- Status: Active
- Customer since: 02/2016
- fanuccontrolrepair.com
Table of Contents
With the help of our Zoho consultants, Lakeside CNC Group transitioned from the Comcast® Business Phone platform to a more flexible call center solution using the Asterisk PBX solution integrated with Zoho Desk and Zoho CRM, enhancing their customer interaction capabilities and operational efficiency while reducing the cost of ownership.
- After many years of using the Comcast® Business Phone platform, Lakeside CNC Group encountered significant challenges with their telephony system, primarily due to:
- The COQ (Cost of Quality) was not favorable compared with other offers on the PBX market available in 2024.
- Lack of Zoho CRM phone integration: the inability to integrate the Comcast® Business platform with Zoho One led to disjointed customer service operations.
The implementation of the self-hosted Asterisk platform integrated with Zoho One and Twilio addressed these issues by:
- Providing unlimited сustomization: as an open-source solution, Asterisk could be tailored to meet virtually any specific business needs being hosted on Lakeside’s own server, thus reducing the operational costs.
- Integration with Zoho Desk allowed for smart call routing, personalized greetings based on customer data, and seamless information flow between Zoho Desk and phone platform.
- Compatibility with the wide range of Yealink desk phones.
Executive Summary
Situated in Bensenville, IL, Lakeside CNC Group, an industrial repair facility, has built its reputation on providing top-tier FANUC servo motors and drives repair services, leveraging over 20 years of combined professional experience. It is worth noting that in this business, most customers are very conservative in terms of contact methods, and the vast majority of them prefer phone calls, which makes a good phone system vital for the business.
In 2018, our Zoho consultants completed a complex Zoho One implementation for Lakeside CNC Group, which resulted in not one, but two official Customer Success Stories published by Zoho:
Problem Statement and Key Challenges
Specific non-Zoho Telephony Problem
- Bundled Pricing: Lakeside CNC Group was locked into a bundled package with Comcast® that included internet, TV, and phone services, making it impossible to isolate and optimize phone costs.
- Lack of Integration: The previous PBX system did not offer integration capabilities with the Zoho One ecosystem, leading to inefficiencies in handling customer interactions.
High Costs: The cost for the phone service was higher than what competing solutions could offer.
Key Challenges for Zoho CRM Phone Integration
- Incorporation of existing resources: The need to integrate existing audio files and prompts recorded by professional voice actors into the new system to maintain brand consistency and customer familiarity.
- Zoho CRM phone integration: aiming to allow callers to check repair order status directly through an automated system, reducing the workload on the front desk team and improving customer service speed. The repair order status checker for the website visitors has been already done in the recent Zoho One implementation for Lakeside CNC Group, so having the same option for the Zoho Desk phone integration was expected.
- Ability to use convenient, modern desktop phones and wireless handsets.
It seems like we're paying more for our telephone service than it actually costs. Also, we can't do anything with it except make calls. Do you have any ideas?
Problem Evaluation
Our certified Zoho consultants assessed various PBX solutions available in the market. We’ve checked Twilio, RingCentral, Zoho Voice, Asterisk, and FreshCaller. The following criteria were considered for each platform:
- Flexibility and Customization: the ability to tailor the system to Lakeside CNC Group’s specific needs was paramount. Asterisk’s open-source nature provided this.
- Self-Hosting: The requirement for the solution to be hosted on Lakeside’s own Virtual Private Server (VPS) was critical for customization, data control, security, and cost management.
- Cost Efficiency: Aiming for a significant reduction in telephony costs while maintaining or enhancing service quality.
- API-based Integration with Zoho One applications: The platform needed to seamlessly integrate with Zoho Desk and Zoho CRM to automate the repair order status inquiries, improve customer service workflows, and utilize customer data for more personalized interactions, such as personalized greetings.
Proposed Solution
Zoho CRM Phone Integration Based on the Asterisk Communications Framework
The final solution was based on the Asterisk Communications Framework and FreePBX. Zoho CRM phone integration and a Zoho Desk connector to fetch the repair order statuses werre provided by our custom module written in PHP and hosted at the Lakeside CNC Group’s own VPS, maintained by Vultr:
Implementation
The Asterisk Platform Integration with Zoho One has been performed by United Parts of Chicago, a Zoho Advanced Partner from Deerfield, Illinois. The first phase took about one month to deploy the pilot version. To prevent phone service interruptions, the cut-off date has been selected on one of the weekends.
United Parts of Chicago also installed the Yealink desk phones on premises and provided the on-site training for the Lakeside CNC Group’s team. After the initial deployment, the initial configuration has been polished and updated according to the customer’s requests.
Results
- More than 50% cost reduction compared to Comcast® Business Phone platform.
- Custom PHP module for Zoho CRM phone integration with Asterisk and a separate flow to pull the work order statuses from Zoho Desk and funnel them into Asterisk This allowed:
- Self-service for customers: empowering customers to check repair order statuses directly through an IVR system, enhancing customer experience without the need for human staff intervention.
- Improved staff efficiency: By automating basic inquiries, the team at Lakeside CNC Group could focus more on technical support and complex customer issues.
- Bilingual IVR menu: The IVR system was made bilingual (English and Spanish) to cater to both the US and Mexican markets, broadening the company’s reach and improving service delivery.
- Personalized greetings: if the caller’s phone number is recorded in Zoho CRM, the phone system will greet the caller by their first name.
- Voicemail to Email: Voicemail integration with email addresses forwards the recorded voicemail to the certain email addresses, so the voicemail can be conveniently accessed from any location without calling the main phone number, ensuring no message goes unheard.
- Endless customization: Asterisk’s open-source nature provides Lakeside CNC Group with the flexibility to add new features as business needs evolve.
- Seamless transition:
- Retained existing prompts: The existing voice prompts and IVR menu structure were retained, providing a familiar experience to customers.
- No change announcement: The decision not to use phrases like “Our menu options have changed!” helped maintain a smooth transition for users, avoiding confusion or customer frustration.
Moving away from our old Comcast® system was beneficial for us. Not only did we manage to cut our phone costs in half, but our staff now have more time to handle the technical side of our business, which is where our expertise truly lies.
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