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HERO MODULE: orient the visitor immediately - who is the client, what did they need, what did CTPros deliver
BRIEF SUMMARY
Industry: Pro Sports
Industry: Pro Sports
Location: Michigan
Location: Michigan
Platform: RingCentral
Platform: RingCentral
The Challenge
The Challenge
The Detroit Lions' legacy Avaya contact center couldn't integrate with their CRM, struggled with basic call routing, and required bolting on additional vendors every time the team wanted to add functionality — making it impossible to deliver the personalized fan service the organization prioritized.
The Solution
The Solution
CTPros guided the Lions through a contact center evaluation and implemented RingCentral Contact Center alongside RingCentral UCaaS — giving agents CRM-integrated call context before every interaction and connecting the entire front office on a single unified platform.
CLIENT INTRO
About the Detroit Lions
About the Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are one of the NFL's oldest franchises, founded in 1930 and deeply woven into the identity of Detroit and Michigan. The organization's relationship with its fans is central to how the front office thinks about its work — and delivering VIP-level service to every fan who reaches out is a priority the team takes seriously. That commitment extends across ticketing, guest services, box office, and partnership sales, all of which depend on a contact center environment that works.
CHALLENGE
An Avaya Contact Center That Belonged on the Injured Reserve List
An Avaya Contact Center That Belonged on the Injured Reserve List
The Lions' legacy Avaya contact center had been showing its age for some time. The core problem wasn't just reliability — it was the absence of CRM integration. When a fan called, agents had no way to see who was calling, which rep they were assigned to, or what their history with the organization looked like. Every call started from zero.
Routing was equally problematic. Scott Howland, the Lions' Senior Manager of CRM & Research, described a system that struggled with basics — routing calls correctly and managing call queues. Whenever the team wanted to add functionality, the answer was another vendor and another bolted-on application. The contact center environment had become a patchwork that couldn't support the experience the Lions wanted to deliver.
The timing added urgency — when the Lions began evaluating replacements, COVID-19 lockdowns were already going into effect. Whatever replaced Avaya had to support a contact center team that could log in and work from anywhere, immediately.
The Lions turned to CTPros, their longtime technology partner, to help evaluate options and find the right path forward.
"Here was a solution that had everything we needed in one platform. It also allowed all of our agents to log in and join call queues from anywhere, which was extremely valuable because we rolled out RingCentral Contact Center just as the lockdowns were going into effect."
Steve Lancaster, Director of IT, Detroit Lions
SOLUTION
CTPros and RingCentral: Moving the Goalposts on Fan Service
CTPros and RingCentral: Moving the Goalposts on Fan Service
CTPros worked with the Lions' staff to evaluate their contact center requirements and identify the right solution for an organization where fan relationships are the product. RingCentral Contact Center stood out for its flexibility, feature depth, and native CRM integration capabilities. CTPros managed the implementation and rollout.
The difference showed up immediately. By integrating RingCentral Contact Center with the Lions' CRM, agents now receive a caller's profile before picking up — assigned rep, relationship history, family details, favorite player. Routing logic directs calls to the right person automatically. When a rep finishes a call, the outbound dialer moves to the next number. The team that previously struggled to route calls correctly now runs targeted fan outreach campaigns with ease.
Beyond the contact center, the Lions implemented RingCentral UCaaS across the front office — replacing a fragmented audio bridge setup with a unified platform for voice, video, and messaging from any device.
"Converged's hard work and the company's expertise in implementing these solutions for professional sports teams really paid off. We're now enjoying a fully customized solution suite perfectly tailored to the unique needs of the Lions."
Tom Wyatt, Senior Director of Corporate Partnership Sales, Detroit Lions
RESULTS
Personalized Service, a Holiday Campaign That Surprised Fans, and a Front Office That Stayed Connected
Personalized Service, a Holiday Campaign That Surprised Fans, and a Front Office That Stayed Connected
The CRM integration transformed how the Lions' contact center operates. Agents walk into every call with context — who the fan is, what their history looks like, what they care about. Calls route to the right rep automatically. The team can now run outbound campaigns at scale without a complicated setup.
One standout example: the Lions' 2020 Holiday Message campaign. Using RingCentral Contact Center's outbound dialer, the team called every season-ticket member around Thanksgiving — not to sell anything, just to wish them happy holidays. The calls were personal, unexpected, and widely appreciated. Season-ticket holders reached out to say how surprised and delighted they were.
For the front office, the UCaaS deployment solved a different problem. Hundreds of employees had been sharing a handful of audio bridges for conference calls. With RingCentral, every staff member can schedule and host their own calls and video conferences from any device — a capability that proved essential when the entire organization went remote.
"Converged Technology Professionals was truly a strategic partner throughout the whole process. We'd definitely recommend them as a technology partner."
Steve Lancaster, Director of IT, Detroit Lions
VIDEO MODULE: Some case studies have associated video interviews, this template needs to have the option to have a video here, some case studies will use it and some wont
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