Notarize, a mid-sized company based in North America, was founded with the aim of transforming the traditional, manual, and often inconvenient process of notarization. The company's founder, Pat Kinsel, initially envisioned a consumer-facing remote online notary application. However, he soon realized that notarization was often part of a larger business process or organizational workflow. This realization led to a pivot towards helping organizations digitize their notarization experiences. The challenge was not just to create a digital notary service but to change laws and regulations state-by-state to allow businesses to certify documents online. Notarize also had to understand the individual processes and compliance needs of each industry, as well as the myriad laws and regulations that govern notaries in each state.

Paack, a Spain-based ecommerce delivery solution, has been experiencing rapid growth since its inception in 2015, managing over 27 million deliveries and achieving 3.5x growth year-over-year. However, this growth came with its own set of challenges. The company's commitment to customer-driven delivery times presented a complex logistical challenge of coordinating driver routes with predetermined delivery timelines. Furthermore, Paack realized the need for a unified communications platform designed for heightened customer engagement. The company also faced issues with proof of delivery (PoD), with up to 20% of its customer support cases related to PoD investigations and about 40% of low customer satisfaction scores directly tied to unreceived parcels or issues with third-party delivery.

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many testing centers to halt in-person operations, leading to a dramatic shift from onsite testing to remotely proctored exams. This sudden change put a strain on virtual testing platforms, many of which were not built to handle the surge in demand. Prometric, an industry-leading testing and assessment provider, was faced with the challenge of quickly scaling their ProProctor remote assessment platform without compromising its security and reliability. Prior to this, Prometric was using a legacy on-premise AV infrastructure that lacked the reliable connectivity and scalable features needed for a global remote assessment solution. They also wanted to tailor ProProctor’s user interface to the needs of fully remote candidates, but building a new UI from scratch would have delayed the launch and created a larger backlog of exams.

The demand for smart technology in rental properties is increasing, particularly among younger renters. Property managers are under pressure to provide smart apartments with digital amenities, but face several challenges. Managing properties is a daily headache, with every resident or building issue adding to expensive, manual operations. There is a constant churn of tenants with rising expectations of a smart home equipped with smart tech. However, most apartment communities do not have reliable internet connections across the property to provide the network availability needed for smart tech solutions. Additionally, property managers often lack the time to roll out smart tech solutions. They need a DIY frictionless solution that can quickly and easily scale across hundreds of units.

SmartrMail, a company that provides tools for strategic email marketing campaigns, was initially developed in 2016 to boost sales of Bluethumb, an online art marketplace. The company found that existing email marketing tools were either too basic or lacked the necessary functionality and features, such as personalisation, to create compelling emails quickly. Today, SmartrMail is used by over nine thousand small-to-medium e-commerce businesses for automated customer outreach. However, with the increase in e-commerce sales due to the global pandemic, SmartrMail's email volumes have doubled since the beginning of 2021, from 50 million a month to 80 million today, with the expectation of hitting 100 million by the end of the year. This growth meant that SmartrMail needed more cost-efficient and robust email and SMS solutions to support customer expansions.

Snagajob, a digital job board, was facing a significant challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform, which connects businesses with a wide pool of applicants, was struggling to facilitate the hiring process under the constraints of the pandemic. The traditional mass hiring events were no longer feasible due to safety concerns. Moreover, the platform was dealing with an influx of candidates who weren't the right fit for the jobs, leading to wasted time for businesses in sorting, declining, and following up. The challenge was not only on the part of businesses but also on the part of applicants who were tired of application black holes. The team at Snagajob needed to find an innovative way to bridge the gap between qualified candidates and businesses looking to hire them, while ensuring the process was safe and efficient.

St. Luke’s University Health Network, a hospital system with 12 locations across eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey, was overwhelmed by the volume of people seeking a COVID-19 vaccination. The communication bottleneck between those who wanted the vaccine and the number of vaccines available was a significant challenge. Initially, the hospital attempted to remedy this bottleneck with a simple online intake process that let patients fill out a questionnaire to determine their vaccine eligibility status. To support the registration process, they increased staffing levels for their existing call center to meet the rapidly increasing volume of calls from patients asking about the vaccine. However, they were still struggling to manage the volume of calls, with a callback list of about 5,000 people daily. This situation was not sustainable and posed a risk that elderly or immunocompromised individuals would not be able to sign up for a vaccine and further risk contracting COVID-19.

Supermoney, an online platform that simplifies the process of comparing and contracting utility and financial services, was facing a challenge due to rapid growth in its customer base. The company's existing telephony system was unable to keep up with the expanding customer base. Additionally, increased scrutiny and regulation from European regulatory authorities necessitated more control over customer data and the CRM infrastructure. Supermoney also recognized the need for an improved digital interface and a more efficient integration of the self-service and high-touch human component of its customer support experience. The company was also planning for international expansion, which required a scalable technology partner.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 led to the closure of schools across Michigan and the U.S., disrupting the normalcy of in-person learning for thousands of students, teachers, and families. The challenge was to transition from classroom-based learning to effective, individualized instruction at home. The University of Michigan’s Center for Digital Curricula was tasked with developing a solution that could support distance learning for over 4,000 students across urban and rural public schools in Michigan. These schools were primarily Title 1 schools in low socio-economic status areas, with many having almost 100% of their students participating in free and reduced lunch programs. The main issue was not the schools or teachers, but the lack of digital tools to support seamless learning, both in the classroom and at home.

The automobile sales industry in Spain has been slow to evolve, with dealerships often relying on traditional communication methods such as landline phones. This has resulted in a significant number of customer calls going unanswered, with as many as 30% of incoming calls being missed. The lack of modern communication channels such as SMS or Whatsapp has led to a situation where important customer queries can be overlooked if dealerships forget to return phone calls. This has left customers without the support and service level they need. Walcu, an automotive CRM, recognized this gap and knew it needed to build communication channels for its car dealership customers.

The courier industry in Australia was plagued with inefficiency and lack of transparency, leading to customer dissatisfaction and operational inefficiencies. Steve Orenstein, Founder and CEO of Zoom2u, identified this gap in the market and sought to create a solution that would revolutionize the delivery experience. The challenge was to design a platform that could facilitate fast deliveries, provide real-time tracking, and connect local couriers directly with customers. The goal was to provide complete transparency to customers regarding their deliveries, removing the traditional courier head office from the equation. This required a robust and reliable communication system that could send alerts to customers and connect them directly with couriers.

Despite advancements in healthcare technology, the industry often falls short in providing best-in-class communication and service to patients outside of the hospital. The healthcare industry thrives on customization over standardization, which is beneficial for patient care but detrimental to customer service. The industry is filled with custom applications for various healthcare scenarios, creating thousands of workflows to integrate and adapt communications for. This complexity makes it difficult to manage and streamline relationships. Hospitals, in particular, face the challenge of integrating hundreds of vendors and electronic health records, and thousands of workflows to handle patient preferences and communications. Building and solving for great customer service is time-consuming and often not a top priority for hospitals, whose main focus is on solving medical issues.

In Japan, managing patients’ medication records is a daunting task due to the country's population of over 126 million people. The challenge is to keep track of numerous medications for each patient with utmost precision. The situation was further complicated in September of the previous year when the Pharmaceutical Affairs and Medical Device Act enacted a revision requiring patient follow-ups after specific medications were dispensed. This increased the workload of pharmacists, necessitating an efficient communication solution. Previously, medication guidance was primarily given over the phone, requiring the pharmacist to keep a record of the conversation with the patient. However, many patients didn’t answer their phones, making it difficult to conduct necessary follow-up calls. The revision to the September Act presented an opportunity to re-examine communication tools that could help reduce the burden on pharmacists while ensuring patients received the necessary medication guidance.

Bandsintown, a concert discovery platform, primarily interacts with its users through email. The company needed a reliable and efficient way to send personalized, location and preference-based recommendations to its users. The challenge was to manage a massive email program that sends out more than a billion emails a year, especially with the rise of virtual concerts. The platform needed to aggregate livestream events and spread the word via email, allowing artists to announce their performances. The company also needed to send automated weekly digests, alerting fans when their favorite artists’ shows are happening near them. The challenge was to ensure these emails were delivered timely and efficiently without falling into spam traps or damaging the sender's reputation.

Hotels strive to provide a memorable stay for their guests, but the check-in process can often be a tedious task. The traditional method of checking in, which involves interacting with front desk staff, can take up to ten minutes. This not only wastes the guests' time but also puts a strain on the hotel's staffing resources. Furthermore, communication between the hotel and guests was primarily through voice calls or emails, which proved to be ineffective. Hong Kong-based software and robotics company, Blue Pin, identified these challenges and aimed to streamline the check-in process and improve communication channels.

Child Helpline International, a nonprofit consortium of 160 helplines across 140 countries, was facing a significant challenge. Despite receiving over 30 million calls annually, a staggering 30% of these calls went unanswered due to limited resources. The organization's technology was outdated and unable to effectively handle the volume of calls. Furthermore, the organization was unable to adopt new channels that children felt more comfortable using than voice, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS. The organization also lacked consistent data collection for advocacy purposes, which was crucial for understanding the challenges facing children and advocating for funding and policies to protect them. Lastly, the administrative tasks required of counselors were cumbersome and time-consuming, limiting the number of children they could reach.

Businesses of all sizes and types receive calls throughout the day, many of which involve answering the same types of questions repeatedly. This can be time-consuming and costly, diverting focus from day-to-day operations and customer service. The challenge was particularly pronounced for small and independently-run businesses like restaurants. The global pandemic exacerbated the situation as businesses had to shut down, necessitating an answering service that didn't require a human voice or employees to be present at the business location. Co-Graph, an IT venture company specializing in software development and data utilization services, sought to address this challenge with its Mayai automated call answering solution.

contactSPACE, a cloud-based contact centre software solution provider, faced a significant challenge when they acquired a customer based in New York. Their homegrown voice stack/API was not equipped to support this customer without investing in expensive additional infrastructure. The company, which was born inside AWS (Amazon Web Services) and is based in Australia, needed to provide the same high-quality service to their American customers as they did to their Australian ones. The challenge was to find a solution that could be deployed quickly and efficiently, without compromising on quality or requiring significant investment in infrastructure.

Dream11, a popular fantasy sports platform in India, faced the challenge of managing a rapidly growing user base, with over 5 million concurrent users often participating in multiple contests. The platform needed to send a large volume of notification emails, including transactional confirmations, match alerts, and promotional content. As the user base scaled, the company required an email provider that could handle the surge in email sends. Furthermore, Dream11 needed to ensure a positive user experience with email communication to build trust, especially since users were depositing and withdrawing money through the app. The company also wanted to target specific user cohorts with personalized emails to increase engagement rates.

FinAccel, a financial services company, was facing challenges in providing easy and equitable access to credit for customers with limited histories. The company's goal was to enable customers to shop with approved retailers through a two-click purchase option and pay for purchases later with installments. However, the company's existing email marketing tool was not agile enough to accommodate the sending of several new campaigns to a rapidly growing contact list. The delivery speed per campaign was around eight hours, which was not feasible for their time-sensitive campaigns and promotions. The company needed an email marketing solution that would allow them to deliver important campaigns on time and keep up with their rapidly growing user base.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of the largest humanitarian organizations supporting refugees, was seeking to expand its technology programs to improve how they serve the refugee community directly. The organization aimed to build an information platform that connected refugees to resources immediately over chat, particularly in the Northern Triangle of Latin America. The challenges faced by IRC included offering channels that refugees use every day, reaching more people with limited staff, and integrating its helpline into existing systems. The organization also needed to ensure that the platform was user-friendly and felt like texting with a friend rather than navigating a website.

The global pandemic has accelerated the need for digital transformation, with companies being forced to support a remote workforce for health and safety reasons. This shift towards remote work has created a demand for efficient and effective remote call center solutions. JustCall, a rapidly growing organization based in India, aims to meet this demand by helping businesses set up remote call centers from anywhere in the world without the need for extra hardware. However, they faced challenges in tracking their salespeople's phone calls and expanding their services internationally. They also needed to offer a local number feature that is cost-efficient for businesses to project a local presence within each country they operate in.

Keap, a company that provides a user-friendly customer relationship management (CRM), sales, and marketing automation solution for entrepreneurs and small businesses, was facing a challenge in optimizing its communication services. Keap's core customer base, which includes small, service-oriented businesses or sole-proprietorships, like coaches and consultants, needed a personalized platform to manage their leads, convert them into clients, and then stay in touch with them. However, many small business owners preferred to communicate with customers via text message, a feature that was missing in Keap’s automation platform. This gap in communication was causing Keap to miss out on a large segment of the small-business communication journey, forcing their customers to use multiple tools to fill that gap.

Lionbridge, a global company, was facing challenges in providing high-quality multilingual customer and workforce experiences. The company's over-the-phone interpretation (OPI) services cater to a wide range of clients, including companies, government agencies, and healthcare providers, interacting with callers in over 350 languages. However, their existing communication platform was inflexible and time-consuming when it came to making changes. This lack of flexibility was hindering Lionbridge's ability to provide the level of customization their customers expected. The company needed a solution that would allow them to easily scale with the OPI market and changing landscape, while also delivering a better customer experience for both their customers and interpreters.

Luminare, a healthcare company initially focused on sepsis detection, found itself in a unique position during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company had been using Twilio to power low volume, high-value SMS messaging to physicians and teams as part of their sepsis detection software. However, with the onset of the pandemic, Luminare saw the need to modify its platform to address COVID-19 syndromic surveillance and aid in mass vaccine administration. The challenge was particularly acute in Dallas County, Texas, where the launch of COVID-19 vaccinations in early 2021 led to overwhelmed healthcare systems. The scarcity of healthcare providers to handle appointment scheduling and administration, coupled with paper-based systems requiring a team of over 100 full-time volunteers for data entry and communications, resulted in hours-long waits and only about 2,000 shots administered per day.

The year 2020 brought unprecedented challenges for humanitarian organizations worldwide. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), an independent humanitarian organization, was no exception. The NRC provides emergency and long-term assistance to millions of people annually in the Middle East, Central America, Asia, and Africa. However, the COVID-19 pandemic compounded the already tenuous situation for over 80 million people displaced due to violence and persecution. Global travel restrictions, shelter-in-place ordinances, and other safety measures such as social distancing prevented organizations from delivering aid in the traditional face-to-face format. These crises carried into 2021, necessitating a pivot to more digital services to continue providing healthcare, education, housing, legal assistance, counseling, food, and employment resources.

The healthcare industry is often characterized by a lack of efficient communication between providers and patients. Patients desire more clarity, access, and human connection in their healthcare experience. However, they often encounter more paperwork, more technology to forget passwords on, more time spent on hold, and more frustration. New technology, instead of simplifying the process, often creates more work for the clinician and a greater disconnect with patients. Even as new 'patient-focused' healthcare technology and telemedicine software emerges, patients are rarely consulted, resulting in a telehealth experience that is underutilized and overhyped. The challenge was to create a platform that uses communication channels patients already understand, enabling providers to offer a more meaningful care experience.

Rapidops Inc., a fast-growing digital strategy, transformation, and innovation company, was on a mission to launch the industry’s first native built-in calling and texting capabilities inside their Salesmate CRM in less than 3 months. These features would enable their customers to purchase local phone numbers, call prospects and customers, record calls, send text campaigns, and much more without needing a separate product. The challenge was to find a cloud telephony provider that could offer high performance, reliability, reasonable cost, and expert engineering and implementation services. The selection process was critical as Rapidops was looking for a long-term relationship with their potential pick. The company's CTO was directly involved from day one in evaluating the best telephony service provider.

In the fast-paced, digital economy, many buying and selling interactions have been simplified to a few taps on a phone or clicks on a screen. However, the homebuying process remains complex, involving multiple stages and parties. Realtor.com, with over 20 years in the real estate business, recognized the need for a more streamlined, user-friendly approach to home buying. Initially, the company operated as a traditional lead-generating platform, connecting prospective homebuyers with suitable agents. However, they realized the need to empower both agents and buyers with more efficient communication tools. The challenge was to create a system that would allow agents to manage leads and nurture relationships effectively, while also providing consumers with a choice of communication channels that best suited their needs.

The case study revolves around the challenge of ensuring safety in high-risk work environments, such as construction sites. The situation is exemplified by a scenario where a construction worker notices a problem with a bolt holding a beam in place, a failure of which could lead to fatal accidents. The challenge is further compounded by the fact that some workers may not fully understand or be able to accurately complete safety checklists due to literacy issues, dyslexia, or lack of training. This was a real-life problem encountered by George Bancs, the CEO and founder of Talk5, during a motorway remediation project in Sydney. Bancs used a 'take 5 safety checklist' to identify potential hazards before work began, but found that some workers were unable to complete the checklist accurately, thereby increasing the risk of workplace incidents.