The ENA NOC Retools and Rebrands: Introducing the Customer Technical Assistance Center
They’re the eyes, ears and voice of the ENA Network and the entire suite of ENA services. Our ten customer support engineers (CSEs) are always vigilantly watching the flow of data through the pipeline, monitoring our services, fielding your calls, diligently troubleshooting and resolving issues, and even contacting you to alert you of an issue before you have realized itexists. Though you may not have actually met them, chances are that the men and women of ENA’s Network Operations Center (NOC) are among the things you value most about ENA.
Because the staff is such an integral part of ENA’s service and value, the group is getting a new name: Customer Technical Assistance Center or CTAC for short. “Network Operations Center is kind of a limiting title,” says CTAC Manager Dana Brings. “It focuses on only a part of what we do—monitoring and reporting. For the past three years, we’ve evolved to more of a resolution center encompassing all of ENA’s data, voice and video solutions.”
An emphasis on training, certification and greater resolution rates
That evolution has been anything but accidental. Over the course of these last three years, every tenured customer support engineer that did not already have it has earned their HDI certification. Every new hire without it is encouraged to study and earn the certification soon after coming on board. The certification from HDI (formerly Help Desk Institute)—the world’s largest IT service and technical support membership association and the industry’s premier certification and training body— guarantees its holder is well versed in help desk/support center best practices. “HDI certification itself is based on ITIL, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world,” explains Briggs. “So the certification provides a sound best-practices framework for our people. That base is a great starting point but also allows us to choose the best pieces to fit our own service model.” This means you can expect superior customer service on every call and interaction with our CTAC team.” All but two of ENA’s CSEs have their HDI Support Center Analyst certification. The other two are preparing to take the test and should have their HDI certification soon.
A very good model that’s only getting better
That model, always good, is now much better. As the two most senior members of the CTAC, Scott Williams and Wendi Powers know it better than anyone. Powers, a ten-year veteran that holds both her HDI and CompTIA (Computer TechnologyIndustry Association) Network +certifications, says that the “CTAC of today does far more than monitoring the network and changing passwords. While we thrive on keeping the network as healthy as it can be, we now take great pride in being able to support the wonderful service offerings that ENA offers. As ENA’s product offerings have blossomed, our group has made great efforts to increase our support delivery.” In his nearly 12 years with ENA, Williams—who in addition to an HDI certification holds a degree from Austin Peay State University—has witnessed “an everchanging environment. We are constantly evolving and increasing our technical expertise to serve the customer better. That is actually a very thrilling part of the job. Learning new things and absorbing new technology into our repertoire.”
CSEs Wendi Powers and Scott Williams won’t accepts stasis
Neither is satisfied with stasis and both embrace the CTAC’s evolving role. “We don’t just look forward to becoming experts in ENA’s solutions and supporting our customers on those solutions,” says Powers. “We want to offer the very best solutions—and support is inseparable from that.” As for Williams, he looks forward to even the CTAC’s traditional modes of interaction— over the phone and e-mail—evolving. “With the popularity of ENA’s new Video Connect solution and other technologies, it would not surprise me if in the near future we’re chatting with customers face to face over video teleconferencing, both over customers’ desktops and handhelds. Unfortunately, I happen to have more of a radio face!” Besides their tenure and insider’s perspective on the CTAC’s evolution, Powers and Williams share something that has not changed: a love of helping customers. Williams’ favorite part of his job is “helping customers get what they need. I really love those ‘Eureka, it’s working!’ moments. It really bothers me when I hear that a customer is unhappy.” That service ethic is the common denominator that runs through each of ENA’s CTAC customer support engineers. As Powers describes it, “We are dedicatedand humble. We are eager to serve. And we are willing to go the extra mile.” “I’m really proud of my team,” beams Briggs. Who wouldn’t be?
Compiling some impressive stats
“Already we have achieved some impressive statistics,” says Briggs. He lists them:
• Because the CTAC is proactive and constantly monitors the network, his CSEs contact customers before customers are even aware an issue exists 95 percent of the time.
• More resolution-capable today than ever, the CTAC is resolving 85 percent of reported issues without escalating the problem to other departments.
• The ENA customer’s average call wait time is 14 seconds, compared to the competition’s six to 10 minutes.
• “I have one more figure for you,” adds Briggs. “The combined customer support experience of our nine CSEs is over 75 years.”
The future of CTAC: a business partner to ENA’s customers
Like his staff, Briggs also has a vision for the CTAC’s future. “I see our CSEs continuing to build on their technical skills, expanding their resolution capabilities and their ability to resolve more complex issues. They’ll continue to be proactive, but will strive to become even faster in both resolution and notification. We’re going to be capable of handling the resolution of all technical issues regarding ENA’s new solutions such as ENA Voice Connect and ENA Video Connect. We’ll also be able to troubleshoot legacy H.323 video-teleconferencing systems.” There are some changes underway in the Remedy service-management system that will allow the CSEs to better track trouble issues, identify repeat issues and track resolutions. These changes also will provide better reporting and quicker, more seamless escalation as needed. There are also plans to improve CTAC’s monitoring and customer notifications, and both CTAC and ENA’s operations in general soon will be implementing more ITIL best practices in order to enhance overall efficiency. Already, the CTAC has the ability to work remotely and is staffed in Tennessee, Florida and Georgia, so during severe weather and natural or manmade disasters, the CTAC will be available to assist customers.“Even more than today,” says Briggs, “the CTAC is going to be a full-service, full-support partner to our customers.”
