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Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A is already one of the largest privately owned restaurant chains in the country. But it has ambitious plans to expand beyond its traditional southeastern footprint. To facilitate this growth, the company's IT department is establishing a voice over IP (VOIP) platform to enhance communications and improve operational efficiency.
"We are implementing a platform for strategic growth that is capable of supporting the needs of the business," says Jon Bridges, Chick-fil-A's chief information officer. "We see our future as being a more virtual company. As we expand, more work will be done from home and at partner companies."
Before the project got underway, Bridges recognized that his team was entering new territory. So he decided to bring in Advocate Networks to help plan the effort and make "good choices" right from the start.
"We had already been working with Chick-fil-A to develop a telecom roadmap at its headquarters," says Wayne Webb, Strategic Convergence Practice leader at Advocate Networks. "We understood the vision and had a process for moving it forward."
"Advocate Networks was the key to this project," Bridges say. "They know who the major players are and what questions to ask."
As an initial step Webb and Strategy and Planning Practice leader Bob Landstrom conducted a discovery study to gain a complete understanding of Chick-fil-A's current technical capabilities and potential future requirements.
"We uncovered a lot of new integration needs," Webb notes. It was important to understand these issues on the front end of the project" even before addressing technology or vendor choices.
Detailing out the "big picture" enabled the Chick-fil-A team to prioritize activities and consider repurposing existing departments. For example, it helped them to decide that using the VOIP infrastructure to transform Chick-fil-A's call center into a full-service contact center was a good first step for the project.
After the discovery phase was completed, Webb and Landstrom worked with Chick-fil-A to develop a request for proposals (RFP) and qualify potential vendors. They then helped the company assess the submissions and make a final award, which in this case went to Coleman Technologies, Inc.
"We knew that VOIP was the only choice," Bridges says. "But a partner like Advocate Networks is important for making an informed decision."
"Chick-fil-A had a good vision from the start," Webb says. "Where we added value was in looking at what they had, what they could have, and the right way to phase in new strategies like unified messaging."
The move to the VOIP-based contact center model is underway and producing positive results for Chick-fil-A and it's restaurant operators.
"We are already giving great support to our operators," Bridges says. "We're doing a better job connecting calls with less wait time and having the right person answer."
Long-term, Bridges plans to roll out more VOIP capabilities to restaurant operators and workers while also continuing the effort to fully integrate headquarters departments and applications.
"We're on a journey," Bridges says. "But IP gives us a very scalable platform for strategic growth."