"XPhone Has Significantly Simplified Internal Communication"

Mr Wilhelm, how has communication within your company changed in recent years?

Our communication has become much more professional. In the past, people would sometimes use insecure services like WhatsApp for quick exchanges with external contacts. Today, that would be unthinkable. All data must be transmitted securely, and our data centres are exclusively in Europe, preferably in Germany. Since we introduced XPhone four years ago, communication paths have improved immensely. The software is perfect for quick internal coordination, like sharing screenshots or using screen-sharing.

What motivated you to implement XPhone?

We had been considering modernising our communication structure for some time. Our previous UC software offered few updates and could no longer meet our growing needs. We wanted a solution designed specifically for internal communication and independent of major platforms like Skype or Microsoft Teams. Ultimately, XPhone convinced us the most.

What tipped the scales in favour of XPhone?

The key factors were its user-friendliness and flexible usability. Today, XPhone is standard across all office workstations.

How has the use of XPhone impacted your daily work?

XPhone has significantly simplified internal communication. It’s widely used to quickly share information or screens. In a critical infrastructure company like ours, where smooth communication is essential, we benefit greatly from the software's stability and reliability. It’s incredibly robust, runs in the background, and ensures we can work efficiently.

How does your customer service centre use XPhone?

Our customer service team works with the hotline management system TeamDesk, which is directly integrated into the XPhone client. We’ve also linked important customer database information with the phone client. When a customer calls, the staff member answering the call immediately sees the customer's name and address in the client. This enables fast and efficient handling.

However, we use TeamDesk somewhat unconventionally. Instead of a central hotline, each agent essentially has their own hotline. For our small team of 8 to 15 people, this is a streamlined and efficient solution. Employees can opt in and out of the hotline as needed. After a call, they have time to process the customer’s request before moving on. This improves work quality and simplifies the daily routine.

Do you analyse call volumes in the customer service centre?

Our customer service team handles this entirely independently. From an IT perspective, we only set up the TeamDesk analysis tool initially. It now provides insights into how many calls are missed at what times and how long customers have to wait. The tool is so intuitive that we didn’t need to make any adjustments after its rollout.

How do you bring agility into your IT landscape?

This is a major but important step for a traditional company with established structures. About ten years ago, our IT department was still managed by technicians and field workers. IT was a side job for them. Only specific requests were implemented—there was no capacity for developing 

ideas. That has fundamentally changed. With the introduction of XPhone and other digital tools, we’ve been able to make many internal processes more agile. In the past, everything was done via email. Today, we use internal chats and screen-sharing, which our employees appreciate. XPhone also makes this easy because it is so intuitive to use.

How important is user-friendliness for you as an administrator?

Good question. We greatly value the fact that we can administer the software ourselves, saving us a lot of time. Initially, we had a two-hour training session with the system house NTA Saar. Since then, we’ve managed everything independently. XPhone is very straightforward and runs reliably. In a critical environment like ours, it’s crucial that communication software functions dependably.

"For traditional companies with established structures, agility is a significant yet essential step.

The introduction of XPhone and other digital tools has allowed us to modernise and optimise many internal processes."

Philip Wilhelm
IT Administrator
Stadtwerke Merzig

What challenges do you foresee in further digitising your processes?

A major challenge is balancing new technologies with proven structures. Many technologies on the market today have potential, but not all are suitable for our company. For example, we often discuss the use of artificial intelligence but approach it cautiously. For us, a phone bot is still just a phone bot, not a replacement for competent hotline advisors. Nevertheless, we remain open to new developments, carefully evaluating whether they make sense for us.