Rutter Green, an estate and lettings agent focused on a personal level of customer service, chose Hostcomm VoIP to operate the telephony for her small business. And in Hostcomm she found a partner that made things easy, fast and flexible.
Rutter Green: A customer-focused approach to property
Based in Wigan, Rutter Green is an estate and lettings agent with services across residential and commercial sales, lettings, management, and energy savings consultancy. The business’ goal is to connect people to property, delivering a refreshingly personal level of customer service.
Rutter Green delivers this impressive level of service with surprisingly modest resources – a small core team of two takes responsibility for everything from enquiries to photographs and floor plans. As a result, outstanding communications and unparalleled flexibility are vital.
Finding simple yet sophisticated small business VoIP
In 2015, Diane and Julie Green had a clear vision for a more modern breed of estate agent, where people were at the heart of every service and process. Working from home, the two decided that VoIP would be a crucial asset in communicating with customers.
“We knew we needed VoIP,” says Julie Green, Branch Manager at Rutter Green. “We were starting a business entirely from scratch and didn’t have any kind of telephony. At the same time, while I had an idea of our requirements, I wasn’t entirely sure what we needed or how the right VoIP service could help us.”
With so many responsibilities between the pair, one important criterion for any VoIP service would be ease of use. Particularly in the early stages of the business, every opportunity counted – and any technical complexities would only become obstacles to delivering the best possible service.
“I turned to a former colleague who was an IT professional,” adds Julie. “Without hesitation, he recommended Hostcomm. That was where our journey began.”
I’d definitely recommend Hostcomm, mainly because of the level of service and support you get.
Growing a new business with Hostcomm VoIP
“We went with the experience of my former colleague and we haven’t been disappointed,” says Julie. “From the outset, Hostcomm’s supportive team were there to guide us through the process and help us get the service we needed.”
On contacting Hostcomm, Rutter Green was assigned an Account Manager, Nick Brown. After getting to know the business and its needs, he recommended the best way to use VoIP when working from home and, later, how to transition this to commercial premises.
Rutter Green started in 2015 with one phone and one queue, then later upgraded to three extensions in May 2016.
I turned to a former colleague who was an IT professional. Without hesitation, he recommended Hostcomm. That was where our journey began.
Resolving teething issues quickly and effectively
Once Rutter Green’s VoIP service was implemented, the team found themselves running into issues with call clarity.
“When we were having problems, we contacted Hostcomm and they were incredibly responsive,” says Julie. “The support team immediately gave us the option to divert everything to our mobile phones, so we didn’t miss any calls. Then, they worked with us to find the root cause of the problems and a longer-term solution.”
Ultimately, Rutter Green’s router and internet connection were found to be causing the call quality issues. Hostcomm helped the team find a more suitable router, which solved the problems for good.
“Hostcomm’s support has been excellent,” adds Julie. “We’ve dealt with Hostcomm on every level, and everybody has been brilliant. They’ll either talk us through things or take care of things for us, all while talking in a language that a layperson like me can understand.”
Hostcomm’s support has been excellent. We’ve dealt with Hostcomm on every level, and everybody has been brilliant. They’ll either talk us through things or take care of things for us, all while talking in a language that a layperson like me can understand.
Creating new flexibility in a small and agile team
For any small business, flexibility is everything. Diane and Julie would routinely find themselves out of the office on business, but needed to stay in touch and ready to receive customer calls at all times.
In one simple interface, Julie could configure the company’s VoIP connection to call either landlines or mobile phones. This effectively made it possible to take the VoIP connection wherever the team needed to go.
“Making changes to our VoIP was so easy,” says Julie. “We could log on and divert calls to our mobiles in just a few minutes. But what really impressed me is how Hostcomm went above and beyond – if we ever left the office and forgot to divert our calls, I’d just call Hostcomm and they’d divert them for us instantly.”
Hostcomm also took responsibility for configuring out of hours diversions, ensuring that Julie and Diane were able to be in contact 24/7.
“It was vital that we were always contactable because it was just the two of us and we didn’t want to miss any opportunities. Hostcomm made that possible."
It was vital that we were always contactable because it was just the two of us and we didn’t want to miss any opportunities. Hostcomm made that possible.
Life after Hostcomm’s VoIP services
Today, Rutter Green has made the move to new serviced offices where telephony is restricted to in-house providers. Since moving away from Hostcomm, Julie has seen a significant difference in her VoIP service.
“We just haven’t got the flexibility we had with Hostcomm,” she says. “We don’t have a system where we can log on and make changes ourselves – we have to do everything through the company that provides the service. It’s a lot slower and less easy to operate.”
In addition, Rutter Green’s new telephony does not include the option to switch between landlines and mobile phones. When a call comes in, all four phones ring and, for several weeks, calls answered on mobile phones would not connect.
For Julie, leaving Hostcomm was a sad occasion and unfortunate side-effect of the transition to serviced offices.
“I’d definitely recommend Hostcomm, mainly because of the level of service and support you get. Hostcomm was always there to help, right from deciding what our requirements were to our day-to-day operations. If we ever leave these serviced offices, Hostcomm will be the first people we contact.”
Summary
From defining initial requirements to providing responsive ongoing support, Hostcomm’s VoIP telephony supported Rutter Green as the business grew from a small work-from-home operation to a growing company. With convenient enterprise-level features like switching to mobile phones, the VoIP service ensured the company was flexible and agile at all times – something that the team sorely miss today.
