How South Grampians Shire Council freed up resources and improved efficiency by leveraging HelloTeams
The South Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) is a local government serving the South Grampians shire in regional Victoria.
HelloTeams Helped SGSC Free Up Resources and Improve Efficiency
Client
The South Grampians Shire Council (SGSC)
Website
What we did for the South Grampians Shire Council
- Free up IT resources
- Improve communication efficiency
- Improve team flexibility
We found our old phone system was an absolute nightmare to use. With working from home, we found it hard setting up call queues, everything we had set up, just fell over, so we had to set up more call diversions, et cetera.
Beau Nieuwveld
IT Services Coordinator, South Grampians Shire Council
The Problem
As a large organisation with a high number of inbound calls and employees constantly on the move, SGSC needed a fast, agile communications system.
Instead, what they had was a complicated telephony system that was easy for inbound callers to navigate – but a high-resource nightmare for their IT department.
When COVID-19 hit and employees started working from home, the old system quickly became untenable. Basic tasks like setting up mobile diversions and ring groups, or provisioning extensions for new staff, was incredibly difficult.
SGSC’s small IT department couldn’t keep up.
They had to turn to external vendors for help.
The problem, though, was that the vendors quickly became even more expensive and time-consuming than the phone system. Most of the contractors SGSC used didn’t understand their telephony system – and the ones that did have very limited knowledge.
Something needed to be done.
That’s where HelloTeams came in.
The Solution
As a direct-routed Teams Calling solution, HelloTeams already had advantages over the old phone system.
It was flexible – staff could be reached anywhere, any time, on any device.
And it was cloud-based – there were no giant installation costs or oversized hardware involved.
But HelloTeams differentiated itself from other Teams Calling providers by helping SGSC with two key problems:
- Simplification. The HelloTeams TCAP portal meant that the entire telephony system could get up and running in just 15 minutes, and the streamlined dashboard meant SGSC’s IT teams could find what they needed instantly.
- Ease of use. TCAP’s number provisioning system is designed to provision new numbers in just a few clicks, eliminating the painful and time-consuming process of manually setting things up. After talking through the problems with Jack, one of HelloTeams’ BDMs, SGSC’s head of IT, decided to give HelloTeams a try.
One of HelloTeams’ expert technicians called through to liaise with SGSC’s IT team; 15 minutes later, Microsoft Teams was installed, the TCAP portal was live, and SGSC was able to start taking calls via Teams.
We had a new team member start recently, and we managed to set this new member up in two seconds flat. We have so many people out on the road in the field, we can get on to anyone, where ever they are. The old phone system was good when it was originally installed, but not in 2021, when more people are out in the field.
Beau Nieuwveld
IT Services Coordinator, South Grampians Shire Council
The Outcome
Since replacing their old system with HelloTeams, SGSC has experienced improvements across the board.
Their IT team’s workload has been significantly reduced, freeing up more time for critical tasks like cybersecurity.
The onboarding process for new team members has been simplified.
The four on-site servers used to power the old system have been removed, freeing up office space and eliminating hardware maintenance costs.
Employees can contact each other more easily, even when they’re out in the community.
And communication is faster, simpler, and more effective, improving team morale.
With the HelloTeams API now integrated into the SGSC system, the council can focus on what it does best: serving its shire and improving the lives of residents.
Watch the Story
Have Questions?
Fill out the form below and one of our friendly team members will get back to you as soon as possible.