Estate agency, Kent: 4 branches
A Four-Branch Phone System for a Kent Estate Agency
An independent Kent estate agency running four branches and a lettings team had outgrown its phones. Every branch had its own number, its own handsets and its own answerphone, and nobody could tell which marketing was actually generating calls.
Challenge
Every branch had its own number and its own answerphone. Vendors ringing about a valuation hit voicemail when the negotiator was out on viewings, calls could not be passed between offices, and staff on the road handed out personal mobiles.
Solution
CT1 Technologies replaced four separate systems with one cloud platform: an auto attendant on a single advertised number, hunt groups that overflow between branches, softphones that keep the branch number with the negotiator, call recording, call tracking per campaign, and an API integration into the agency's property software.
Results
Calls reach a person rather than an answerphone, wherever that person is working. Every enquiry is attributed to the campaign that produced it, and calls log themselves against the customer record instead of being written up at the end of the day.
Key Benefits
- One number, four branches: an auto attendant and overflow hunt groups mean a call is answered somewhere in the business rather than ringing out at one office.
- Negotiators reachable on the move: softphones and call diversion put the branch number on a laptop or mobile, so nobody hands out a personal number.
- Marketing you can measure: call tracking numbers per portal and campaign show which listings and adverts actually generate enquiries.
- The CRM updates itself: an API integration pops the customer record as the phone rings and writes the call and recording back against it.
- A record of what was agreed: call recording across offers and lettings conversations, retained for as long as the agency needs and no longer.
Resolution
The agency now runs as one business on the phone rather than four offices that happen to share a brand. Opening a fifth branch is a configuration change and a handset order rather than a new phone system, and the partners can see how the whole operation is performing from one place.
“We used to lose calls between branches and never really know it. Now a vendor rings one number, someone picks up, and by the time they answer the property is already on screen in front of them.”
Managing Director, Kent estate agency
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