JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) is a world leader in real estate consulting. The company has a unique breadth in its operations and provides advice on buying and selling properties, helps property owners rent out premises, companies find new premises, and advice tenants in the event of changes. The customers are everything from property owners and start-ups to large global companies.

In 2013, JLL was in the middle of a reorganisation. The company sold its management operations and went from being 100 employees to 35 overnight. In the coming years, three companies were acquired.

Expensive and time-consuming with different telephony solutions

Ackim Axelsson Canay, Service Delivery Manager at JLL, says:

“Every company had its own telephony solution. In total, we sat with four different versions. It became expensive, time-consuming and challenging administratively.”

Ackim was pushing for a uniform solution and asked both existing suppliers and other players for quotes.

“Before the acquisitions, I met a salesman from Telavox who did not give the same impression as everyone else. He was well-read and knew what he was talking about. I got a very good feeling, but we were not mature enough to change solution. But a couple of years later, it became relevant again.”

JLL had many different requirements. Among other things, there would be a smooth passive sound recording.

“One of our companies is subject to the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. This means that their conversations with banks must be recorded.”

Telavox, the only operator with the right solution

Ackim claims that none of the operators could offer a satisfactory solution to this. “When I started talking about this, the salespeople did not know how to respond and were quite confused. We did not want to be legally responsible for starting an audio recording ourselves. It isn’t easy to follow up.”

But there was one operator who had what Ackim and his organisation were looking for: Telavox.

Passive call recording – also for mobiles

“Unlike other providers, Telavox uses passive call recording that works on both mobile and landline phones.”

Onboarding

As soon as JLL signed an agreement with Telavox, they were assigned a personal Project Manager: Kristian Ek.

“Kristian was very nice and had a long experience. He went up to us in Stockholm from Gothenburg. The first task was to get all companies to unite on a telephony solution. We had to keep a close eye on when the respective framework agreement expired. Then we chased operators, found out organisation and phone numbers, and supplemented number series. It was pure detective work.”

“I’m still fascinated by the strategy”

Before all the practicalities started, Ackim says a lot of theory and training in the new system made him feel safe. “I’m still fascinated by the strategy. There was a thought behind every step. We did everything together – created the drawing and discussed how the cloud switch should be set up. I was able to get an early idea of ​​what the result would look like.”

Telavox Project Manager Kristian also got a workstation at JLL for a couple of days.

“We informed the employees in good time and sent out SIM cards. Kristian was on-site, and people had the opportunity to turn directly to him if they had any questions.”

Ackim says that he has never experienced the same personal commitment from any other operator. He had not had any personal contact with the other operators, and the waiting times were long.

“You are one of a thousand subscribers, and it is frustrating to sit in a telephone queue, whether it is chat or email. With the previous supplier, I could wait for twenty minutes. I never have a problem getting ahold of Telavox. There have only been a few times when I had to wait more than two minutes during these years. Our current Project Manager is called Anders Bengtsson, and there is always a backup if he is busy. I get the impression that everyone knows our business well.”  

Ackim Axelsson Canay, Service Delivery Manager at JLL.

Before Telavox, Ackim had to call customer support for both large and small matters. Nowadays, he just logs into the Telavox app and it’s done in a couple of minutes.

“There was a lot of waiting with our previous operator. I relied on them to make simple changes. Just changing SIM cards was time-consuming. Now I do it myself. I save several hours a month. All queuing time has basically disappeared completely.”

An intuitive app that everyone understands

Ackim thinks that user-friendliness is a must. He says that no one needs to be an expert to orientate themselves in the app since the interface is so intuitive and modern.

“The finance department, for example, can easily handle the invoices.”

And in the platform, he performs most things himself.

“I can set up a new user in a minute and always have a small stock of SIM cards so new employees can get started right away. If anyone needs to port a number, I only email Telavox. They do not need a lot of forms; they take my email conversation as a legitimate act.”

Can follow errands in real-time

Ackim estimates that he can, for example, follow an initiated porting directly in the platform.

“I can see if it has been denied or approved and have everything ready in advance. Even if the porting itself has not been completed, I can add that number to the system and directly create the license. At other operators, you often get a temporary number. Now I avoid the extra step.”

Made significant savings with Telavox

JLL has also made significant savings since switching to Telavox.

“If I compare telephony costs between 2015 and 2017, there is a big difference. Many people see telephony as a necessary evil; as long as it works, it is good. But for us, telephony is an important tool that we demand. It can be difficult to keep up to date in the market regarding trends and cost-effective solutions. That’s something you can unfortunately lose a lot on in the end, both in time and money. With Telavox, I think that there is a good balance – it is a modern solution that keeps up with the times.”

“I feel heard as a customer”

When JLL decided on Telavox, Ackim went in with the goal that it would not only be about a supplier but a real partner. He thinks the telephony is a vital part of the daily business and appreciates that Telavox develops everything themselves.

“Telavox invited me to the workshop Developer for a day. There, we had to come up with suggestions for improvement. My ideas are realised and are now included in the final product. I get to be involved and am not just one in the crowd. That’s why I feel heard as a customer.”