Storage Battery Systems: CUSTOMER SUCCESS CASE STUDY

Storage Battery Systems Uses RingCentral to Unify Communications Across
Multiple Locations & Leverage the Power of Video with a 75% Remote Workforce

THE CHALLENGE:

With plans to expand operations, Storage Battery Systems (SBS Battery) was looking to leave their rigid Mitel on-premise PBX system and move to a more feature-filled unified communications solution that would allow for better collaboration within a geographically-dispersed workforce as the company continued to grow.

THE SOLUTION:

SBS chose RingCentral, a phone and communications solution, consisting of features that will allow for easier expansion of new offices in multiple states. On top of the added flexibility to their communications, migrating to the cloud came with an unexpected benefit of being able to quickly transfer a large portion of their workforce to work from home environment in the face of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Company Overview

Headquartered in Menomonee Falls, WI, Storage Battery Systems (SBS) has been making direct current (DC) products since 1915. Employing over 200 people, the company has established itself as being an industry leader by leveraging its expertise to provide excellent customer service.

SBS offers a wide range of products from batteries and chargers for forklift trucks to battery packs that are for domestic products like laptops and portable electric tools. With over 100 years of experience and a partnership with Louisiana based stationary power company, Nolan Power Group, SBS can cater to any clients’ needs with a customized solution. They will also assist with the outfitting and installation process to ensure that the solution that is arrived at is the right one.

LOOKING FOR A POWERFUL COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTION

When looking for a new communications solution for the business, Bill ZumMallen, IT Director of SBS, reached out to Converged Technology Professionals, a business communications and networking consulting company whom he had worked with previously.

As a RingCentral Premier Partner, Converged worked with Bill to determine the proper strategy for migrating away from his outdated PBX to a reliable and secure cloud-based platform that would unify communications between the ongoing expansion of multiple geographically dispersed office locations.

After consulting with Converged and reviewing all his options, Bill was confident with the decision to go with RingCentral.

“When Bill first approached us, we knew we had to help him get off his current PBX system. They needed an easier way to manage communications and improve business continuity as they added new office locations,” states Scott Dressel, Major Account Rep at Converged. “It was important for them to obtain the necessary support to properly implement the right tools and features for the various departments within his organization from collaboration to faxing to handling remote workers.”

"WHILE BUSINESSES ACROSS THE WORLD WERE BEING IMPACTED,
WE WERE ABLE TO TO STAY AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION...
THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE IF WE WERE STILL ON OUR OLD PBX."

Bill ZumMallen, Director of IT
Storage Battery Systems

TRAINING EMPLOYEES EARLY WAS CRITICAL TO MAINTAINING CUSTOMER SERVICE

SBS relies heavily on its phone system to communicate with their customers and provide excellent service. Bill knew their employees needed to have proper training before implementation to avoid any disruption while maintaining their high expectations for customer service and support.

Learning was made easy with RingCentral’s online resources such as self-paced tutorials and videos, instructor-led courses, and using RingCentral’s Glip messaging and collaboration apps.

Bill expressed how crucial those resources were to his co-worker’s success in interacting with the new technology, stating, “The training enabled our employees to very quickly become efficient and effective, especially with nearly ¾ of our workforce working from home. It would have been much more difficult had they not already been trained on the platform.”

In just two weeks nearly everybody at SBS was comfortable with the software application and tools.

PREPARED FOR THE UNEXPECTED WORK FROM HOME MANDATES

Implementation and go-live successfully occurred by the end of February 2020. However, there was an unexpected event approximately two weeks after migrating to the cloud that impacted every business in the United States and changed how businesses operated, the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Fortunately, with everyone already trained on the RingCentral platform, the move to remote work was smooth and everyone who needed to work from home was set up with minimal disruption.

“If we wouldn’t have had RingCentral, we would’ve been in a world of hurt,” states Bill. “While businesses across the world were being impacted, we were able to stay ahead of the competition and continue business operations as usual. This would not have been possible if we were still on our old PBX.”

"THESE REMOTE MEETINGS ENABLED MEMBERS TO AVOID LOSS OF PRODUCTIVITY OFTEN
EXPERIENCED DUE TO TRAVELING, AND OF COURSE ANOTHER BENEFIT WAS THE OBVIOUS COST SAVINGS."

Bill ZumMallen, Director of IT
Storage Battery Systems

USING VIDEO COMMUNICATION TO REMAIN CONNECTED

While being able to instant message and share files with people across the organization was highly accepted and used, the communication tool that was utilized the most by Bill and his team was video conferencing.

Video gave a platform to employees that allowed for a face-to-face experience without the office environment. This allowed for personal connection during a time of uncertainty and provide a much-needed morale boost.

“Video conferencing kept us connected, it facilitated collaboration, it helped maintain empathy. We leveraged video meetings throughout the organization and beyond, out to our customers, vendors, and other trading partners. One-on-one and team meetings, and company-wide town halls all were made possible with video conferencing.”

Virtual Board Meetings

With the use of RingCentral Meetings, Bill was able to help the business pivot from in-person board meetings to virtually hosted board meetings. Prior to the stay at home mandates, the meetings consisted of 16 board members that were required to fly in the night before to attend the in-person meetings.

By swiftly changing to a virtual event using the RingCentral platform, the meetings were held remotely and described as some of the best meetings they had ever had.

Bill commented, “By eliminating the need to travel, these remote meetings enabled members to avoid loss of productivity often experienced due to traveling, and of course another benefit was the obvious cost savings.”

Employee Town Halls

In addition to board meetings, SBS’s employee town halls were also moved to a video format using RingCentral’s webinar platform. With nearly 200 employees in attendance, the town hall was a success, and like the virtual board meeting, was considered as one of their best meetings to date.

Virtual Happy Hours

A third way SBS utilized video, was planning virtual happy hours designed to keep employees connected and to help break up the frequency of “normal meetings” that were often serious and didn’t offer an opportunity for engagement on a personal level. By encouraging employees to interact more casually it created a sense of camaraderie and served to build professional and personal relationships.

Bill admits nothing beats an in-person meeting for serious topics and should in-person meetings resume they know they can always switch to virtual at any time for any reason.

Empowered for the Future

Looking ahead, Storage Battery Systems plans on doing something that many companies could not imagine doing in such uncertain times, expanding their operations. With sights set on expanding to both California and an additional location in Indiana in the near future, Bill knows they are now equipped with the right infrastructure, communications technologies, support, and strategy to power their business for continued growth no matter what the future may bring.

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View the SBS case study as a pdf here.