Okay, so this might not look exactly like customer service. But I believe that it is the essence of Customer Service for UEN. It is the NOC that plays the central role for gathering information about the performance of the network. And it is the NOC that must play the key role in disseminating network information. How should this be done?

The Tools are extremely important. But there is more the it than just having tools. You must have a good strategy for how to use them. The elements of the proper UEN strategy are as follows:

1. Scorecard: Make sure that the proper information is collected. These should include:

- Circuit Utilization

- Device CPU Utilization

- Bit Error Rate

- User Experience

2. Contact the customer. This should be done in person or by telephone. It should also be very well planned. My thoughts: divide up the customer contact list and systematically call. Also, develop a list of issues to discuss with the customer. Make sure this happens regularly and the issues with firewalls, etc. will go away. Also, it isn't the customers responsibility to initiate this contact.

3. Establish and live within a Network Operating Agreement. When we commit to service level agreements make sure that we follow through. That means e-mail message announcing network outages. Faithfully adhering to time commitments. This buys credibility with the customer.

4. Answer the phone when it rings. This must not be a Tier one function only. At UEN we don't have a help desk. That function has been incorporated into the NOC. If I wanted to have a help desk I would have kept it separated from the NOC. The phone should be answered by personnel in tier one, two and three as well as by the Operations Managers. Also, engineers, security and the director, (me), should take turns answering the phones. This is part a of teamwork that should not be overlooked.

5. Accountability. We must measure our performance and report our progress to those we serve.

It all starts with having the right information to share. Calling the customer without having good information to share isn't enough.

Monday we'll discuss Vendor interaction and wrap up with a few additional thoughts about running a Network Operating Center..........
10:26:07 PM    comment []