Case Study | The Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers have been the staple of professional sports in Oregon ever since Harry Glickman brought them to the Memorial Coliseum in 1970. Since then the Trail Blazers have captured the hearts and minds of Oregonians, both young and old. There is a passionate fan base here in Portland, and the Blazers are a thriving, growing organization. In 2014, the drive to be the best led the administration to approve a much needed overhaul of the aging phone system. The old technology no longer matched the professional expectations of the historic franchise.

The Situation and The Challenge

The staff and administration were stuck with an aging Nortel PBX system that was both inflexible and difficult to manage. The system was no longer being supported by the provider and the aging Nortel lacked enterprise-grade features that slowed the productivity of the staff and hindered communication with a growing fan base. Something had to change.

The Trail Blazers/Moda Center hosts hundreds of events annually, and ensuring seamless communications throughout its facilities is critical to success. As the world of sports and entertainment continues to evolve, so does the need to provide high-performing and dynamic communications.

On top of the need to enhance the communication foundation and move to a more modern unified communication platform, the Trail Blazers are an organization profoundly reliant on their inbound call center. The Moda Center needed a more integrated solution that was able to provide in-depth analytics and call routing for season ticket holders, concert goers, and even the occasional circus clown looking for directions.

The Solution

• A 3 phase roll-out of ShoreTel’s brilliantly simple unified communication solution
• ECC (Enterprise Contact Center) integration that allowed the call center to easily manage call flow and receive critical analytics to improve customer service
  • Customized CRM Integration – inbound calls will trigger screen pops for real-time collaboration and faster call resolution
• Mobility licenses – ShoreTel Mobility answered the question of how to handle the onslaught of mobile devices as well as empower a growing mobile workforce

Matrix was able to deliver on the promise of unified communications by integrating voice, instant messaging, CRM integration, and answering the challenge of mobile workers and the ever expanding problems related to BYOD (bring your own device). The ShoreTel IP platform that Matrix implemented features a fully distributed and scalable architecture with N+1 redundancy, providing impeccable reliability and functionality. Features include voice routing, automated attendant, unified messaging, call accounting and reporting, robust workgroup routing, and other advanced telephony enhancements.

Through the ShoreTel Director, which is a web-based management tool that adds comprehensive visibility into the system, the Trail Blazers were able to integrate with Microsoft Outlook, a critical tool for their staff. This allowed the Trail Blazers staff to effectively manage communications in real time, instantly accessing calendars and directories. Lastly, with ShoreTel Mobility Licenses staff members who work at remote facilities, but come to the Moda Center for events, no longer have to worry about missing calls enroute. Now they can simply log into their ShoreTel Mobility Application to accept calls, access voicemail, and use other features on the ShoreTel system from anywhere, at any time.

Matrix Networks could not be more proud of the partnership we share with the Portland Trail Blazers and look forward to many years of strategic communication growth. Matrix Networks, the trusted communication partner for Rip City.

ABOUT THE PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

Members of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Portland Trail Blazers were founded in 1970 and purchased by Paul G. Allen in 1988. The team’s rich heritage includes 31 playoff appearances, three trips to the NBA Finals, an NBA championship in 1977 and a commitment to community service and sustainability. With a corporate mission to make it better in the community, the Trail Blazers strive to help children and their families throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington live, learn and play. The Trail Blazers are the first and only professional sports franchise to receive the prestigious National Points of Light Award for excellence in corporate and community service. The Trail Blazers home arena, the Moda Center, became the first existing professional sports venue in the world to receive LEED Gold Certification. The team is also one of the founding members of the Green Sports Alliance. For more information, visit www.trailblazers.com.