When unreliable communications and slow support disrupted operations, the City of Wayzata turned to Cady Business Technologies to modernize its failing phone system to a new government cloud phone system and eliminate expensive infrastructure.
Summary
- The Challenge: Outdated technology disrupted daily operations and put emergency response at risk. These issues were compounded by slow, unresponsive vendor support
- The Solution: Cady BT replaced the city’s aging phone system with a modern cloud-based solution that immediately improved call quality and reliability
- Results: The city reports greater efficiency, productivity, and security – all while reducing costs by eliminating expensive on-site infrastructure
The Challenge
The City of Wayzata, Minnesota, faced a major communications problem: its aging phone system was incompatible with modern technology, increasingly unreliable, and vulnerable to security risks – an untenable situation when city hall, public works, police, and fire departments depend on telecommunications for daily operations and emergency response.
Worse, the city struggled to get vendor support when things went wrong.
“The City of Wayzata is the face of the community. We must stay connected with all our residents, and telecommunications is a big way that we do that,” says Deputy Registrar Nick Heider. “We must make sure our phone system is reliable, and if any issues arise, we need to have good backup and support from our vendor to fix things efficiently and effectively.”
Nick says the city was experiencing issues such as:
- Poor call quality and dropped calls
- Lack of remote calling features
- Complex call transfers
- Difficulty saving and accessing voicemails
- Slow support with long hold times
- The inability to add phones
“Not being able to order more phones when our employee base continues to grow was a huge inconvenience,” Nick says. “Also, any time we needed to make a change to the system, we had to call customer support – we should be able to easily make the change ourselves – which took time and was always an additional cost. As our vendor support became less and less, we needed to make a change that would get us up to date with our phone system and carry us into the future.”
The Solution
We applied the Cady Proven Process, a structured methodology for choosing and deploying customized voice communications for organizations that need to modernize their phone systems.
Discovery
We thoroughly reviewed the City of Wayzata’s unique needs and recommended a new government cloud phone system featuring:
- Improved call handling and effortless call transfers
- Collaboration tools and mobility options for remote staff
- The ability for city employees to make real-time system changes
- Enhanced security and compliance
Throughout the discovery phase, we offered expert guidance and live demos to ensure the solution would solve current challenges and provide scalability for future growth, all within the city’s budget.
“One of the main reasons we went with Cady is the affordability of their product. We could see this was the best long-term option in terms of cost savings,” Nick says.
Installation
We worked closely with the City of Wayzata to plan a smooth cutover that minimized disruptions to daily operations. Since the city was transitioning to a cloud phone system, they were able to eliminate the need to purchase and maintain an on-site server.
“Cady provided us with two in-person demos, had many open discussions, and were always quick to respond if we had questions,” Nick says. “They completed most of the work behind the scenes, so we had to put forth minimal effort to assist with the switchover.”
Support
Post-installation, Cady Business Technologies continues to provide ongoing support with a dedicated contact, expert local technicians, and 10-second average answer times.
“Cady provided us with a great customer service experience. They cared about making a difference in our workplace, were always quick to respond if we had any questions or concerns, and made it personal versus a normal business transaction,” Nick says. “Their staff is very knowledgeable about their products, and we could tell that they pride themselves on exceptional customer service.”
Results
With its new government cloud phone system, the City of Wayzata now has reliable communications with the modern features needed to support operational efficiency and dependable emergency response, along with the flexibility to add future enhancements such as virtual assistants, intelligent call routing (IVR), and AI-powered call analytics.
“The customer and employee experience have improved our operations greatly, and Cady’s support has made the change easier for all of us,” Nick says. “Cady ensures our system is budget-friendly, productive, and suitable for today’s business environment, yet able to grow to meet future business expansion needs.”