Built to Last: Foreman Homes and Webex for Gamma

In this case study, we’ll cover:

• How Foreman Homes has grown, and the subsequent communication challenges.
• What spurred Foreman Homes to make a change.
• The partnership with Clarenden and the path to Webex for Gamma adoption.
• What impact Webex for Gamma has had.

Foreman Homes is a rapidly growing housebuilder operating across Hampshire and the surrounding areas. Their expansion led to a need for a more reliable, intuitive communications platform for both in‑office teams and construction sites.

After years of frustrations with their previous telephony system, Foreman Homes turned to Clarenden for a solution that could support their expanding operations. Matt Street, Foreman Home’s IT Project Manager, outlines their adoption of Webex for Gamma and how a unified, dependable solution has already made a difference.

‘Communication is a real key part of our business’

Growth has come in abundance for Foreman Homes. Matt recalls how, upon joining five years ago, their office setup in Segensworth was very close-knit. Smaller offices were clumped together, ‘almost within shouting distance’, meaning there was lot of reliance on face-to-face communications.

Moving to a new headquarters in Whiteley, while expanding the number of active sites, presented an opportunity to provide more efficient communication solutions. The number of units at these sites has moved from the tens into the hundreds, making it ‘fundamental… that we’re able to communicate very well with each other.’

Teams are now more distributed, and their existing system wasn’t suitable for the expansion. At the time, when Matt introduced this system, the options were lacking and everyone else was going with such a service. It just ‘[held] its own with the people that [they] had.’

Soon, the lack of call quality became clear, with inconsistencies in performance across multiple days. From an admin point of view, the usability was cumbersome, with a staggered rollout and limited support only causing more frustrations. On site, app adoption was low as employees preferred to stick with their existing numbers.

Essentially, Foreman Homes were essentially paying for two separate services. As Matt says, ‘that was quite a painful experience.’

‘It was a very staggered process to get it rolled out completely’

The slow rollout set a precedent for what was to come. Matt remembers there being a point where things plateaued and everyone was ‘kind of [using] it on a day-to-day.’ However, in his role as the IT manager, he could see the full scope of the call quality issues.

The falling standards in call quality were paired with unreliability with call recording. These recordings were either non-existent, or the action to record didn’t go through. Consistent day-to-day issues spurred employees to adopt their mobile phones again.

A support burden soon fell back on Matt. The previous supplier was promising to ‘do X, Y, and Z’, but these support teams would then ask Matt to pick up any outstanding actions. When complications arose over the provider’s ownership changes, processes became muddied and issues steadily escalated.

As Foreman Homes approached the end of the contract, it was clear that a more reliable, easy‑to‑manage solution was needed. This new service had to ease the administrative burden and get the team communicating effectively again.

‘Usability was our main priority’

Moving to a new communications service required thought and careful planning. As the contract started to come to an end, this was when Clarenden’s Gavin Le Mastre came into the picture with the Webex for Gamma solution.

Matt recalls how, before selecting Webex for Gamma, his team tested a few solutions. What mattered was finding the solution that ‘feels more natural’ for Foreman Homes.

At the same time, it was crucial to narrow down which employees needed access to the new service. For those with a more ‘unique role’ within the business, where two-way communication wasn’t needed, the likes of email and WhatsApp could do the job.

Narrowing down the scope made the Webex adoption process ‘much smoother for everybody.’ Usability and general reliability were the key factors driving the thought process. Simultaneously, Matt wanted to avoid falling into a trap on thinking actions had been taken, but they hadn’t been applied at all.

Having now recently brought in an assistant, Matt relied on existing documentation supplied by Gavin to outline the Webex for Gamma solution. Access to videos and other assets made things easier for Matt when those out on site needed an answer to their problems. It all factored into the smoother onboarding process compared with the previous solution.

Gavin has been working with Foreman Homes for three years now, and exclusively with Clarenden for 18 months as part of a wider service adoption. For Matt, the real value provided by Clarenden was their speed in resolving actions and avoiding the spiel of ‘oh, we’ll see what we can do.’ Rolling out the Webex for Gamma demo in good time also swayed opinions on how Foreman Homes was making the right choice.

Over the space of two days, Gavin assisted Matt and his team on the administrative setup and getting employees online. As Matt says, ‘there was no real gap in between one system going off and one going on.’ A few issues around double-barrelled surnames were quickly resolved, underlining just how smooth an onboarding process it was.

‘People are more engaged with using the system as a whole’

The usage of Webex for Gamma among Foreman Homes employees has steadily risen. Matt’s own push on instant messaging adoption certainly helped to increase those numbers, especially when having various tools within the Webex platform. Unifying simplified instant messaging, calling, and communication management reduces the need for separate tools and makes collaboration easier.

Some features are yet to be more widely adopted. Features within meetings, particularly AI-powered transcription, still haven’t displaced the tried and tested method of pen and paper. A planned change around the ERP system has Matt thinking that more employees will start going digital and will soon take full advantage of these features.

Looking to the future, Matt will be keen to introduce more automation into Foreman Homes’s processes. Considering the rollout was much smoother compared to the previous system, and user uptake is steadily rising, it shouldn’t be too much of a seismic shift.

‘The more you’re using it, the better you’re going to get as an experience out of it’

For Foreman Homes, moving to Webex for Gamma delivered a transformative improvement in reliability, usability, and user adoption. Through Clarenden and Gavin’s support, the transition was smooth, with support readily available when any issues arose. Expert guidance and open communications removed any previously held fears that implementing a new communications service would be clunky and laborious.

Gavin’s transparency, expertise, and ability to quickly provide answers or resolutions built strong internal trust. When power has previously been held from external sources, support has been found to be lacking and below expectations. Suddenly, with Cisco and Webex in the picture, any problems could be resolved in a timely manner.

With Webex for Gamma in place, Foreman Homes now has a communications platform that functions properly. As they continue to expand operations, their communications system will grow alongside this expansion.

To have a reliable communication product goes a long way in empowering teams and laying groundwork for future digital maturity.

About Clarenden

Clarenden Communications are on a mission to provide businesses with reliable, innovative communication solutions. They specialise in multiple services, including VoIP, mobile and internet solutions that are all designed to help businesses compete and succeed in a rapidly digitising landscape.

Quick Answers: Foreman Homes and Webex for Gamma