Fios Integrates Salesforce CRM with IP Telephony for One-Click Connect from Sales to Leads; Pipeline Visibility, BPM Integration Drive Company Success

Challenge

• An industry leader in providing technology-enabled electronic discovery services to large corporations and law firms, Fios, Inc. needed to update its self-described "antiquated" sales process
• A company whose focus is helping organizations strategically use the growing volume of electronic evidence, Fios needed better visibility into its own customer data stored in disparate systems, such as ACT! and Pivotal
• The company wanted to upend its manual spreadsheet-based forecasting process, which it found time-consuming and inaccurate
• Sales and management wanted remote access to critical manufacturing and order data locked in its business process management (BPM) system
• Fios wanted a system that did not distract resources from IT or product development; it needed to be easy to set up and use
• Because Fios relies on a mix of direct and channel sales, the company also sought a CRM system that would provide visibility into possible channel conflicts

Solution

• Fios selected Salesforce CRM to manage and share data across the entire company
• The solution was up and running nationwide in 30 days with limited IT involvement; Fios achieved 100 percent user adoption in three months
• The Force.com platform made it possible for Fios to integrate its CRM and BPM systems, giving remote sales users and management real-time views of each order's manufacturing status
• With Force.com's builder, Fios quickly built new applications to manage contracts and legal documents
• Customization extends to back-office systems such as Finance and HR: HR's RMS tab, for example, provides a way to store resumes, record notes, and track recruitment results
• Fios recently integrated its Salesforce CRM org with the company's on-premise IP telephony system; to place a call to a contact or lead, users simply click a Web integration link to either "Dial Phone" or "Dial Mobile"
• Fios also integrates with Eloqua and Sant

Results

• The company now has access to up-to-the-minute sales reports, job orders, and detailed customer status reports from any location
• With integration across systems, sales, pipeline, and marketing activities—including lead follow-up and channel opportunities—are better managed end to end and productivity has increased
• The integrated system improved collaboration and increased executive involvement on key deals
• Future plans include leveraging the reporting engine in Salesforce CRM by adding functionality that will create a completed task for any outbound call dialed, further integration with other business systems, and providing real-time order-manufacturing status to clients via a customer portal