Article content
CHALLENGE:
Empowering employees to boost customer service outcomes
JG King Homes has built a team of trusted experts that guide customers through every step of the planning and building process, although they were hampered by a lack of robust connectivity.
“Our biggest challenge has traditionally been our mobile reach. We have a variety of greenfield display homes, which are essential assets for our customers to understand their options. These sites often don’t have great coverage, impacting and affecting the experience we deliver to our customers.”
CIO Matthew Thornton , CIO, JG King Homes
JG King Homes’ network coverage was unreliable and inconsistent. Downtime was common, which had a significant impact on productivity and customer service. Limited coverage meant that teams on the ground had to use saved files on their phones to retrieve crucial information, such as building plans and the status of build projects. This issue was underpinned by legacy network equipment, which was powering their Wide Area Network (WAN).
The organisation wanted to arm its staff with better network and application access to boost customer service outcomes at these sites, ultimately setting a platform for innovation.
JG King Homes recognised that it needed a robust mobility strategy to bring connectivity to its remote teams, however, it faced many challenges. It was dealing with multiple vendors and technology partners, with a range of cost centres that led to numerous inefficiencies.
“We were looking for a partner that could provide multi-domain expertise, as we needed to bring a lot of converged technologies together for a single point of interaction,” Matthew says. “Quite often with complex environments, if you have an issue or things go wrong, no-one takes accountability, resulting in a blame game, leaving us stuck in the middle to deal with and resolve the problem/s. We avoid such a scenario throughout our business and operations.”
As an existing partner, JG King Homes engaged Telstra to build a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution to address these connectivity challenges.
SOLUTION:
Bringing expert perspectives to the table
Telstra worked closely with JG King Homes to fully understand their pain points and technology requirements. While the focus was initially around MDM, the two teams quickly realised there was a bigger opportunity to drive business value through a whole-of-network transformation.
“When we met with Telstra, it was quite clear from the outset that our problem wasn’t just around mobile devices. There was a bigger picture that required a more strategic roadmap,. Telstra introduced us to BluBiz who had the expertise in delivering a holistic solution, including mobile device management.”
CIO Matthew Thornton , CIO, JG King Homes
BluBiz is an ICT services organisation and trusted Telstra partner that specialises in complex, multi-vendor environments. It provided crucial end-to-end support, starting with a full audit of JG King Homes mobility fleet, including MDM and billing. BluBiz then developed a fit-for-purpose solution that drove cost savings and operational efficiencies.
How we made it happen:
Delivering a world-class solution that exceeds all requirements
Working collaboratively with JG King Homes, BluBiz and Telstra developed and executed a full IT strategy and digital transformation that encompassed mobile devices, network coverage, as well as voice and cloud solutions.
That started with a simple, bespoke MDM solution that resolved their mobility issues, including the procurement, setup and deployment of over 250 Apple mobile and tablet devices for their business. These were then integrated into a single MDM platform, providing visibility throughout their geographic footprint.
Using a consultative approach, BluBiz then developed an SD-WAN solution, underpinned by Telstra’s leading Next IP Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network and core infrastructure from Fortinet. Using Telstra SD-WAN overlay to intelligently route traffic, the network connects JG King Homes’ sites easily and cost-effectively, providing strong service levels, incredible scale and a single point of contact for billing and support.
BluBiz also delivered Microsoft Teams capabilities with Telstra Calling for Office 365, ensuring robust communications across all teams and sites using a single platform for a unified collaboration experience. This is supported by strong security and multi-factor authentication capabilities from Okta.
BluBiz successfully migrated JG King Homes’ data network, voice and cloud infrastructure on time and without disrupting day-to-day business activities, despite the implementation taking place over the COVID lockdown period. All major cutovers were performed after hours and services were reliably available to all employees the next day. There was no duplication of costs due to the timely delivery of the new platforms and services.
The entire solution has been delivered as a fully managed service, providing 24x7 access to crucial support from BluBiz experts, including end-user support for all IT services, from desktop devices to Teams application environments. This managed service wrap also incorporates JG King Homes’ existing assets, such as their AWS environment and mobile devices, ensuring a comprehensive support capability.
“Managed services support is important for our business. Having a partner that takes ownership of issues and provides an overarching strategic lens is paramount. BluBiz and Telstra essentially feel like a part of our team, as we know we can call them at any time when we have issues.”
CIO Matthew Thornton , CIO, JG King Homes
Bolstering cybersecurity has become the next priority. This has started with a robust Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) program to create a security baseline. The result of these activities has supported the development of a comprehensive roadmap to bolster security tools and practices which includes the next steps of establishing a 24x7 managed Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platform, which will be supported by BluBiz’s Security Operations Centre.
This capability is set to provide proactive security threat monitoring and continuous improvement of existing controls.
THE RESULTS:
Transformative results: 30% reduction in spending on communication services
The new mobility and network capabilities have been transformative for JG King Homes. The business recorded a 30% reduction in spending on communication services post the transition, as a result of consolidating multiple vendors and service providers.
The experience for customers viewing display homes has drastically improved, as staff are now armed with the right information, no matter where they’re physically located.
Where staff would traditionally return to central office locations to retrieve information for customers, they now have direct access to key data and applications from anywhere in Victoria.
“The MDM solution has enabled us to turn disparate manual processes into an automated workflow,” Matthew explains. “When the construction team are onsite, they can now access building plans, the status of the build project, and other information to ensure we’re actively looking after the customer. Customers visiting display homes whom we can’t give them the information they need, will likely leave and go elsewhere.”
The SD-WAN network uses intelligent routing to eliminate downtime across all sites, ensuring consistent and robust coverage. This provides a strong platform for ongoing innovation, supported by ongoing access to incredible expertise through the managed service capability.
“The value that Telstra and partners like BluBiz offer is immense. They act as strategic partners and they’ve brought multi-domain expertise to our business across SD-WAN, network security, mobility, MDM, Managed Services, whilst also helping us manage reliability and costs. It’s been a great seamless partnership from the outset.”
CIO Matthew Thornton , CIO, JG King Homes
ABOUT JG KING HOMES
JG King Homes, Victoria’s largest builder of Truecore® steel house frames and Colorbond® steel roof homes, has been building high-quality homes for over 38 years. The company has a reputation for outstanding customer service, having built over 24,000 strong, customisable and low-maintenance steel frame homes across the state.
JG King Homes is driven by a single goal: to design and build homes that families love. Purchasing a new home is normally the biggest decision customers make it, when it comes to both time and budget, so it’s critical that customers get the best customer experience when they’re looking to build properties.
Learn more about Telstra Solutions
