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Small businesses are up against a lot these days and competition is fierce. So how do you ensure you’re setting yourself apart in the customers’ eyes?

A Texas insurance brokerage is doing so by enlisting its golden rule: “Do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it.”

This wasn’t always easy for Senior Security Benefits Inc. because the company’s communications needed improvement.

Senior Security Benefits Inc. had 40 employees, all conducting nationwide business with a 25-year-old phone system. If someone needed a new phone, they’d scour eBay and Craigslist to find a replacement. Sometimes they paid more than $400 for a single used phone. If an employee needed to change desks, a contractor came in after hours or on weekends to make the change.

The above situation called for an immediate upgrade. But it can be hard to embrace change. The employees were comfortable with their current processes and they knew that downtime can cause lost sales opportunities. Not to mention, a new phone system can be a big investment for a business, and learning new technology can be daunting.

It wasn’t an easy decision, but it became clear that Senior Security Benefits Inc. couldn’t follow through with its golden-rule promise using an unreliable phone system. None of its employees meets with clients in person. Virtual communication must be foolproof to present a professional image to customers.

“I was thrilled when I was able to get the biggest name in the industry to come down to our small business and we’ve been very happy with it.” –Taylor Martin, CMO, Senior Security Benefits Inc.

After receiving suggestions from other small-business owners, Senior Security Benefits Inc. turned to Cisco. The firm’s managers were ecstatic that the leading name in the industry had solutions tailored to fit their company.

The Cisco team worked alongside the company’s employees to understand current business processes and introduce change. Based on that input, Senior Security Benefits Inc. replaced its old communications process with Cisco Business Edition 4000 and Cisco IP phones.

Business Edition 4000 is a simple, cloud-managed IP phone system optimized for small- to medium-sized businesses. In combination with Cisco 7800 and 8800 Series phones, it’s a perfect fit for companies with 200 or fewer phones.

Before the installation, Senior Security Benefits upgraded its legacy switches and extended new Ethernet drops to support the additional endpoints. This helped streamline the Business Edition 4000 deployment.

Julie Jones, Assistant Vice President, Brokerage Sales, Senior Security Benefits Inc.

“Thanks to Business Edition 4000, I spend less time managing the phones and I can just do my job.” –Julie Jones, Senior Security Benefits Inc.

Investing in a reliable communications system means Senior Security Benefits Inc. never again has to search the internet for overpriced and out-of-date phones. Instead, the company directs time and money toward growing the business.

Likewise, there’s no longer a need for an after-hours contractor to manage the system since Business Edition 4000 has a 24/7 cloud management portal.

Most important, Senior Security Benefits Inc. is experiencing improved call quality and reliability. This means it can provide better service to customers and focus on fulfilling its “golden rule” commitment.

Learn more about Business Edition 4000.



Authors

Jordan Harvich

Marketing Specialist

Collaboration