Case study / Communication
A global cloud communications provider closes an estimated $60K+ per month billing-leakage gap across its device leasing lifecycle
Every cancellation is now gated on verified proof of physical return.
100% enforcement
The "no cancellation without confirmed return" rule is now enforced on every case, gated on confirmed return plus MAC ID match
3 systems unified
Shipping carrier, CRM and leasing data consolidated from a manual three-system reconciliation into one automated workflow
~6 weeks
Core automation delivered from mobilization to hypercare exit, with the CRM API and 2FA blocker resolved mid-flight and no go-live slip
The Challenge
Devices were coming back, but the billing system had no verified proof of it
A global cloud communications provider leases handsets to its customers through a Device-as-a-Service program run with a third-party leasing partner. The status of any given device lived in three different places at once: the shipping carrier for physical movement, Salesforce for the customer and case record, and the leasing data system for the leasing view. There was no single source of truth tying them together, so reconciliation was manual work performed across the Rental Operations, Support and Cancellation teams.
The business consequence was direct revenue leakage. Devices that had been returned, cancelled or bought out kept getting billed, because there was no verified proof of physical return attached to the cancellation decision. The gap was sized at an estimated $60K or more per month. The path to fixing it was itself blocked: Salesforce phone-based 2FA and an unresolved carrier API issue both stood in the way of reliable automated tracking, which is why the manual process had persisted.
Why Gruve
Gruve built the control loop rather than another report, and cleared the blockers that had stopped automation before
What differentiated the engagement was execution against the two constraints that had previously made this un-automatable. The Salesforce API and phone-based 2FA blocker was resolved mid-flight without slipping the go-live date, and the carrier tracking integration was delivered as working delivery confirmation and proof-of-delivery capture rather than left as a known issue.
What the customer received was an enforced operating rule, not a dashboard. Cancellation cannot proceed without a confirmed return and a MAC ID match, which moves the control from human diligence into the workflow itself.
The approach
Two automated processes and one system of record replaced a manual three-system reconciliation
Step 1
Automated return tracking
Email ingestion, carrier delivery confirmation and real-time Salesforce and proof-of-delivery updates capture the physical return of a device as it happens.
Step 2
Gated cancellation processing
Automated leasing-data validation and Salesforce cancellation-case creation, released only on a confirmed return plus a matching MAC ID.
Step 3
Built-in exception handling
Partial returns and the 30-day validation rule are handled as designed exceptions inside the workflow rather than as manual escalations.
Step 4
A live system of record
A Master Tracking Sheet in Google Sheets gives the Rental Operations, Support and Cancellation teams one shared operational view of every device in the lifecycle.
What the automation runs on
Supervity intelligent agents handle ingestion, parsing, orchestration and exceptions, integrated to the Salesforce API for RMA and cancellation cases and the FedEx API for tracking and proof of delivery, with automated email and report parsing feeding the loop.
The outcomes
An auditable control loop across the device lifecycle, delivered in about six weeks
Risk reduced
100% enforcement of the "no cancellation without confirmed return" rule, with automated exception handling for partial returns and 30-day validation gaps.
Returned, cancelled or bought-out devices kept getting billed without verified proof of physical return.
Cost per outcome
Targeting $360K to $450K in annual billing-leakage prevention, with a $250K to $400K one-time recovery opportunity identified for retroactive cleanup.
An estimated billing-leakage gap of $60K or more per month.
Control and sovereignty
Three disconnected systems unified into one automated workflow, with real-time shipment tracking, automated proof-of-delivery capture and end-to-end auditability across the device lifecycle.
Device status scattered across three systems with no single source of truth, reconciled manually.
Speed to production
Core automation delivered in approximately 6 weeks from mobilization to hypercare exit. A critical Salesforce API and 2FA blocker was resolved mid-flight with no go-live slip. Formal client sign-off secured and the engagement transitioned to steady-state monthly support.
Automation had been blocked by Salesforce phone-based 2FA and an unresolved carrier API issue.
What's next
A working control loop in steady-state support, and a pattern that applies to any leased-asset lifecycle
The engagement has formal client sign-off and has transitioned to steady-state monthly support, so the return-to-cancellation loop now runs as an operational service rather than a project. The retroactive cleanup opportunity identified during delivery remains available to the customer as a next step against historical records.
Who else this applies to: providers running Device-as-a-Service or leased-asset programs where physical return, CRM records and a leasing or billing system are maintained separately, and where cancellation decisions are made without verified proof of return.
