Efficient Escalation: Tech Support

Posted on June 30, 2010

“The customer was able to browse after a powercycle, but at a very slow speed. A quick check of the modem status in TruVizion revealed an RF issue, so I knew that further troubleshooting with the customer would not fix the problem. TruVizion helped me escalate the problem to an engineer quickly.”
Fonya Ramsey
Technical Support Manager

Problem: Very Slow Connection

ZCorum delivers 24 x 7 technical support on behalf of a cable broadband provider on the California coast. An end user called ZCorum’s tech support line because he was unable to connect to the Internet. The representative, tech support manager Fonya Ramsey, advised a powercycle and confirmed the customer had a valid IP address. The customer could browse again, but only at a very slow speed.

Solution: Tech Support Escalates Plant Issues Immediately

Fonya can assist the customer more efficiently because TruVizion’s intuitive interface presents relevant data together in a single screen. She uses TruVizion’s Modem Diagnostics tools to review the RF statistics for the customer’s modem. A quick glance at the Modem screen shows that the Upstream SNR and Headend Receive Power are out-of-spec, alternating between warning and alert levels.

TruVizion’s mapping tools help tech support representatives and engineers visualize the network geographically. With a single click, TruVizion users can filter the information displayed to show only offline or out-of-spec modems, or only modems with specific RF issues. Fonya drills into the Map pane to see if other customers located nearby are experiencing similar issues. She filters the nearest 25 modems to view only those modems that are reporting similar out-of-spec RF levels. Several other modems nearby are also in alert or warning state, and this indicates an RF issue likely exists in the plant.

Rather than keeping the customer on the line to perform troubleshooting steps that are not likely to yield results, Fonya informs the customer that there is a problem in the cable plant and that she will escalate it to an engineer for repair. She explains that a service call may be necessary for engineers to diagnose the problem and complete repairs. When the call ends, Fonya uses the screen capture tools to copy the customer’s RF data and modem information into a trouble ticket for immediate escalation to plant engineers.