When Southampton FC decided to move to their first cloud UC platform, they chose Red Rose to help identify and implement the best solution.
Background
Southampton Football Club, affectionately known as “The Saints,” was founded in 1885 by members of the St. Mary’s Church of England Young Men’s Association, which is where their enduring nickname originates.
The club spent over a century at their former home, The Dell, before moving to the modern St Mary’s Stadium in 2001, regularly hosting over 30,000 fans. Their social media following is huge, with over 3.5 million followers on Facebook and over a million on Tik Tok, Instagram and X.
Sector: Spectator Sports
Services: Consultancy & Procurement
Technology: UCaaS & CCaaS
Total Users: 300+
Contact Centre Users: 20+
Challenge
The main UC & CC challenge facing Southampton FC was that their existing system had become obsolete because of its age. The phone system was outdated and unsupported on-premises and was not integrated with their contact centre.
This lack of integration led to inefficiencies and a poor user experience. Additionally, the IT team was stretched thin and unable to dedicate the necessary resources to fully understand the business and user needs.
Without knowledge of the main vendors in the market and current pricing trends, finding a solution was going to be costly and time consuming.
To help bridge these gaps, they asked Red Rose to conduct a thorough analysis, then manage the entire procurement process to ensure a seamless transition to a modern, integrated system.
Process
Red Rose conducted a thorough cost and technology analysis, interviewed users, and identified key areas for cost savings and user experience improvements.
How we identified the best solution
- Cost/ Supplier & Technology Analysis: Red Rose conducted a comprehensive cost and technology analysis, identifying areas for cost savings and improvements in user & fan experience.
- User Interviews & Workshops: Engaging with staff to understand their needs and preferences, ensuring the new system would be well-received and effective.
- Vendor Selection & procurement Campaign: Red Rose managed the procurement process, bringing four leading vendors to the table and ensuring the best solution was chosen.
Our findings and supplier recommendations were compiled into a detailed report, which highlighted opportunities for enhancing fan engagement.
Following this, we managed a full tender and procurement campaign, bringing four leading vendors to the table, ensuring Southampton FC received the best solutions to meet their needs within budget.
Solution
We identified 8×8, a cutting-edge cloud platform from a Gartner Magic Quadrant UCaaS & CCaaS supplier as the optimal solution for Southampton FC.
This fully cloud-based solution provided staff with the flexibility to work from their preferred devices, whether it be a softphone, desktop app, desk phone, or through MS Teams integration.
The transition was smooth, with many old phones being removed and recycled, indicating staff’s readiness to embrace a software-driven approach.
Outcomes
Red Rose successfully managed the transition of Southampton FC from an outdated on-premises phone system and separate contact centre to a modern, integrated cloud platform.
Key Successes
- Seamless Transition to Cloud: The move to a cloud-based UCaaS platform allowed staff to work flexibly from various devices, enhancing productivity and user satisfaction.
- Improved Contact Centre Efficiency: The new system provided team leaders with detailed data and reporting capabilities, enabling them to manage the contact centre more effectively and make informed decisions during peak periods.
- Empowered IT Team: With an intuitive admin console, the IT team gained full control over daily management and could quickly respond to business needs without vendor dependency. Team leads gained full control, making informed decisions during peak times thanks to the system’s intelligence and reporting capabilities.
The new contact centre significantly improved answer rates and alleviated concerns about call routing, ensuring fans were not left waiting in queues for extended periods.
For the IT team, the intuitive admin console allowed for swift daily changes and management, enabling them to respond quickly to business needs without relying on vendor support tickets.
Feedback
“Absolutely could not recommend Andy highly enough! As a technology leader you need to choose your partners and suppliers carefully as you are often inundated in a vast landscape of products and technology. Andy had a holistic and calm approach to our telephony project requirements and went above and beyond the call of duty to explore our organisation and people. He was able to build up a high level of trust that we had from no one else and were then confident on his recommendations. He has been like having another member of the team and that says something.”
Director of IT, Southampton FC
Looking to Optimise your UC?
Red Rose Technologies harnesses 20+ years of expertise in the unified communications market, we believe a strategic approach is needed when considering a new technology for your business – not a transactional approach.
We have successfully guided many clients through the full cycle of design, research, procurement, supplier selection and delivery when it comes to unified communications and contact centre modernisation.
If you partner with us, we promise a seamless, jargon free and stress-free experience to any change to a unified communications platform. Contact us today.