PlusNet Customer Update

This is the final update for 2006 and it comes directly from the Customer Support Centre technical shift managers. We’ve all had input in to this update and we’re pleased to say we believe we’re looking really healthy in comparison to earlier in the year.

Take a look at the latest comparison table and you can see what we mean.

Key Metrics Table

Platform and Software Problems are constantly moving up and down; when we work on projects we use our problem system to track bugs and work in progress. At the moment we are working on problems from projects and the more complicated problems highlighted by our customers as a priority.

Tickets

We currently have a total of 755 open tickets in total in the CSC, across all the different areas or pools as we call them. The oldest ticket open in all pools is less than 24hours since we/the customer last acted on it. We know we still have to improve our ticket responses and especially the ones where customers have contact us again because we’ve not given a satisfactory answer. We currently have 50 tickets that are the most worked. Averaging 17 actions and responses. We look for these situations daily and our focusing on resolving these problems.

Calls

We changed our telephone system in November to reduce the number of options customers go through before they get connected to our support analysts. As you would expect this means an increase in the number of calls coming through. The volume has doubled, yet we have improved the call answer rate by 15% from the start of the month to the end of the month.

Last week our average call answer time was about 5 Minutes. Again this is a great improvement, but we still have wait times of about 20 minutes at peak times. This is something that our recruitment will resolve.

Recruitment

Recruitment is well underway in our Customer Support Centre. We have made assurances to our customers and our employees, that we would only employ staff who have the ability to do the job to a very high standard. As such this process is taking a long time. We have a rigorous process that new recruits need to follow to be employed by us. Since the last update we have taken on 23 staff with a further 5 due to start in January and we’ve just identified a further 6 potential new recruits at one of our ongoing assessment days.

We have introduced a “graduation area”, where new recruits sit after they have completed training. In this area there are always more shift managers around for the newer recruits to direct their questions to. They get constant coaching until we and they feel they are ready to go on the main CSC floor. This has already seen an improvement in the success of the new recruits and their confidence in the role.

Quality

We have always wanted quality to be the biggest priority in our support centre. Over the last year this has been overtaken by quantity. We have changed that over the last few months and this continues to be our focus. We believe we need to strike a balance - t here's no point getting a quick answer that doesn’t help and likewise no point getting a brilliant answer 48 hours late.

Each week we have a dedicated shift manager whose role is to spend all his time on quality monitoring and giving feedback. All the other technical Shift Managers (TSMs) sit amongst the technical support analysts to offer support, motivation and ad-hoc coaching. Most importantly we are committed to evolving our support team based on feedback from you our customers. When each ticket is resolved and closed, you are given the chance to rate the quality of the help you received using a star rating. We then use this information to improve the skills of our analysts.

We are also working on a project to be rolled live early in the New Year to assess then link the analyst’s best skills with the type of work they will be doing. This should greatly improve the quality of responses given as analysts will be working on things they know well. It will also identify the areas they need further training in to enable them to improve and progress.

Tools and Automation

Since April we have completed several automation projects – for a full and detailed update take a look at the information provided here.

Summary

As we approach the festive season, we believe we are in a much better place in the CSC. We have had a tumultuous year, I think it is fair to say. We have gone through many changes to improve customer satisfaction and the quality of the support we offer. We are genuinely excited by the prospect of the New Year and the plans to be implemented in early January, but already feel that we have started getting back to the level of support that has won us numerous awards.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year on behalf of the Customer Support Centre.