• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Broadwing Advisors
  • Services
  • Results
  • Insights
  • About
  • Contact Us

April 7, 2021 by

Captel

 Visionary Communication for the Hearing-Impaired

Captel Logo

“We love the personal relationship and that we can pick up the phone and talk right to a Broadwing team member on the other end when we need them.”

Ron Schultz -
VP, Ultratec

Expanding CapTel’s Impact Beyond Its Headquarters

The Challenge

Captioned telephone service CapTel wanted to expand beyond their Madison call center but needed help managing a project of such scope.

The Approach

Starting with the Milwaukee market, we identified locations that could accommodate CapTel’s specific needs. In addition, we negotiated with landlords and the city/state government on their behalf. 

The Results

We negotiated a below-market transaction on a space that fit CapTel’s requirements. Since then, we’ve helped CapTel expand into additional locations across three states.

Location

Milwaukee, WI

Client Since

Client since

2017

Square Feet

119,063

Square Feet

Project Value

$2.4M

Project Value

Services Offered

  • Strategic Real Estate Consulting
  • Tenant Advising & Representation

The Full Story

Supporting individuals with hearing loss, CapTel works like a normal telephone with one special feature; it shows the caller’s words on a bright display screen. This federally-funded program relies on CapTel’s call center employees, who transcribe conversations in real time. A number of years ago, the team at CapTel approached us looking to expand beyond their Madison-based call center in order to provide their captioned telephone service to more people.

Accommodating Specific Call Center Needs

The size of the call center CapTel hoped to open was unprecedented for the company, and since they had never managed a project of such large scope, our involvement was all the more critical. CapTel targeted Milwaukee for their new call center, because of the city’s vast employee pool. Almost 40% of CapTel’s call center employees were students, and they hoped to find a location near Marquette and UW-Milwaukee. 

We explored a variety of options in downtown Milwaukee, looking for a location that could accommodate a number of specific needs. The new space needed to accommodate multiple shifts over a 116-hour work week and have the following:

  • Safe, secure parking — especially in the evening 
  • After-hours HVAC and a backup generator
  • An efficient floor plan for a call center with training areas

Success in Milwaukee & Continued Expansion

After negotiating favorable parking leases with multiple landlords, we were able to complete a below-market transaction with attached parking in a safe, secure environment. We also helped CapTel negotiate city and state incentives to accommodate their much-needed service.

Since the Milwaukee project, we’ve assisted the organization with five additional expansion efforts in other areas of Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas. For these projects, we worked to find CapTel flexible locations that would allow room for growth. We’re looking forward to a continued partnership with this special organization offering a critical service to people with hearing impairment.

Back to tips & tricks
Phone (608) 661-7450 • Email: craig@broadwing-advisors.com
Copyright © 2020 • Broadwing Advisors, LLC
  • Services
  • Results
  • Insights
  • About
  • Contact Us