Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

Lucky you. My company have had to give me a laptop for work so I thought prior to wirelessly connecting to my desktop I would try networking it. Could not make the connection live so Phoned Tech Support at NTL(India)

The conversation went something like this (apologies for lack of tech knowledge as I am sure that everybody will know the answer to my problem anyway)

Started with the usual not understanding my postcode and could not understand why i lived in flat no 5 house no 20.

Me: Hello I am trying to make a network connection from my desktop to laptop.
TS: So Mr. Kevin what you are telling me is you are trying to make a network connection from your desktop to laptop.
Me: Yes should I be trying to connect to RJ11 or RJ 45 on the laptop.
TS; So Mr. Kevin what you are telling me is should you be trying to connect to RJ11 or RJ 45 on the laptop.
Me: Yes I cannot get it to see the desktop, can you tell me what to connect to.
TS: SO Mr. Kevin what you are telling me is you cannot get it to see the desktop and can I tell you what to connect it to.
Me: Oh F#@k off.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

LOL :p:

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

Hopeless. Although that said understanding postcodes can be difficult for us natives too, s/f, b/d, etc etc, normally I reconfirm it with the phonetic alphabet which can be quite embarrassing especially if you've misheard.

It's the phone line really.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

Well when I mentioned a router in my setup to tech support a few days ago they said they do not support routers and promptly ended the call!
I rang again and was told the same thing - although Paul had checked everything and the problem was nothing to do with the router. I called back last night (having removed it) and was told that there is a problem with the ntl network. The fault has now been logged and should be sorted out in 48 hours.
The first guy was definately reading from a script and was no help whatsoever, the lady last night was much more helpful and ran tests on the line etc which the first tech refused to do point blank. Shame they can't all be trained to the same standard!

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

What exactly is wrong with reading from a script?

Most troubleshooting involves working through the possibilities that a given set of conditions suggest. Experience will suggest what the most common cause of a problem is and how to check for it. Working methodically through a troubleshooting script ensures that nothing is overlooked and the solution arrived at in as short a time as possible.

You see many posts which complain about the support person sticking to a script even though they have been told that the customer is an experienced user who has tried the obvious. The support person does not know what level of knowledge the customer has and usually the customer cannot convey the level of their experience and is often not as experienced as they think. I would bet that many customers who have had years of experience and think they know it all have at times overlooked the simple, obvious solution to a problem they have.

Working to a properly written and researched script is the best way to tackle any problem. Any other approach is just taking a stab in the dark.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

When someone is rigidly reading from a script, it indicates to me they have no technical knowledge at all, and this doesn't give me much confidence in the person to solve my issue, particularly if something 'unexpected' happens.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

Why would it give you that impresssion? Most tasks in life have a best method of undertaking them and having a written script of what to do and when ensures that you follow the best method. Any deviation from the script by definition means you are not following best practice. What unexpected happening renders the scrpt unworkable?

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

The best qualification in such matters IMO is experience. You can put any TSA through training but if they've had no experience then they'll be at a distinct disadvantage.

Just because they're following a script doesn't mean they understand what they're saying, or what it is they're advising me to do.

Given the choice, I'd much rather be advised by someone who has knowledge of what they're telling me to do.

Don't get me wrong - using a script isn't neccessarily bad if they do it in their own words. But when they speak in such a way that you can tell they're reading word-for-word, you've then got to ask why they aren't confident enough to "fly solo" so to speak.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

How can you tell if a TSA is experienced or not by the words they use when attempting to solve a customers problem? You could take the most experienced member of the TS team and give them a troubleshooting script. That person may decide that the best way forward is to read from the script to ensure that they do not overlook any step. If they are reading from the script then it is easier to read the written words than to translate them into their own wording. Following a script does not equate to lack of knowledge or confidence. There can be management instruction to follow the script precisely for various reasons.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

From my experience working in ntl's tech support, the ones who closely followed the script were the ones who had little or no confidence or experience. It was (and pressumably still is) ntl's policy to allow us to use our personalities in dealing with customers as it made us sound more 'human' and 'personal' so the use of reading scripts word-for-word was left for those who didn't quite understand what they were doing.

Ihear what you're saying about not wanting to leave anything out but it's still possible to do this without reading a script. They could have a list of things to try but put it their own way. This IMO sounds more professional and capable.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

Russ i have to say your wrong, ive worked in tech support in swansea for over 3 years, & have never seen a script for teching calls, in use, or even offered to people to use, all this talk of scripts does get a bit boring after a while...

Not getting into the arguement on the india call centre side as have never worked there, so cant give an answer on that.. ( saying that, nor have alot people here & they seem to know everything that happens there ;) )...

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

Maybe there should be an added option when phoning tech support.

Press 1 for scripted support
Press 2 for non-scripted support

:p:

Problem is, we are also talking about non-technically minded customers here (who have never seen this forum or any other to do with their service).
For them, it's just a case of "it doesn't work". Add this to the language barrier and the non-personal interaction from Indian tech support (ie. almost robotic), and i can see the necessity of a script.

The only way around this has been stated above.... Experienced staff, who know exactly what they are talking about and who are comfortable on the phone.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

Would you expect scripted support to be better, worse or the same as non-scripted support? Consider the fact that the support script has probably been written by a team of the most experienced customer support staff and is how they would tackle the customer's issues.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

Then why do you disagree with him, I believe russ has confirmed that this isnt a problem with swansea it is with india and you have just said you cant comment on that. I back Russ up on this one, when getting the india call centre there is obvious scripting and if the problem isnt with your own pc then the tech usually gets stuck on what to do, not promising at all. It also gets frustrating when they dont learn how to log your call and pass on feedback to higher level tech's, I have had the odd occasion one or 2 times where the tech has some intelligence and tries to work out the problem himself but unfortenatly this is a minority.

Re: NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL
 

A better options would be this.

Message "Please note to make our calls handled faster plase make sure you do the following before giving us a ring. Reboot your pc, reboot your modem, disable your firewall and make sure you have no viruses. If you have done all this and the problem persists please choose from the following options. Option 1 - For experienced users, Option 2 - For users who feel they need step by step instructions"

2 been scripted.