Overview:
For Chris Ryser, owner of Home Systems by Design Hawaii, business growth came with a challenge he hadn’t anticipated: his personal phone became the central hub for all client communication.
Chris operates in Hawaii, specializing in smart home installations, high-end home theaters, and custom AV solutions. Over 16 years, Chris built a thriving reputation for quality and reliability.
But as his business scaled, keeping up with client calls, texts, and emails became overwhelming.
Every client request, scheduling change, and job update came through his personal iPhone, making it impossible to unplug—even for a vacation.
“I was running the business entirely off my iPhone. Clients would text, call, or email me directly, and there was no separation between my work and personal life. When I’d finally sit down at the end of the day, my phone would still be buzzing with messages. It became a huge bottleneck.” – Chris Ryser, Owner of Home Systems by Design
Chris needed a way to separate business messaging from personal communication while ensuring seamless coordination between his office manager, technicians, and clients.
Challenges: Business Growth Led to Communication Overload
For years, Chris handled every client inquiry, scheduling request, and project update personally through his iPhone. But with seven trucks on the road and multiple technicians handling jobs, this system became unsustainable.
Key Challenges:
- Overwhelming message volume—Clients would text and call at all hours, making it impossible for Chris to step away.
- No way to delegate conversations—Chris had to relay every message between his technicians and clients manually.
- Delayed responses—If he was busy at a job site, Chris’s messages piled up, frustrating customers and his team.
- Lack of message scheduling—Chris often worked late at night but didn’t want to send texts to clients at 11:30 PM.
- Missed communication handoffs—There was no easy way for technicians to access the conversation history before arriving at a job site.
“I’d be out working on an install, my phone in my pocket, just buzzing like crazy. But I couldn’t answer because I was in the middle of a job. By the time I got back to my truck, I’d have dozens of unread messages—some from clients needing to reschedule, some from new business inquiries, some from my team asking for details. It was chaos.” – Chris Ryser
To scale efficiently, Chris needed a way to:
- Keep business texts off his personal phone
- Ensure clients could reach his team, not just him
- Streamline communication between technicians, office staff, and clients
- Automate and schedule key messages
Solution: MessageDesk + RingCentral for a Fully Integrated Business Messaging System
After struggling with Verizon’s VoIP solution, Chris began searching for a better communication platform.
“We tried Verizon’s business VoIP setup. It was a nightmare. They shipped me three phones, but they couldn’t make them work. Meanwhile, my existing phone number was down for a full business day, and I was getting emails from customers saying, ‘Chris, your number is disconnected.’ That was the final straw.” – Chris Ryser
Chris tasked his office manager with helping him research alternatives. That’s when they discovered MessageDesk.
How MessageDesk Helped:
- MessageDesk text-enabled Home Systems by Design’s existing RingCentral number—Allowing clients to continue using the same number they already knew.
- With a shared team inbox, Chris’s office manager and technicians could now monitor and respond to client messages in real-time.
- Chris could now draft and schedule messages at night to send in the morning at 7:30 AM.
- Conversation handoffs become seamless. If a technician needed to take over a client conversation, they could see the full message history in MessageDesk and jump in seamlessly.
- MessageDesk’s integration with RingCentral ensured business calls and texts were handled separately from Chris’s personal phone.
“This has been a game-changer. I can now set up messages ahead of time so clients would get the updates first thing in the morning. No more worrying about accidentally waking someone up at midnight with a text.” – Chris Ryser
Another major improvement? Clients noticed the difference in service quality.
“I had a client tell me, ‘I don’t know what you guys changed, but it just feels like everything runs smoother now. Recently, I messaged your company number and within minutes, your technician was already on the way.’ That’s because my team sees the message quickly and can respond before I even have to touch my phone.” – Chris Ryser
Results: Chris Can Now Unplug While His Business Runs Smoothly
Since implementing MessageDesk, Chris has streamlined how his business communicates.
- No more personal phone overload—Chris can now take a real vacation without worrying about client texts piling up.
- Faster response times for customers—Clients get replies sometimes within minutes, improving their experience.
- More efficient team collaboration—Technicians no longer need to rely on Chris to relay messages; they can see client communication and respond directly, still keeping Chris in the loop.
- Streamlined workflow—Automated scheduling and message assignments mean no more last-minute scrambles.
“The first real test was when my wife and I took a two-week vacation to the mainland. I set everything up so my team could handle messages, and I barely had to check in. When we got back, my wife asked, ‘How much did you actually work?’ And the answer was: way less than I thought I would. That’s when I knew it worked.” – Chris Ryser
Looking Ahead: Enhancing Communication Further
Chris is excited about the future of MessageDesk, especially with new features in development.
What’s Next for Home Systems by Design:
- Group messaging support—Later versions of MessageDesk will allow Chris to message clients, property managers, and contractors in one thread.
- Enhanced iOS app—Further allowing technicians to manage messages while in the field.
- Using MessageDesk’s AI-powered auto-responses (Relays)—For quickly handling common client inquiries.