Ms. Takigawa :

Noevir Group encompasses cosmetics, health food, and OTC pharmaceuticals businesses. Group companies include Noevir Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Noevir”) that manufactures and sells cosmetics and OTC pharmaceuticals, TOKIWA Pharmaceutical Corporation, and TOKIWA Medical Service in which operates a placement medicine sale, a unique pharmaceuticals sales system in Japan. As an Information System Department Director, I oversee all affiliated companies’ information systems.

 

Ms. Munezane :

My responsibilities as the manager of the Information System Department include management of all affiliated companies’ ID, server, and network. Also, I take charge of the selection and operation of systems and applications.

 

Mr. Murakami :

I work with my manager, Ms. Munezane, on server operation, and network management. I am also responsible for implementing various services, including LINE WORKS and its operational practices.

Ms. Takigawa :

Noevir’s products reach customers via corporate authorized selling agencies or housewife staff’s individual sales activities. Thus, Noevir’s sales representatives would oversee several distributors per branch and conduct sales support activities with phone calls and e-mails. However, the communication between distributors and sales representatives was often ineffective; many sales representatives were in dire need of a way to deliver information to several distributors at once. As a result, a request asking to authorize the use of LINE came to the Information System Department.

 

Sales staff provides the distributors with information on new product launch, training sessions, delivery dates, and inventory data. Conversely, distributors must report back their daily sales activities. With LINE, I could envision the seamless and more immediate communication. However, the risk of misdirecting messages that may contain confidential or personal information to the outsider was quite concerning.

Ms. Takigawa :

First, it began with a request from the salesperson of TOKIWA Medical Service. The salesperson asked the permission to make use of LINE to contact nationwide placement medicine sales customers. Hence, we adopted LINE WORKS for its chat interface that could safeguard our sensitive corporate data. Since LINE WORKS is easily accessible on PC, we can send long announcements from the head office at once too. Accordingly, TOKIWA Pharmaceuticals’ and Noevir sales employees began using LINE WORKS to contact distributors. Nowadays, more than 1000 people from the Sales, Information System and Management Department of the three aforementioned companies utilize LINE WORKS.

 

I think the advanced security and familiar user interface similar to LINE are the most appealing aspects of LINE WORKS. Indeed, getting rid of the need to train many midway sales team joiners is a great advantage. Moreover, we expected that even the partnered distributors with high age range could benefit from LINE WORKS’ external messenger connection feature. In fact, we believed that the distributors could experience improved communication with our sales representatives since they know how to utilize LINE already.

Ms. Munezane :

Initially, we used to write and distribute manuals or hold a briefing session when introducing a new tool – LINE WORKS never needed them. Even after the implementation, only a few employees had inquiries about usage. LINE WORKS is the first tool to integrate into our company system so seamlessly.

Ms. Takigawa :

We make sure to instruct sales representatives not to leak the personal information and that every conversation that took place via LINE connection will leave log data.

 

Mr. Murakami :

We can guarantee security by preventing employees from sending executable files with the LINE WORKS admin feature.

Ms. Takigawa :

Group chat feature became the inseparable communication tool to Noevir sales representatives. Initially, the function could not be interconnected with LINE, but over time it became available with updates. We are thankful for how it allows a number of our employees to exchange information at any time; this is crucial as sales representatives must interact with various distributors and groups, such as specific event participants. Previously, sales staff had to call or send e-mails to each distributor individually; only after connecting with LINE did LINE WORKS become the primary communication tool to sales representatives. Now sales employees can create group chats based on different purposes and invite the right people without any limitations. Furthermore, they can conveniently handle tasks with flexibility by sending information at once in the group chats.

 

Mr. Murakami :

Sales employees can send Excel, Word, and PDF files with LINE WORKS. Now sending various business data is easily accessible.

 

Ms. Takigawa :

In addition to cosmetics, Noevir runs apparel and underwear businesses. Therefore, we use LINE WORKS to inform new products to distributors and retailers by sending sample images or explanation videos made by sales representatives in group chats.

 

Ms. Munezane :

In the past, the Information Systems Department used to deliver system failure or update notices to all group companies via e-mail. After implementing LINE WORKS, we post such information on home boards. Most of the employees check home postings faster than e-mails; hence, we make announcements that need to be delivered swiftly and surely on home boards.

Ms. Takigawa :

Initially, LINE WORKS was selected primarily as a means for the sales force to communicate closely with customers and distributors. However, now it functions as a convenient platform that bridges communication among all affiliated companies even more so than the existing groupware.

Mr. Murakami

The Information System Department needs to manage all accounts of affiliated companies. We use the LINE WORKS API and ETL tool’s DataSpider※ to acquire HR info in the form of CSV data automatically. The system deletes the LINE WORKS accounts of retirees and members on leave by itself; it also sends issued accounts to new employees through e-mail. As there is no need to manage each account manually, it helps to streamline work procedures effectively.

Ms. Takigawa :

Currently, we are using LINE WORKS in combination with the existing groupware. However, in the future, we plan to use it as the primary communication tool to support busy sales staff by connecting with various systems and better take advantage of its convenience. We are reviewing whether we can communicate and check work-related info immediately and securely only using LINE WORKS all over the group companies.

 

One of the attempts is to implement a Help Desk Chatbot related to PCs utilized in the office. Sales representatives frequently work outside and cannot contact the helpdesk in case of desk absence. As a result, I would like to establish an automatic response Chatbot for simple inquiries. In the future, I want to develop a hub to connect to various applications. If we can consolidate different systems’ UI into LINE WORKS as a single platform, it would boost the productivity of our sales teams.

 

Ms. Munezane :

Ms. Munezane: We are considering whether it would be possible to replace manual writing of daybook, using existing company groupware, with LINE WORKS voice input system outside the office. Though we are already supporting our employees by giving them access to connect with smartphones, we would like to significantly improve their work efficiency by facilitating more comfortable and faster ways to input info. LINE WORKS is equipped with various functions in addition to voice input, and therefore, we would like to increase the applied uses within all group companies.

 

※DataSpider…ETL tool that connects data between different systems without programming

 

 

※All details, affiliations, and positions specified were gathered at the time of interview.

Mr. Edagawa:

Our company provides Toyota car sales and related services by operating 20 new car, 6 U-Car, and 1 LEXUS sales stores within Tochigi Prefecture. As the General Administration and Human Resources Development team manager, my responsibilities include talent recruitment and training, system selection, and operation maintenance.

Ms. Amagai:

My role in General Administration and Human Resources Development team is to manage personnel affairs and LINE WORKS operations.

 

Ms. Ishikawa:

I am responsible for customer response and new car sales related business at the Yokota store, established within the head office.

 

Ms. Takezawa:

I also work at the Yokota store, mainly responsible for new car sales.

Mr. Edagawa:

There were issues with disseminating information from the head office to sales offices effectively. We used to post notifications via the company’s internal portal. Since not all of the employees had access to the company’s PC or e-mail, the delivery process was often slow or faulted. Therefore, we felt the need to implement a better communication tool to deliver our announcements in a timely and accurate manner to all employees.

 

Recently, sales representatives have been individually responding to customers through LINE to meet the increasing demands. However, I felt uneasy thinking whether LINE would enable our representatives to contact customers without compromising security and going against the company’s management regime.

 

Ms. Hitomi:

Before introducing LINE WORKS, we wasted so much time trying to communicate with just fixed-line phone and fax. As a result, I wanted to add new means of communication to improve the situation and to promote Paperless ways.

Mr. Edagawa :

We paid attention to LINE WORKS as a tool that facilitates much-needed communications for work and connects to customers’ LINE securely. Thus, we began by conducting an employee survey and free testing at head quarter’s Management Department and Yokota store. The result indicated that LINE WORKS was easy-to-use and can solve various problems that we were experiencing at the time.

 

Ms. Hitomi:

After selecting LINE WORKS, we distributed user manuals suitable for potential work situations to the head office and all sales stores. We were able to roll out LINE WORKS promptly and effortlessly, even more so than our expectation, as it has a similar user interface with LINE. The employees welcomed the concept of ‘Business version of LINE.’ After the employees adapted to using LINE WORKS, we actively utilized surveys and suggested use examples to promote the use further.

Ms. Ishikawa:

Before LINE WORKS, sales representatives out on the field could not be informed immediately about the information from the clients or head office that came in during their desk absence. People who were briefed on behalf would leave the memo on the desk, and the sales representatives can only access them once they return to the office.

 

Fortunately, with LINE WORKS, employees can dispatch information immediately and reliably through chat features. Moreover, employees do not have to worry about whether the person in absence got the info with the message acknowledgment feature.

 Ms. Takezawa:

Customers who wish to contact me via LINE can add me by using the QR code on my business card. With the external messenger connection feature, I can communicate with customers in a digitally secure environment. Also, customer support became more convenient since the majority of relatively young working-age generation prefers to communicate with LINE. For instance, I could not specify the address that the customer designated and asked for more information with LINE. Then the customer immediately sent me a map with the exact location. It is one of the examples of how a seamless response happens without waiting for the other person to call or wasting customer time.

Mr. Edagawa:

Instant messaging, e-mail and home features allow us to deliver the information from head office real-time and accurately. In-house portal, which was not available to all employees, was replaced by LINE WORKS home, and LINE WORKS mail integrated internal and external e-mail systems into one. In conclusion, the overall burden of managing software diminished significantly as previously dispersed calendar, facility reservation, and e-mail features have merged into one application: LINE WORKS.

 

One of our primary considerations was finding reliable software to confirm our employees’ safety in case of an emergency. However, the LINE WORKS survey feature enabled us to achieve the desired outcome without an additional fee – we can now check on our employees’ safety at ease.

 

Ms. Hitomi:

Form is a very convenient feature; we use it to manage in-house event attendances and various internal polls. It is also used for the company’s unique operations by connecting the pay system with data and managerial positions with non-managerial employees, who are unlikely to face each other on a regular basis.

 

Prior to introducing LINE WORKS, the much-needed process of collecting and sending all employees’ responses included using in-house mail delivery and fax. In this sense, the time spent and the workload was quite considerable. LINE WORKS Form promoted Paperless ways and gave a positive impact on response rate and speed: the Form can be delivered directly to each employee and answered using smartphones. The Form system also shows answer results, which allows us to check the progress rate; this then minimized the need to collect and count answers separately. With LINE WORKS, we could optimize workflows, automate simple procedures, and thus experience a noticeable improvement in work efficiency.

 

We are currently blooming with ideas and therefore researching ways to improve work efficiency thanks to the various features of LINE WORKS. Improvements in work efficiency are quite visible and already yielding practical outcomes. We would like to continue incorporating the use of LINE WORKS features into daily business operations.

Mr. Edagawa:

We are considering whether we can utilize the PC version of a group call feature for manager meetings. I am aware that the feature is currently at a beta stage, but it is a great advantage to have video conferences without introducing any additional software.

 

Ms. Hitomi:

LINE WORKS enable employees to get work done regardless of the location. Therefore, we will consider using it as a backbone to Teleworking in the future.

 

 

※ All details, affiliations, and positions specified were gathered at the time of interview.

Mr. Okada :

Our group deals with various businesses related to self-realization and self-investment. However, we focus on operating a private gym called RIZAP, created mainly for healthy body make-up. RIZAP is an exclusive customer service that helps customers design a concrete plan and reach out to their own dreams. As director of the Business Infra. Headquarters, I am in charge of utilizing technology or IT for business efficiency enhancement, and construct EC or distribution systems in order to increase the synergy of the group.

 

Mr. Arai :

As a supervisor of RIZAP, I am in charge of improving customer satisfaction within the region, distributing the success stories of each store nationwide, and universalizing successful business performance across the country. Because I am in charge of store environment as well as employee counselling, I am overwhelmingly working more on-site than those from headquarters.

– Mr. Okada :

I first joined the company in 2016. I was impressed from the very beginning with the fact that communication among employees were happening in a fairly active manner, without holding any barriers within departments. It was natural to see employees freely participating in table discussion. Also, there were a number of joint-events among departments. In spite of such pro-communicative environment, however, there was no tool for communication.

 

The primary means of communication were phone calls and emails. Using emails however, made it difficult for us to contact one another in real-time and response to phone calls during meetings was almost impossible. This motivated us to think about introducing a new tool that helps sustain the current company atmosphere, which employees comfortably communicate with one another.

Mr. Okada :

In order to create an environment which employees could easily gather up, we urgently held inspection on cloud system, and re-inspection on networks. This led us to introduce LINE WORKS to the company. Our first and foremost goal was to create a system that everyone is willing to use, without being stressed out. Since LINE WORKS has an interface that is similar to LINE, a communication tool generally used by the employees, we determined that we could expect a smooth transition in the perspective of operations expansion and stabilization.

 

We had a notion that, once the tool is introduced, it is important that all the employees actually use the tool. At the same time, however, we thought that it is old-fashioned if we have to train each employee with its usage. We figured out that LINE WORKS, a similar tool to popular LINE Messenger, would be a perfect choice for us.

 

Mr. Arai :

I use LINE WORKS when contacting with managers of each store. I believe that sharing information is important in terms of reinforcing the motivation of all employees. We are encouraging all employees to share their success stories or the issues that need to be improved. We are also encouraging store managers to actively share their opinions with another. We used to share information using bulletin board and emails in the past. However, as LINE WORKS allowed all the employees to deliver their message effectively, sharing is now extremely efficiently and conveniently held.

Mr. Okada :

The thing that changed the most is speed. At our company, each employee is in charge of multiple duties at once. For this reason, when employees have idea, they need to quickly share the information and come with a conclusion. And LINE WORKS is incredibly suitable for keeping up with this speed of operation. Neither writing long paragraphs in your emails nor spending additional time forwarding them to other people is necessary. LINE WORKS even allows us to reply with stickers.

 

I hope that all the employees to take each part in projects and produce result. With LINE WORKS Groups feature, which made for each project, allows employees to freely communicate with one another, while reducing the possibilities of omitting information that must be delivered. The group chat function increased the opportunities for employees to share not only the work-related information, but also other information with one another, it has produced positive results in a sense that employees have gained interest in work itself.

Mr. Arai :

With the introduction of LINE WORKS, relationship between employees have improved, which led us to establish a system that enable us to share more information with one another. We must always be on the edge of innovation for our consumers. And the key to this innovative movement can be made through information sharing and flexible communication. Since all the employees carry such mindset, this resulted in natural and equal relationships among the employees in the company. Without doubt, LINE WORKS played a powerful role help making smooth transition to create such atmosphere.

Mr. Okada :

The most important part when introducing a new groupware is to actually use it and increase its efficiency. A communication tool, especially, cannot be used efficiently if there is one person who is not using it. However, LINE WORKS was smooth sailing all the way. Employees began to use LINE WORKS from the very first day of its introduction, and we found it joyful as we are being able to use it all together.

 

The most important thing to consider is that communication become much more important as company grows. Even small issues can hinder productivity of entire company. I feel that preventing such hindrance is something that the business system must aim for in the future.

Mr. Utsugi：

I am in charge of the company information system and IT infrastructure and oversee the planning and development of business systems, as well as management and operations.

 

Ms. Omiya：

As a buyer in charge of new projects and goods, I am in charge of inviting businesses and brands, as well as distribution strategies in new stores.

 

Ms. Kashima：

I am the buyer in charge of confectionery and development and design policy for store operation improvement, floor remodeling, and the two largest events of the confectionery market: Christmas and Valentine’s Day. I spend a lot of time outside the office to meet with business partners and inspect other store locations as well as competing stores.

Mr. Utsugi：

Some stores used the SNS bulletin function, but mainly, stores used emails and phone calls for communication. However, it took a significant amount of time replying to emails because some employees would be out of the office and would have to return to the office in order to reply. Furthermore, when we wanted to share photos, we needed to move the photos from the digital camera to the computer, which was very time consuming.

 

 

_{* Shadow IT : Use of devices or services by an employee, in addition to the company’s IT system.}

Ms. Omiya：

We mainly used emails to contact one another. Sometimes we waited until there was a meeting where all employees would attend to share information with one another. However, there was always the inconvenience including delay or omission of information.

Mr. Utsugi：

There are currently twenty-five employees of the Food Management Department, nine employees of the Information Systems Department and a total of fifty-seven employees are using LINE WORKS. Buyers also use LINE WORKS to share information in real-time. Specifically, they share new goods they found at the exhibits, conditions of retail stores while on business trips overseas, and display techniques of other company stores as future reference as well. The buyers also use the tool to share inspection results from business partner workshops.

 

The Information Systems Department use LINE WORKS for video conferences with stores in Sapporo, overseas, or other locations in distance. LINE WORKS is convenient because it allows us to have meetings without requiring any travel expenses.

 

Ms. Omiya：

I visit every new store that opens, but I also receive immediate customer visit reports from employees through LINE WORKS. Because it is important to acknowledge the number of customers visiting the store on the opening day, the employees share photos through LINE WORKS to report condition of the store. Like this, prompt information exchange plays a crucial role in terms of establishing company strategies.

 

We can share information about the new stores which are collected during local and overseas business trips. In addition to this, we can also share daily report of out-of-office duties. Sharing images while holding consultations with business partners has also become more convenient. Actually, there was a buyer who visited a store and found out that one specific product was out of stock. With LINE WORKS, thankfully, he could quickly inform another buyer in the office and solve the issue immediately.

Ms. Kashima：

LINE WORKS is convenient because we can also share information in real time when inspecting stores in local communities. Being able to share photos of progress with cases of remodeling enabled us to send and receive more accurate and detailed information. Furthermore, since I am in charge of confectionery, I made a group with those who are in charge of side dishes and we could share opinions with one another. In the sake of spreading motivation throughout the team members, we either share success stories or improvements that need to be made. At times, store managers even share their own opinions about the store.

Mr. Utsugi：

A buyer must grasp the ever-changing market trends and immediately reflect them in stores, and real-time communication through LINE WORKS has been a great help. Real-time sharing of information, as well, has increased business efficiency, and buyers can now focus better on their duties. Communication has also become much more dynamic as members are contacting one another using softer wordings than emails.

Ms. Kashima：

Compared to the previous times when we shared information with one another at meetings, the speed has grown significantly faster after using LINE WORKS. Real-time information sharing has led us to experience positive changes on-site. Moreover, LINE WORKS stickers also help make communication livelier while creating a brighter atmosphere. LINE WORKS is not only used as a means of contact, but also as a means to establish better communication and motivate one another. The fact that anyone can share opinions and ideas is also a positive change.

 

Mr. Sawato：

Based on our company philosophy “Walk with the Sun”, we import clothing and goods from nationwide and sell them online. With the aim of making the company atmosphere more actively, we are striving to make changes to our company.

 

Mr. Satoshi：

As a Product Distribution Dept. head of Traditional Goods Headquarters, I am in charge of general management on warehouse, goods, and employees as well as general affairs. The warehouse that I am managing deals with every stock from our company, and it is more than 25,000 SKU(Stock Keeping Unit). Currently, we have about 100 employees. They are divided into Loading and Shipping department. They load and ship a large number of commodities everyday.

 

Mr. Shinya：

As a local manager, I am in charge of branches located in Kanto, Shizouka, and Karuizawa. I spend half a month in stores and the other half at the headquarters.

 

Mr. Masami：

As a member of Information Systems Department, I am in charge of company and branch systems as well as LINE WORKS operation management.

Mr. Sawato：

Before introducing LINE WORKS, we have been utilizing phone calls, emails, and computer messenger software as a means of interoffice communication. Official communication was mainly held with emails. However, because the emails could only be checked with a computer installed at each branch, a lot of employees felt uncomfortable with email communication. For this reason, shadow IT, using personal accounts such as using LINE for business purpose, has become serious problem to us. While searching for a resolution to solve this problem, we found LINE WORKS.

 

Mr. Masami：

It is impossible for System Management Department to manage the communication held through LINE. Also, if retired employee is still remained in the chatting room, there is a high risk of sensitive information leakage. Moreover, it was troublesome to share LINE IDs every single time. LINE was convenient to use for personal use, but inconvenient for business purpose.

Mr. Satoshi：

Previously, we used computers installed on-site and PHS to either deliver instruction or contact the employees outside the office. At that time, if we were to deliver detailed instructions on site, we had to go to the computer or print out the instructions. Thinking back to those times, it was a situation with full of unnecessary steps. For example, if our customer wants to make choices among the goods available in various color or pattern options, we had to actually print the attached photos and deliver it to the site. For this reason, we were finding a solution to reduce such work burden.

Mr. Shinya：

Scheduling with colleagues was very hard. Because we could only check the schedule through computers at the headquarters, I had to communicate with them through LINE.

Mr. Sawato：

Our company culture is to share information regardless of positions and this corresponds with strengths of LINE WORKS. Up to this point, we have been using all different tools such as email, messenger, and schedule. For this reason, we have been also thinking of adopting an all-in-one service tool that can manage everything at once. In this sense, we felt that LINE WORKS is a perfect fit for us. Since employees are already familiar with LINE, we thought that LINE WORKS can also be used without struggling. And eventually, this can lead to an overall communication and business efficiency of our company. We started to utilize LINE WORKS at the moment of the introduction by renting out the smartphones to the employees. We are currently using about 230 IDs for full-time employees.

Mr. Masami：

LINE WORKS is used mostly to contact the leader in the warehouse. I am basically working in the office, so it is crucial to keep in touch with the leader and get an idea of what is going on at the field. Currently, we use a group chatting room to manage what instructions the leader is ordering to each field employee. From loading to shipping, depending on its process, there are about 10 groups have been created with LINE WORKS. Each group includes leader, headquarters sales representative, Store Innovation Department, and product development members as necessary.

Mr. Shinya：

Managing schedule became much comfortable. I often have to closely contact and affiliate with the 9 local managers, managers of each branch, and colleagues from Store Innovation Department as well as from other Departments. While doing so, I also have to implement the business. After the introduction of LINE WORKS, however, it is now possible to check others’ schedules, making it easier for me to figure out their conditions of the working schedule.

Mr. Masami：

The biggest change is that we get more opportunities to make judgements at the field than before. Walking inside the big warehouse means that there is increase in walking time. Therefore, it is important point not to walk as much as possible. When we have to find the goods from the warehouse, we no longer have to go back to our office, in which the computer is located, to find out the location of the goods. Instead, we can now check the location through LINE WORKS installed smartphones. And we think this is the biggest advantage of the tool as well. Furthermore, if problem occurs, we can not only check the result but also the situation as well as the background of the problem through LINE WORKS chatting. This enables us to make decisions for problem resolution faster than before.

 

Mr. Shinya：

I believe that it became comfortable in every aspect. Previously, it was hard to continue communication since I could not find out whether the recipient read the email or not. After the introduction of LINE WORKS, however, it evoked a feeling of speed along with the notion that I can deliver information to the recipient in a prompt manner. Therefore, I feel like as if all the employees are connected through LINE WORKS. Efficiency has also increased throughout the working process. When using emails in the past, if there was an issue which needed to be discussed within all the employees, it took about half a day to come up with the final decision. After the introduction, however, it took only about an hour. We can also handle the work while heading to the branch offices.

Mr. Sawato：

I always thought that the communication which everyone can talk freely about the issues is very important. As office communication has become active than before, both quality and quantity of the communication has also increased. It is because LINE WORKS was well matched with our company culture, which is everyone participates in the communication regardless of the positions.

 

I think it is very important to share their own ideas or meeting logs with others, instead of keeping them on their own. It is also a great advantage that LINE WORKS makes it possible for us to make such information sharing possible. Unlike phone calls, LINE WORKS enables sharing information at preferred time frame. With this, I believe that LINE WORKS will be the main tool, which replaces the phone calls near in the future.

Mr. Takeshi：

Our company is a welfare-related business that operated more than 200 nursing facilities and care homes in Saitama, Tokyo, and Kanagawa. I am at the business management department, which mainly focuses on operations management. In our company, there is a System Department and the main job is to manage company network maintenance, nursing fee charge, accounting system planning and management. ICT maintenance has just taken its first step. So, the president Miyazawa asked me to take charge of ICT related planning and implementation. For this reason, I am in charge of the introduction of LINE WORKS.

 

Mr. Kunio：

Our company is divided into three different headquarters, Saitama, Saikyo and Kanagawa. I am a member of the operations department of the Saikyo Headquarters. There are seven supervisors in the operations department and I work with them to manage about 70 offices in the Saikyo headquarters. Up to this point, we have been communicating mostly by phone or e-mail. There were some employees using their personal LINE accounts. But, due to security policy issues, the company did not recommend using LINE accounts. Whereas, LINE was convenient when you have to contact in a hurry. For this reason, I was worried that I could not ban LINE unconditionally. For example, if you call a sales representative, he or she will not be able to answer the call while that sales representative is driving or with a facility attendance. Even if I send an e-mail, I could not verify whether the receiver has read or not so information was not delivered smoothly. In addition, there were some misunderstandings in the process of one employee delivers a message to another employee like a relay. And sometimes information got lost in the middle so our task was to adapt communication tool that enabled accurate information sharing.

Mr. Takeshi：

Up to this point, we have been communicating mostly by phone or e-mail. There were some employees using their personal LINE accounts. But, due to security policy issues, the company did not recommend using LINE accounts. Whereas, LINE was convenient when you have to contact in a hurry. For this reason, I was worried that I could not ban LINE unconditionally. For example, if you call a sales representative, he or she will not be able to answer the call while that sales representative is driving or with a facility attendance. Even if I send an e-mail, I could not verify whether the receiver has read or not so information was not delivered smoothly. In addition, there were some misunderstandings in the process of one employee delivers a message to another employee like a relay. And sometimes information got lost in the middle so our task was to adapt communication tool that enabled accurate information sharing.

Mr. Yuichi：

The purpose of LINE WORKS was to provide candid communication between the superior and staff member. Employees can get close to someone who has been difficult to communicate with. Before joining ALSOK group, ‘Top-Down’ culture existed in our company because the founder was the CEO. In the nursing business, the most important thing is work done in the field. So, it is our job to listen to the field staffs and make the working condition better. But because I was in the manager position, which is difficult to find our information besides peripheral information. I wanted to hear the real voice on the field.

 

 

Mr. Takeshi：

While we were providing mobile phones and tablet computers to outside workers like headquarters, manager of headquarters, sales representative and supervisors, we changed mobile phones to smartphones in the fall of 2016. When I was thinking of adopting a more work-friendly chatting tool that can be easily used on smartphones, one of our telecommunications companies introduced LINE WORKS to me. I found this tool was originally made for the company and therefore, security features were well-established. This led me to feel assured about integrating LINE WORKS to our company.Moreover, this tool has the same UI with that of LINE. This implied that there would be no trouble in terms of availability. I made a decision to adopt LINE WORKS after having a conversation with President Miyazawa and we did not have to review the other chatting tools.

Mr. Takeshi：

As we prepared for the adoption, about five employees, including Mr. Miyazawa and I, used LINE WORKS first and checked manual or application methods. We prepared by organizing the order of use and etc. by the manual. About a month later, we introduced LINE WORKS to 95 employees. Once LINE WORKS fully introduced to employees, we encouraged employees with less activity on LINE WORKS to use more frequently. Employees who do not send messages first or in areas where it is unnecessary to keep in close contact, there may need to make urgent contact through LINE WORKS so it is It is important to encourage employees to understand the information in advance.

Mr. Takeshi：

Specific use cases for LINE WORKS are daily reporting, contact, and consultation related to work. I think more than 50 percent of the information that I have been sharing by phone or e-mail have been exchanged by LINE WORKS. Not only you can share your work progress at once, but also you can assure that you have confirmed it with ‘read’ sign on message even you did not get a reply. Because message com in text-form, other employees think they don’t have to take notes and this reduced simple verification errors.

 

Also, I like the fact that you can exchange small talk with LINE WORKS, which is hard to do with computer mail. I also find difficulty facing with my superior but the president Yuichi is actively using stickers in LINE WORKS in order to change the company’s communication in a casual direction.

 

We also created a group to share supplies. Up to this point, if a single business place had closed and generated large quantities of supplies that had to be disposed of, it had been disposed of as industrial waste. In contrast, if we opened a new business office, we were buying the supplies we needed each time. It was a cost-effective procedure for both the disposal and the purchase. But now on when we get supplies that we don’t need anymore, we post a message to our group chat room, ‘Is there any office needs these supplies?’ to confirm or ‘I’m looking for ○○’ to transfer supplies among business offices. You can attach a photo using LINE WORKS so it is easy to recognize color and size. We are saving at least 10% by eliminating almost no disposal.

Mr. Kunio：

The nursing field is open 24 hours and 365 days. According to the care insurance policy, the number of employees should be arranged according to the area of the facility or the number of tenants and if there is a vacancy, we need to get help from another facility to make up for it. LINE WORKS is very convenient to communicate in an urgent situation like that.

Mr. Kunio：

Nursing field often deals with confidential information like the residents’ personal information. There are things that residents can’t say over the phone because the people around them will be able to hear. Until now, residents have to meet the person in charge face to face in order to figure out what’s going on. After LINE WORKS was introduced, by using personal contact via chat room, it made easier to recognize a situation and instruct orders. ‘Human’ is the core of the nursing business operations so there are human-centered troubles occurred. LINE WORKS improves the precision of communication so it can enable detection and response at an early stage before troubles become more serious.

 

Mr. Takeshi：

The biggest effect is faster response speed in an emergency situation. A few days ago, we had an infection at one of our offices, and we created a group chatting room to deliver a necessary message to employees who needed to be contacted at once. The one-day response process, such as who would response in the field, preparation of necessary supplies, and checking the nurses’ response, was completed within 10 minutes using LINE WORKS.

Also, the operation of nursing facilities provides the residents an invisible time and space. Nursing staffs have responsibility for supporting residents in a communal life to have a smooth daily routine and for excluding any distraction as soon as possible. In another business perspective, when we have on-day contact related to facility tours or urgent issues from hospital or care managers, it is important to contact rapidly with sales department representatives because it directly related to company’s reliability and sales. With LINE WORKS, employees are able to get in touch and response faster than before.

Mr. Kurosawa :

After opening the first store called ‘Temomin’, which provides service with an affordable rate system of 1,000 yen per 10 minutes, the company is currently managing about 180 branches nationwide, with 6 different types. I am Director of this company and also General manager at the System Solution Department.

 

Mr. Ishi :

I work for both Financial Accounting Department and System Solution Department. I took part in LINE WORKS introduction this time.

Mr. Ishi :

When asking for support, we first checked the systemically shared reservation list of each branch. After that, we either sent emails or made phone calls to the branches we think available to support our branch. This way, however, was very much inefficient and took a lot of unnecessary time. For this reason, we were all thinking about other option to contact other branches other than this.

 

Mr. Kurosawa :

We have considered using the cloud-like systematic groupware, which headquarters staffs were using at the moment. We soon found out that it is impossible to expand its utilization up to company-wide due to its high cost. Other than groupware, we also considered chatting tools as well as SNS. However, those tools were imperfect in certain ways. Specifically, security as well as admin feature of those tools were unstable to implement it as the group communication tool. Even if we have decided to implement a new tool, we still worried about if it would be too difficult for us to introduce the tool to the employees. That is because we already have went through several experience in failing the introduction of communication tool since we have employees with low IT literacy.

Mr. Kurosawa :

After the introduction of LINE WORKS, we have been able to both receive the responses and coordinate the schedule within 5 minutes. What is noticeable is that the same process required 10 to 20 minutes to process in the past. Requesting for support is the most important for store management, and smoothness of its process is the biggest change made after the introduction of LINE WORKS. Along with the speed, LINE WORKS also broadened our communication range. In the past, the schedule coordination could only be held in between limited number of branches since we had to call each branch asking for the support.

Mr. Ishi :

As we are utilizing LINE WORKS, we could receive more reservations from our customers. As the chances of not getting the reservation have decreased, we believe that LINE WORKS has contributed to our company with regards to increase in customer satisfaction rate as well as increase in company revenue.

 

Mr. Kurosawa :

LINE WORKS is receiving positive opinion from the field staffs such as ‘it is easy to use’ and ‘it does not take as much time as email, and therefore, feeling comfortable using it’.

 

With LINE WORKS, sending ‘Okay’ to the communication partner is enough as a response. Because we can find out whether communication partner read the message or not through ‘Read’ notification, overall LINE WORKS communication can be held in much comfortable manner. We also think that communication within employees became much serious and valuable. After the introduction, we think that the chances of branch managers to communicate one another have also increased. As they can casually discuss about issues such as operational rules of the branches, the revenue goals of each region, or even about their personal condition and staff schedules, active information sharing is possible.

Mr. Kurosawa :

Such flawless introduction of LINE WORKS implies that field staffs were longing for the tool such as LINE WORKS. Although LINE WORKS is activated to only those branch managers for now, but we are planning to provide accounts to those staffs. With this, we are expecting active company communication near in the future.

 

Unlike email, which general communication atmosphere is formal and firm, LINE WORKS enables us to have friendly communication. Up until today, field employees could not raise up their voice for the idea and opinion.

 

Mr. Kazuhiro :

Because our company mainly focuses on sales, most of our employees are salesperson and work outside the office often. As contacting tools, the salesperson took cellphone, PC, as well as mobile Wi-Fi which needed when connecting to internet at the field. We mainly used phone calls or email to share information. In order for us to check emails outside the office, we had to turn on the PC and use mobile Wi-Fi to access to company LAN. For this reason, it was uncomfortable when making contacts  and we were not well connected to one another.

 

Most importantly, as salesperson, we had trouble contacting our customers when we communicate through emails. Large portion of our clients are Large-scaled appliance stores and most the managers there are actually dealing with customers at the stores, not working at the desk. For this reason, it took a great amount of time for them to actually check the email. And, this was our great problem to be solved. We had several clients asking us to communicate via LINE. But, we could solely use LINE since there was a security problem of becoming shadow IT.

Mr. Kazuhiro :

The sales department activated connection with LINE and communicate with the customers including large-scaled stores via LINE WORKS. As an example of LINE WORKS utilization, when the area manager from headquarters send product distribution graph through LINE WORKS, the salesperson send the graph to the customer’s LINE account. Previously, we either printed the document or we turn on the PC and send via email. After the introduction of LINE WORKS, however, we can deliver the information to our clients without going back to our office. We started to lessen the use of papers since we no longer have to print out things.

 

We had to send emails for each purpose individually including simple greetings and contacts in the past. But with LINE WORKS, we could simply done it with stickers. The tool has also enabled us to finish our work at the field by allowing us to report the work log even without going back to the office. Also, we could shortened the wasted traveling time and use the time efficiently instead. That is, we could change the way of working.

 

In the communication perspective, as we can deliver the idea and thoughts to the entire company through push notification, delivery of idea and thoughts have become more actively held than before. We are feeling that every voice from our employee is well delivered to the whole.

Mr. Yukinori :

Contacts can be made simply and fast via LINE WORKS. We are utilizing the tool to communicate with the department in which support managing the order and delivery of the products. For example, we used to have phone calls and emails to make contacts like ‘Please check the order since we cannot dispatch the product due to its problem’. However, prompt reply to such message was often impossible, especially when the employees are giving out counsels. With LINE WORKS, however, we could immediately send the reply to simple matters, and eventually improved the contact speed.

 

Mr. Kei :

As we are responsible for supporting sales, we often share and communicate information about the order and delivery. It was unavoidable to experience delay in phone call communication if the communication partner did not answer the phone calls. It has become easier to prioritize tasks as we no longer have unnecessary waiting time. We are feeling that it is much easier for us to be connected to the sales after LINE WORKS introduction.

We are using LINE WORKS for daily communication with store staffs, area manager, headquarters, and customers.

 

We are checking consulting reviews with the store staffs in real time

 

For example, when customer visits our store and asks about the cars or asking for a consultation, the assigned staff often contact via LINE WORKS and ask questions like ‘the client requested this, how should I do?’. We also use LINE WORKS when we visit the actual site to purchase the used cars. Once we visit our customers house, we can take photos of the car and immediately send them to the office. This enables both field and office workers to check the condition of the car together in real time. This way, the customer no longer have to wait. As a manager, it has become easier for me to take control of the works since I can check the condition of the consulting in real time.

 

What changed the most is that we can make response to the requests from the clients faster than before. When customers send messages like ‘Can we do this?’ or ‘I want to do this part as this’ via LINE, we can immediately check the message and send the response. It is definitely faster than phone call or email. For email, we can only send the response after we come back to our own house and turn on the computer. For this reason, we could only provide the customer service only during the time frame we assigned. With LINE and LINE WORKS, we could both check and response immediately to the messages, and therefore, we could solve the issue on the day it has occurred.

 

Close connection with our customers has speeded up the time taken for problem resolution and the time it takes to sign the contract has also been reduced.

Communicating with headquarters or interoffice communication has become much more convenient than before. Previously, when we want to contact someone in our company, we first had to check the profile and find detailed contact information and either send email or make phone call to them after. And, this was extremely inconvenient. With LINE WORKS, however, we can simply look up the contacts information on the application and send message immediately. With this, it became convenient to make contacts to others.

 

Other than this, I am recently participating in an internal project at our office called ‘Sakura Project’, which pursues the greater environment for the women to work. The project is divided into several teams and where I am located is in charge of posting contents on the company blog. To make contents, I often have to make contacts to the employees whom I have never met before. Even under such circumstance, I use LINE WORKS group chatting room to contact those people conveniently.