About Pancreatic Cancer UK
Pancreatic Cancer UK (PCUK) is the only national charity fighting pancreatic cancer on all fronts: Support, Information, Campaigning and Research. Their ‘Campaign for Hope’ initiative sets out two ambitious goals – to double five-year pancreatic cancer survival rates and to change the NHS experience of pancreatic cancer and patients from being one of the worst, to one of the best.
A reliable and robust communications platform is essential for the services PCUK supplies; they provide specialist nurses to answer patient queries, providing vital information and most importantly, handling patient concerns. Getting this right first time is a fundamental priority in supporting both newly diagnosed cancers suffers and those that are mid-treatment and receiving care.
Cost effective communications are also key to PCUK’s fundraising activities with PCUK’s telephone system being an integral element to success – it has to allow for scale and provide a platform able to handle future growth.
Previously, the charity was using a hosted IP telephony system with another supplier and maintenance was outsourced. Running costs were higher than originally forecast and they experienced long response times to change requests.
Ultimately, the charity felt their customer service ethos might well be compromised if they did not re-evaluate their current and future voice requirements.
Challenges
- PCUK needs to reroute calls to different nurses and the fundraising team on a regular, weekly basis
- With 35 current users, they need the flexibility to increase numbers as and when required
- Response times to change requests were frustratingly slow which potentially compromised customer service levels if patients were not routed through to the correct line
- The previous hosted solution was not competitively priced and PCUK knew they were paying too much after benchmarking against other suppliers
- There was limited ability to report on call handling
Solution
- A hosted voice solution from Class Networks means that they supply a service which is not located on premise, designed to provide low-cost, enterprise-class telephony with high resilience, at a fraction of the cost, with no set-up or maintenance charges.
- Handsets are connected to PCUK’s offices via a dedicated Internet connection to the Class voice platform using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows multiple users to access the system simultaneously.
- Excellent support and maintenance 24/7 with call routing options changed the same day
- Multiple, flexible call features such as Auto-attendant, where callers are greeted with an automated welcome message and menu option, as well as Call Queueing, which is preferable to hearing a busy tone.
- No upfront costs and manageable monthly call plan
Mike Phillips, Director of Finance & Resources at Pancreatic Cancer UK, said:
“We run the UK’s only pancreatic cancer-dedicated Support Line, staffed by our expert specialist nurses. They take all incoming calls and, with our hosted voice solution from Class, staff and callers benefit from the multiple features of the system, such as creating hunt groups, being able to switch to night mode and hot desking. We now have better call quality and it has eliminated the need for ISDN lines, which all add to the positive user experience.”
Benefits to Pancreatic Cancer UK
- Ability to reroute calls easily and quickly to another telephone operator as and when required
- Portable numbers if they decide to move premises
- Improved customer service
- Peace of mind that their hosted solution is fully supported, with quick and efficient results
- Cost-effective with no initial outlay
- Staff morale has improved – calls are rerouted as and when required so they go through to the right person, first time
- Voicemails can be forwarded to email so messages can be picked up on the move
- Home workers simply plug their phone into the router and they are up and running
- Detailed weekly reporting provided on call performance
Value of a Hosted Solution with Class Network
- Pre-configured solution for quick and easy installation
- Full functionality with no installation or annual maintenance charges
- Inclusive calls to UK landlines and mobiles
- Keep your existing phone numbers
- 24/7/365 support
- Connect homeworkers with free inter-site calling
- Users can be seamlessly added and removed
Great Results
Costs have been reduced and are kept to a minimum as PCUK simply pay a low monthly rental for each user and multiple, simultaneous calls can be made and received, using just one broadband line.
Mike Philips added:
“We have built up a good relationship with Class Networks over the past eighteen months and they always respond to requests quickly and efficiently. They offer cost-effective voice hosting solutions and no request is too much trouble. Class offer a great level of service and support and, as a charitable organisation with limited resources, their help in managing our phone system is invaluable.”
Support from Class Networks
Class Networks’ Hosted Voice solutions have been designed for organisations that want a flexible and scalable communications platform, without having to buy and maintain equipment or make a long- term commitment.
Pancreatic Cancer UK
Posted in Case Studies