Delaware County

Americas

Even with the legacy system functioning, Jack adds, he’s heard frequent complaints from both employees and constituents. “People report problems with static on calls, not being able to hear the other person, and voices sounding crackly.”

Although the county already had a telecommunications upgrade on its roadmap, the 2020 lockdowns accelerated the search for a cloud phone solution. Jack began researching providers with the help of Delaware County’s trusted consulting partner, The Davinci Group.

“Davinci’s Stephen Benson was great at helping us narrow the field and find RingCentral, which more than any other company had all the tools we needed to achieve our communication objectives as an organization.”

Staying connected to constituents through challenging times

As the lockdowns forced Delaware County’s employees to work remotely, Jack and his team began implementing RingEX first for constituent-facing teams. The cloud phone system, he says, exceeded the county’s expectations.

Jack points out that RingEX also proved invaluable when Delaware County moved its Bureau of Elections to a new facility. Although the building had internet service, it did not yet have the wiring for telecommunications.

“We needed to set up the Bureau of Elections quickly at the new site, and our telecom carrier said they couldn’t even come close to meeting our deadline to equip the building with phone service. But that didn’t matter–because we easily spun up RingEX accounts for everyone within days.”

Increasing visibility and accountability also serves constituents

Using the RingEX reporting and analytics dashboard, Jack points out, helps managers and supervisors in various county departments continually improve their teams’ operations and the caller experience.

“At one point, we received complaints that some constituents’ calls went unanswered,” Jack says. “Thankfully, the RingEX reporting lets us see everything–who’s answering which calls and how many, by the hour, the day, whatever we need. Our managers quickly figured out that most employees answered, say, 40 calls a day, but a few took five or so. Once everyone knew we monitored everything, and with a little coaching, we resolved those problems right away.”

Improving employee accessibility and safety with Push to Talk

Jack points out that Delaware County gained even more value from RingEX when his team deployed Push to Talk–a radio-like feature that lets the RingEX mobile app serve as a walkie-talkie for direct voice messaging.

“We’ve found several great uses for Push to Talk,” Jack explains. “At our Fair Acres Geriatric Care facility, our maintenance and IT teams use it for quick and direct communications when they’re moving around the facilities. Our Health Department’s environmental health teams use it to stay connected while they’re out in the field. And our Sheriff’s Department uses Push to Talk for backup communications when deputies are in areas with weak or no radio signal.”

Working to empower all county employees with RingEX

As Jack explains, RingEX has more than delivered for Delaware County since his team began rolling it out to select teams in 2020.

“I don’t think you’ll find a bigger RingEX cheerleader than I am,” he says. “In my 40 years of telecom experience, I’ve worked with just about every system out there, and I’m extremely impressed with RingEX. Now I’m eager to get it deployed to the rest of our county government.”