Wildix and Etelys help the Pauliani Foundation enable remote work within its nursing home by modernizing its business communication system during the lockdown.
Wildix is committed to providing Unified Communications solutions aimed at making work easier and increasing productivity for businesses worldwide. This is also true for non-profit organizations, which must remain competitive to maintain a high level of service.
Founded in 1872, the Pauliani Foundation is a private, non-profit association. It manages a nursing home located in Nice, which currently has a capacity of 214 beds.
Wildix spoke with Cédric Lacoste, IT Manager at the Pauliani Foundation, who has over 20 years of experience in health and social institutions, and with Sonia Selmi, HR Manager at the institution, to get their feedback on the Wildix solution five months after its deployment.
The Problem
Cédric Lacoste, IT Manager at the Pauliani Foundation, was tasked with replacing an old phone system that had been in place since the buildings were constructed. “In terms of telephony, our goal was to have a fully integrated phone system, without any additional modules, particularly in terms of DID distribution. We found ourselves working with legacy phone partners and integrators who were unable to make the transition from traditional phone systems to fully IP-based digital systems.”
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 also played a significant role in Cédric Lacoste’s decision to accelerate the transition to a new communications system. Like many other businesses, the Foundation had to move to remote work. “With the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to move part of our staff to remote work. However, the systems we had before did not allow us to maintain a phone connection from office lines to their home office.”
The Pauliani Foundation then set out to find a solution that would address this issue, aiming to facilitate remote work by offering modern features such as video conferencing with internal and external users, while also improving the management of phone services for its residents.
Given the urgency of the situation, the right tools were essential for maintaining and optimizing communication among the Foundation’s staff. “Staff members working remotely ended up using their personal mobile phones because we didn’t have the ability to route our internal lines to users working from home,” said Cédric.
The Solution
Initially, the Foundation contacted its previous phone service provider, Alcatel, who suggested only upgrading the old system with independent modules, which did not meet their needs. Rather than going down this path, which often leads to failures and other problems, the Pauliani Foundation turned to Wildix. Cédric Lacoste, who was initially unfamiliar with Wildix, was quickly recommended the solution: “We chose Wildix on the advice of Etelys, a local Wildix partner also based in Nice,” he explained, highlighting the responsiveness of Etelys in managing the communication system overhaul. This expertise helped integrate the entire solution with the existing nurse call system. “We made sure that the patient call system used by the client, in this case an Ackermann system, was properly interfaced with the Wildix system,” said David Cano, Director of Etelys.
Once the financial terms of the offer were approved internally, the deployment was launched as quickly as possible. A local PBX was adapted to the 350 lines the Foundation was using at the time.
Five months after deployment, the Wildix solution won over its users, as it is now used by all teams at the Foundation, including the HR department. The system is “quick, simple, and effective,” as Sonia Selmi, HR Manager, explained. She also highlighted a particular feature that the HR team highly appreciates: the ability to access chat from their own phones. “When colleagues are working remotely, we don’t need to log into their accounts to track their activity, everything happens in real-time, via chat and voice messages. We’ve even created a group chat that lets us quickly discuss our follow-ups. Everything we need is right there in the mobile app.“
Cédric Lacoste added, “A great feature is the voicemail messaging and voicemail transcription, which makes our work so much easier. All these little things in the Wildix solution, added together, are a real plus that greatly improves our daily operations.”
The Results
With a system that allows easy creation and assignment of lines, the Pauliani Foundation now has full control over its communications from A to Z. “There’s no comparison with our old phone system, which was 100% analog and didn’t offer any useful features,” confirmed Cédric Lacoste, also highlighting the quick handling of after-sales service requests by Etelys as another key point of satisfaction. In total, 380 licenses have now been activated at the Nice nursing home.
Both of our interviewees unanimously agreed that the Wildix solution had truly found its place at the heart of the Foundation: “We recommend the Wildix solution because everything is very simple, both for administration and for users. Everyone has control of the tool to communicate their availability and presence status, which also ensures better call redistribution for the receptionists handling the switchboard.”
Instead of opting for DECT phones during the lockdown, the choice naturally shifted to smartphones: “The Wildix solution allowed us to set up remote work, especially through chat, which was a real discovery for us and very useful, especially when colleagues are already online. Even the use of our personal phones became simpler, reducing the number of devices. We are the mobile generation that switches from app to app all day long, and we have to admit that for remote work, the Wildix app was a real advantage. We’ve halved our use of physical phones, everything now goes through the Collaboration interface,” explained Sonia Selmi.
The use of the Collaboration interface extends to other services like BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), and the minimal need for training to get up to speed with the tool has made it easier to adopt, even replacing desk phones in some cases.
Cédric Lacoste, equally satisfied with the coverage of the nursing home’s needs by the Wildix solution, concluded: “Today, we are fully IP‑based, everything is integrated into one system. The combination of ergonomics and the functional side of Collaboration makes it a tool that guarantees simple and effective use for all employees, who now benefit from better real-time visibility of everyone’s activities. We can also benefit from call traceability, which is an important factor in a healthcare facility.”
A happy customer, the Pauliani Foundation has recently renewed its trust in the Wildix solution and its partner Etelys, with 40 new rooms and 10 new DECT phones planned for its new buildings, with installation expected in the coming weeks. In this case, why change a winning team?
The solution has been provided by the Wildix Partner
- ETELYS
- 141 Promenade des Anglais, 06200 Nice, France
- adv@etelys.fr
- +33 (493) 86 15 96
- etelys.fr
