How a global company collaborates from a virtual office
www.namecheap.com

Ever tried buying a web domain for yourself or your business? If yes, then chances are that you’ve come across Namecheap - the 2nd largest domain retail registrar in the world. On a mission to make building a website accessible and affordable for everyone, the company offers services such as domain registration, web hosting, website builder, etc.

With 1200+ team members working from co-located and remote offices, Namecheap places a premium on enabling effective internal communication. And as an internet company, they have always been early adopters of technologies that help teams work better together.

Email worked for formal communication but it wasn’t great for extensive collaboration or real-time feedback. Video conferencing worked for quick meetings but wasn’t great for large groups. Differences in time zones made scheduling meetings a tricky affair, especially when team members were in opposite corners of the globe. HipChat worked for instant messaging but the team realised soon that they were using too many tools to achieve one goal.

Then, Namecheap switched to Flock.

Team chat plus a lot more

Namecheap uses Flock to cut down on the “transit time” in exchanging information so team members can move faster on projects and tasks. They use it to share each team member’s availability (presence) and list any priority tasks (customizable status) they are working on. This makes collaboration seamless, with team members looking up a colleague’s availability on Flock in a second rather than asking the dreaded “Hey, do you have a few minutes?” question a few times every day.

The Namecheap team is also a heavy user of Flock’s built-in productivity tools such as Shared To-dos and Reminders. This saves team members time wasted on juggling half a dozen different tools and allows them to track tasks and complete projects faster. They also love hosting quick video conferences within Flock to discuss ideas and share updates.

More fun and engaging

Previously, Namecheap used HipChat for instant messaging. It worked well but team members were still leaning on emails and going back to voice calls for follow-ups. Flock simplified and strengthened the teams’ communication by making collaboration more fun and engaging.

With the ability to chat via text, audio and video calls, share files, manage tasks - all in one place - team members found themselves having more effective conversations that led to action. Sergey, an engineer at Namecheap adds, "I can send text messages, have video calls, share files, add and control tasks, and create reminders. I can even send GIF by using keywords, which adds a bit of entertainment into communicating".

Not just users, even admins - the ones responsible for setting up and managing Flock for a team - find it easy to implement and get started with. Anna, a project manager at Namecheap, was part of the pilot group that set up Flock for the team and she says, "It was really easy & straightforward - the admin area also looks so intuitive! In addition to that, we've got the customer orientated Flock team with a high level of responsiveness - this is what makes the product unique and extremely useful."

A virtual office for a global team

With Flock, Namecheap has simplified its communication processes and made it easier for the team to work better together. And the ability to connect third-party business tools to Flock means that it brings together all their work in one place. The team even celebrates achievements via Flock!

Last September, Namecheap crossed 10 million domains under management - they are only the third registrar ever to achieve this! The company hosted contests and discussions in Flock channels, with hundreds of team members participating in them, to recognize and celebrate this milestone - across time zones, borders, and offices.

Ultimately, Flock helps Namecheap bring together a global team of people with varied areas of expertise, senses of humor, and cultural backgrounds - into a virtual office where working together is easy, fun and engaging. And it comes with advanced productivity tools built-in, so the team gets more work done in less.