Conn's Homeplus

IGEL Case Study – Conn’s Homeplus

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Consumer Goods Retailer Teams with IGEL to Operationalize and Secure their Call Center


PCI-DSS capabilities drove Conn’s HomePlus’ decision to adopt IGEL and Amazon WorkSpaces to ensure business continuity as call center agents pivoted to a work-from-anywhere environment to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Due the sensitive nature of the data our team handles, we had to ensure the devices in use had the correct security protocols in place. The IGEL UD2 is plug-and-play for the user, easy to manage remotely and provides fast access to their virtual desktop and applications. It is impossible for data to be left behind. This makes the IGEL solution very secure and enables us to maintain compliance with PCI-DSS regulations, regardless of the end user’s location.Craig Gehrke, CVP of IT, Conn’s HomePlus

SUMMARY

The Challenge

  • Call center agents sent home to work as businesses around the globe shuttered in-office operations to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
  • WFH users demand an intuitive and easy-to-use solution.
  • Transfer of personal and financial information between customers and call center agents requires a secure solution that would help meet PCI-DSS compliance.
  • Contact center agents require the use of softphones and need a high performing, low latency solution.

The Solution

The Benefits

  • Security and PCI-DSS compliance
  • Easy to use and manage remotely
  • Quick deployment enabling immediate productivity of agents
  • Improved productivity and business continuity
  • Saved money immediately

In March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conn’s HomePlus® found itself working to comply with local health ordinances for more than 140 locations across 14 states. Storefront operations had to change, and large numbers of call center agents were sent home to service Conn’s customers.

“This was very challenging for us,” said Craig Gehrke, VP of IT, Conn’s HomePlus, “a high performing work from home solution would normally take months to design.”

IGEL WORKS, SO CONN’S HOMEPLUS AGENTS CAN TOO

To help solve its remote work challenges, Conn’s HomePlus turned to IGEL. After looking at the challenges faced by Conn’s, IGEL’s technology experts recommended the IGEL OS with the IGEL Cloud Gateway (ICG) running Amazon WorkSpaces. The ICG is a feature of the Enterprise Management Pack which allows Conn’s to manage the IGEL OS over the public internet without a VPN.

“With IGEL and Amazon Workspaces it took less than seven days to build, test and deploy. We were blown away. The icing on the cake was creating a WFH solution quickly while maintaining PCI-DSS compliance.” said Gehrke.

He added, “IGEL was great to work with and enabled our team to create Work-from-Home Kits which include the IGEL UD2, a monitor, keyboard, mouse and headset – everything our agents needed to set-up their office at their homes. The roll-out went smoothly and within a matter of days, not weeks, our call center agents were up and running; working productively from their homes leveraging the IGEL OS.”

WINNING COMBINATION: EASE OF MANAGEMENT, COST EFFECTIVENESS AND PCI-DSS COMPLIANCE

While the IGEL UD2’s ease of use was a huge factor in Conn’s HomePlus’ decision to go with the solution, the support for Amazon WorkSpaces via the IGEL OS, management visibility at the endpoint and cost-effectiveness were key factors in selecting IGEL for call center agents.

“The integration that IGEL offers with leading cloud workspace solutions, including Amazon WorkSpaces, saved us a tremendous amount of time immediately,” explained Gehrke. “Further, because the solution was easy to use, we didn’t need to retrain our users.”

For Conn’s HomePlus, it was also critical that the endpoint computing solution used by its call center agents would help to achieve PCI-DSS compliance. “Due the sensitive nature of the data our team handles, we had to ensure the devices in use had the correct security protocols in place,” said Gehrke. The IGEL OS allows call center agents to access their virtual desktop without leaving any data or application information used during their session on the endpoint. This makes the solution secure and enables Conn’s to maintain compliance with PCI-DSS regulations, even when the users work from home.

Gehrke continued, “together, the ease of management, cost effectiveness and security of the IGEL solution made it a winner in the eyes of our management team.”

FUTURE PLANS EXTEND TO STOREFRONT OPERATIONS

Conn’s HomePlus is so pleased with how well IGEL has worked in ensuring that its call center has remained secure and operational during the global health crisis, that they now have plans to investigate using IGEL for users and devices beyond their contact centers.

“We are currently evaluating where it will make the most sense to deploy IGEL,” said Gehrke. “We have a lot of the same requirements at our brick-and-mortar locations for security, performance and ease of use.”

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