8x8 Unifies CST Industries’ Business Communications

CST Industries has spent the past decade acquiring best-of-breed companies to become the global leader in providing storage tanks and covers for food, mining, chemical and other applications. When CST wanted a best-of-breed business phone service solution to link its eight U.S. locations, it turned to 8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), provider of innovative cloud communications solutions.

The string of acquisitions left CST with a hodgepodge of telephony systems from different vendors and service providers, making inter-office communications unnecessarily complex and expensive. CST initially selected 8x8’s Virtual Office hosted VoIP solution for its new global headquarters in Lenexa, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, Mo. The experience was so positive that CST has begun upgrading all of its U.S. facilities to 8x8.

CST decided to standardize on 8x8 to increase employee productivity and streamline its telephony communications. Another reason was cost savings: CST expects to reduce its communications spending at least 25 percent after implementing 8x8’s cloud-based VoIP solution company-wide.

Currently, CST is using 8x8 services for all 80 lines at its headquarters and is in the process of transitioning its DeKalb, Ill. and Gardena, Calif. facilities to 8x8, bringing the total number of extensions to 240. To assure a smooth, on-schedule migration, 8x8 holds weekly project meetings with CST – the kind of white-glove customer support that was another factor in the decision to standardize on 8x8. Over the next two years, CST plans to migrate four or five additional CST locations to 8x8 service, which will add another 400–500 extensions.

"From a customer service perspective, 8x8’s support is impeccable,” said CST Chief Information Officer Yusuf Abu-Hatoum. “8x8 does a fabulous job of responding to customers, and Virtual Office’s quality of service is enterprise-grade."

Once CST has finished upgrading its company-wide telephony system to 8x8, it plans to add 8x8 capabilities to increase employee productivity and responsiveness. One enhancement on the drawing board is Virtual Office Mobile, which extends the full suite of 8x8 Virtual Office services to the iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

"We're going to start expanding functionality, adding the iOS application and Outlook integration,” Abu-Hatoum said. “I use Virtual Office Mobile on my iPhone, and it works great."

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