Customer-supported wine producer
NakedWines.com is a customer-funded wine business. By investing in independent wine makers, the company allows winemakers to simply make the product while NakedWines.com focuses on selling and distribution. Founded in the United Kingdom in 2008 and expanding to the United States and Australia in 2012, Nakedwines.com now has more than 200 employees and enjoys international recognition.
A perfect choice for connectivity
NakedWines.com was growing its footprint and needed a phone system that could tie together its U.S. office and its headquarters in the United Kingdom.
“I was looking for a system that would enable us to start up pretty quickly and easily. We were just opening a location in Napa, Calif. and the choice was simple. A cloud-based system made the most sense for us,” explained Derek Hardy, chief technology officer at NakedWines.com.
UK and US tied together
NakedWines.com’s Norwich, England and Napa offices are seamlessly connected with RingCentral Office. By providing its customers with a single 800 number, the company can overflow calls between the US and UK so that their customers always speak to a person instead of a machine when they call.
Additionally, because RingCentral is a cloud-based solution, NakedWines.com was able to integrate its own customer relationship management system with its phone system. “Through an API we built into our own CRM system, we can initiate calls directly, which makes it easier for our people to call customers and reduces misdials. Being based in a cloud system allowed us to do this without having to make changes,” said Derek.
Scalability and business growth
By using a cloud-based solution, Derek has been able to dedicate his time to the growth of the company, and does not have to worry about whether his phone system can keep up. “We have a small IT team here in Cali, and not having to worry about the telephones means that I can get on and do IT work, and the phones just work,” said Derek.
The company opened its office in Napa with RingCentral and has grown rapidly. It only takes a few minutes to set up a new employee, so the company can focus on customer service and vendor relations instead of its phones.
“What excites me about the partnership between RingCentral and NakedWines.com is that it allows us to grow our business very quickly, to open new offices, and to grow our telephone system exponentially and easily, without having to worry,” added Derek.
Want to learn more about RingCentral Office? Visit our How It Works page. And don’t miss this video of Derek and NakedWines.com’s HQ!
Featured photo courtesy of Steve Corey via vecteezy cc.
Originally published Dec 05, 2013, updated Sep 20, 2021
