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Nonprofit Social Services · Pacific Northwest

Scaling a Lifeline

When every dollar matters and every call counts.

🤝Community Action
85%
Headcount Growth
190 → 350 employees
100
Seat Call Center
Critical community lifeline
6
UCaaS Providers
Evaluated head-to-head
$0
ITG Fee
Carriers pay us — not you
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What Was Broken

Community Action's headcount surged from 190 to over 350 employees as expanded social service programs came online. Their existing phone system couldn't scale, and the 100-seat call center — the primary lifeline for community members seeking assistance — was buckling under increased volume. As a nonprofit, every dollar spent on infrastructure had to be justified to donors and board members. They needed a modern unified communications platform fast, and they needed it done right.

Community Action organizations are unusual clients in telecom — their spending is mission-critical but often invisible to leadership because it's embedded in administrative overhead. When budgets are tight, the reflex is to cut everything that isn't direct service. Telecom rarely gets audited because nobody assumes they're overpaying; they assume the bills are what they are.

The specific challenge here was a combination of aging infrastructure, a carrier that hadn't been pushed to compete in years, and billing that had accumulated line items nobody could explain. Six locations across multiple Oregon counties, some on circuits that were provisioned years before the organization's current IT lead joined.

How We Fixed It

ITG managed the entire evaluation from requirements gathering through final contract execution. The team issued a competitive RFP to six UCaaS and CCaaS providers, built a detailed side-by-side comparison matrix covering pricing, feature parity, scalability, and nonprofit discount eligibility, and presented a clear recommendation with full justification to leadership. ITG then handled all vendor negotiations, ensuring Community Action received maximum nonprofit pricing concessions without sacrificing the call center features their community depended on.

Before
  • Six disconnected carrier contracts
  • Unexplained line items on every invoice
  • No telecom audit in years
  • Budget pressures accepted as fixed
  • No competitive alternatives explored
After
  • Consolidated to fewer, better-priced carriers
  • Billing errors identified and credited
  • Full inventory validated against installed services
  • 85% cost reduction at anchor site
  • Freed budget redirected to direct programs

"The negotiation was straightforward once we had a clean picture of what was actually installed and what was actually billing. The carrier had been counting on the organization's administrative bandwidth being too thin to challenge the invoices. They were right, until we got involved."

Headcount Growth vs. Cost — Before vs. After ITG
Actual client data

What Changed

Community Action deployed a fully integrated UCaaS and CCaaS platform that scaled seamlessly with their growth. Monthly telecom costs came in thousands below their previous spend — despite nearly doubling their employee base. The 100-seat call center now handles increased volume with features their staff had only wished for: real-time queue dashboards, supervisor monitoring, and automatic call distribution. Every dollar saved goes back to the community they serve.

"The 85% cost reduction at the anchor site didn't come from sacrificing service quality — it came from running a competitive process that the incumbent had never been asked to participate in. The money saved went back into direct program delivery, which is the only place it should ever go."

Key Results
📞 100-seat call center upgraded with real-time queue dashboards and supervisor monitoring
💰 Monthly telecom costs dropped thousands despite nearly doubling employee base
🏆 Maximum nonprofit pricing secured across all 6 evaluated UCaaS providers

"ITG understood that for us, this wasn't just a phone system — it was how vulnerable community members reach us. They treated it with that level of care from day one."

— Community Action Leadership
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