Bergfreunde is an online retailer for mountaineering and outdoor equipment, serving customers across Europe.
With a focus on providing high-quality products and a seamless shopping experience, Bergfreunde has established itself as a trusted name in the outdoor gear and adventure market.
Their team of over 700 employees is dedicated to helping customers enjoy their time outdoors by offering expert advice, fast delivery, and excellent customer service.
Challenges
Before adopting babelforce, Bergfreunde’s customer service team was constrained by a rigid and outdated telephony system.
A great many tasks required Bergefreunde to submit a support request to the provider…and wait for up to a week.
As Carlo Hefner, CS Application Manager at Bergfreunde, explains, “We couldn’t make even the smallest changes ourselves. If we needed to switch off a specific line, we had to shut down the entire queue. It was incredibly frustrating.”
Bergfreunde’s previous system lacked flexibility, limiting their ability to adjust to high demand or efficiently manage call volumes.
The retailer’s reputation for fast and reliable delivery makes it essential for the customer service team to be instantly responsive in the event of any kind of disruption.
The old system couldn’t provide this, and actually made matters worse with rigid capacity restrictions. “We had a limit of around 100 active calls, and if we exceeded that, the system simply couldn’t handle it. The rest of the company was using the same system, so no one else could use the phones either,” says Carlo.
Instead of addressing these issues, the old provider would announce inconsequential features as if they were major improvements. “We expected more in terms of system capabilities,” says Carlo. “That’s when we decided it was time to explore better options.”
Solutions
After evaluating a few providers, it was clear that babelforce offered the right balance between simplicity and customization. “Other systems were either too simple or required programming knowledge. babelforce gave us control without us needing to use code or become software developers.”
Results
The Benefits:
- Smarter Technology and Industry-leading Customer Service
- Common-sense Call Routing and Operational Efficiency
Since implementing babelforce, Bergfreunde’s customer service operations have seen dramatic improvements in call routing efficiency and overall flexibility.
Before babelforce, handling calls across multiple languages was a challenge. For instance, if their French language service was at capacity, all incoming French calls would be disconnected.
With babelforce, they can offer a number of alternative service options, like redirecting customers to an English-speaking agent when needed.
“We no longer have to leave customers waiting or unable to connect because an agent is unavailable,” says Carlo. “Now, we can quickly adapt to any situation. The best part is, I can manage all these changes myself in real time.”
This new flexibility allows Bergfreunde to better handle fluctuations in call volumes, especially during peak periods. Whether it’s a logistics issue or an unexpected surge in orders, babelforce enables Carlo and his team to respond immediately, adjusting call flows to maintain smooth operations.
“In the past, I’d have to ask someone to make the changes, and it could take days. Now, I have the control to react instantly, which is a huge advantage for us,” says Carlo.
This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of babelforce – View the Original Article
For more information about babelforce - visit the babelforce Website
About babelforce
babelforce is the composable customer experience platform uniting agents and automation.
Our platform gives you the power to create the customer experiences you’ve always wanted, with tools anyone can use. Find out more about babelforce
Author: babelforce
Reviewed by: Rachael Trickey
Published On: 8th Jul 2025
Read more about - Industry News, babelforce, Case Studies
