OES revolutionizes Telethons with Nextiva’s Unified Customer Experience Management Platform

Operation Enfant Soleil (OES) is a non-profit organization in Quebec Canada dedicated to developing high-quality pediatric care for children. Since its inception in 1988, OES has distributed over $302 million to major pediatric centers, regional hospitals, and organizations across Quebec. A cornerstone of their fundraising efforts was the annual telethon, which raised a significant portion of their funds.

In the 36th telethon last year, OES raised an impressive $23,207,460, with over $1.2 million collected during the “one-day-only” call center event. During this telethon, 285 volunteers handled over 21,300 inbound calls, making this event a crucial part of OES’s annual fundraising activities.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic posed a severe challenge to this traditional setup. The need for social distancing meant that gathering volunteers in a call center was no longer feasible. Faced with the possibility of canceling the telethon for the first time in 23 years, OES needed an urgent and effective solution.

In response to this challenge, Telus, a partner at the time, introduced OES to Nextiva, a cloud software company that helps businesses create amazing experiences with its Unified Customer Experience Management platform. The Nextiva platform provided a means for their dispersed agent workforce of volunteers to work from their homes, ensuring their safety while maintaining the telethon’s critical operations. Like any implementation, there was an initial adjustment for over 300 volunteers, many of whom had no prior experience as contact center agents. Volunteers were able to quickly learn how to use the new web-based voice application enabling the telethon to proceed successfully, much to the relief of all involved.

Building on the initial experience, Nextiva and OES made substantial improvements for the following year’s telethon. Nextiva conducted rigorous load tests, achieving 90 calls per second ensuring the platform could handle the high volume of calls. With the help of Nextiva, OES developed comprehensive training materials—including videos, a dedicated website, emails, and online training sessions—to better prepare volunteers.

The results were outstanding. With 320 agents working from home, the telethon processed over 32,000 calls, with a peak of 32 calls per second and up to 800 calls in the queue. This seamless operation not only ensured the telethon’s continuity during the pandemic but also revolutionized how OES conducted its fundraising events.

In the following years, the commitment to supporting OES’s telethon remained strong. Nextiva continued to provide technological support, ensuring that OES’s annual telethon ran smoothly. OES’s website acknowledged the pivotal role of the Nextiva Contact Center solution in the telethon’s success.

The 36th telethon saw 400 volunteers answer over 20,000 calls and raised over $2.1 million. This substantial achievement highlighted the importance of Nextiva’s technology in reaching the telethon’s fundraising goals.