Ntl Tech Support

[huxleypiguk]

Originally Posted by jimbo

Yes, I agree. There is a training issue. :pp

Blame training as usual, nothing to do with the structure of first line support, disemination of information etc, no, must be training !

Well mattry I'm here to tell you once and for all that in this case you may be right ! ntl: dumped a lot of trainers three years ago including most of those in Swansea. Likewise the Buisness Internet Tech support trainer was not replaced when he left. Newport have a training team but not many of them come from a training background and I can tell you that the ability to use PowerPoint does NOT make you a trainer !

Having said that, if you are a high flying computer users with years of support would you work in a callcentre for £13K ??????? So the experience level of some of these guys is low and three weeks training is not enough.

[Feenix]

Originally Posted by Neil

Hi David.

Out of interest, how are these FTF stats created? Who actually says they have fixed 95% (as an example) of their calls as a FTF?

I only ask as I remember having a similar meeting with Peter Savage (then MD of Southern Region), & him trying to convince me that 98% of installs went according to plan, when I challenged this, & asked who gave him these stats, he told me that it came direct from the installers.

and what is wrong with the data coming from installers?

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by David25

It is also a requirement of progression in the TSB to hit a certain FTF percentage based on this analysis.

That would make it even more of an incentive for TSB staff to mis-report calls that they have handled if they were not very good at their job.

[quadplay]

Thing is, it's not the original agent who reports whether it was fixed first time or not - it's based on whether the same customer calls back with the same/a similar problem within a certain time. That's a bit of a simplification, but it's the basic premise. This makes the statistic relatively reliable (though not 100%).

[David25]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

That would make it even more of an incentive for TSB staff to mis-report calls that they have handled if they were not very good at their job.

FTF is not reported by agents.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by David25

FTF is not reported by agents.

If the agent handling the call doesn't report it then who does? To me it is a simple matter of a customer calling up with a problem and speaings to an agent about that problem. The agent then tries to sort the problem out and either succeeds or fails. As this agent is the only person who knows what the call was about, what solutions were offered and whether they solved the problem, he /she is the only person who can report on the matter. Who else can decide if it was a FTF? Is a poor agent likely to say that he / she has failed to solve any problems?

[David25]

ianathuth - It is a statistical analysis. it is not based on agent reporting. All the agent has to do is log the call (the content of the log is not looked at when judging FTF), which is compulsory for every single call.

[quadplay]

Every call is logged by the phone system, which knows how many calls each agent has answered. Agents are required to leave a note (known as an ISE) in the system for every call answered, although some lee-way is given for calls which have been routed to TSB incorrectly (and thus the customer has no Internet account in the system), where the line goes dead before the customer's details can be taken, etc. An agent who does not leave notes will soon be found out. It is assumed all calls are fixed first time, unless the customer then calls back within a certain period with the same problem. In this case, the 2nd agent should add his/her notes to the existing ISE, which will mean the call is known not to have been fixed first time.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by David25

ianathuth - It is a statistical analysis. it is not based on agent reporting. All the agent has to do is log the call (the content of the log is not looked at when judging FTF), which is compulsory for every single call.

You must be joking! How the hell can a company give statistics of the number of calls that resulted in a first time fix if they do not look at the details of the call or the solution? Only the agent taking the call can possibly know whether his / her solution has solved the problem. What magical thing happens to enable NTL to deduce that the solution offered is a first time fix? I would love to know how this all works.

[quadplay]

Originally Posted by jimbo

It is assumed all calls are fixed first time, unless the customer then calls back within a certain period with the same problem. In this case, the 2nd agent should add his/her notes to the existing ISE, which will mean the call is known not to have been fixed first time.

[David25]

I'm sorry you think I'm joking. I don't want to divulge exact details as I'm unsure of the precise reporting process and don't want to give inaccurate information.

The FTF is based on call driver statistics not fix notes.

[50420]

Originally Posted by Avatar

if you feel in any way intimedated by that comment you must be feeling guilty..... i am not saying that any one at NTL is an idiot just that i hate talking to idiots....

If you have a problem PM me.

perosnally i cant see why that would make tech feel guilty?
and would agree with Tech when he/she says its quite a sweeping statement u make there......

also agree with yourself when u say that your not calling anyone at ntl an idiot.......
although in the context of the post....thats what seems to be implied.....

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by jimbo

Originally Posted by jimbo
It is assumed all calls are fixed first time, unless the customer then calls back within a certain period with the same problem. In this case, the 2nd agent should add his/her notes to the existing ISE, which will mean the call is known not to have been fixed first time.

A very big assumption with no scientific or logical basis. I have called on several occasions about problems, sometimes twice in the same day regarding the same problem and have found that the first agent has put no notes on the system about the first call, being talked through the same process by the second agent as the first despite me telling him that we had already tried that earlier in the day.

How many customers in the past have tried to call TSB and got fed up with the queue and looked elsewhere for a solution (this site or dotcom in its day to name a couple), particularly when their first call didn't solve the problem. Using what Jimbo said, this would be regarded as a FTF even though it wasn't.

How would calls be classed that were insoluble by TSB? By that I mean calls such as "I have a problem with my email" made during the very lengthy period that email has been a problem. The TSB guy replies that they know that there is a problem with email that will be fixed at some unknown time in the future so the caller doesn't bother to call back. According to what Jimbo said that would have been classed as a FTF as the caller didn't call back although we all know that it wasn't fixed.

[threadbare]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

<snip>
How would calls be classed that were insoluble by TSB? By that I mean calls such as "I have a problem with my email" made during the very lengthy period that email has been a problem. The TSB guy replies that they know that there is a problem with email that will be fixed at some unknown time in the future so the caller doesn't bother to call back. According to what Jimbo said that would have been classed as a FTF as the caller didn't call back although we all know that it wasn't fixed.

well of course that is a fix! the caller is made aware of problems which will be resolved by ntl's engineers. there is no need for them to call back as the problem is being dealt with. the agent has 'fixed' the problem by informing the customer that the engineers are dealing. no the tech hasnt gone out to fix the mail servers themselves at this is not at all feasable. job done

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Feenix

and what is wrong with the data coming from installers?

Nothing, unless you believe that 98% of installs go according to plan.