Timberline Ace Hardware Group:
One Phone System for Five Stores
Timberline Ace Hardware Group relies on Granite Tech for the communication channels that connect its team members with customers at five hardware stores in Montana. The stores share one hosted phone system, so a call can move between locations, follow an employee down the aisle on a cordless handset, and arrive in an inbox as a written transcription.
- LivingstonAce store
- ButteAce store
- AnacondaAce store
- KalispellAce store
- Columbia FallsAce store
Hardware stores where the answer is usually on a shelf
Timberline Ace Hardware Group runs five Ace Hardware stores across Montana. A hardware store phone call is rarely simple. The caller wants to know whether a part is in stock, which aisle it sits in, or whether another store has it, and the person who can answer is usually out on the sales floor rather than behind the counter.
Before Granite, the group managed multiple phone systems and had little insight into how customer calls were handled. Granite Tech’s business phone systems team put every store on one platform the group could run as a whole.
Each location’s phones were handled separately, which made store-to-store transfers and group-wide changes harder than they needed to be.
Managers wanted insight into how callers were treated so they could train and coach staff on phone service.
Employees spend the day helping customers on the floor, so a phone fixed to one desk misses the moment a caller needs them.
Some staff needed voicemail in a form they could read and act on, not just listen to.
Challenge, solution, and result
Select a stage to see how the work came together for Timberline Ace Hardware Group.
Separate phone systems and no insight into customer calls
Timberline Ace came to Granite managing multiple phone systems across its stores. Moving a caller from one location to another was not simple, and managers had no recordings to show how customers were treated on the phone.
For a retailer that competes on service, that left one of its most common customer interactions, a phone call asking for help, largely out of view.
- Multiple phone systems across locations
- No recordings for staff training
- Phones tied to the counter
One hosted phone system shared by every store
Granite moved the stores onto a single hosted VoIP phone system managed as one group. An auto-attendant answers and routes callers to the right staff. Internal transfers send a caller from one store to another without a second phone number.
Deskphones sit at several points inside each store, and cordless phones go with employees onto the sales floor. Call recording gives managers material for training and monitoring, and voicemail-to-email delivers every message with a written transcription.
- Auto-attendant routing
- Internal transfers between stores
- Call recording and caller ID
Better service on the phone and on the floor
Staff can take a call while walking down the aisle and answer from the shelf, so a caller hears what is actually in stock instead of a guess. Recorded calls give the group a way to coach employees on phone service.
Transcribed voicemail lets staff read each message and act on it. Every store also has statewide support from the same Granite team.
- Calls answered from the shelf
- Recorded calls for coaching
- Voicemail every employee can read
The phone features the stores use every day
These are the features Timberline Ace lists as part of its daily operations. They behave the same way at every store, so an employee in one location can help a customer calling another.
Answers incoming calls and routes customers to the right staff member.
Captures customer calls so managers can use real conversations for training and monitoring.
Moves a caller from one store to another inside the same system, with no hang-up and redial.
Shows who is calling before an employee picks up the phone.
Deskphones at several points in each store, plus cordless handsets that travel with staff.
Sends each voicemail to email with a written transcription any employee can read.
Support is statewide: each store reaches the same Granite team for phone support, wherever it sits in Montana.
What the general manager tells us
Truly, the convenience of having deskphones at different locations in the store, along with cordless phones, we can provide better service to our callers by walking down the aisle, and going to the shelf for a customer. For us, being able to deliver that type of customer service - It's dynamite.
Jim’s point is about the aisle more than the technology. A customer who calls about a part reaches an employee standing in front of the shelf, the same service they would get walking in the door. Retail is one of several industries we serve across Montana.
Questions about this case study
Granite provides voice services, IT services, and structured cabling for Timberline Ace Hardware Group. The center of the work is a hosted phone system shared by five stores in Montana, with auto-attendant, call recording, internal transfers, caller ID, cordless phones, and voicemail-to-email.
Yes. Timberline Ace Hardware Group runs five stores on one hosted system, so calls transfer between locations internally and the group manages one platform instead of several separate phone systems.
Recorded calls give managers real customer conversations to use in employee training and monitoring. Timberline Ace uses call recording for exactly that, so phone service can be coached the same way floor service is.
Voicemail-to-email with transcription sends each message as written text. At Timberline Ace Hardware Group, that lets staff read voicemails and take action on them, which also helps team members who are deaf or hard of hearing. Granite can set up the same feature for businesses anywhere in Montana.
Put every store on one phone system
Request a short call to talk through your locations, your call flow, and what your team needs on the floor. If there is a fit, a written proposal with scope, pricing, and timelines follows.
Or email CustomerCare@granite.tech