Who calls Avaya Tech Support in your organization? 2

[kkbl]

Last year we replaced our 19 year old Rolm switch with a S8710 Avaya system with lots of bells and whistles for our Customer Service department (CMS, CCE, Witness Contact Store, Witness Quality). The change to the new system has been quite an adjustment, and we have suffered from many learning curve issues.

Under the Rolm system all changes to the software setup and outside technical support requests were run through the IT department. With the new system, our Customer Service department would like to have more control over their programs. They would like to make all changes to the software, and be able to call for help when they need to. Keep in mind, the Customer Service department does not have any technical expertise on staff, and they have not sought any further training beyond what was provided during implementation. The only role IT will have is to maintain the servers.

In this situation, how do you define who calls Avaya tech support?

 

[SF0751]

I would still have the calls to Avaya tech support made by the IT group. Have the Customer Service department contact IT with any problems/issues; the IT department can refer the issue to Avaya if necessary.

Susan
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work." - Thomas A. Edison

 

[gblucas]

I second that opinion (the one from SF0751). I have seen it done both ways in companies, and all it does is frustrate the non-technical user, because they don't understand what it takes to get the job done.

gblucas

 

[rgtrgt]

Thats pretyy much industry standard

 

[kkbl]

This is very helpful.

After reading your responses, I assume then it is pretty common for the IT staff to receive training on the software. That way they have a basic understanding and can better support the users, and communicate the issues with Avaya. Right?

 

[rgtrgt]

I would say yes. i mean you can always show 1 or 2 people how to do basic admin, like name changes, button changes & voicemail resets.

 

[simreal]

Thats true. In fact it's fairly uncommon for anyone outside telecom/IT to even have access to the system.


In most cases they would have access to vectors through CM Emulator. Other than they if they want changes they would normal request those changes and the telecom department would make the changes, test them, and place them inot production.

 

[nohuhu]

kkbl,

yes you're right. it is always better to have some IT guys who know your setup and are able to explain something to avaya support people. customer service managers tend to try to obtain control over their call center but if they're not mad (and most often they're not) you can make them understand that avaya support does not know their system and inevitably will ask technical questions. are they ready to answer? do they want to dive deep into call routing issues, vector programming, trunk group settings and so on? or rather they prefer to speak like humans not engineers?
even if they insist on going their way, be ready to take over when finally they give up.

 

[gblucas]

kbbl,
For an example, I work for a company that develops software. We have a 4 man IT group, a manager, a systems administrator, a telecom analyst, and a helpdesk person. We support the technical support department (the call center) for all their IT requests, including all telecom related changes. I support over 400 people total in the organization, and I am making VDN, vector, station, and agent ID changes on a daily basis. We are always changing things to make the customer experience better. You could say that I really work for the call center manager, as he really is who controls the phone system, but he does it through helpdesk tickets, and call flow change requests. We talk on a weekly basis about objectives, and then we execute them. You may not believe it, but I work as a full time telecom analyst, and I have enough work to keep me busy all the time, in a small organization. Do not give control to a non-technical user, as you are setting them up to fail. I have seen in many other places before, and all it does is make matters worse. Get some training, and then do all the admin you can yourself.

gblucas

 

[mikeydidit]

One thing that I have not seen mentioned is the system security. Way too many things could be changed in the system by untrained hands that could open the system up to toll fraud, resets or even system failures.

I have an administration person that handles most of the adds and moves but I even have her permissions very restricted for the same reasons mentioned above.

People often take their phone systems (and admin's) for granted until it has problems or goes down and then it's too late.

Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.
Thomas A. Edison

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