Grintek Technologies, provider of high-end telecommunications solutions to the transport, energy distribution, aviation, and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors, is progressively expanding its use of FrontRange Solutions` service management solution, HEAT, to enhance its service offering to internal and external customers while cutting the cost of service delivery.
Initially installed at Grintek`s Technologies division in May 2004 to improve the speed and effectiveness of support for more than 300 corporate customers using Grintek call centre and PABX technology, HEAT`s functionality has since been expanded to support service delivery by the company`s carrier group - with similar functionality being planned for the company`s energy division. HEAT`s superior incident logging and management capabilities have also been applied to Grintek Technologies` internal IT infrastructure and building maintenance.
As a result, a number of the company`s call centres and help-desks have been consolidated into a central facility at Centurion, Pretoria, where 15 agents provide a 24x7 service to both internal and external customers.
"Implementing HEAT was primarily an operational decision, but it has since proved to be a strategic tool for the entire business," says managing executive for enterprise business at Grintek Technologies, Angelo Manzoni. "Not only has it bolstered customer satisfaction, it has also enabled us to cut costs through consolidation and integration of processes that were common to a number of divisions.
"In addition, it has enabled my department to start the move from being a cost to a profit centre. With HEAT`s superior reporting and service level agreement (SLA) management facilities we can prove our effectiveness and therefore charge our customers relevantly for our services.
"And, because HEAT`s flexibility means that we can easily take on more business with very little adjustment of the basic solution, our potential for increasing profitability is virtually limitless. Not bad for a department that started out as a help-desk logging support calls and managing technicians in the field!"
Some of the enterprise business unit`s 30 technical support staff are permanently deployed at customer sites where large PABX installations, for instance, have to be adjusted daily to suit the dynamic telecommunications requirements of large workforces. All support calls, however, are logged centrally on HEAT, giving Manzoni and his management staff a real-time, single view of all work being done by the department.
At the same time, HEAT allows very precise tailoring of SLAs to meet the individual needs of specific customers - automating the administration of multiple service contracts and alerting Barkhuizen of any anomalies in time for him to take remedial action before customers are negatively impacted. Most importantly, it increases the flexibility of Grintek`s service offering.
"In theory, the complexity of our service environment - from ensuring that light bulbs are replaced to reducing down time on a national bank`s telephone system - should limit our capacity for work," Manzoni says. "But HEAT`s ability to reduce complexity enables us to keep expanding without compromising service quality."
FrontRange Solutions (SA) managing director, Tracey Newman, says HEAT`s versatility is a key factor in its having become not just a world leader in its category but a driver of profit. "HEAT was originally designed for IT help-desks. But the principles and processes involved in effective service delivery are the same, no matter what the industry.
"So, FrontRange developers deliberately designed HEAT to be open to any kind of information and so easy to use that you don`t need to be an IT boffin to work with it. We`ve also built in elements of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) - an internationally accepted best practice framework, making HEAT universally applicable.
"As a result, is not just an operational tool. It`s a strategic differentiator for any organisation wanting to excel at service."
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