Online Travel Agency iCruise.com Solves Bus. Communications Challenges with 8x8’s Cloud-Based Unified Communications & Cont...
20 February 2014 - 12:15AM
Business Wire
Popular US Cruise Seller Selects ‘One Stop
Shop’ Solution from 8x8, With Built-In Disaster Recovery, for 60+
Locations
8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), a provider of cloud-based unified
communications and collaboration solutions, today announced that
iCruise.com, one of the largest cruise sellers in the U.S., has
deployed 8x8 Virtual Office and Virtual Contact Center services in
its corporate headquarters and 60+ remote locations, creating a
scalable, secure and reliable unified communications platform with
built in disaster recovery for its widely distributed
organization.
Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida,
iCruise.com, a division of WMPH Vacations, sells cruises under
various brand names and private label packages. The company serves
80,000 passengers a year and has the most downloaded mobile Cruise
Finder app in the U.S. While most customers find the travel agency
online, only 20% complete their bookings online; the other 80% call
in to speak with an agent.
Following a rapid integration of the 8x8 Virtual Contact Center
solution with its back-office CRM system through 8x8’s
out-of-the-box integration framework, iCruise.com can now use
incoming call data to differentiate its brands and present the
answering cruise travel agent with an appropriate call-handling
script. For example, if a customer calls in on a number designated
for Hawaii Cruises, agents see a script on their screen prompting
them to answer “Aloha, Hawaii Cruise Outlet, how may I help you?”
8x8’s real-time API also annotates the in-house CRM system with
caller information, including location, phone number and the
advertisement that generated the call, enabling brand
differentiation and personalization of future customer
experiences.
“8x8 has a combined voice and contact center solution that can
do it all: provide inbound and outbound calling and call
management, live agent chat, click-to-call, call recording and live
routing options,” stated iCruise.com co-owner Don Walker. “It’s a
one-stop shop for all our needs.”
“The ability to have both a cloud-based phone system and cloud
contact center was the tipping point for us,” agreed co-owner Uf
Tukel. “The other business VoIP providers we considered could only
do one or the other. With 8x8, we didn’t have to compromise—we got
everything we wanted.”
8x8’s integrated solution also provides rich features such as
“click-to-call” that boost agent productivity throughout the
marketing cycle. iCruise.com agents can now easily place “bon
voyage” and “welcome back” calls to customers just by clicking on
the phone number listed in the customer’s account record. There’s
no need to look up phone numbers or switch to a different
communications system to place outbound calls.
Call recording, which had historically been very costly for the
company, is now included as part of its standard 8x8 service.
iCruise.com records calls in order to train employees, improve
agent performance, and enhance the effectiveness of marketing
campaigns. Managers can organize and listen to calls by agent,
queue, or distribution channel.
Tukel and Walker also credit 8x8’s hosted solution with helping
them prepare for the seasonal storms that sweep through southern
Florida. Now when the office loses power, employees stay in
business by using the 8x8 mobile app on their smartphones and
tablets, switching to the “soft” 8x8 phone on their laptops, or
plugging their desk phones in at home.
“Our employees can work practically anywhere, as long as there’s
an Internet connection,” said Tukel. “If there’s no power at the
office, we can all work remotely. Customers don’t even realize that
the office is closed because our phone service is seamless. Thanks
to 8x8, we’re much better prepared for the hurricane season than we
have been in the past.”
“We are glad to share our comprehensive cloud communications
expertise with customers like iCruise.com who want to integrate
their corporate telephony and contact center capabilities with
back-office CRM systems,” said 8x8 CEO Vik Verma. “8x8’s flexible
and configurable API integrates easily with in-house CRM solutions
as well as with standard CRM software such as NetSuite and
Salesforce.com. By streaming call information in real time, 8x8’s
solution enables detailed reporting that can be invaluable in
analyzing key performance metrics for agents, queues, campaigns and
channels.”
About 8x8, Inc.
8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT) is a provider of unified communications
and collaboration (UCC) services in the cloud to small and medium
businesses and mid-market and distributed enterprises. The company
delivers a broad suite of UCC services to in-office and mobile
devices spanning cloud business VoIP phone service, virtual meeting
web conferencing, contact center software and virtual desktop
through our proprietary unified software as a service, or SaaS,
platform. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or
www.8x8.com/UK or connect with 8x8 on Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn
and Twitter.
About iCruise.com
iCruise.com is a division of WMPH Vacations, a Florida-based
travel company specializing in cruises and resort vacations. Our
travel partners include all major cruise lines including Carnival,
Celebrity, Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Princess, Regent Seven
Seas, and Royal Caribbean and our cruise specialists are trained in
all cruise destinations including Alaska, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the
Caribbean, Hawaii, Europe and the Panama Canal. For additional
information about iCruise.com, visit www.icruise.com or download
the Cruise Finder App by iCruise on iTunes, Google Play, or
Amazon.com.
8x8, Inc.Tim Polakowski, 669-200-6638tim.polakowski@8x8.com
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