NetCologne IT Services is an ICT technology provider from the greater cologne area that supports companies with their digitalization efforts. With a strong focus on schools and educational institutions, the organization’s Education Services department supports more than 600 educational institutions on their way into the digital future.
For their own telephony, NetCologne IT Services trusts Luware and manages two service numbers, an IT hotline as well as an Education Services hotline with Luware Nimbus. “We chose Luware because the products work well, and the support is very good. We already used Luware Stratus before, and with Nimbus, the user experience got even better,” says Thorsten Stiebig, Head of Microsoft365 and Cloud Services at NetCologne IT Services.
With Luware Nimbus, NetCologne IT Services could not only digitize its customer service but also professionalize it. The first milestone was the replacement of an old telephone system with Microsoft Teams. Luware Nimbus was used to complement Teams telephony with customer service functionalities. “Nimbus lets us handle all interactions directly in Teams. We never have to leave the platform, which makes call handling super-easy” said Stiebig. With today’s solution, employees can answer calls from anywhere via Teams. This brings a lot of flexibility, especially when it comes to remote work.
NetCologne IT Services used to have little insight into call revenue. They didn’t know where calls were lost or how long customers were waiting on hold. “We knew that most teachers would call the Education Services hotline during lunch, but the exact caller count remained elusive,” Stiebig explains. Nimbus has now provided them with comprehensive reporting on call volume with evaluations on busy times, wait times and missed calls. “It has made workforce management much easier. We now see in real-time how many customers are calling and can add agents accordingly.”
NetCologne IT Services has also gained agility through simple self-service functions. With the help of the call flow editor, processes can be adjusted quickly and easily. “We use this when an entire team is in a meeting for example. Then we simply forward the calls to another team during that time. That way, our customers are always served.”
During major disruptions, NetCologne IT Services also uses text-to-speech announcements to regulate call volume. “If there is an increase in customers calling the IT hotline during a network outage, we can quickly and easily add an announcement to inform our customers that we are already working on a fix. This reduces call volume and network engineers can take care of the problem instead of sitting by the phone.”