Edmonton’s Food Bank relies on TELUS Business Connect
Other · Nov 26, 2019
As a result of the economic downturn in Alberta, Edmonton’s Food Bank was experiencing an overwhelming increase in demand, which was putting a strain on their legacy systems for their business phones and internet service.
“We were constantly being bombarded by calls, with lots of complaints that people couldn’t get through to us” explains Mark Doram, Director of Operations at the Edmonton Food Bank. Like many non-profit organizations, the food bank had cost optimization as a major priority.
Since they were planning to move buildings in order to handle that increased demand, there was an opportunity for digital transformation with solutions like TELUS Business Connect, to help them optimize productivity and meet the needs of their community.
“The benefit is just huge. In the past, on our best day we could handle 150 calls, and now our record day was 500. On an average day we successfully handle 300 to 400. Imagine if we had the old way of doing it. We couldn’t have done it with the old system.” says Doram.
Following the implementation of the TELUS Business Connect VOIP solution, the positive outcomes for the food bank have been tremendous.
1. Increase in call handle volume from 150 to 500 calls per day
Streamlining call flows, enabling faster onboarding of volunteers, and increasing network capacity has enabled true client service optimization. The Food Bank also leverages Business Connect’s
Live Reports feature
, so they can optimize wait times and manage agents’ workload in real time.2. 10,000 additional families being fed each month
For Edmonton’s Food Bank, being able to answer more calls means being able to help more people living with food insecurity, operational optimization has enabled them to respond faster in crisis situations, including the recent Alberta wildfires.
3. Award-winning operations
As a result of Mark’s efforts, his team has received the
Technology Innovation Award
for being the top Food Bank in Canada to optimize operations.So why did Edmonton’s Food Bank turn to TELUS?
Leaving legacy systems behind
Before TELUS Business Connect, their phone system would frequently go down for hours. Once Edmonton’s Food Bank switched to TELUS PureFibre and TELUS Business Connect, those problems were eliminated. Their new client database now works faster with PureFibre, and Business Connect enables future scalability with instant moves, adds, and changes.
Transforming the culture
Employees and volunteers of Edmonton’s Food Bank weren’t familiar with using newer technologies – there was a level of fear associated with change. Since deploying TELUS Business Connect, volunteers have been able to quickly adapt to the new system and easily manage their results using Live Reports.
TELUS as a true business and community partner
TELUS acted as a trusted partner, helping the food bank roadmap their digital transformation from desired business outcomes to implementation planning. TELUS employees also donated a substantial amount of volunteer hours to Edmonton’s Food Bank and provided a grant to support their good work in the community.
“That’s where the folks at TELUS have been so helpful.They really held our hand in going down the path of digital transformation and discovering how technology can work for you. We have all sorts of people in client services from all walks of life, they love the system now.”
Want to learn more about how a Business VOIP solution can help optimize your Business?
View the on-demand webinar
Why switch from an on-premise PBX to the cloud
. For more information about TELUS Business Connect, visit
telus.com/businessconnect
Authored by:
Nicole Hylmar
