How HR Department at Goodwin Co. Uses Gruveo to Cut Costs and Improve Communication Efficiency

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Gruveo's primary benefits are:

• Minimal hardware requirements
• Freedom from installing software and creating profiles
• Flexibility of use on all major web browsers
• Installed on-premises so you can keep all of the data in your own controlled and guarded environment.

In the following case study, you’ll learn how Jason Woods, HR Director at Goodwin Company, and his team use Gruveo as a cost-effective and easy-to-use tool for intra-company communication.

What does Goodwin Company do, and what was the problem you were facing?

Goodwin Company (www.goodwininc.com) is family-owned and operated with over 92 years of experience providing liquid packing services. Goodwin has locations in Garden Grove, California (Corporate Office) and Lawrenceville, Georgia, and HR presence only in CA (myself).

I use Gruveo every day, multiple times a day and it’s the preferred method to communicate for most managers.

We have a conference room available for meetings with Senior Management and before Gruveo, we would fight over times to use the video setup in the conference room for one-on-one employee related issues.

Earlier this year, we created an employee intranet site for employees to download forms and integrated Gruveo for video calls. I always prefer to communicate in person or on video; for HR-related issues, it’s important to read body language.

How did you learn about Gruveo video calling?

I was researching conference and video calling systems to implement a standalone feature in the private office we created.

We use LifeSize in our conference rooms and it works well but it’s total overkill and very expensive. We have access to Skype as well but not everyone has a username and login info so this wouldn’t work either.

I came across Gruveo while reading an article on a tech website researching and comparing video calling systems.

Please share some details on how Gruveo is currently integrated into your systems.

Gruveo is implemented in a couple of different ways at Goodwin.

It’s embedded in the employee intranet site under a section called “Talk with HR”.

An employee will come to the private office, call HR on the phone or text via instant messenger, and log into the company intranet site. Once we connect by phone or text, we both agree to click the Video call button to initiate Gruveo. We have it set up so that no code needs to be typed in the video call box. It’s already pre-populated and employees only need to click “Video call”.

Gruveo works as well, if not better, than any other calling software on the market. In our case it was the best solution to our problems.

The second way we use Gruveo is through a Desktop/Windows application we created that all managers have installed on their computers.

The Desktop Application gives managers access to forms, KPI reports, and now video calling without having to log into any website.

One click and the call starts!

Our managers can interact with anyone at any time from home or internally at the office between both coasts. The Desktop Application was created to share real-time information without placing private information on the company intranet site.

How do you typically use Gruveo?

Gruveo has changed the way we communicate at Goodwin. Before Gruveo, video calling was a hassle. Not all employees are computer savvy and we needed something as simple as the click of a button.

I use Gruveo every day, multiple times a day and it’s the preferred method to communicate for most managers.

How was the employee reception?

Initial reception was mixed. We have a large manufacturing workforce and they viewed the intranet site and video calling as a little intimidating. Once a few employees started using the intranet site and Gruveo, the word spread quickly about how easy it was to use. Turns out not all new technology is scary.

What impact has this new video calling solution had on your work and the organization as a whole so far?

We recently started using the API to customize the look and make Gruveo even easier to use. Gruveo works as well, if not better, than any other calling software on the market. In our case, it was the best solution to our problems. Our team is more engaged and connected than ever before.

What are your future plans for leveraging Gruveo at Goodwin Company?

We use Gruveo daily and with the developer release of the API we are always looking for innovative ways to utilize new technology.

Maybe in the future, we can look into replacing our expensive conference room system with Gruveo or give our customers access to video calls with our Executive team.