Captel
Visionary Communication for the Hearing-Impaired
“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.
Milwaukee, WI
Client since
2017
119,063
Square Feet
$2.4M
Project Value
Services Offered
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.