What to do when your ISP off-shores tech support

Sat Dec 27 11:53:18 UTC 2008

david raistrick wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Dec 2008, JF Mezei wrote:
> 
>> The problem with oursourced first level support is that they are totally
>> disconnected from real time operations and wouldn't be aware of problems
>> that network engineers are currently working on.
> 
> Not always true.  Our outsourced support in India were also our first
> layer of network troubleshooting, and they monitored everything related
> to the products they supported.    They were almost always the first to
> call the engineers (in .us and .ca) to alert them of issues.
> 
> It's all about /what/ you hire them to do.....

Not only that. It also depends on the call center. I used to work for a
quite large call center, that would deal with anything from computer
support for vendors, cellphone support, cable-tv, cable-broadband, etc.
And just as an example for cellphones, the people on the floor had
access to internal systems of the telco's and where able to send
real-time commands to the switches.

When $TELCO decides to use this call center, it can sometimes take 2-3
years, before the calls end up in the call center. This is down to the
fact, that the call center has to implement structures with $TELCO that
will make a handover possible in the first place. Also stuff with enough
technical knowledge needed to be located within the agents or new staff
hired in.

Some customers had to be told, that it is impossible to do support for
them on the expectations, that they have, because their own internal
structures simply are a mess.

Outsouring and off-shoring is never the problem.

The problem is, and this was stated by the original poster, that the
lads off-shore he deals with have no clue and simply stick to the
script. No intention of looking what the real problem is. And that
problem lies not in the call center. It is the deal, that $TELCO struck
with $CALLCENTER and the procedures, that were put in place, that are
the problem.

Only solution: find a provider, who's support (off-shore or not) does
have a clue, has an escalation process and is willing to find a solution.

Kind regards,
Martin List-Petersen
-- 
Airwire - Ag Nascadh Pobal an Iarthar
http://www.airwire.ie
Phone: 091-865 968