Rappahannock Goodwill Industries (RGI) has been a vital part of the Fredericksburg community for over 34 years. The not-for-profit company provides employment to approximately 323 people, most with disabilities or other barriers to employment, in assembly, laundry, retail and custodial services.
RGI’s five thrift stores generate an income that significantly defrays the costs of the human services component of the company. In addition, it has an off-site group that operates custodial and administrative contracts at Quantico for the U.S. Marine Corps, FBI Training Academy and the DEA. It also has an on-site group that operates packaging and assembling services for area businesses, plus commercial laundry services for the healthcare, hospitality and government industries.
The company’s communications needs include Internet service that allows remote workers and traveling employees to access the company’s network to review customer contracts, access client files, work on prospecting and check e-mails. The human resources group also uses the Internet to track payroll.
In addition, RGI uses video services to test televisions and VCRs that are donated to its thrift stores, to see if they can be sold. These sales help generate additional revenue for the company.
Matt Bakhshaee, RGI’s Director of IT, had reviewed data from their current provider and discovered there were performance issues that were causing a decrease in office productivity. “Our provider had moved offices and service had started to decline after that,” he said. Matt wanted to overhaul RGI’s entire network operations to improve the situation, but felt the current provider would not offer the reliability and local customer service he wanted.
Matt is tech savvy and stays current on the latest developments in voice, data and video technology. He was familiar with Cox through his peers in the business community, and contacted us directly for help. Together, we came up with the best solutions to meet RGI’s specific needs.
For Internet service, we recommended Cox Business Internet 2.0Mbps/2.0Mbps with a static IP and remote monitoring. This provided fast, reliable Internet connections for their remote and on-site employees.
For RGI’s retail stores, we recommended Cox Expanded Basic Business Video service for their video needs, and Cox Business Internet 3.0Mbps/1.0Mbps.
After installing Cox Business Internet and Business Video services, RGI saw greater reliability, fewer outages and more internal productivity, as well as an increase in its bottom line. And the proactive customer service is the icing on the cake. According to Matt, the Cox local customer service team has done whatever it takes to handle any issues he may have. He also checks with his business neighbors about their Cox services on a regular basis, and has received great feedback.
