Switching to 8x8 adds new color to Rodda Paint

Since 1932, Rodda has been a service-oriented company focused on building lasting relationships with customers, partners, and vendors.

The company invests in its workforce, achieving an average retention rate of 8-10 years of service per employee. Rodda also believes in doing its part for the environment, as it continues to develop better and greener paint and coatings based on evolving methodology and technology.

The Challenge: Stuck with an inflexible, unfriendly system

Before Rodda Paint found 8x8, the company knew that its current communications provider wasn’t getting the job done. “Rodda was in a three year contract with a vendor that was not getting the job done, and the employees struggled to use the cumbersome system that was not meeting business needs.” recalls Sam Boswell, Senior IT Systems Administrator at Rodda Paint.

Rodda’s previous communications setup was a combination of a few different solutions. It was “not very friendly” and proved to be quite cumbersome, and the company wanted something better in place when that three-year contract was up. And it wasn’t just the in-store employees who were unhappy with the system, but the previous setup also posed issues for the corporate offices which were using an older On-Premise system. The old system was hard to maintain, setting up new users was costly and complicated, and employees were stuck taking calls only on physical desk phones. Not having the option for softphones and cloud communication became an even bigger issue with the start of the pandemic and lockdowns in 2020 as employees began needing at-home solutions.

Simply getting all the calls routed where they needed to go proved to be a headache. “When we were on the previous system, I took their training and I still couldn't do it myself,” says Boswell. “I still had to call them every time ... because it was so complex.”

The Solution: One simple and streamlined system

Rodda Paint started looking around for something better, and the IT team reached out to a few different providers, including 8x8, Mitel, and RingCentral, to learn about the options, get quotes, and run trials.

In the end 8x8 won, and for Rodda, a huge factor was how easy 8x8 makes it to organize incoming calls with auto attendant and ring group features, which were a huge boon for for the company.

In the retail stores, 8x8’s ring group feature allows customers to easily talk with staff and minimize wait times. “Some store managers will have the 8x8 Work app on their cell phone,” explained Boswell. “When someone calls the main auto attendant number, their phone rings too. So it is like an additional cordless phone that they can use during business hours. The managers can't live without it. They absolutely love it.”

Another key factor in Rodda’s decision came down to 8x8’s fantastic support. While other providers weren’t easy to get in touch with or weren’t plugged into their situation, 8x8 was always there to help or answer questions. “Our previous providers didn't deliver the same level of service as 8x8,” says Boswell.

The Benefits: From a headache to a breeze

Once Rodda Paint was set up with 8x8, the company started seeing the differences right away. Their teams used 8x8 University, 8x8’s hub for eLearning, guides, virtual training, and more, to acquaint themselves with the platform, and they quickly got the hang of communicating with 8x8.

Now, Rodda employees can answer calls right from 8x8 through their laptops or through the 8x8 Work app on their phones from the comfort of their own home, without having to go back into the office.

“When people are looking at moving from on-prem to cloud, their big concern is: ‘How is it gonna work? Is it gonna be scary?’” Boswell says. “But with 8x8, we've had no voice quality issues at all, no choppiness. And, I would recommend 8x8, it's been very easy to use.”

Additionally, the company has been able to reduce costs after switching to 8x8. The cost per user went down 30%, which adds up fast with 250+ users. Processes like adding new users or configuring call queues went from a headache to a breeze. Boswell and his team used to spend hours configuring changes, often needing to get on the phone for help, but with 8x8, they can make changes to the communications system with a few clicks.