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Ultra Tool & Manufacturing: From Old to Cloud Gold

Ultra Tool & Manufacturing migrates from a legacy ShoreTel system to 8x8 — cutting maintenance burden and connecting a distributed workforce on a single cloud platform

The Challenge

Ultra Tool & Manufacturing was running an aging ShoreTel on-premise phone system that had become difficult and costly to maintain — and couldn't support a workforce that had moved to a hybrid model.

The Solution

CTPros assessed Ultra's environment, guided the platform selection process, and executed the full migration to 8x8 — handling every detail so Ultra's internal team didn't have to manage the vendor relationship.

About Ultra Tool & Manufacturing

Ultra Tool & Manufacturing has been engineering precision cutting tools since 1969. Headquartered in Germantown, Wisconsin, the company employs 125 distributed and in-office team members and has earned recognition for manufacturing excellence, including the PMA Award for Excellence in Manufacturing. Their commitment to modern manufacturing technology extends across every part of the business.

An Aging ShoreTel System Throws a Wrench in the Plan

For a company that prides itself on staying at the cutting edge of manufacturing technology, running a legacy on-premise phone system had become an uncomfortable contradiction. Joe Kletch, Ultra's IT and network consultant of nineteen years, found himself spending a growing amount of time trying to source hardware and locate qualified technicians to keep the aging ShoreTel system operational. Maintenance had become a frustration rather than a routine — and the system was no longer fit for where the business was headed.

The workforce had already partially moved to a hybrid model, with part of the team working from home. The on-premise system couldn't follow them. Ultra employees were using Microsoft Teams for collaboration, but Teams' telephony options weren't the right answer — Joe knew the company needed a purpose-built cloud communications platform that could support every team member regardless of where they worked.

The decision was clear. What Ultra needed was a partner they could trust to guide them through the transition without disrupting the business in the process.

CTPros Finds the Right Cloud Platform — and Handles Everything That Comes With It

Joe connected with CTPros, Ultra's long-standing communications partner, to get the process started. CTPros' Enterprise Consultant and Solution Architect teams conducted a thorough needs assessment, then put together a comprehensive executive summary covering platform options, pricing, and features. From there, CTPros scheduled customized vendor demos so Ultra's management team could compare the recommended platforms directly. Based on its user-intuitive functionality and pricing, the team selected 8x8.

With the platform selected, CTPros' Technical Account Management team took over and mapped out the full migration plan — building out the timeline, scheduling weekly review meetings with Ultra so the team was informed at every step, and delivering customized user training before go-live so staff could adopt the new system without disruption. On migration day, CTPros executed the implementation directly. Joe didn't have to manage the vendor relationship — by design. As Joe put it, the most helpful part of the entire process was having CTPros handle every detail with 8x8. His only contact with the vendor was during the initial sales process.

Ultra Tool Steps Every Aspect of the Business Into Modern Technology

The move to 8x8 delivered across the board. Without the burden of dedicated physical space for hardware and the recurring time Joe had spent managing maintenance and repair on the legacy system, costs came down and IT capacity opened up — freeing Joe to focus on other initiatives rather than keeping aging infrastructure running.

The system works equally well for the whole team, whether they're on the manufacturing floor or working remotely. Staff have adopted SMS texting particularly quickly — many manufacturing floor team members prefer it over voice calls and email, and the new platform supports that without any extra setup. For managers, the shift away from giving out personal numbers is a meaningful change: 8x8 gives them a work number they can use on their own device through the app, so everyone stays reachable without blurring the line between work and personal contact.

Joe has also signaled his intent to enroll in a CloudCare post-implementation support package with CTPros — recognizing that leveraging CTPros' ongoing expertise is a more efficient approach than managing the cloud communications environment internally. The migration is complete. The partnership continues.

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