Are you still sending a network technician out on every connected install? Ever worked out what that is costing you? Here's a best practice that says you don't have to.
Challenge
The delivery and installation process in the printer and copying field involves the communication, cooperation and execution between multiple components from the dealership and the client. Connectivity technicians would be out for every machine install, in order to transfer customers’ existing address book/scanning destinations, from their displaced equipment to the new equipment. Traditionally, to be installed these technicians would chase the delivery truck all around the city and/or waste time trying to coordinate with the client’s IT. This quite often resulted in machines left in a partially operable state until the connectivity technician could arrive to complete the setup.
Many hours were wasted, from coordination and traffic issues with technician and delivery truck, as well as miscommunication between the technicians and client network administrator. Such factors as these resulted in prolonged installation/setup of new machine and inefficient usage of connectivity technicians’ time. This particular traditional method exposed flaws in the process and in doing so in, the end we knew there had to be a better way.
Action
With the new process implemented, the dealership has reached almost 90% of their new installs to be configured before delivery and the final installation handled through remote connection by Connectivity technician.
The process involves having the sales representatives educate the customers on benefits of a remote install, as well as, iterating to the customer the necessity of coordinating their network administrator/IT with our connectivity techs. For the setup to be completed as seamlessly as possible, the steps below were executed and have proven to increase productivity.
Step 1: Once sale has been completed, sales rep then informs the client that our Network Services Engineer will be in reaching out to the client’s designated IT contact (rep fills this information out on the work order form) within the next 48 hours. Rep also stresses the importance and convenience of remote setup and how this process allows the machine to be “plug-in ready” upon delivery.
Step 2: Network Services Engineer receives sales paperwork / work order for the install that has the client’s decision maker & network admin contact information (name/phone/email). Using this data, Network Services sends an email to client Network Admin and the “decision maker” from a template form while allows the client to fill out and send back. If no response, second email is sent and documented.
The next step can be done two different ways:
Step 3 (A): If network services is able to coordinate with clients IT, they pull the clients address book and other network settings from their existing MFP device that is to be replaced with the new equipment. If it’s an additional machine, they still pull clients address book/scanning destinations from an existing MFP device, to preload that data into the new machine
Step 3 (B): Machine is ‘built’ in the setup shop and once it’s operational, Network Services tech will load the client’s addressbook/scanning settings from the previous step.
Like the previous step, the next can be handled by two different methods:
Step 5 (A): The machine goes out on delivery truck and sales rep shows up at delivery site to assist our Network Services techs in establishing remote connection to clients workstations. Sales rep, again, requests client’s IT to be present when possible, but most likely the client’s IT is not required. In some cases, Rep might have to complete a few additional minor workstation connectivity tasks but the remote technician will walk him/her through those particular step. Having the rep onsite to assist in the remote connection and setup, has proven to strongly increase the relationship between the client and the rep; opposed to the old method of where the rep would just stop in for equipment training or to make sure all went well.
Step 5 (B): After Network Service Engineer receives the information from the Network Admin or the “decision maker,” proceeds to schedule a convenient time for client to connect remotely, and set up functionality of the machine.
Result
The process and method of remote connectivity, not only has proven more efficient in the delivery and installation of the new machines, but also allowing the convenience for the customer to have the everything be “plug in ready” when received. This practice has also permitted the Network Service of the dealership, to handle more help calls, as well as accurately and proficiently send the technicians directly to the customers in most need on an-site call.
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