SEKOLogistics supplies global workforce with seamless communications on 8x8

Overview: Founded in 1976 in Chicago, SEKOLogistics has grown to become a leading, global supply chain solutions company with over 150 offices in more than 60 countries. SEKOLogistics specializes in transportation, logistics, forwarding, and warehousing, and provides innovative IT solutions that deliver a seamless flow of information for true supply chain visibility. The company serves a broad range of industries, including fashion, retail, aviation, medical, pharmaceutical, government, and hotel industries worldwide.

"With 8x8, we’ve saved a couple hundred dollars per phone, and multiplied by thousands of users, it adds up to a significant cost savings."

- Ilyas Yezdani, Lead Field Services Engineer, SEKOLogistics

The Challenge: Connecting globally-distributed staff and contact centerslink to this section

SEKOLogistics operates a number of contact centers around the world, each focusing on a different region. In North America, this includes offices on the East Coast and West Coast of the U.S., and in Mexico. The agent workforce, and corporate employees at large, follow a hybrid workplace model, where staff alternates working from the office and from home during the week.

A few years ago, SEKOLogistics transitioned from an on-premises communications system to cloud-based 8x8. Although this was before Ilyas Yezdani, Lead Field Services Engineer, joined SEKOLogistics, he recalls his experience with other communications platforms in comparison with 8x8: “Compared to Vonage and RingCentral, 8x8’s is easier to use and easier to set up extensions or configure phones. I love the ability to automatically configure phones with 8x8 by just inputting the MAC address. I don’t have to manually enter SIP protocol information, like SIP servers or SIP trunking.”

8x8 has been a successful choice for SEKOLogistics, enabling the company to connect locations around the world, and remote employees, all without needing to purchase and manage phone hardware.

The Solution: 100% virtual communicationslink to this section

SEKOLogistics has deployed 8x8 Work to most of its offices and warehouses, including Australia, Hong Kong, and Mexico, to empower local and global employees to connect with each other and with clients, suppliers, and partners. The company also implemented 8x8 Contact Center to support its regional customer service teams. Currently, the company is planning to expand its 8x8 usage to India and China. “Our goal is to have all of our sites using 8x8 in general, so that it’s easier to manage,” says Yezdani.

With 8x8, the company is pursuing a 100% softphone policy, where it allows employees to use existing phone hardware but it is not purchasing any new devices. Currently, about 70% of employees are making and receiving calls via the 8x8 platform, finding their dashboard intuitive and easy to use. A large portion of the calls are for dispatch purposes, and 8x8’s multi-level auto attendant feature helps SEKOLogistics create a custom call experience that keeps operations running smoothly for clients and the business.

Yezdani and team are looking to expand their usage of 8x8’s rich feature set, evaluating a number of built-in features. For example, SEKOLogistics uses Microsoft Teams for company-wide collaboration, and 8x8 Voice for MS Teams integration would allow staff to access 8x8 features from within Teams. They also plan to dive into 8x8 Analytics to monitor calls and gain insights that can help managers boost staff performance and customer satisfaction.

Whenever Yezdani has a question about 8x8, or needs help with exploring and implementing a new feature, his 8x8 account representative is there for him. He says, “Our 8x8 account rep is very helpful with any issues or requests that come up. She’s very accommodating and good with getting things done, which has been a plus for us.”

The Results: Massive savings in costs and timelink to this section

Switching to 8x8 has benefited SEKOLogistics in a number of important ways. First and foremost is cost savings. Yezdani says, “With 8x8, we’ve saved a couple hundred dollars per phone, and multiplied by thousands of users, it adds up to a significant cost savings. For example, in the last couple of months, we avoided buying around 300 phones. All new users are now onboarded to 8x8.” Add to that, SEKOLogistics has found 8x8’s pricing to be very competitive compared to other solutions.

Apart from phones, SEKOLogistics no longer has to buy and maintain dedicated on-premises hardware. “We could just tie in 8x8 with our existing network without needing a dedicated device, network, or specific feature. So that has helped us overall,” says Yezdani. 8x8’s simple administration has made it easy to manage the system through one seamless portal.

And due to 8x8’s global reach, SEKOLogistics doesn’t have to work with various local providers and manage multiple contracts to maintain company-wide communications. Staff can connect internally easily and securely via the 8x8 platform, which has further saved costs and helped simplify life for Yezdani and team.