Intermedia for Retail

Individual store level:
At a single retail store, Intermedia helps streamline communication and improve employee engagement for associates and aids in staying connected with customers, even when things get busy on the floor. Calls are automatically routed to available team members, SMS can be used to confirm pickup orders or share loyalty promotions, and mobile apps let employees answer calls from anywhere using the store’s business number. AI Call Recap provides quick summaries of each interaction so staff can follow up with confidence, and Unite AI Assistant helps employees draft clear, professional customer messages without extra effort. These communication solutions ensure retail operations run smoothly and consistently at every touchpoint.

Distributed retail:
For retailers with multiple store locations, engagement needs to feel consistent across every store and channel. Intermedia’s contact center enables omnichannel retail communication—voice, SMS, chat, and email—so customers experience the same level of service wherever they shop. CRM integrations bring up customer profiles instantly, making it easier for store teams to personalize recommendations. And payment processing integrations allow customers to securely pay over the phone. On top of that, AI Recap and auto-generated call summaries ensure associates and supervisors can pick up right where a previous conversation left off, while AI Supervisor Assist provides managers with real-time oversight of sentiment and call topics across all stores. Together, these features streamline operations, automate follow-ups, and maintain high levels of customer and employee engagement.

Customer engagement also depends on how well the organization stays aligned internally. Intermedia’s retail communication software supports video conferencing, instant messaging, and file sharing to help regional managers, franchise owners, and store leaders stay in sync. A district manager can hold weekly video check-ins with store leaders, use AI Meeting Recap to capture action items, and share important updates instantly across regions. Franchise owners can collaborate on merchandising, promotions, or seasonal campaigns without needing to be on site, supporting stronger team communication and better execution.

Individual store level:
Even small retailers handle sensitive customer information, so Intermedia applies the same enterprise-grade protections across all customers. This includes end-to-end encryption (TLS in transit, AES-256 at rest), SOC 2 and ISO 27001–certified data centers with 24/7 monitoring, and compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and FCC CPNI. These measures safeguard calls, voicemails, SMS, and files so store owners can confidently serve customers without worrying about data breaches. Secure internal communications and team communication tools further protect private information across retail operations.

Distributed retail:
Larger retailers often integrate communications with payment systems and handle higher volumes of sensitive data. In these cases, Intermedia supports PCI-DSS compliance for payment-related interactions. Distributed retailers also benefit from centralized role-based access controls, regional data storage for compliance, and advanced AI capabilities such as Transcription Redaction, which automatically removes PHI, PCI, and PII from post-call transcripts. Together, these protections give multi-location retailers the security and compliance framework they need to scale confidently.

Individual store level:
At a single store, integrations are most impactful when they simplify day-to-day customer follow-up and reduce administrative work. Intermedia Unite connects with platforms like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and Microsoft 365, so associates can quickly see customer details during calls and log notes without extra effort. For a small shop that doesn’t use a CRM, Unite can still tie into Microsoft Outlook or Google Workspace to sync contacts and calendars, ensuring customer communications stay organized and accessible. This helps streamline workflows, support onboarding, and strengthen team communication at the individual store level.

Distributed retail:
Larger, multi-location retailers often need deeper integrations to unify communications across corporate, regional, and in-store operations. Intermedia Unite and Contact Center can be embedded directly into Microsoft Teams, providing employees the functionality needed to handle calls, meetings, and customer interactions inside the collaboration platform they already use every day. Contact Center also supports integration with payment processing systems to keep transactions secure and compliant, while its webchat feature can be customized to mimic the look and feel of a retailer’s website, providing customers with a seamless online engagement experience. For organizations managing complex customer journeys, these integrations ensure that both frontline staff and managers can communicate effectively without forcing employees to switch between multiple disconnected systems.

Individual store level:
For many single-location retailers, a full Contact Center may be more than they need at first. In these cases, Intermedia Unite provides advanced hunt groups for voice calls, ensuring customers reach someone live instead of bouncing between voicemails. Just as importantly, Unite includes company messaging — the ability for a store to send and receive text messages using its business phone number, with multiple employees assigned to respond. Think of it as hunt groups for texting: if a customer sends a message asking about store hours or an order status, any available staff member can reply from the shared number, keeping the interaction seamless and professional.

As an individual store grows, call volumes may increase and hold times may stretch too long. Or the owner might want visibility into how well staff are handling customer interactions. That’s when Contact Center becomes the right fit. It adds tools for measuring performance, recording calls, and generating AI-driven summaries and insights, helping a store manager coach staff and deliver a more consistent customer experience. Archiving is equally important for Unite or Contact Center as it preserves all internal and external communications so managers can resolve disputes, train new staff, or pick up customer conversations without missing a step. Together, these features help even a small store maintain consistency and protect its reputation.

Distributed retail:
At the multi-location level, Contact Center plays a much larger role in communication strategies. Beyond handling high volumes of inbound calls, retailers can use the platform to deliver automated outbound notifications via voice, text, and email. These aren’t one-way blasts — Intermedia enables two-way notifications, so customers can confirm, reschedule, or respond without starting a new conversation.

Unlike the short, five-digit codes that big brands often use for marketing blasts, Intermedia’s system uses regular 10-digit business phone numbers for texting. That means when a customer gets a message from you, it looks just like any other phone number they already know and trust — the same number they can call back if they want to. Because it feels personal and familiar, customers are much more likely to read the message and reply, whether it’s about a pickup reminder, a delivery update, or a promotion.

At the same time, Intermedia’s AI helps distributed teams stay sharp and consistent. AI Agent Assist gives employees quick access to real-time updates on product information or company policies during customer interactions, and the beta real-time version can suggest answers on the spot as conversations unfold. For managers, AI Supervisor Assist delivers real-time transcription, sentiment monitoring, and call topic summaries, giving them the ability to coach agents across multiple locations and ensure employee communication stays consistent at scale.

Individual store level:
For a single store, Intermedia Unite consolidates phones, SMS, meetings, and internal messaging into one simple platform. It also integrates with in-store A/V paging systems so staff can make announcements over speakers to call for assistance on the floor, notify customers about promotions, or alert employees in the back office. Another critical feature for retailers is archiving. Every call, voicemail, and text can be securely stored, which helps resolve disputes if a customer questions what was said, or if a staff member leaves, allowing new employees to pick up conversations without losing context. Together, these features ensure continuity, protect the store’s reputation, and ensure effective communication.

Distributed retail:
At the multi-location level, Unite builds on that same foundation but extends its impact across stores and regions. Microsoft Teams integration lets retailers that already use Microsoft 365 manage calls and meetings without leaving their existing workflows. Video conferencing and file sharing help managers, franchise owners, and corporate teams collaborate more effectively, whether they’re sharing company news, planning seasonal promotions, coordinating inventory, or reviewing performance. AI Meeting Recap then captures the highlights and action items from those meetings so no one misses a detail, while AI Call Recap ensures customer-facing staff can quickly follow up on inquiries across different stores. This combination of communication and AI-driven insights helps distributed retailers stay aligned and deliver a consistent customer experience no matter how many locations they operate.

Individual store level:
For a single retail location, Intermedia helps cut costs by consolidating multiple communication tools into one platform and communication app. Instead of paying for separate systems for phones, SMS, meetings, and archiving, Unite brings it all together with one provider. Because Unite runs on desktop and mobile apps, employees can use their own devices while still calling and texting customers from the store’s business number — eliminating the need for the store to purchase and maintain separate mobile phones for staff. Cloud-based phone service also means no on-premises PBX equipment or technician visits are required. On top of that, archiving helps avoid the costs of customer disputes or missed sales continuity, since call recordings, voicemails, and texts remain accessible even if staff turn over.

Distributed retail:
For multi-location retailers, the savings multiply. Managing communications centrally reduces IT overhead and eliminates duplicate vendor contracts across stores. AI-powered tools like Call Recap, Meeting Recap, and sentiment analysis reduce the manual work that slows down their staffbase, while archiving ensures consistency across locations without having to pay for third-party compliance or eDiscovery vendors. Contact Center also allows for more efficient staffing by using intelligent routing and real-time performance insights to handle higher volumes of customer interactions with fewer resources. Together, these efficiencies lower operational costs while improving the customer experience at scale.

Individual store level:
Even a single store benefits from the same enterprise-grade compliance framework as larger retailers. Intermedia is certified under ISO 27001, confirming its information security management practices meet international standards, and undergoes independent SOC 2 and SOC 3 audits to validate strong internal controls. Intermedia also aligns with major privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, and complies with FCC CPNI rules that protect customer communications data. Beyond certifications, built-in archiving helps stores preserve calls, texts, voicemails, and meetings, which is especially useful for resolving disputes or maintaining sales continuity if staff members leave.

Distributed retail:
For larger retailers, compliance requirements often expand to cover payment data and cross-location operations. Intermedia supports PCI-DSS compliance when integrated with payment processing systems, ensuring sensitive cardholder data is handled securely. Distributed retailers also benefit from centralized role-based access controls, regional data storage options for compliance, and archiving across every channel — voice, SMS, chat, and email — to support continuity, quality monitoring, and recordkeeping. This combination of certifications, privacy safeguards, and advanced data management helps multi-location retailers operate with confidence at scale.

Individual store level:
Even smaller stores often need to work remotely—whether it’s an owner handling calls from home or a manager following up after hours. Intermedia’s mobile and desktop apps, protected with two-factor authentication and encryption, make that possible. AI Call Recap ensures important details from customer calls aren’t missed and Unite AI Assistant helps remote staff write professional updates or replies without needing to be in the store as a frontline worker.

Distributed retail:
For larger retailers, Intermedia extends secure remote work capabilities across entire regions or national operations. Regional managers, support staff, and contact center agents can access the same tools as in-store employees, with role-based permissions ensuring they only see what’s appropriate for their role. AI Supervisor Assist enables real-time oversight of remote agents, while post-call transcription and redaction maintain compliance by capturing interactions securely while protecting sensitive customer data.