“EVOX Cloud PBX saved us the cost of installing a legacy PBX for each construction site and let us manage all the sites online. We use the address book in the EVOX Mobile App so employees, supervisors and owners can easily find each other."
by Chen Guowei, Deputy Manager of Material Control Department of AWEC
With over 40 years of professional experience, AWEC paves a steadier path for Taiwan.
AWEC's professional team helped build numerous landmark projects throughout Taiwan including Keelung Port, Taipei 101 and Xueshan Tunnel Kaohsiung MRT. Taiwan's construction industry is very saturated and only companies that deliver high-quality construction with a high degree of reliability can survive and thrive. AWEC specializes in land engineering for large scale public projects and consistently meets the ISO occupational safety and health management system international standards. To deal with Taiwan's complex terrain, AWEC had to pioneer the use of new geotechnical technologies. Their advanced level of geotechnical engineering has reduced the cost of public projects and improved the competency level of the construction industry in Taiwan.
AWEC's quality and labor safety have repeatedly won international recognition (Picture source: AWEC)
Although based in Taiwan, AWEC has a global presence. AWEC cooperates with well-known international manufacturers to introduce advanced construction techniques and establish new technical milestones in the construction industry. In recent years, it has created several new companies including Macau AWEC and Myanmar AGI Joint Venture Company. These overseas subsidiaries not only expand AWEC's international footprint but they also help Taiwan's construction industry stay abreast of international standards.
Digital transformation poses major challenges to established industries and companies.
Even traditional industries like construction need to adopt digitalization, carbon reduction and going green to remain competitive. Advanced and flexible digital business tools and a change in leadership and culture are required to digitally tranform.
AWEC knew that digital transformation would not happen overnight but required changes in organizational management and streamlining of operations. But how would a company their size find the right digital tools? The answer was to seek reliable partners who could provide effective solutions to address pain points.
They realized cloud PBX was a game changer as soon as they tried it.
Unlike many construction companies, AWEC is at the forefront of digital transformation. The company migrated to Google cloud more than four years ago and has its own Building Information Modeling (BIM) development team. The head of construction and digital operation management had been actively looking for a more flexible telephone system to solve the long-standing problem of high telephone toll charges and installation costs at their construction sites.
Additional branch offices added when the company expanded compounded their telephone system problems. Over the past 20 years, the lines of their traditional telephone system had become messy due to line additions, changes, replacements and integration. They had to consider the phone line location when designing the office and placing office furniture. When the head of the information department learned about cloud PBX, he thought it could be the answer to modernize their phone system.
Further reading : Unlike with traditional PBX, with cloud PBX you don't need to move or install equipment when you move your office, and you can keep your number
Although they were unhappy with their first experience, they knew that initial trials always involve some risk and they were still interested in the technology. They found EVOX by chance, and this time they appreciated the ease of use and flexibility of cloud PBX.
Because cloud PBX is a new technology in Taiwan, it is difficult for companies to judge the quality of different suppliers. The first cloud PBX service AWEC experienced left them with a negative impression. The call quality was extremely unstable and there wasn't an online tool to manage the system.
EVOX Cloud PBX solves the need for onsite construction offices.
The need for a PBX for onsite construction offices has always created these problems:
1.The initial installation cost.
2.The follow-on cost of moving the office from the construction site into the completed building after the first phase of the project. Moving systems twice within a few months was very wasteful.
3.The construction site supervisor's account is closed when the project ends. The original PBX equipment needs to be removed and the project supervisor's account is closed. This means that the original engineering office's contact information is lost, and follow-up contact with the outside world is also lost!
4.Problems with applying for a new telephone number. The phone number of a project cannot be used for a project in a different region, especially across different administrative districts. So new projects often need to apply for a new phone number, which takes time and effort.
EVOX Cloud PBX immediately solved all these problems. EVOX is not restricted by location and, no matter where the construction site is, EVOX does not have the hidden costs associated with expanding, moving, changing, managing and maintaining the system.
A different local phone number can easily be added as the construction site moves across different regions under the same EVOX service subscription. (Image source: EVOX)
Since EVOX supports multiple devices, AWEC can flexibly address the different needs of their employees. They set up some IP phones for each project and all employees also use the EVOX Mobile App to stay in touch when they are not on site. For a company with 200-300 employees, the fact that they can search for contacts using name and department makes it much easier for everyone to find and communicate with each other. Employees can find and dial colleagues as well as know their department affiliation.
Online management makes life more convenient for employees and supervisors.
One of the biggest advantages of EVOX over other cloud PBX brands is the EVOX Admin online management tool. Chen, Deputy Manager of the Information Department, said that since EVOX extensions can be 3-6 digits in length they could use the employee ID number as the extension number, making it easier for colleagues to remember. The intuitive interface allows administrators with no IT background to configure employee settings.
A pure cloud digital telephone system makes online management more convenient (Source: EVOX)
EVOX extension numbers can be assigned to individual employees or to groups and departments. AWEC uses this flexibility to configure each project site with its own direct dial number and branch code. The AWEC office can easily contact onsite project offices without having to remember or look up local phone numbers. Project offices can be reached as an internal branch to branch call. And outside callers can reach an onsite office through the headquarters office auto-attendant voice menu.
In addition, the administrator can check current call data records (CDR) on-line at any time. EVOX Admin allows supervisors to download and analyze call records by region, employee, call type (incoming and outgoing calls), call time, etc. This makes it easy for the supervisor to review team activities and generate performance reports.
For AWEC, moving their telephone system to the cloud is only one step in the company's digital transformation journey. With more challenges ahead, finding the right cloud service provider will be critical. For AWEC, it was not just about changing an office tool but about gaining a trustworthy partner to grow together in the ever-changing post-pandemic digital era.
