‘Specialty computer solutions made simple.’ That’s the mission of SurfThing, an Esports and golf simulation tech manufacturing firm based out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. They’ve been designing, building, securing, managing and supporting specialty computers for large retailers for the last 25 years.
OnSIP is excited to welcome SurfThing as a new customer, having deployed our hosted VoIP service in the second half of 2024. We interviewed Greg Wallgren, CEO, to learn more about his company and find out how he and his staff use OnSIP to support their business communication needs.
High-End Gaming Tech Direct from Minnesota
For 25 years, the innovators and specialists at SurfThing have been providing exceptional custom computers, tech solutions, and support to the golf industry. The products they offer range from golf simulators and high-end gaming computers, to swing cams, projectors, and touchscreen monitors. Their products help golf enthusiasts improve their game from first swing to hole-in-one.
The company has one office and manufacturing facility located in Minnesota. They also support multiple remote workers around the country.
Finding and Deploying a Reliable VoIP Service
Before OnSIP, “SurfThing used many hosted phone systems over our 25 years, the latest two being prominent UC providers,” Greg tells us. “The main reason for switching from one was its inconsistently working softphone. The main reason for switching from the other was the complicated setup and changes that require hiring a consultant.”
In addition, SurfThing is starting to use the Odoo ERP system as a platform for business growth. He and his team discovered OnSIP through our native integration with the Odoo platform. “OnSIP is one of the hosted phone systems that integrates with Odoo. We looked into the others and went for OnSIP due to features, testing, and amazing support,” says Greg.
Before becoming a customer, Greg and his team set up a trial account to make test phone calls and set up features (like voicemail boxes and attendant menus) in our web-based admin portal. During this trial run, he was able to gauge the sound quality of calls and flexibility of our phone features and admin portal.
Greg worked with an OnSIP team that included his dedicated sales rep and a sales engineer to answer questions about features, pricing, and deployment. Using OnSIP’s free onboarding services, he was able to get his new account up and running and plans to port over the company’s existing phone numbers to us. Greg notes this about his experience in getting OnSIP set up: “I have ported to/from over 6 phone systems in my 40 years in IT and this was by far the easiest due to your stellar sales and support teams…Thank you!”
OnSIP VoIP Calling Features that a Growing Tech Firm Can Rely On
“So far everyone loves the simple fact that ‘OnSIP just works.’”
In addition to desk phones, Greg equipped SurfThing’s staff members with OnSIP’s mobile and desktop apps–free softphones that customers can download on their laptops and mobile devices. The app connects to a customer’s OnSIP account and lets them make and receive calls, click-to-call other coworkers, play and delete work voicemails, and set user preferences, all from a computer or smartphone.
Greg is also planning to have the staff start using the OnSIP integration with Odoo VoIP. The integration powers a softphone app that is sitting within the Odoo dashboard. Odoo users can make and receive calls on this softphone without having to switch to-and-from a separate app. The calls are sent through the OnSIP hosted VoIP network.
The abilities offered by this integration enable sales and support staff to work more effectively by cutting out time-consuming tasks and streamlining work processes. For example, when a call comes in, the Odoo softphone will match the caller with a related contact record in your Odoo database and display it on the call rep’s screen. And from there, reps can one-click access related contracts, invoices, support tickets, etc., so the rep can focus on the task at hand with the caller rather than spending time manually searching for these items throughout the Odoo ERP suite of services.
“Once we roll out the Odoo ERP system to our staff members, it will significantly change the way we log support time for the better thanks to the OnSIP integration,” asserts Greg.
As for other OnSIP features that SurfThing uses: Auto attendant menus, business hour rules, dial-by-name directories, call groups, call transfers, and call reports. “Our life blood is service, so being able to create groups with simultaneous rings that step to a wider group if not answered is fantastic and facilitates almost all calls being answered,” he notes.
When Greg needs to set up new employees on the phone service, create new phone system features or make changes to existing ones, he simply logs into our web-based admin portal to make moves, adds, and changes in real-time. There, he can set up voicemail-to-email for staff, set other call preferences, and even purchase phone numbers when he needs them.
He has engaged with OnSIP’s U.S.-based Customer Success Team during his account configuration, and he knows that they will provide helpful advice and stay on top of an issue until it is resolved. “Simply put, the OnSIP service is the best service I have encountered in the 40 years I have been in the technology business, well…besides our own 😊.”