MJ Thomas
For a Team That Has to Get the Details Right, the RingCentral App Has Been a Lifesaver
Since our team started using the RingCentral app, we’ve had ZERO mistakes.
Candice Fry
Data Management and Flyer Production Rock Star, MJ Thomas Photography
MJ Thomas Photography’s headquarters in Grand Junction, Colorado, is a busy place. Thanks to a stellar reputation earned over its 25-year history, today the company is the photography service of choice for 500 schools and sports leagues across several states.
But keeping those hundreds of schools and leagues happy means the team at headquarters must successfully manage a complex, interconnected mix of event calendars, photo shoot schedules, flyer printing deadlines, sales contracts, and other logistical details to keep operations running smoothly and error-free. Which is why Candice Fry, the company’s Data Management and Flyer Production Rock Star—and a self-described perfectionist—was so thrilled to discover the RingCentral app.
But keeping those hundreds of schools and leagues happy means the team at headquarters must successfully manage a complex, interconnected mix of event calendars, photo shoot schedules, flyer printing deadlines, sales contracts, and other logistical details to keep operations running smoothly and error-free. Which is why Candice Fry, the company’s Data Management and Flyer Production Rock Star—and a self-described perfectionist—was so thrilled to discover the RingCentral app.
A complex series of data-processing and project-management tasks was difficult to manage by jumping back and forth among different tools
The term “detail oriented” is overused in job descriptions. But for Candice Fry’s role, managing flyer production and data processing for MJ Thomas Photography, it would be a completely fair job requirement.
Fry is responsible for creating the flyers the company distributes to the schools and sports leagues where its photographers will be doing photo shoots. That’s hundreds of schools and hundreds of leagues spanning Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming.
So, Fry reviews the company’s massive event calendars regularly to find out, for example, which schools have photo sessions scheduled soon for dances or yearbooks. Then she runs reports to determine how many flyers they’ll need, what special details need to be included, and how much lead time the company will need to ship those flyers (based on the school’s location). And that’s when things get really complicated. “After I’ve created a draft of these flyers,” says Fry, “I need to coordinate production with people across other departments, like proofing, printing, and shipping. Without a central place to assign and track the tasks for everyone, it was difficult to keep things moving smoothly, and it was too easy for the team to make mistakes.”
Fry is responsible for creating the flyers the company distributes to the schools and sports leagues where its photographers will be doing photo shoots. That’s hundreds of schools and hundreds of leagues spanning Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming.
So, Fry reviews the company’s massive event calendars regularly to find out, for example, which schools have photo sessions scheduled soon for dances or yearbooks. Then she runs reports to determine how many flyers they’ll need, what special details need to be included, and how much lead time the company will need to ship those flyers (based on the school’s location). And that’s when things get really complicated. “After I’ve created a draft of these flyers,” says Fry, “I need to coordinate production with people across other departments, like proofing, printing, and shipping. Without a central place to assign and track the tasks for everyone, it was difficult to keep things moving smoothly, and it was too easy for the team to make mistakes.”
Much more than a team messaging tool, the RingCentral app also helps improve the team’s workflows with task management
When a coworker in another department introduced Fry to the RingCentral app for messaging and collaboration, he was more interested in using the tool for communication. But Fry discovered other ways the app could improve her team’s workflow.
“I realized I could organize and track a complex project, involving several people, in one place,” she says. “Even though my flyer production team is all over the company, we work together easily through the RingCentral app. I can assign tasks to each person, with deadlines, and keep the project moving. When I finish my flyer draft, I just mark that task complete, which everyone on the project can see, and then it moves to my proofreading teammate. When she’s done, she marks her task complete, and on it goes to printing.”
The RingCentral app makes it easier for Fry and her team to manage these complex flyer-production projects in many ways. “We even make full use of the app’s color-coding feature,” she says. “Our spring shoots are totally different from our fall shoots, which can make things really confusing. But we color-code everything in the app, so we’re able to keep it all straight.”
“Another great thing about using the RingCentral app is that if I make an update—like changing a completed task to incomplete, because someone asked me for a last-minute change—the app lets everyone know the project is still open and what the new due date is. So it’s also great for accountability and record keeping.”
“I realized I could organize and track a complex project, involving several people, in one place,” she says. “Even though my flyer production team is all over the company, we work together easily through the RingCentral app. I can assign tasks to each person, with deadlines, and keep the project moving. When I finish my flyer draft, I just mark that task complete, which everyone on the project can see, and then it moves to my proofreading teammate. When she’s done, she marks her task complete, and on it goes to printing.”
The RingCentral app makes it easier for Fry and her team to manage these complex flyer-production projects in many ways. “We even make full use of the app’s color-coding feature,” she says. “Our spring shoots are totally different from our fall shoots, which can make things really confusing. But we color-code everything in the app, so we’re able to keep it all straight.”
“Another great thing about using the RingCentral app is that if I make an update—like changing a completed task to incomplete, because someone asked me for a last-minute change—the app lets everyone know the project is still open and what the new due date is. So it’s also great for accountability and record keeping.”
Because the RingCentral app keeps us so organized and efficient, even when a couple of people on our team are out, we still don’t fall too far behind.
Candice Fry
Data Management and Flyer Production Rock Star, MJ Thomas Photography
INDUSTRY
Professional
Services
HQ
Grand Junction,
CO
YEAR FOUNDED
1994
EMPLOYEES
35
A perfect record: the biggest benefit to Fry and her team
The RingCentral app has helped Fry communicate with her team and other departments more easily than ever. “It’s great for working with our customer service team,” she says, “because if they have someone on the line with a question that I can answer, they can just reach me in real time through the app.”
And clearly, the app has helped Fry more effectively manage the highly complex flyer-production projects she’s in charge of. But because it has been so helpful in letting Fry and her team get organized, track tasks, and keep each other accountable, the app has provided a benefit Fry herself wasn’t expecting: “Since our team started using the RingCentral app, we’ve had ZERO mistakes.” For a perfectionist, that’s pretty cool.
And clearly, the app has helped Fry more effectively manage the highly complex flyer-production projects she’s in charge of. But because it has been so helpful in letting Fry and her team get organized, track tasks, and keep each other accountable, the app has provided a benefit Fry herself wasn’t expecting: “Since our team started using the RingCentral app, we’ve had ZERO mistakes.” For a perfectionist, that’s pretty cool.