Flexible VoIP Service Meets Flexible Work Needs
Read time: 4 minutes
The Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce provides services to help businesses reach their customers, create partnerships and, overall, make an impact in the Pierre and Fort Pierre, SD, communities. However, to say that it’s your average Chamber of Commerce is an understatement.
The Chamber also serves as the area’s Convention and Visitors Bureau – driving tourism efforts and supporting events, conferences and conventions, in addition to managing PierreArea.ShopWhereILive.com, a website where local businesses can sell items online.
“We’re strong business advocates for our community,” said Jamie Seiner, Chief Executive Officer. “We work closely with businesses and advocacy groups to help fight for legislation that’s beneficial for business. We do our best to support the area’s workforce needs in every way possible.”
Being available for customers and partners over the phone is necessary for this team of five’s day-to-day operations, whether they’re in the office or at home – which, like so many businesses, became their norm in early 2020.
“I just think it’s important that the phone service we have is not only reliable, but it’s also flexible for an organization to make changes in the operations,” said Seiner. “It really has been necessary for us.”
With Midco Hosted VoIP at their fingertips, the Chamber can seamlessly control voicemail and call settings – from anywhere.
The Switch to Hosted VoIP
What started as a technical issue with the Chamber’s voicemail system soon turned into the antiquated system breaking down entirely. And, according to Seiner, the outdated system was beyond repair. It was time to explore new options and see what enhancements were available.
“We were still in the middle of a digital phone contract with Midco, who provided everything but the voicemail system at the time,” said Seiner. “After talking with our account rep, we realized that their VoIP services really had everything we needed.”
The team decided to upgrade and extend the contract, but they weren’t the only ones. Midco and the Chamber worked with other business tenants in the same building to design a Hosted VoIP solution everyone uses to connect seamlessly – with separate numbers, call settings and billing per business.
“Midco has helped us make our office one interconnected system where we could page each other and reroute calls as needed,” said Seiner. “It’s nice that we’re able to take a full suite of multiple organizations and bring it together – all with separate billing.”
"I just think it's important that the phone service we have is not only reliable, but it's also flexible for an organization to make changes in the operations. It really has been necessary for us."
Call Routing and eVOICE: WFH Necessities
Prior to spring 2020, the Chamber didn’t have any remote employees – likely a similar scenario for many small organizations. But, as the world quickly pivoted, the Chamber did as well.
Now, several of their team members work flexible schedules, in the office on some days and working remotely on others.
“We use the CommPortal to manage each phone line setting, as we’ve had to modify our operations with COVID and working remotely,” said Seiner, who is also the system admin. “We switch up voicemail messaging and settings and the call tree – and everyone gets an email when they receive a voicemail. It’s been really helpful to be able to do it all on our end.”
Speaking of helpful, there was one feature that Seiner also wanted to point out: the easy support button located on each of Midco’s phone models that instantly dials our customer service team.
“They always pick up right away – they’re very helpful and anything I need help doing is usually resolved with a short phone call every single time,” she said. “It’s been really handy as we’re getting everything set up and established.”
Staying Up to Date with Technology, Advertising and More
In addition to Hosted VoIP, the Chamber also has Midco Business Internet and relies on Midco’s in-house advertising services to create commercials, and promote events and tourism efforts.
“I do appreciate that our phone system is a separate internet connection – especially as we are using our connection to full capacity with video conferencing,” said Seiner. “It allows our team to keep working.”
Together, all these services create one cohesive partnership between the Chamber and Midco – especially as it continues to grow and change.
“We’ve been able to stay on top of technology with Midco,” added Seiner. “As our organization has had to adapt and change, Midco has been right there with us.”
