Meals on Wheels SA supporting its critical customer service function with UCaaS

The iconic 70-year-old not-for-profit organisation Meals on Wheels SA (MoWSA) had a unique problem to solve in upgrading its legacy IP telephony to unified communications as a service (UCaaS).

In addition to providing voice communications to support the more than 7,000 MoWSA volunteers who prepare and deliver meals in 84 metropolitan, rural and regional branches across South Australia, the new RingCentral RingEX UCaaS platform needed to maintain paper-based fax services. 

This was essential for two key reasons, explained MoWSA's ICT Manager Nayan Perera: 
"Our heritage is in the healthcare sector and paper-based faxes have traditionally been the safest way to communicate. Also, in our cohort of 7,000 volunteers the average age is 70, so most are not necessarily tech-savvy or comfortable using a computer."

The RingCentral UCaaS platform was deployed over existing internet links to each of its 84 branches, enabling MoWSA to terminate its dedicated phone lines that were costly and complex to maintain. "As long as we have a good internet connection to the branch, that's all we need to deploy and operate RingCentral successfully," said Nayan. He estimates that MoWSA is saving at least 30% in telecommunications costs as a result.

Analogue telephone adapters (ATAs) convert RingCentral's eFax service to each branch's existing fax machine. Head office staff compile, format and send each day's orders on screen before sending via eFax to be printed out at the branch.

Mindful of the specific requirements of its cohort of volunteers, each branch was given the option of a preferred mixture of end points – Polycom handsets or cordless phones, the RingCentral softphone and headset, or the RingCentral mobile app. The chosen devices were then sent out to the branches with a straightforward 'plug and play' connection.

Taking a staged process, MoWSA first deployed UCaaS to its head office to support 100 permanent staff, before moving on to the branches. RingCentral provided a temporary number range so that calls could be forwarded during the cutover. With accurate number mapping in place, the cutover was completely seamless for MoWSA's end users.

Critical customer service function
The customer service function is critical for MoWSA because its services support more than 11,000 members of the South Australian community to live independently.

MoWSA operates two main call centres; one to handle customer service and one for volunteer enquiries, with agents available at all times to manage missed meals or respond to notifications about clients not being present when deliveries are being made.

As Nayan says, these services are critical to the organisation's mission: "what we do is not just providing a meal; we are looking after the well-being of the client as well, so we can't just leave the meal at the front door and walk away. We have to talk to the client when we give them their meal to make sure that they are safe and everything is okay."

Support for flexible working
One of the main benefits from the upgrade to RingCentral for head office staff is the support it provides for MoWSA's flexible working policy. Now, with the RingCentral app available on their mobile phones, staff can make and receive calls from anywhere at any time, and continue to operate as part of an existing queue or team via their office extension.

The new RingCentral UCaaS platform has also proven invaluable to address the disconnect between the hours that the branches and head office operate. The branches typically start preparing meals from 6am and work through until 2pm, while head office works to standard business hours.

In the past, that disconnect also meant direct calls to the branches later in the afternoon weren't being answered. Now, "when our branches have finished off for the day, we can still handle any calls and manage them; and any calls coming through to head office can be routed to the relevant branch quite easily," said Nayan.

While MoWSA is currently operating RingCentral as a stand-alone system, it plans to integrate the platform with its new CRM system when it is rolled out. That will help the team identify callers and quickly retrieve important information about their requirements, keep more detailed records on interactions with clients and provide better overall customer service.