- \n
- Instantly notify customers via SMS when a service team is on their way or has completed their work<\/li>\n
- Empower technicians to clock in and out quickly and accurately log their hours<\/li>\n
- Invoice clients 66% more quickly<\/li>\n
- Cut labor costs by 20% with no change in revenue or profits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Unifying a Complex App Ecosystem<\/h2>\n
![\"RingCentral](\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/the-connector\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Untitled-design-5.png\")
<\/p>\nThe company initially realized the breadth of its integration challenge when evaluating whether to implement ServiceMax<\/a>, a native Salesforce<\/a> application that would function as the company\u2019s CRM and service management hub. BEC was immediately concerned about how the program would fit within the company\u2019s broader app ecosystem.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur philosophy is: in order to get fewer people to do more work, you have to give them better tools. So we try to pick the best application for each particular process,\u201d says Michael Coutu, the Head of IT at BEC. \u201cWhile we wanted to use Salesforce as a CRM, we also knew it would be just one piece of the puzzle. We needed to have other apps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Primarily, the BEC team was concerned about minimizing duplicate data entry between the new CRM and other apps. \u201cWe wanted to avoid repeat work,\u201d Coutu continues. \u201cWhen a customer books a job, for example, client, vendor, and supplier information needs to be shared between a number of different applications.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c[When we asked ServiceMax how to solve this problem] their initial response was to write code within the Salesforce ecosystem,\u2019\u201d he recalls. \u201cBut we had concerns about the cost and long-term feasibility. The cost and time required to create and maintain custom code on a regular basis are so great; we knew there had to be a better solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the company evaluated potential ERP vendors, Workato<\/a> was suggested to BEC as a solution to their growing integration challenge. \u201cWe identified the need for integration and automation very early in the process,\u201d Coutu says. \u201cWorkato came with a direct recommendation, and after some brief research, we verified that it is an excellent product.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, BEC\u2019s decision to use ServiceMax\/Salesforce went hand-in-hand with the decision to use Workato. \u201cWe made those decisions together,\u201d he says. \u201cIn fact, Workato was live in some cases before our CRM was. When I came onboard, Workato was more advanced in the roll out than ServiceMax and Salesforce.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, BEC uses Workato to complete automations between Salesforce, ServiceMax, RingCentral<\/a>, and TSheets<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Automating Client Communications with RingCentral, SMS, and Email<\/h2>\n
Because so much of BEC\u2019s business is conducted on various job sites, it\u2019s crucial that the company communicate effectively with customers. The foundation of their communications system is RingCentral, a Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) platform that facilitates phone calls, video conferences, and SMS. To make communication as smooth as possible, Coutu created a host of Workato recipes that connect RingCentral with other core apps, such as ServiceMax.<\/p>\n
![\"RingCentral](\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/the-connector\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Untitled-design-6.png\")
<\/p>\nInstantly Notifying Clients of Scheduled Services<\/h3>\n
Communication begins the moment a client hires the company for a job; automation plays a key role in making sure the requested service, which is initially logged in ServiceMax, is confirmed quickly via email.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s say a client hires us to install a ceiling fan at their house,\u201d says Coutu. \u201cAfter we set up the job in ServiceMax, Workato sends them an email confirmation via Office 360.\u201d This automation makes sure that BEC and its customers get off to a good start and stay on the same page.<\/p>\n
Sending SMS Updates with RingCentral and ServiceMax<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s also important for the company to communicate with clients about when work teams will arrive on the day of service. Many service organizations simply provide the client with an approximate window of time, but BEC wanted to enhance the customer experience by letting them know when a service team was on its way.<\/p>\n
To do this, they use Workato to send an automated text via Glip, an SMS app that runs on the RingCentral platform. \u201cOn the day of service, we clock in using our time and attendance software, TSheets,\u201d Coutu explains. \u201cVia Workato, TSheets notifies ServiceMax that we’ve started working on the job. This triggers a Workato recipe that sends out an SMS message via Glip, saying that we’re on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n
BEC also automated a text message to the customer at the end of a job. This SMS functionality is especially helpful to larger commercial clients, such as real estate management companies, who may never see the service team face-to-face. \u201cWe can be on site for a few hours without the client actually seeing us,\u201d he continues. \u201cSo we\u2019ll actually send another message via Glip at the end of the job to let them know that we arrived, that we completed the necessary work, and that we’ve left. From a project management standpoint, they know how long we were on site. We can also send some basic reports via SMS as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re actually saving time and money because of these messages,\u201d he comments.<\/p>\n
Enabling Two-Way SMS Between Clients and Service Teams<\/h3>\n
Currently, Coutu is working on an automated workflow that will direct SMS responses to the correct service team.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, a client will text us back to say: \u2018I’m running late\u2019 or \u2018When you arrive, just go around back,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cRight now, Workato forwards the texts to a dispatcher who then has to call the team. I’m trying to make it a two-way conversation, so the response text goes directly to the correct service team. With Workato, we can do so much more with RingCentral and SMS; I know we’re just scratching the surface of what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using RingCentral Integration to Sync ServiceMax Contacts<\/h3>\n
Coutu also plans to use Workato to create a RingCentral integration that makes it easier for service teams to reach clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of our employees in the field don’t have phones. They use the RingCentral app on iPads with cell service,\u201d he elaborates. \u201cBut in order to contact customers, they need their phone number, which is stored in ServiceMax.\u201d Without an automation to get contact information synced from ServiceMax to RingCentral, employees have to open ServiceMax, look up the customer, write down the phone number, and navigate back to RingCentral to dial the phone number. This is tedious for the employee and increases the likelihood of error.<\/p>\n
To solve this problem, Coutu is designing a Workato recipe that will sync ServiceMax contacts with RingCentral as soon as they are associated with an active work order.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will give our techs the ability to make phone calls in the field without going into ServiceMax, writing the phone number down on a piece of paper, opening up the RingCentral app, and then dialing the number,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey can just search their client\u2019s name right inside of RingCentral and the contact will come up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coutu estimates this integration will save techs lots of frustration, as well as 30-45 seconds for every single phone call\u2014time that adds up quickly given their heavy workloads.<\/p>\n
Intelligently Associating Media Files with Work Orders<\/h3>\n
Another project Coutu has in the pipeline is to use Workato to allow for multimedia files like photos via RingCentral.<\/p>\n
\u201cRingCentral\u2019s Glip allows attachments. So we want to eventually use Glip to enhance project management: techs could take pictures on site, send them in via Glip, and then Workato would grab those images and automatically put them on the correct work orders in ServiceMax,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Streamlining the Employee Timecard Experience with TSheets<\/h2>\n
Workato has also proved invaluable to BEC when it comes to automating back-office processes like time tracking and payroll.<\/p>\n
To track employees\u2019 work, BEC uses TSheets, which is a time and attendance software. Every job that the company schedules is identified by a unique code in TSheets, and employees use these codes to clock in and out of jobs. As the company took on more work, however, the number of codes grew to be unmanageable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorkers would get to the job code field in TSheets and have to scroll through thousands of job codes in order to clock in and out of the right job,\u201d Coutu notes. \u201cThen they would still have to complete some manual steps at the end of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Workers would go through this tedious process several times a day, for every single job on their schedules. \u201cIt would take an employee five minutes just to scroll through the job list,\u201d he recalls. \u201cSo we wanted to narrow the list down to just the roughly 35 jobs a worker might have on their schedule on any given week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using Workato, the company was able to correlate each TSheets job code with the correct work order in ServiceMax and apply logic to sort them based on their status.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can account for whether a job has been assigned to somebody, for example, or whether it\u2019s been invoiced,\u201d Coutu explains. \u201cNot only can we remove old codes based on their completed status in ServiceMax, but we can also make sure that employees see only the codes that they need based on their weekly schedule. So now we have fewer codes overall\u2014about 200\u2014but each employee only sees the 30 that they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coutu credits this integration with saving BEC\u2019s workers a lot of time and decreasing the chance that an employee will clock into the wrong job. \u201cIt saves program managers 10-15 minutes every day on time and attendance,\u201d he estimates.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"RingCentral](\"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Untitled-design-7.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
Integrating TSheets with ServiceMax, BambooHR, QuickBooks, and Project Management Software<\/h3>\n
Workato has also improved other business processes because information from TSheets can now be pushed directly into other apps. \u201cWe\u2019ve integrated TSheets with ServiceMax, BambooHR, QuickBooks, and project management software,\u201d he says. \u201cWe used to have a lot of payroll paperwork, for example, but now we can just push TSheets data into both ServiceMax and BambooHR using Workato.\u201d<\/p>\n
The workflows allow the company to assess and estimate costs more accurately\u2014which directly affects payroll and overall efficiency. \u201cWe\u2019re able to do better job costing because we know how long a person is working on an individual job, whereas before it was just so cumbersome,\u201d Coutu continues.<\/p>\n
Giving Employees a Cohesive Schedule View from ServiceMax<\/h3>\n
Coutu is also working to integrate TSheet\u2019s new scheduling tool with employee schedules in ServiceMax. He says the integration will further enhance the employee experience by making information available from one place. \u201cIt will give people the ability to see information in ServiceMax that they otherwise wouldn’t have,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
Automating Invoicing for 66% Faster Billing<\/h2>\n
A huge aspect of BEC\u2019s back office is billing and invoicing. Prior to Workato, these were mostly done manually. \u201cAll the paperwork was done by hand,\u201d Coutu remarks, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t necessarily a bad system, but at the end of the day, it was all done on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
That, he explains, made the entire process very slow. \u201cWhen I first started at BEC, the invoice process took several weeks, even for small service jobs\u201d he recalls. \u201cTechs would complete the job, get back to the office, fill out their timesheets and bill of materials, and put those papers in a folder. Then a mid-level manager would grab it, compile it, put the information into QuickBooks<\/a>, and send out an invoice. It was not unusual for the entire process to take weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
To solve this problem, Coutu created an automated workflow that connects ServiceMax and QuickBooks. He also has a Workato integration between TSheets and ServiceMax to put timesheet information in ServiceMax (mentioned in the previous section). Now, when a job is marked as completed in ServiceMax, Workato will automatically create an invoice in QuickBooks using data from management input, employee interactions, and the time and attendance software.<\/p>\n
Not only does this workflow eliminate a lot of manual data entry, but it also means the company\u2019s cash flow is more reliable. \u201cQuickBooks doesn\u2019t have a native integration<\/a> with Salesforce, so it used to take us three to four weeks to bill a customer,\u201d he says. \u201cWith Workato, we now go from the initial call to billing within a few days. That translates into revenue coming in faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Empowering Agile Integrations At Scale<\/h2>\n
One of the biggest benefits of Workato, Coutu says, is that it enables a smaller IT team to better serve the business. \u201cAs the head of IT, I am the CRM admin. I am the database administrator. I also spend 10-15% of my time in the field on a weekly basis as well. So I’m not a full-time IT person, but I am the full-time IT department,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an IT person, you need tools to make your life easier; you have limited resources. Whether it’s something simple like QuickBooks or something complicated like Salesforce, the only way you can leverage your apps properly is to use a platform like Workato. With Workato, I can create integrations that I can’t custom code\u2014either because I lack the skill or the resources. Workato allows me to make the user experience better for our employees and our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also credits Workato with giving him peace of mind as the company scales and adopts new apps. \u201cWe know if we have two applications that don’t talk well to each other, I can just stick Workato in the middle and make them communicate more easily,\u201d he comments.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Workato saves BEC a lot of time and money by eliminating duplicate work. \u201cBy bridging these gaps between our apps, Workato saves a lot of time and money,\u201d Coutu comments. \u201cThe only way to avoid errors and not repeat work is to use a tool like Workato.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decreasing Labor Costs by 20%\u2014With No Change in Profits<\/h2>\n
Most impressive, however, was how automation and integration have affected the company\u2019s profitability. Coutu estimates that in 2017, profits remained stable despite a 20% reduction in labor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would estimate that we make all of our employees 10-15% more efficient, based on the software that we have in place,\u201d he comments.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Coutu sees Workato as a key part of BEC\u2019s mission to run a truly digital-first organization\u2014for customers and<\/i> employees. \u201cAs the Head of IT, I\u2019m using software, technology, and infrastructure to make other people’s lives easier,\u201d he says. \u201cIf employees or customers need me to solve a problem that is very complex or that I don\u2019t have the resources to solve, Workato helps me simplify the process and resolve them faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ready to transform your business into a digital-first company? <\/i>Speak with an integration and automation advisor today ><\/i><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n