Ongoing Support Improvement Plans

[ForumAdmin]

Exetel has been pursuing an ongoing process to improve all aspects of the support it provides to its customers for over two years now.

We, in discussion with our customers, have identified a number of areas where further improvements are required and we have continued to work on putting in place the processes and personnel necessary to make those improvements.

Should you have any suggestions on how we can improve the support services provided we will, as always, take your views and suggestions seriously.

[rusty100]

Hi

Last Thursday in the early evening my modem-router lost sync and did not recover. On Friday morning I logged a fault by email. There was a very quick response asking if all devices other than the modem were disconnected from the phone system. This information was given in the original fault logging so I was not sure if the email was automatically generated.

After a couple of emails in the next few hours a test was apparently done and I was asked to disconnect the modem and remove all other devices but could not being at work but replied that I would in the evening and asked how long this would take - anticipating being without a connected phone for some time.

After a couple on non-responses to followup emails I rang late the afternoon for technical support. Line quality was fair and the tech's accent fairly strong but I discovered that the test could be done in a few minutes.

So when I got home I rang - 2 min wait for answer (ok) followed by maybe 7 minutes in queue (ok). Clear line and easily understood techie. I did not have the original fault report number (the report had been closed within 10 minutes of my posting it) and the fellow took my phone number and email address and spent 5 min looking for the case.

I suggested that since that case was closed that we should start a new one. He did and 3 min later the modem was synced and authenticated. He said he reset the port and refreshed the profile.

This morning - Monday - I receive an email pursuing the original fault.

So 3 out of 10 for handling the first fault report and 10 out of 10 for the second.

So my question is: When a fault is logged saying no sync and that the modem is on should it be automatic to do a reset and refreshl?

It takes a couple of minutes and in some proportion of faults would be an immediate fix.

Cheers

Russell

[Dazzled]

I know the system fairly well, I think it works well, and have had no problems obtaining a fix on the few occasions I have needed one, but I am a forum junkie. I have known other customers being very annoyed in the past to find tickets marked Resolved, when in the customer's mind, the issue is still unresolved. Needless heat is generated. If this is still the practice, could another, more neutral term be found?

Also, when a ticket or email does not involve the ADSL connection, could a more appropriate standard reply be generated. Again, customers with problems can be in an emotional state that does not easily tolerate irrelevant material. Difficulties at work that cause a sigh often have an exaggerated response at home.

[CoreyPlover]

So my question is: When a fault is logged saying no sync and that the modem is on should it be automatic to do a reset and refreshl?

It takes a couple of minutes and in some proportion of faults would be an immediate fix.

Perhaps. But remember the primary goal of Exetel's support procedures is have a very high customer to support technician ratio. The majority of problems (at least this *used* to be the case) are user-driven. i.e. a faulty filter without the user realising, incorrect passwords (due to changes on member facilities not being made on modem), etc. So the basic first level responses (try an isolation test, etc) are meant to capture these without any tech intervention.

It does raise the question of whether the relative proportion of line faults vs user faults is changing (as users get more ADSL savvy) and whether this warrants a re-ordering of procedure.

[Martin V]

Hi

Last Thursday in the early evening my modem-router lost sync and did not recover. On Friday morning I logged a fault by email. There was a very quick response asking if all devices other than the modem were disconnected from the phone system. This information was given in the original fault logging so I was not sure if the email was automatically generated.

After a couple of emails in the next few hours a test was apparently done and I was asked to disconnect the modem and remove all other devices but could not being at work but replied that I would in the evening and asked how long this would take - anticipating being without a connected phone for some time.

After a couple on non-responses to followup emails I rang late the afternoon for technical support. Line quality was fair and the tech's accent fairly strong but I discovered that the test could be done in a few minutes.

So when I got home I rang - 2 min wait for answer (ok) followed by maybe 7 minutes in queue (ok). Clear line and easily understood techie. I did not have the original fault report number (the report had been closed within 10 minutes of my posting it) and the fellow took my phone number and email address and spent 5 min looking for the case.

I suggested that since that case was closed that we should start a new one. He did and 3 min later the modem was synced and authenticated. He said he reset the port and refreshed the profile.

This morning - Monday - I receive an email pursuing the original fault.

So 3 out of 10 for handling the first fault report and 10 out of 10 for the second.

So my question is: When a fault is logged saying no sync and that the modem is on should it be automatic to do a reset and refreshl?

It takes a couple of minutes and in some proportion of faults would be an immediate fix.

Cheers

Russell

Hi Russell,

It depends on which service you're referring to, if it is an Adsl 2 Optus service we would normally do a port reset first and then go through the line test depending on the type of case.

If you could PM me your service issue ticket that would be much appreciated so I could make improvements or look into making changes.

Martin

[vk3xem]

I've read in the Exetel forums several times of a ticket being closed before the customer believes the event has been resolved and only finding out after making further enquiries.

Would it be possible to automate a procedure that an email is sent to the customer stating that the ticket has been closed and a link to click if they believe it still needs resolving. Or maybe an SMS sent advising the ticket has been closed, Earlier this month I logged a fault and immediately received an SMS saying the it had be logged and I would be updated further but never was.

Edit: I think the fault I logged required a port reset, it took several follow up calls for me to restore connectivity but the call taker didn't tell me, I was just told to factory reset my modem and enter settings in again and it would work.

[CoreyPlover]

Would it be possible to automate a procedure that an email is sent to the customer stating that the ticket has been closed and a link to click if they believe it still needs resolving.

This is exactly how support tickets work now. It is just that the instructions for reopening a closed ticket appear at the bottom of the ticket, and the words describing the case as "resolved" at at the top; hence people get confused.

In support speak a "resolved" status indicates that action has been taken, i.e. "resolved" = "nothing further pending from support". Therefore, if the ticket says "try the following actions so that we can diagnose further" this means the ticket is resolved, until that action is taken by the user and they respond with further details. My limited understanding is that this is done in order for Exetel to be able to readily identify tickets that require action (as opposed to tickets that are simply waiting for an event to happen).

[Dazzled]

Corey, the point I was trying to make earlier is that whatever "Resolved" may mean in support-speak it means something else in the plain English used by a frustrated and often emotional customer.

Similarly the long message, full of often irrelevant material, is also prone to irritating someone already a bit edgy.

There is no need for a basically good system to irritate or offend ordinary people. Salesmen can't repair this sort of damage.

[vk3xem]

I agree with Dazzled.

'RESOLVED' means that a problem has been 'FIXED' to most people. If the support ticket systems thinks that just taking a single action has 'RESOLVED' a problem every time then I would say that is inaccurate most of the time.

If this is the case I can easily see the angst that is coursed in many situations.

To me there is one important step missing in the system, rather than 'RESOLVED' maybe it should show as 'ACTION TAKEN' and not 'RESOLVED' until either a few days or closed by the customer. Either way I think there needs to be some changes to make it more customer friendly.

[ForumAdmin]

Any part of the current system can be changed if it improves the results.

Wording changes from "resolved" to something else can be done 'instantly' if they improve the system.

[jokiin]

Any part of the current system can be changed if it improves the results.

Wording changes from "resolved" to something else can be done 'instantly' if they improve the system.

perhaps PENDING END USER CONFIRMATION with a link for the user to confirm the issue is fixed or an alternate link to submit further details????

[Martin V]

I agree with Dazzled.

'RESOLVED' means that a problem has been 'FIXED' to most people. If the support ticket systems thinks that just taking a single action has 'RESOLVED' a problem every time then I would say that is inaccurate most of the time.

If this is the case I can easily see the angst that is coursed in many situations.

To me there is one important step missing in the system, rather than 'RESOLVED' maybe it should show as 'ACTION TAKEN' and not 'RESOLVED' until either a few days or closed by the customer. Either way I think there needs to be some changes to make it more customer friendly.

We will need to check our systems in regards to that and will let you know about the changes.

[samarium]

As another person who has been confused by this state, and who has many years experience being one of the persons dealing with customer tickets, I also would like to see this state changed from resolved so somekind of probably-fixed-awaiting-customer-confirmation state. I also think the state should have a timer associated so that if the customer fails to update the ticket then it automatically processes to resolved after a week or two or whatever.

[Panda69]

G'Day, I could not find anywhere else to post this question so here goes.
I need a new internet connection to my new office.
As I have had my home office connected to Exetel for a long time (2005) and am happy with the service,
I am trying to get a new connection to a different address, not change my existing connection to a new address.
I can not find a way to do this in the members section.
Am I allowed to have 2 connections with Exetel?

[ForumAdmin]

G'Day, I could not find anywhere else to post this question so here goes.
I need a new internet connection to my new office.
As I have had my home office connected to Exetel for a long time (2005) and am happy with the service,
I am trying to get a new connection to a different address, not change my existing connection to a new address.
I can not find a way to do this in the members section.
Am I allowed to have 2 connections with Exetel?

Yes - of course. Just apply for a new service on the main web site.