Vertical Helps FPC Houston Transition to a Feature-Full Digital Platform

First Presbyterian Church of Houston

Background

Founded in 1838, FPC Houston is the oldest church in the city of Houston. It boasts a diverse congregation of 3,000 people with a staff of 50. The church is guided by a strong vision to reach the people in their neighborhood and city. To help accomplish this vision, the church leadership needed to update their failing, 20-year-old phone system and were looking for a modern Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution.

As COVID-19 caused the church staff to work more and more from home, their premise phone system was inefficient and rarely used. The church needed a solution that wouldn’t keep their staff tethered to the building yet was also simple and easy enough for their non-technical staff to adopt and use. After shopping around a bit, they found Vertical Communications and didn’t need to look any further, impressed with Vertical’s strong product offering and world-class customer support.

An Impressive Cloud Solution with Industry-Leading Features

Vertical helped FPC Houston select the 8×8 X-series, with a modern, cloud-based feature set, including award-winning voice quality, easy-to-use apps, and a complete unified communication (UC) solution including voice, video, and messaging. Before launch, Vertical provided in-depth training and implementation.

The biggest positive is it works, it’s simple. We’ve had some people nervous about using their cell phone so much. 8×8 makes them not have to give out their personal number.

Hunter Johnston, Chief Operation Officer, FPC Houston

Technology That Wins Over the Congregation

Vertical technicians helped the church set up secure and encrypted video conferencing, a native 8×8 feature. The versatile software will eventually allow FPC Houston’s ministries to host video meetings on any device, with up to 500 participants. They can even stream the meetings to an unlimited audience on YouTube.

The video conferencing software is fully capable of facilitating private, individual meetings and larger gatherings. In fact, the congregation has discussed switching many of its Zoom meetings over to the 8×8 platform as they have been impressed with the stellar video conferencing features.

Vertical’s expert team provided attentive support as the church seamlessly integrated these tools into its workflow. The FPC Houston staff can now connect with each other and the congregation in ways that had not been possible before.

Skilled and Caring Technicians Deliver a Smooth Install

Just like the simple and easy-to-use system, the installation was a breeze. The switch was flipped on a Thursday afternoon, and everything just worked. Vertical painlessly installed 75 lines with 60 users. FPC Houston’s leadership team was overwhelmed by the over-the-top good customer service provided by the Vertical Communications Solutions Engineering team and their award-winning support. “They have been very easy to work with,” says Hunter Johnson, Chief Operating Officer.