Skagit Valley Food Co-op

Originally operated out of a church basement, the Skagit Valley Food Co-op facility now occupies half of a city block with an adjacent space for food production. The co-op has used Mitel MiVoice Office 250 with a primary rate interface (PRI) connection and T1 phone line since 2014.

To best serve its community, the Skagit Valley Food Co-op needed a stable, reliable system for the 55 phones in the building. This became critical to front-line operations during COVID-19 when the co-op needed to communicate with customers about curbside orders and frequently updated hours.

The Skagit Valley Food Co-op prioritizes having a phone system that “just works,” and their on-site Mitel server delivers. In use for almost a decade, the same server has outlasted all others in the building. It’s been so reliable that the hard-wired internal systems remained up and running even when a fire down the block took out the external internet and phone connections. 

When COVID-19 struck, consistent communication became even more central to the co-op’s daily operations. Curbside grocery pickup required efficient call handling, and phone messages needed to be updated often with in-store hours and policies. 

Mitel InAttend became a lifesaver during the pandemic, helping co-op workers manage high call volumes through auto-attendant and queue management features. Because the server was tied into copper T1 phone lines, every connection was clear and high-quality. 

Management could quickly call in to change the central message, informing customers about things like mask mandates or hours reserved for at-risk shoppers. Auto forwarding ensured the store’s few remote employees didn’t miss off-site communications. 

Now that things have settled into a new normal at the Skagit Valley Food Co-op, they’re focused on the future. It includes expanding food production to a facility next door and continuing to serve its customers with reliable Mitel communications.