Conference 7.286::digital

    It depends on what needs fixing and what's wrong with it.  Your Field
    Service folks may not have the expertise needed, the tools needed to
    diagnose the problem, or whatever.  On the other hand, it may just be
    some dumb bureaucratic rule.  Who in your organization have you asked?
    What did they say?  By the way, whose authority are you taking for the 
    statement that you have to call Georgia?  People in WMO are more likely
    to know than any of us scattered around the world.
    
    Dick

    By calling Georgia you are involving the Atlanta CSC. They will attempt
    to fix the problem over the phone, many times a failure is operational
    in nature or may involve a software patch, or a hardware/software
    incompatibility. Thay have a pretty good hit rate for PC's. If they
    can't resolve the problem they will diagnose the failure if possible
    and make a FRU call out. (FRU= field replaceable unit). They then refer
    the call to the local office and a service person goes on-site. The
    goal is to reduce the number of times we dispatch a person thus saving
    DEC money. Using technology to reduce costs, what a novel idea !

    
    re:  last two.....
    
         I recently had the problem of a broken LA120 so it was by my own
         authority, first hand experience rather than just hearsay.  The 
         problem was not operational since I'm very good at fixing these
         problems myself.  The problem was with a cable and our onsite
         folks were able to repair it with no problem.  And yes, technology
         is great if it makes sense.  I was only curious as to whether it
         made sense in this case.
    

    
    
    	Re .3  This isn't meant to be/sound rude...  but Services has a 
    	       policy that sez call the CSC.  They can't make stipulations 
    	       like if there is a SDU within 500 feet you may walk over and
    	       ask them to look into it, etc.
    
    	       The CSC is on call, right now, to take your call.  The SDU
    	       down the hall isn't.  You're a "walk-in" asking them "hey,
    	       gotta minute?  I got this problem, see, and I'd like you 
    	       to come on down and take a look at it.  I'm just down the
    	       hall."  For you that's efficiency, for Services that is 
    	       inconvenient, unscheduled, etc.  Do they bump some other 
    	       call to respond to you, etc?  
    
    	       The local SDU is staffed to a specific headcount because they 
    	       know that a great percentage of thier calls will be handled 
    	       by the CSC, not locally.
              
    	       For our way of doing business....  it's easier.
    

    RE: .4  Thanks for the information.  That makes sense to me now that
            I understand the whys and wherefores.  I hadn't thought of 
            the inconvenience and scheduling, etc. - just the distance.
            Satisfies my question and I didn't consider it rude.
    

re .4

	Right, but in my opinion that is (part of) what is wrong with 
our notion of service and service delivery.  

	No longer does the customer come first, our operating efficiency does

	While it is argued that our efficiencies can be returned to 
customers in lower prices or "better" services, I believe that most 
customers are unlikely to see/feel it that way.  As a customer I like 
walk-in personal responsive service.

	R

Re .6:

In this case, an internal cost center manager is the customer.

Since you think this arrangement is wrong, why not conduct an experiment: go ask
you cost center manager how many more transfer $$$'s they are willing to spend
on service contracts for ULTRA so that one has the privilege of walking down the
hall to get it fixed instead of calling a phone number where the person on the
other end of the line will eventually tell the guy down the hall to get it
fixed.  For extra credit, find out if they're going to increase their budget
request for the cost center, or if they're going to take the money out of
something else.
				/AHM/THX

    
    
    	Actually, being the former system manager for ULTRA that's exactly
    	the way it worked/works.
    
    	Depending on the gravity of the situation, I'd walk down the aisle 
    	a few cubes tell our field service rep that part X just blew it's 
    	cookies and I've got Y restless engineers twiddling their thumbs. 
    	If they weren't in the middle of something important ( like another 
    	down system ) they'd start working on mine, I'd then log my call
    	and give them the log number CHAMPS gave me; many times the problem 
    	was fixed/swapped out before CHAMPS even made initial contact with
    	the service rep.
    
    	Everyone ended up happy, me with a system coming up quick and the
    	rep getting creditted for opening and closing the call in record
    	time.
    
    							Mike
    							----

    
    
    	.6 
    
    	What you're saying sounds good, but it's not practical.  Services
    	is this companies breadwinner right now.  Making it more expensive
    	to provide is not the answer.  
    
    	If customers want on-site service, DEC will sell it to them.  If
    	the base noter wants that extra effort, he can buy it.
    
    	

Re .8:

Oh, I'm quite willing to believe that you had a sufficiently good relationship
with FS to cut process corners.  The person who wrote the base note either
doesn't have that option, or doesn't realize they have it.  But you also said
that it's a two way street, and if your pals in FS were dealing with an existing
system that had just undergone a meltdown, official channels would have had to
resolve the situation.
				/AHM

    I've had service show up in less time than it would take for me
    to walk the several hundred feet to their office.  Call goes into
    the support center, shows up at the office, and rep is paged if it
    is urgent.  Rep might be on the other side of the building, and
    is directed to us to asses priority with their other calls.  mwr