Melbourne's Fixtel deploys Avaya, RingCentral to YMCA Victoria

Melbourne-based managed services provider Fixtel scored a deployment of Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral to non-profit YMCA Victoria.

The communications and collaboration platform was brought in to replace multiple disparate administration, collaboration and contact centre technology systems across 81 of YMCA’s 150 sites across Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Queensland.

Avaya’s solution was chosen to centralise the YMCA’s teams and processes, aimed to boost productivity and increase access to its services for the community.

Nicknamed “The Y”, the non-profit provides youth services, swim schools, early learning centres and recreational facilities across its sites.

“The Y plays a foundational role in the lives of Australia’s young people and their families, and with Avaya Cloud Office, it’s easier than ever to get in touch with teams across the Y through a range of different channels,” Fixtel director Craig Taylor said.

“That means those seeking youth services and programs to keep healthy and connect with others will find it easier. This is helped by equipping the Y with call routing and single sign-on (SSO) capabilities, which make its employees even more responsive.”

YMCA general manager of technology and strategy Shane Riddle is leading the organisation’s digital transformation efforts, which also included a plan to enable collaboration for its workforce across YMCA offices, community facilities and from home.

The consolidated communications environment from Avaya was deployed to address that capability, while also consolidating workflows to improve operations and reduce costs.

Riddle said, “Our mission is to provide the opportunity for each person to be healthy, happy and connected. A collaborative workforce is essential in achieving this goal and ensuring communities have easy access to our youth, fitness and support services, particularly during challenging times such as lockdowns.”

“Avaya was a natural fit for us as the outcomes offered by its systems align with our mission. Through better connected teams, we can increase our visibility within local communities and provide more ways for people to connect with the Y at their convenience, bringing us together even when external challenges force us apart.”

Upon completion of the deployment, Avaya Cloud Office allowed staff to work from anywhere across devices, including iPads, iPhones and other iOS devices during internal and external disruptions, like lockdowns.

Looking ahead, Riddle said the YMCA will have less administrative work so staff will have more time to engage with community members face-to-face.

“The delivery of our services will improve significantly this year, which, due to heightened demand on the back of the pandemic, has never been more important. Our teams will experience less of what we don’t want, which is time spent completing excessive administration, and more of what we do best – efficient and personalised access to youth, fitness, recreation and health programs and activities,” Riddle said.

“For example, getting kids into the pool and teaching them to swim will become a much smoother process with all bookings, cancellations and payments being consolidated.”