RingCentral Global Service and Support is all about the customer—devoted to making sure every customer’s need is met, and that they’re able to use our products effectively and easily. GSS team members serve as our customers’ central post-sale point of contact, championing their needs, sharing product knowledge, providing solutions and building relationships.
GSS is the ultimate teamwork situation – every customer’s needs and issues are different. So even if you’re a subject matter expert, having the experience and knowledge of your team at your back is critical to delivering the right solution at the right time.
It’s a challenging job on a normal day. Add in the fact that the vast majority of our team and our customers’ employees are now working from home, and the game completely changes.
A cross-section of GSS team members gave us the scoop on how RingCentral GSS is delivering for our customers—and each other, in a year that’s been tougher than any we’ve ever seen.
- Abby Bearden – Global Contact Center Tier 3 Engineer, RingCentral Denver
- David Burke – Global Enterprise Engineer, RingCentral Denver
- Scott Riney – Global Senior Tier 3 Technical Support Engineer, RingCentral Denver
- Onyx – a cat.
Q: What’s changed most for your customers during this crisis?
David: “Just before the pandemic began, we launched RingCentral Video – an entirely new product. So we still have customers using RingCentral Meetings, which is powered by Zoom, and then we have customers who are on RingCentral Video. There are of course some differences between the two platforms and customers have different issues, depending on what platform they’re on. So challenges do come up.”
Abby: “You’ve got people using RingCentral Video for the first time—getting used to an entirely new ecosystem, and of course, they’re doing it from home.”
Scott: “ We saw a surge in use of the videoconferencing products, so we’re seeing a lot of cases related to that. I was expecting to see more issues related to people working at home for the first time, but what I saw were cases related to using webinars and meeting products as a replacement for face to face meetings.”
Onyx: /appears on camera; looks annoyed with Scott’s mouse.
Q: What challenges are your team facing during this crisis?
David: “Well, everyone’s working from home. There’s three of us at home; we’re all using the internet and …that brings the challenges of bandwidth. I’m running a 60-foot ethernet cord across the house. It’s actually a solution I’ll occasionally share with clients. A lot of their issues are home office/bandwidth related, too.”
Abby: “And remember, we have partners. Some of them had pre-existing issues, so we’re trying to navigate those as well. So moving to an all-virtual situation can exacerbate things a little bit.”
Scott: “It was kind of a jarring transition psychologically. You know, I had the tools I needed; I had the office that I needed, but just getting used to working from home every day, it kind of changes the rhythm of my life. Those things took a couple weeks to get used to.”
Onyx: /seems either delighted or annoyed to have Scott home all the time. Possibly both.
Q: Having to work from home via the RingCentral platform gives you a customer’s-eye view. Has that changed your approach at all? Do you actually miss the office?
Abby: “I think it’s forcing my colleagues to become more confident in their troubleshooting skills, because we’re not right there to walk them through things.”
Scott: “My team has made a lot of use of the RingCentral app to stay in touch. And people are pretty responsive when we use it. So, I almost feel like I’m still in the office because I know everybody is still there, and still available. And I don’t have this sense of being out here by myself.”
David: “It forces you to work other troubleshooting muscles. It’s kind of like you take away one of the senses and the other senses get stronger. I’ll be really interested to see when we get back to the office to see how we’ve all grown as a team.”
Abby: “I think we have a lot more unity than when we did when we were actually physically in the office. We are creating more efficient processes which are great. It’s cool to see the culture that everybody loves about RingCentral doesn’t just exist in the office, but at home in team meetings and stuff like that.”
David: “The team is just fantastic. Everyone is really supportive and we’re all on the same team. I’m not just saying it—we really are. I mean, our caseload has doubled exponentially. And that can be stressful. However, leadership does their best to keep us from getting burnt out. My manager reached out to me and actually said, “Hey, I see you’ve got a ton of tickets; if you want I’ll take you out of the call queue for a couple hours so you can work on the caseload.” “And I truly appreciate that. I’m really proud to be a part of the team.”
Scott: “I was a frequent participant in the RingCentral Pets group, the RingCentral Moto Club for motorcyclists, the RingCentral Denver group and follow our Black Lives Matter group. So you’d think it would be extra-lonely working from home, but with the tools we have, I’m able to stay connected to people with diverse interests from all over the country and the world.”
Onyx: /begins smacking Scott in the face with his tail.
Q: OK, Scott, we have to know – who’s the cat?
Scott: “That’s Onyx. He’s 14.”
Q: Is he trained to deliver Tier-3 support?
Scott: “Definitely not. Serious attitude problem. Not a team player at all.”
Onyx: “Mrow.”
No one’s ever seen an environment like 2020 before. But with the right technology and a culture built around people who truly care about one another’s success, the RingCentral GSS team is able to not only adapt, but thrive.
We believe #winningtogether is more than a catchphrase—it’s an idea we bring to the office every day*, no matter where the office happens to be.
*Feline results may vary.
Originally published Jul 01, 2020, updated Feb 24, 2021
