Customer Success Spotlight
Helping Simmons Bank transform 240 locations from on-premise to the cloud
Financial Services
Industry
3,200+
Employees
240+
Locations
Simmons Bank was founded in 1903 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, by Mr. Barry Simmons, a physician making loans to area farms and small businesses. The bank has since grown to 240 locations, 3,200+ employees, and $27B in assets and continues to scale through acquisitions.
Existing communications systems: On-premise PBXs across multiple locations and contact center with centralized IT.
The problem: On-premise communications stack was blocking the bold growth strategy
Jon Haslauer, VP IT Infrastructure and Operations, was asked by bank leadership to address a growing concern — with over 240 locations, 3,200 staff, and a strong acquisition strategy, the bank’s aging on-premise communications stack was cutting into expansion timelines, overworking limited IT staff, and causing unacceptable downtime issues.
Haslauer, VP IT Infrastructure and Operations, was asked to find the fix, but faced numerous challenges:
- Urgent need to move communications and contact center infrastructure to the cloud
- Legacy communications system started to degrade performance and reliability
- Existing system was impossible to scale
- Multiple distributed locations made IT deployment difficult
The solution: Haslauer sourced experienced pros with scalable solutions
The bank leaned on Haslauer to find a communications solution that could scale with the business and provide one center of management. Haslauer brought in Nextiva to find a solution, handle the execution, and manage any bumps along the way. Nextiva recommended Nextiva Cloud Communication and Contact Center systems, plus a Professional Services package to ensure the fastest time to value. The Professional Services team helped Haslauer overcome cloud transformation complexities, tight deadlines, and the lack of skilled IT staff.
Nextiva’s Professional Service package included:
- Full Concierge onboarding: Ensured minimal disruption to the bank’s staff and customers while aligning with business goals
- White glove Professional Services team: Provided onsite presence and post-go-live support
- Onsite implementation and training: Ensured the fastest time to go-live, user adoption support, and administrator training
- Call Center reporting and analytics configuration: Built customized reports and dashboards to ensure the bank had visibility and control
- Advanced Managed Services: Augmented their IT team with administrative and technical account management experts
Major hiccup: Urgent mid-project change of scope left Haslauer scrambling
With the project in full swing, the bank realized critical teams were missing from the initial scope of work — 90 staff members were left without a way to communicate with customers or coworkers. It was on Haslauer to bring a solution to the table. He made a call to Nextiva. Nextiva Professional Services quickly assembled a team, created a cloud contact center, and integrated the remaining 90 staff into the bank’s communications solution.
“We found out late in the project that key teams were left out of the new contact center solution. We leaned on Nextiva’s Professional Services Concierge Team who advised setting up a cloud contact center. They pulled it off in 3 weeks.” Jon Haslauer, VP IT Infrastructure and Operations
Nextiva helped Haslauer deliver on a tough ask from bank leadership
Haslauer did his homework but ultimately chose Nextiva based on learnings from his many years of industry experience, his assessment of Nextiva’s expertise, and the attention Nextiva paid to finding a custom solution for the bank’s complex needs. Simmons Bank chose the right man for the job. Haslauer came through for bank leadership, ensuring the crucial growth strategy was executed according to plan.
Our implementation was a little bit unique. We had a nine-month project plan for Concierge Services, and then we raised that and asked Nextiva to bring in additional resources to compress the timeline from nine months to three months. The scope change was caused by the acquisition of a 49 site bank with 400 people. So, we took a break from the Nextiva telephony rollout and stood up the new associates at the new branches before returning to the scheduled rollout. In the end Nextiva provided service to 3200+ users and were able to move over 240 locations in four and a half months.
Jon Haslauer
VP IT Infrastructure and Operations
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