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Complete visibility into telecom usage is a fundamental step in better understanding call activity and how calls are being handled, ensuring compliance and maintaining optimal performance. BNSF Logistics, an industry-leading transportation intermediary company, leveraged their Calero call accounting software to achieve immediate results just weeks after implementation. In this blog, we explore what prompted BNSF Logistics to seek a change, what they needed in a new solution and how working with Calero’s software gave them the robust reporting capabilities and actionable insights to garner quick wins and meet their goals.

BNSF Logistics Seeks a New Solution

Like many growing companies, BNSF Logistics faced that happy problem of outgrowing their legacy systems when their operations expanded. At the time they chose their initial solution, they were a relatively small operation, with few teams and offices. They only had basic needs such as tracking their total inbound and outbound calls. But as they expanded their services, the company realized the existing product they were using was simply unable to meet their needs. It was unstable, running on outdated hardware and providing unreliable and unusable data. They also discovered the call processing method was flawed; it significantly inflated or deflated numbers every time the software crashed or didn’t create a report. This meant report data was inaccurate for any given timeframe, making reporting useless.

As the product aged and their support contract ended, they had limited recourse to address these issues. They also had growing needs. Managers wanted more full-cycle activity and behavior reports. Others had started to request the ability to report on missed call averages, transfer times, ring and hold times, hunt group activities, geographies, times of day and more. In order to improve decision making, they needed detailed reporting they could count on.

They began their search for a better option.

What BNSF Logistics Needed in a Provider

BNSF Logistics wanted to partner with a vendor that took pride in their service and provided stellar, industry-leading products and reporting capabilities. They broke down what they needed in a new solutions provider into four main requirements:

• Reporting (more rich, detailed, and on the topics they needed)
• Scalability as they grew and flexible report options for more departments
• Management (automation features and minimal administration requirements)
• Excellent customer service and technical support

They also required compatibility with PBX and Avaya Aura Communication Manager 7.1.1, as well as an on-premise option where hardware requirements were low and virtualization was supported. This requirement is where they first had a chance to get a feel for Calero, who had been introduced through their telecom consultant. From initial discussions, BNSF Logistics was impressed with Calero’s knowledge of Avaya terminology and their definitive answers to capabilities supported within their environment. Throughout the proof-of-concept phase, the company found this to hold true, with Calero bringing expertise in not only their own software but in Avaya Site Administration, enabling a quick and smooth implementation process.

Achieving Quick Wins with Calero Call Accounting Software

The smooth implementation and easy setup of Calero’s VeraSMART software allowed BNSF Logistics to hit the ground running. Intuitive interfaces and overall usability drove user adoption. Managers and team leaders were happy with the new reporting capabilities and began requesting more information. As users started to see the level of detail available, they started to request their own access and discover new insights.

• New data, new insights. BNSF Logistics was now able to measure data points such as ring time analysis, missed calls, hunt group activities, how many times a call had been transferred, how long a call was on hold and more. This data gave managers and team leads new insight into their team’s habits and activities. They could also see the geographies where inbound calls were directed and were able to concentrate their efforts accordingly.
• Easy report format uncovers new levels of detail. BNSF Logistics opted to use the email-to-weblink functionality, which gave users the ability to access and run new reports and drill into specifics for each call. This new level of detail allowed them to restructure teams, make better decisions, and effectively route calls to ensure best coverage and response time.
• Unanswered call metrics. The most notable immediate win was the ability to report on unanswered call metrics. Understanding the times of day where the most calls went unanswered gave branch managers the ability to make informed decisions about how to staff their teams more appropriately and how to effectively route calls for the best coverage. This allowed operational teams to cover more freight and generate more revenue.

When it comes to optimizing telecom performance, there is no substitute for visibility. With greater visibility and reporting capabilities, BNSF Logistics was able to gain the actionable insights they needed to quickly solve problems, improve their decision making and restructure their operations across their telecom environment.

To learn more about BNSF Logistics and how they use Calero’s Call Accounting Solution, watch this recent session from Calero World Online 2018.