rest of the callers. Also, they needed a 24/7 service that could speak to caller without giving the impression that the company closed during afterhours.

Solution: Connections Call Centre is able to answer phones and be a first point of contact to the clients of Icon Networks 24/7. Connections Call Center is able to filter our sales calls, wrong numbers and non-urgent service requests, and alert the technicians of urgent service calls. Also, calls are taken for the office members and emailed or transferred based on the urgency.

Outcome: Since signing up with connections, Icon Networks has seen the following benefits
• Users of Icon Networks appreciate having a live operator answer the calls 24/7 and leave feeling that their call was important to the company is being handled with care.
• Only urgent service requests are transferred to the on call technicians. They focus on their work knowing that their phone will only ring for emergency service calls.
• Connections acts as a phone receptionist to Icon and takes messages for office members and transfer emergency calls over. Callers are left feeling that they spoke to the office itself and not an answering service.

Summary: Planex Technology uses Connections Call center to provide light technical support to callers. In the event Connections is unable to solve the problem, an on call technician is always on call to further assist callers.

Backstory: Planex Technology created software for restaurant management. Customers use this software to log orders, keep track of payments, and manage their online menu. Connections Call Center can perform the following tasks for Planex Technology:
• Input support tickets
• Answer basic questions and offer light technical support
• Escalate calls and transfer clients to the on call technician

Problem: Planex Technology found that their highly skilled technicians were being bogged down the calls about basic issues and calls about more serious issues were being delayed because of that.

Solution: Connections Call Center was able to take the phone lines 24/7 365 and assist callers with basic questions and inquiries. If Connections is unable to answer the question, the call is then escalated and transferred to the on call technician.

Outcome: Since signing up with Connections, Planex Technology has seen the following benefits:
• Every single call has a support ticket entered for tracking purposes.
• Connections agents have the training and knowledge to know when to escalate calls and when they are able to assist the caller themselves.
• Connections Call Center is able to take basic questions and inquiries from the technicians.
• Technicians have more time to devote to larger issues and respond to service issues quicker.

Summary: Connections Call Centre screens calls for Sun Coast Property Management for urgent and non-urgent situations. In the event of an emergency, the property manager for the building is paged immediately.

Backstory: Sun Coast Property Management manages over 10,000 units throughout the lower mainland.

Problem: The property managers were very busy answering non-urgent calls at all hours of the day and night. This was a source of stress and impacted their personal lives. Some of these non-urgent enquiries would slip through the cracks due to being brought to their attention outside of the office.

Solution: Connections Call Centre agents screen calls, sending emergency calls directly to the Property Manager for immediate action, and sending all non-emergency messages via email. All emergency messages are confirmed with the Property Manager within a certain time frame, as well as an escalation list if not confirmed. Non urgent messages are dispatched for the Property Manager to handle during business hours.

Outcome: Since signing up with Connections, Sun Coast Property Management has seen the following benefits:
• Every call is answered by a professional agent and dealt with immediately.
• Time stamped message slips for each call.
• The property managers have more personal time outside of office hours, without having to worry about non-urgent messages.
• Emergencies are confirmed, and escalated within the company so that their clients receive the assistance they need in a timely manner.

Summary: Coastal Realty is a very busy real estate office with over 100 agents. They utilize Connections Call Center as an after-hours answering service.

Backstory: The owner of Coastal Realty knows that it is important to be able to get their agents in contact with other agents, buyers or potential buyers any time of any day. Many realtors do not wish to post their personal cell phone numbers on their ads and signs. Without someone answering the phone in the office 24×7, they have to wait until the next business day to get their messages. This wait time can result in deals falling through!

Solution: Coastal Realty took on Connections Call Center as an after-hours answering service so that once the office is closed, their clients are still able to get in contact with their realtor or ask questions about properties they are interested in. Connections can page the realtors instantly with any requests, and they keep track of who prefers to have their cell phone kept private as well.
Since signing up with Connections, Coastal Realty has seen the following benefits:

• Calls are answered and dispatched in a timely manner outside of office hours.

• Each message will have the caller’s first name, last name, phone number and any message details.

• Agents are happy and eager to help.

• Floor call agents will be paged if the caller is not sure who the listing agent is.

• Coastal Realty knows that missed calls are missed revenue. Their agents will never miss out with Connections Call Center at the phone!

Summary: Green Bee Cleaning utilizes the Connections’ Work Alone Check In services to monitor the safety of the employees who are working alone, while meeting Worksafe BC’s requirements.

Backstory: Employees of Green Bee Cleaning travel throughout the sea to sky corridor, cleaning houses and businesses afterhours. They are never in one place for long, and they are almost always working alone.

Problem: In order to comply with Worksafe BC, the employees need to check in with a responsible party upon arrival, and when leaving each job. Someone has to know where they are working at all times, in case of emergency.

Solution: An account has been set up to monitor the employees when they are going to be working alone. Connections agents have all of the worker’s information on file for ease of access. When a worker calls in, they are greeted with a friendly voice, who asks them where they are working, and when they will check in next. An emergency procedure is put in place for instances when the worker does not check in on time.
Outcome: Since signing up with Connections, Green Bee Cleaning has seen the following benefits:
• The workers know that if they experience any issues we have an emergency call out procedure.
• The workers feel safe and secure, knowing that someone knows where they are, and when they are expected to leave.
• Each call has a time stamp, and the main office gets a weekly report detailing all of the checkins. This report is used for WorksafeBC Compliance.

Summary: Timber Inc. uses Connections Call Center as a work alone check in service for their employees in order to meet the guidelines set in place by WCB. Through using Connections, they can be confident that their employee’s safety is being monitored.

Backstory: Timber Inc. is a logging company, which operates all over the province of BC. They have staff members working alone in potentially hazardous areas, or in remote locations. For safety’s sake, and to comply with WCB protocol, the workers must be checked on periodically when working alone. Timber Inc. uses Connections Call Center’s services for the following:
• Keeping updated files of employee’s contact information
• Taking check in calls from workers
• Calling workers when they fail to check in at the agreed upon time
• Alerting appropriate contacts if worker is unreachable

Problem: Timber Inc. needed to find a solution to become WCB compliant and ensure the safety of all their workers when they are working alone.

Solution: Connections was able to set up and employee monitoring system with each individuals information programmed in so that workers are able to call and easily check in when they will be working alone. Connections is able to follow a designated list of actions if and when a worker misses a check in to ensure the employee is safe or notify the appropriate contact in order to get help.

Outcome: Since signing up with Connections, Timber Inc. has seen the following benefits:
• WCB Compliant
• Ease of mind knowing employees are safe and being monitored
• Written and time stamped records of worker check ins