How do you deal when two vendors are not taking responsability to fix. 1

[surferdude949]

I have a contracted vendor that support my telecom needs, on this particular issue (Avaya CMS not working with Aspect Workforce management), the vendor has escalated the problem to Avaya and Avaya is coming back saying their side is good.

At this point no one wants to take responsability and my vendor is saying since they only support the Avaya switch they can't do anything to resolve the issue and blame the Aspect WFM side.

Anyone ran into this type of experience?

 

[Westi]

you are between a rock and a hard place it seems, you could ask your Avaya business partner if they have it working somewhere with the Aspect WFM and the other way around you could ask your dealer for the aspect to show you another place where it works with the Avaya CMS.
If both come back and say that they can't provide the information then you are I guess out of luck. Did you purchase either of these systems new and if so which one of them is the new purchase because if you did and they told you that it works with the other system then hold the payments back until the issue is resolved and they can only resolve the issue by working together.

Joe W.

FHandw., ACS

If you can't be good, be good at it!

 

[surferdude949]

The systems have been in place for a while. One thing we're upset about is the telecom vendor's failure to respond quickly to our request even though we did open a SR ticket with them.

It took them nearly a month to engage Avaya and once Avaya came back with no solution the vendor is giving us the "Our side is good and it's not our problem now.." story.

I'm looking for ways to prevent this type of poor response from the vendor.

 

[paterson]

I run into this a lot, especially with Property Management Systems, ie Hotel/Motel sites. I work on the PBX side of things, so when the interface between the two sides goes down, the customer usually calls us first. I would say that 95% of the time, the problem is not with the PBX, but with the PMS system. The small 5% is usually just a loose cable! We test the interface and usually prove that the PBX is working and ask the customer to call the PMS company. They usually say that there side is all good, so the customer calls us back and wants us to look again. We tell the customer that the PBX is a receiving device when it comes to the PMS and it does what the PMS tells it too, so they should talk with the PMS people again. Around and round it goes!

In your situation, is the Aspect WFM product receiving or transmitting? If it is transmitting, then go to Aspect because they are responsible for making the product work with the Avaya.

 

[doktor]

Dear surferdude949!

Your situation is not new in this (PBX) businees or any other similiar business.
If you are so lucky to live in a place where the supplier of public lines also supports PBX, it is in most cases the best solution: One supplier of all items.
But the reality is often different.
Only a very good service contract where all parties (e.g. PBX, public lines and PC applications) agree to "participate" can solve an issue like this. And it has to be a service contract (or more contracts) with deadlines for all involved parties.
I think that such a contract can be expensive, but it it worth to try!



///doktor

 

[JcBWF]

Set up a vendor meet. I had to do this all the time when I was a vendor. Call both of them and have them onsite at the SAME time. If on says it is the others problem have them tell the other vendor where they think the problem is.
You are paying for them so make them work for you!

Perfection is expected, Excellence is Tolerated

 

[MasterRacker]

paterson, I used to support a PBX/PMS interface as well. In my case it was almost always the PBX. Even in instances where some obscure setting change in the PMS restored communications, it sure looked like we were comp[ensating for a change in the PBX.

JcBWF has the concept right. Our vendors could get in to their systems via remote access, I've done a variation of getting both vendors interface experts on a conference call, then listening in quietly while they beat on each other until the problem was resolved.

_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[Sympology]

We've had this many a time and the best way is to get the two to talk directly with each other.
No doubt you wil get one side say "Oo but we onyl supoprt xyz". it is at this point you say the immortal lines...
"If you can't get your product to work with <other product" we'll just find something that will.
Now PBX builders can bea little more arrogant, so you do the, "I seen a <rival pbx> work perfectly with this, so looks like we have to migrate over to them as you systems are clearly not up to the job...."

Works everytime...

Oh once we got so peeved with 2 carriers each blaming each other. we arranged them both to come in at the same time, but we forgot to mention we'd invited the other carrier.
Got them in the same room and stood over them until they resolved the issue.

Most people spend their time on the "urgent" rather than on the "important."

 

[surferdude949]

Thank you all for the great input!

 

[mikeyb123]

I agree sit them in a room together and don't let them out till it works... we do this all the time with our maintainers....

It's not getting any smarter out there. You have to come to terms with stupidity, and make it work for you.

 

[europe]

SurferDude,

What is the prob??? I worked on a site with Avaya CMS and Aspect TCS (WFM)....
The Avaya CMS TCS interface is a standard AVAYA PSO solution so should work fine....

So tell me teh prob... I might be able to help

Please let me know if the information that was provided is helpfull.
Edwin Plat
A.K.A. Europe

 

[metballnut]

Document EVERYTHING.
I use a Action Plan that lists in detail the issue, what has been done (with a detailed time frame) and what needs to be done.
Set firm dates and responsibilities for all parties.
Update the document at least weekly until the issue is resolved.
This way, you have a detailed list of the issue to end resolution.