Case Study Walter Surface Technologies

Company Background

With more than 70 years in business, Walter Surface Technologies is a global leader in metalworking, safety solutions and technologies by delivering high-performance abrasives, power tools, chemical solutions, personal protection equipment, and welding-process solutions specifically designed for the metalworking industry. The company was originally founded in Quebec, Canada, and now operates in 7 countries across North and South America.

Telephony Challenges

Due to the pandemic, like many other companies Walter Surface Technologies had to adapt to remote and hybrid working to ensure they could continue to connect with their customers, especially as the company scaled globally. In addition, the company’s Customer Success team was fragmented with 10-15 Customer Success Representatives across North America. The team’s main key performance indicator (KPI) was call answer speed to maintain their service level, which they were not meeting. Insight into call activity was needed to track performance and make adjustments. 

net2phone Solution

Walter Surface Technologies worked on a Proof of Concept plan with net2phone in March 2020, beginning with 5 users before scaling to the rest of their team in November 2020. net2phone offered the company the ability to stay connected with customers regardless of location with a solution that would easily scale with them as the team grew. Increased service coverage allowed for extended service hours that adhered to different time zones. Detailed call analytics also allowed the organization to make changes to call flows and provided data to identify where more agents may be needed to handle high call volumes.

net2phone Implementation

At a time when the world was shifting to working remotely, it was vital for Walter Surface Technologies to work with net2phone to ensure stable, reliable connectivity. Our team worked to ensure a smooth transition, starting with a Proof of Concept plan before full implementation in November 2020, with a unique set of solutions designed to scale along with the business’ growth. 

• Advanced Cloud-Communications Implementation: net2phone’s Onboarding team worked closely with teams at Walter Surface Technologies to create a solution that would work best for them while supporting business growth and development. 

• Tailored Call Routing Strategies: Our team worked with the Walter Surface Technologies to develop unique call routing strategies aligned with business needs. 
• Initial Training and Ongoing Support: During implementation, net2phone’s Onboarding team provided detailed training and webinars to get the team acquainted with their new system. Onboarding continues to provide ongoing support as new users are added.

New Capabilities and Enhancements

With net2phone, Walter Surface Technologies was able to not only adapt to remote and hybrid working environments, but was able to thrive and continue expanding their team with ease. With innovative solutions and detailed call analytics, the company was also able to gain insights to make changes and improve call answer speed. 

• Remote Access:  net2phone’s infrastructure allowed teams to work remotely with ease. In addition, during a power outage at one of the offices, employees were able to relocate and connect via web app from home with ease.

• Scalability: net2phone’s business phone solution allowed Walter Surface Technologies to scale their communication infrastructure as they expanded their business. With offices and employees spread out across North and South America, the unmatched ability to scale users has proven beneficial. 

• Analytics and Reporting: Prior to implementation, the team was looking to dive deeper into call analytics to better understand agent activity and boost call answer times. net2phone’s detailed analytics and reporting allowed the team to adapt to changing call volumes and make changes to call flows quickly.  

• Call Management: net2phone’s system provided call forwarding and improved call routing to ensure incoming calls were efficiently directed to the appropriate agents or departments, reducing wait times and missed calls. 

• Caller ID Prefix: Using net2phone’s Caller ID Prefix feature, agents were able to identify where callers were located to offer the best products available in their areas. 

• Call Recording: Managers were able to use our call recording function to listen in on calls for training purposes. 

Improvements Achieved

The implementation of net2phone’s business phone solution brought significant enhancements to Walter Surface Technologies' operations.

• Reliable Connectivity: Teams were able to experience unmatched connectivity in the height of the pandemic and beyond with the ability to communicate with clients regardless of location. 

• Enhanced Customer Service: Walter Surface Technologies was able to improve customer experience and customer service by extending service hours to adapt to different time zones. 

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Managers were able to access key data using detailed call analytics and reporting to make decisions about changes to call flows based on agent availability.

• Improved Accountability: Managers gained the ability to listen in on calls to better train and empower agents. 

• Increased Call Answer Speed:  Based on call analytics, the Customer Success team made changes to call routing strategy and call flows to improve overall answer speed from 75 seconds to 30 seconds. 

Conclusion

By leveraging net2phone’s modern business phone solution, Walter Surface Technologies was able to quickly pivot to working remotely while gaining advanced features and key insights to support their business growth. “It’s very easy to download call recordings to see if there are opportunities to optimize our processes,” explains Jean-Sebastien Chicoine. “And when I’ve reached out to net2phone for help, the support team has been helpful, professional, and knowledgeable.” 

If you want to enhance your company’s communication capabilities, contact us today! Our experts will create a unique solution tailored to your unique business needs.