"It took me 10 minutes to set up professional number using Onoff Business" -

“It took me 10 minutes to set up professional numbers using Onoff Business.”

Alexis Jacquier, Director of the Mission locale de Chablais

How to set up a professional line for your team members in record time, when the lockdown has just been announced? The Mission locale jeunes du Chablais, supporting teenagers and young adults who dropped out of the school system in order to help them along their career path, needed to keep in touch with its users even in these troubled times. By using Onoff Business to obtain a professional number, they managed to act fast and save money, in order to pursue their main purpose. Since then, they have kept this solution, allowing them to maintain a dematerialized communication in addition to face-to-face interactions.

What was your need when you first introduced Onoff Business numbers for Mission locale de Chablais employees?

Alexis Jacquier, director of the Mission Locale du Chablais: When the lockdown was announced in mid-March, it was essential for us to pursue our public service mission and maintain a relationship with our users. We had to close the physical reception, but there was no question of closing the structure. We asked ourselves how we could maintain the link with our employees and users from a distance. Equipping ourselves with professional numbers seemed to be the obvious answer.

From then on, Onoff Business was the ideal solution: there is no need to buy a cell phone for each employee, and the implementation via an application is very simple. A colleague in Annecy told me about the solution. After a quick search on the Internet, I realized that it was a good option. And then I spoke to Patrick Srougi on the phone, who promptly answered my questions and tried to understand our needs. When things get tricky, like this unprecedented lockdown, you immediately need to find the right solutions and the right people to talk to.

What is the purpose of a local mission?

We work alongside Pôle emploi as part of the public employment service. Our job is to welcome young people aged 16 to 25, who have left the school system, to help them build their professional or social future through collective or individual support. Our national network welcomes more than 1 million young people each year, qualified or not, through the 437 local missions in France, including 4 in the 74.

In Chablais, we are covering about 136,000 inhabitants living in Thonon-les-Bains and Evian-les-Bains. I am the structure’s director and we have 19 employees. We receive 1700 users each year and my role is to implement, with the team, the public policies of employment and training. I am also responsible for HRM activities and piloting projects, and I represent our organisation before various authorities.

Was it easy for your teams to adopt the Onoff Business mobile numbers?

The application was immediately well received by our team members: in fact, it was so obvious that we didn’t even think about it. Because technically, it’s very easy to use, even though the teams’ digital skills are very different.

Personally, it took me 10 minutes to set up the Onoff Business numbers. I logged in, created the local mission space. Initially, I needed 8 lines and created them one after the other. Then I called every single employee in order to check them out and within a few minutes we were able to use our professional numbers.

Why did you choose to keep Onoff Business’ professional mobile numbers after the end of lockdown?

We were in the middle of thinking about how to do something dematerialized with the youth. The lockdown pushed us into action. Even though our DNA is reception, and we prefer physical contact allowing us to go further in the needs understanding and also to offer collective actions, being able to propose a remote link is a complementary element that matters a lot. This allows us to keep in touch with a simple phone call or SMS reminder. The service has found its place in the relationship we have with our users and each employee adapts its use according to his or her own needs.

And since the cost is low (€10 per line per month compared to the added value), there was no question of cutting. Moreover, I am very satisfied with the relationship with Onoff Business. When you are lost on some platforms, you can be annoyed. This was not the case with Onoff Business: every time I needed help, someone was there to advise me.

Would you recommend Onoff Business to other Local Missions?

I would recommend this tool to other Local Missions and also to other professionals. Even if they already have a business line. With portability, I was able to change my business number and go to Onoff Business. They are the ones who managed the repatriation: 30 € of savings. That counts: I am also responsible for the proper management of the public funds.

Do you find the adoption of new digital tools complex?

I don’t see any resistance, but it requires training. This is true both for our employees and for the young users we are supporting. They know how to use social networks, but some of them don’t necessarily know how to use IT tools in a professional environment. They also struggle with trying to understand the relevance of their digital identity and to make a distinction between what belongs to their private life and their professional life. They do not always identify what is publicly visible online. This separation between professional and personal life is crucial. This is also why a solution like Onoff Business is extremely important.