YMCA Victoria has expanded to more than 150 sites in Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Queensland including youth services, swim schools, and early learning centres and recreational facilities.

YMCA Victoria’s expansion encountered problems such as inheriting multiple disparate administration, collaboration, and contact centre technology systems from previous venue operators which risked operational silos across facilities impacting around 5,000 staff and volunteers.

It recognised the need to create a consolidated communications environment to enable collaboration for its workforce, whether in offices, community facilities and increasingly from home. Further, the organisation decided to consolidate its communication and collaboration workflows to improve operations and reduce costs.

Avaya Cloud Office has enabled YMCA Victoria to centralise its teams and processes.

“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 YMCA at their convenience, bringing us together even when external challenges force us apart,” comments YMCA Victoria general manager technology and strategy Shane Riddle.

Avaya Cloud Office is an all-in-one, ‘office-in-a-pocket’ that provides YMCA with one unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) app that enables collaboration across multiple channels, allowing employees to call, message, meet, video conference, file-share and more within one environment.

Avaya Cloud Office has already provided the Y with reprieve for managing both internal and external disruptions, including lockdowns, by streamlining communication and collaboration capabilities.

Staff are now able to work from anywhere across devices, including iPads, iPhones and iOS, ensuring uninterrupted productivity and connectivity.

Tech-enabled community support and services
Looking ahead, Riddle said streamlined communication will bring less administrative work, meaning that 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,” Riddle added.

Avaya Cloud Office was implemented by Australian managed services provider (MSP) and long-term Avaya partner, Fixtel, which delivered system integration and staff training across more than 81 sites.

“YMCA Victoria 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,” said Fixtel director Craig Taylor.

“With Avaya Cloud Office centralising its workforce and support teams, the organisation will provide these services both more personally and efficiently, and navigate the immediate challenges during uncertain times, while setting itself up for the long-term by boosting productivity and bringing down costs by removing the need to maintain multiple technology systems,” concludes Avaya team engagement solutions lead Asia Pacific Jeremy Paton.