A debt management firm streamlined communications with VoIPstudio

Industry

Finance

Company Size

10-50 Employees

Headquarters

Leeds, United Kingdom

Founded

2016

About

Set up in 2016 by industry veterans, ICS is a debt management agency with a difference. It doesn’t litigate. It doesn’t do doorstep collections. It is 100% focused on helping people to set up affordable repayment plans so they can pay off their debts and improve their credit ratings.

ICS doesn’t apply fees or penalties; it collects the balances owed and is paid on a commission basis by its customers who include some of the UK’s most respected household brands.

The Challenge

Most people who owe money are worried and anxious. Some have troubled home lives. They don’t want to be in debt. Therefore, the ICS approach to debt collection has always been people-centric. Gentle, persuasive and consistent communications accompanied by realistic payment schedules.

Telephone calls are the main way that ICS liaises with people in debt; therefore the company needs a highly reliable voice system where calls can be tracked, monitored, recorded, and actioned.

Our phone system is the most important part of our IT set-up. We need to have a complete view of how many calls are being made and received so we can see what’s happening across the entire business.

When ICS started it was a five-person team on a startup budget so didn’t want to invest in a full PBX phone system. Iain and the team trialled a number of different VoIP providers to get a feel for their platforms.

They found that many of the VoIP providers said that their customers had to research and use their own client, i.e. the VoIP software deployed on a customer’s own PC/mobile which then connects to external servers provided by the VoIP company.

ICS also found most of the applications to be clunky, and many didn’t have the ability to forward calls without paying a premium.

The Solution

The team initially chose SIPgate, which worked adequately at first, but they quickly discovered it lacked call recording functionality – an essential feature for their operations. This limitation led them to seek an alternative.

In early 2020, VoIPstudio stood out as a top-rated provider, scoring 4.7 out of 5 on TrustPilot, compared to SIPgate’s 3.6. Iain explored the platform through a free trial and found it offered a user-friendly interface, rich functionality, and a high level of configurability. As someone with a technical background, he appreciated the thoughtful design and the way VoIPstudio had evolved from an open-source VoIP application into a fully developed, feature-rich product.

To streamline operations, Iain integrated VoIPstudio with an automated dialling system, simplifying call workflows for the team. The solution was deployed across the entire business, with most users accessing the platform via a software application on their laptops, paired with non-branded handsets selected by Iain. The company’s call activity focused primarily on outbound communications, while inbound calls were given priority and answered immediately to ensure responsiveness.

I am a big fan of VoIPstudio.

It’s an impressive system which regularly launches new, and genuinely useful features. I have recommended VoIPstudio to tons of other people, all of whom have been genuinely grateful that I directed them to a sophisticated and cost-effective voice system.

The Impact

Integrated Contact Solutions (ICS) actively used most of the features included in VoIPstudio’s standard package to streamline operations and maintain regulatory compliance.

Virtual Numbers & IVR
ICS assigned individual virtual numbers, IVR menus, and customised recordings to each client it supported. This setup made tracking and monitoring communications simple and efficient.

Call Recording & Compliance
Operating in a regulated industry, ICS was required to comply with the Financial Services Authority, the Credit Services Association (CSA), and PCI DSS standards. This included mandatory call recording, with specific protocols for pausing recordings during payment transactions. Previously, Iain had built a bespoke call recording system hosted on ICS’s own servers. However, VoIPstudio’s redesigned call recording service—launched in 2019—eliminated the need for this, offering a powerful built-in solution. Calls could be filtered by fields such as customer name, creditor, assigned team member, date, time, call duration, and call type. Files were easy to retrieve and could be forwarded directly to creditors as needed.

Data and Accountability
To support corporate reporting, ICS provided clients with weekly summaries of call activity and progress. All data was drawn from VoIPstudio, giving Iain instant access to detailed call records and response metrics.

Remote Work
During the COVID-19 lockdown, the entire ICS team worked from home. Iain configured laptops and VoIPstudio access to ensure uninterrupted operations. As a result, the company achieved a record-high collections rate during this period. With many people having more time to address financial matters, engagement increased, and ICS maintained a perfect record for incoming call response while outbound call volumes reached new highs.

A lot of people found that they had more spare time during lockdown and so they were more open to addressing and resolving their financial issues. I’m proud to say that we didn’t miss a single incoming call during this period whilst our outgoing call level was higher than ever before.

Pricing & Support
VoIPstudio’s pricing model and customer support proved to be highly effective. The platform included a reliable ticketing system and a built-in live chat tool within the portal, providing fast assistance whenever needed.

Looking Ahead
In the future, ICS planned to integrate VoIPstudio with a customised CRM system. This enhancement would allow debtor profiles to open automatically when a call was received, further increasing efficiency and responsiveness.