Missed connections: A bundled solution solves for a mess of dropped calls

On a busy afternoon, the storefront of a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider rattles with business. Customers browse the aisles, shopping for replacement parts and routine maintenance parts to keep their automobiles in tip-top shape. The store is buzzing with activity. But one crucial element of the business had fallen silent. For the customers who were attempting to call the store for parts assistance, the phone failed to ring.

The problem: Dropped calls meant missed sales opportunities

For this auto parts retailer, as with many auto parts distributors, a large majority of business is conducted over the phone.  Employees receive incoming calls from all kinds of customers, from do-it-yourself mechanics to professionals who are calling to search for specific parts.

If a phone rings too many times, a caller might simply disconnect the call, look up the next parts store listed in a directory, and call that store instead. Being passed over due to a faulty network represents missed business opportunities for this auto parts retailer.

The dropped call scenario has existed for several years with the retailer’s legacy carrier, with callers attempting to reach a store location, only to be interrupted by outages. To make matters worse, the problem wasn’t isolated to a handful of stores, but existed in hundreds of stores across the national retailer’s network.

AT&T proposed a solution that helped prevent calls from being dropped.