Things CNS Should Improve
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Costs We Pass on to Customers
Cost of cell phones
Discounted equipment prices
Cheaper phone sets
Competitive calling-card rates -- our MCI and ATT rates are astronomical.
cost of telecom services
cost of phones (i.e. Panasonic 3-button phone)
Consider lowering installation rates, or giving discount on multi
installations
Billing
Need faster resolution to billing problems.
Need faster resolution to billing errors.
Inaccurate phone bills
need a way to change charge account number on phones
Our internal records on voice and data network are inaccurate, incomplete, or
missing.
Billing of charges for telephone service is awful. It's full of
mistakes and it's hard to get corrections made. When we talk about a
new charging structure for data services going into place, it scares
me to think that it might be like this.
have to have phone bills corrected over and over for same errors
Phone bill Detail analysis overly complicated; headings not informative and
seem redundant (summary of charges, recurring charges, current charges,
usage detail, detail of charges).
Hire someone to reconcile our bills with vendors -- unused extensions and cell
phones cost enough to fund the position.
Opaque to customers (we are a mystery)
Provide training to departmental staff on the expectations of a CNS
requestor from the department. What training or knowledge should they
have? How do you fill out the forms to expedite orders. Describe what is
critical information to supply. I find in departments that our business
offices are sometimes expected to be specialists in certain areas where we
are only generalists. CNS is very detail and technically oriented with a need
for a basis in understanding systems. Our inability to present the
appropriate information in our requests results in problems in placement
of orders.
better understanding of who to contact at CNS
need a number for reporting a line that is out of order
Create a HelpDesk for CNS services that is monitored consistently.
2-9053 and 2-8080, 2-6000, 3-7000 should be centralized.
(voice repair, orders, operators, rts respectively MB)
Voice mail messages left at these phone numbers are not returned within
a certain time frame.
Communicating to customers what services are available and who/where to obtain
them.
Unsure about complete line of services you offer.
The CNS Web pages need a lot of work to make sense to customer -- even "Data
Services" is very jargony. What does this mean? I am looking for words
like modem, Home IP, wiring. There is NO continuity between the pages.
Anyhow, from what I hear people are saying nothing ever happens after CNS
collects information. My two cents: Send out the results of the
survey and some action plan to address issues that are a major
concern for customers.
Information from "someone" that there were no cordless phones that work with
P-phones was apparently wrong and by accident Carl Woo was able to
put respondent in touch with a "CNS guy" who helped. Info should be
on website.
More clear accountability for work attributable to an individual staff member,
external eg: know who in CCU or OIR or ND is point person for your order
internal eg: know who in CNS purchasing is responsible for your order.
Better communication between technician and customer: status reports,
explanation of solution, etc.
Order form and Supporting info
Improve order form -- it is very unclear how to fill it out correctly.
Simplify the CNS order form for voice (paper and online)
Ordering is too hard: service ordering modeled after Amazon -- pictures,
shopping cart, etc.
Better communication/ more information regarding process for ordering phone
and service for new offices.
viewing pictures or catalogs of phones before placing the order,
information I can't find on the web: cost of cell phones, cell phone rates,
network connection rates, installation rates, teleconferencing info
Better communication with customers about services being offered, services
being discontinued.
Internal Processes and Communication
CCU use of mysoft is hampered by 1) using employee ids (customer's) as
identifiers instead of phone numbers. cause redundant work.
CCU's work is hampered by lack of standard operating procedures and lack of
knowledge sharing.
Miscommunication between CCU, other parts of CNS, and PB re mpoe'd non-mpoed.
CCU lacks info on what's going on and this causes miscommunication
with customers.
Access to info resources is good but general communication within dept is poor.
Individual staff don't get info of job-related importance to them,
eg PB rate changes, how A/F/S are being determined for network nodes.
Blanket emails don't get across the relevance of specific info
or larger projects to the workers.
Internal departmental fragmentation. Unit and other boundaries are drawn
solidly. The Telecom and DCNS lines are still drawn for many staff,
after 3 years. Our behavior and our language are "us" and "them", at the
unit level and finer. Inter-unit communication of work-related
information is inadequate -- on any substantial project we are the
blind men and the project is the elephant.
Cooperation with External Groups/ Projects
Working with other departments when making significant changes
to campus modem/ networking services that will affect all/many users
(e.g., eliminating modem banks, transitioning to dynamic IP allocation,
etc.).
More timely response and service intervals: CNS time exceeds all other
parts of a move, surge, relocation, renovation and costs are too high.
One example both time and cost exceeded sum of all other times and costs
in project.
Better collaboration with other service providers such as CP, PP-CS, and Def
Maint. Truly working together in a positive spirit, showing flexibility
and understanding. Participate in common costs and things that are
generally beneficial.
Ensure that CNS is included in capital planning projects (renovations, new
construction, etc) early in the process.
Share information about technical trends and direction that
affect specific users. Invite clients to participate in the early
discussion phases of new projects or partnerships with private
sector/industry providers. Collaborate with clients in the
development, implementation, and enforcement of computer use
policies. Recognize local expertise and the value of technical
perspectives outside of CNS. CNS internal communication and sharing
of information appears to be less than optimal - one unit not clear about
what the other unit is working on. Coordination with other service
providers or planners (i.e. PD&C, TCI) could be improved - a tendency
to blame rather than resolve or solve appears to exist.
Planning for project-level network upgrades. I am waiting over 6 months to
get a PIR to sign (cites specific examples) despite emphasizing
urgency.
Speed up response to project requests - My department conducted a face to
face meeting with CNS officials and submitted a proposal exactly one
year ago. Due to equipment shortages, personnel shortages and claims
that paperwork was misplaced or misfiled, that project has only just
now been completed. A second project request submitted six months ago
is still pending.
General Customer service
Notification processes for phones, wireless, cell phones, pager etc repair--only
occasional acknowledgement of order receipt, no time or $ estimate.
Need immediate response to repair orders
An estimated cost for services included in the confirmation email.
Customer focus groups
Voicemail when you've lost the password
Better communication between technician and customer: status reports,
explanation of solution, etc.
Both our customer services and our internal services suffer in terms of
accuracy, notification, clarity, followup, and in many cases, simply
getting done. Staffing levels? Performance? Training? I don't know,
but the symptoms are similar in purchasing, service ordering, service
fulfillment, computer support, HR support, etc. If we internally can't
get things to work right how can we possibly expect customers to do so?
Resolve potential problems in a timely manner rather than telling the
customer to wait a couple of days and then phone back.
Poor customer service
Customer Service
Customer service orientation is frequently absent in areas ranging from
accuracy, courtesy timeliness, followup as regards taking orders,
customer contact, billing, throughout the CNS organization. Sees
this as a critical performance issue: CNS must not continue to
tolerate staff with poor customer service attitudes and skills.
Our attitude towards our customers and their requests is sometimes indifferent,
and it shows in our lack of follow up and inability to meet set standard
due dates. Obviously, there are many components that encompass this
area, but if the entire CNS staff understood how what they did impacted
the customer (internal and external) and how important it was in the
overall delivery of service, I think we would see vast improvements.
Follow up on orders from start to finish. Have some sort of tracking
system in place to ensure orders are being processed as promised after
they have been assigned.
Customer service, e.g., some areas are really good, such as response to
phone problems, but it seems staffing is so short that sometimes timely
responses don't happen with things like network changes.
Customer education on how CNS works. Maybe some classes similar to what PD&C
offers.
Improve communications between separate divisions within CNS and with Pac
Bell. Customer often has to repeat information to each group ad nauseum.
Timeliness and follow-through.
Installation and Repair
Make it easier and quicker to get data connections installed.
Fix turnaround time
Improve turnaround time -- it usually takes a month to get service requests
done.
Faster installation time frame
Faster turnaround in small requests. Sometimes the simple requests get
lost in workloads bogged down in major changes.
Network connection installation--it takes way too long (in my case
it took over 6 months) and is much to complicated. It would be
helpful if you offered a service where we could tell someone in CNS
what we wanted (For example, "Remove all of the network connections
in this room and replace them with 100-base-T"), and have that person
figure out how to enter all that on the ANS form.
Getting names/IP addresses for newly-installed network
my connections. From what I can tell from the trouble I had getting
this done (and the conversations I had with CNS staff during that
time), the database that stores all of that data is badly broken.
Getting Network connections installed quicker, with less bureaucracy.
Fix the ANS process
Slow service, waited 3 months for a new ethernet connection
Improved communications around orders that have been placed for new wiring.
Quicker turnaround for network connection installation (this
is being addressed by the net process group)
Triage on voice installs, a la new ANS, next-day service on simple installs,auth
codes, voicemail, calling cards, feature changes.
Respond to our requests a lot faster - takes forever for the problem to get
resolved. At least call and let us know what's going on. (Voice MB)
Move the phone requests through faster seems to be 2 weeks.
Setting up phone lines and voicemail quicker.
Internal Accountability and Behavior
More clear accountability for work attributable to an individual staff member,
external eg: know who in CCU or OIR or ND is point person for your order
internal eg: know who in CNS purchasing is responsible for your order.
Putting the right people in the right jobs. Holding people accountable for
their jobs, management and non-management.
We fail to understand the importance of communication within our units, with
our customers, and with our vendors. Because of this, it fragments the
teams and units, and we often are working on efforts that would more
effectively get results through collaboration. There is also a lot of
duplication of effort and focus not being placed on priorities due to
lack of understanding and communication.
Increase the quantity and quality of communication with
clients. When making decisions that affect clients, consult with them
prior to action. Learn and better understand the client's
business/technical needs, time constraints, and financial/funding
restrictions. Provide better accountability and detailed auditable
reporting on all services provided. Develop a customer service
approach, that is, a sense of accountability to the customer, not the
other way around. Provide detailed status reports on open
tags/projects and continue to improve response time for requests.
Better internal accountability and attention to problems.
Examples:
- Quicker turnaround on travel reimbursements. (I know of
cases of 4-month delays)
- Management should respond to issues with decisions, or at
least with information if decisions can't be made. Example:
Office-space problems affecting NS personnel at Evans have
been pending for months with no decisions or even any
concrete news about what's planned.
Staff arrogance toward other staff, especially in Evans, is unacceptable and
has spread to affect customer service and other interactions of CNS
toward co-workers, customers, etc.
Staff members treating each other with respect and kindness!!!!!
Conference Calls
Conference calls: ordering should be on web w automatic billing to phone no.
Connections don't start till the last moment. Would prefer a bridge to
call into call from wherever they are.
Conference calls: Currently, the latest that customers can ask for their
conference calls to be initiated is 4:45pm. If you need to make a
conference call after that, then you're out of luck. Conference call
participants are also expected to wait by their phones for the CNS
operator to call them. This could be a problem for example, if a
participant needs to join in the teleconference a few minutes later.
One solution is if the participants had a number that they could call
into. That way, it would not be a problem to join late or have an
conference before or after CNS' regular business hours. It would be
much more convenient if we did not have to rely solely on operator
assistance to conduct these calls.
Improve conference call service
I wanted to arrange for a conference call, but couldn't find any
instructions on your website. The operator told me to email the start
and end times, contact person, call initiator, and participant
information to ucbinfo@uclink4. Couldn't you put those instructions on
your website, or even create a form to fill out on line and send off?
General Suggestions for Improvement
Plan
Budget
Improving network reliability for things like voicemail and e-mail.
More classrooms with ceiling-mounted computer projectors.
Improve network infrastructure: upgrades and monitoring.
Most important services to add
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Fix Broken Things First
It just seems like a bad time for CNS to be reviewing services while there
is still organizational issues that need attention i.e
Ann D leaving.
concentrate on improving current services before contemplating new
I would rather see CNS concentrate on improving the services it has than
offering more.
I don't think CNS should be thinking about new services until it improves
the services and customer services it offers now! Keep your eyes
on the PRIZE... actually, 2 prizes, faster network connection
installation and better customer service.
Phone and features including wireless
Offer up-to-date telephone equipment for the handicapped/hearing impaired.
Improve services to the disabled, including access to signup and service
provision.
800 number for checking voicemail when away (UCLA has)
800 number to campus modems when travelling
direct voicemail for res halls
retrieve voicemails deleted by mistake/ better documentation
Better choices for telephone service, including more choices around
telephone instruments and cellular services.
start selling fax machines again
over-the-counter telephone/wireless equipment sales
instructions on how to use the phone set- forwarding, transfer, etc.
different ring signals depending on who is calling.
call forwarding to a different number
Call waiting on phones.
Voice services (some sort of telephone lines will always be needed)
Operator/directory Services
too many directories delivered, who can retrieve them? Should we call Pac Bell?
how do you get Pac Bell phone directories? Should we call Pac Bell?
when are the new directories published
An automated answering system for the main number during non-business hours
where the caller could search for UCB employees by punching in the last
name/first name of the particular staff or faculty member. This could
also be a useful feature if all operator lines are busy-- the call
could then rollover to the automated system.
Computer Telephony
internet fax service-- receive on pc
fax-server
computer telephony, eg unified messaging
unified messaging
Voice over IP
Data/voice integration? ISDN giving two for the price of one? at a good price.
General Customer Support
More or improved consulting services, offering departments an "expert"
who can help review our needs when we feel our network infrastructure
isn't working for us, but can't quite figure out why or what to do
about it technically.
Assistance with website development and maintenance
A "customer wizard" for external and internal customers, available by phone,
email, web form, paper, etc who tells you where to find things, who
to talk to, what to expect, how to get stuff done, in other words.
This should be a journey level or senior position, and is not meant
to take an active role in the work or be a snitch.
Empowering customer service reps and technicians to make decisions that
will resolve problems at the front end rather than dealing with
bureaucracy/paperwork first.
on-line purchasing of equipment.
on-line prices of equipment.
on-line request of services.
Provide contact information on query so customers can contact the
appropriate personnel when there are problems.
Departmental training (training for customers MB)
Possibly a userlist type correspondence similar to MailFlash or the BFS
services. I find that communication much more i effective for me than
reminding myself to review web-sites.
Better updates to clients regarding CNS work. Web access
to internal status of projects and billing status. Detailed
information or summaries from COMET via secure web interface.
Integrate data and voice system billing.
Security Services
More comprehensive network monitoring:
Detect security incidents to be handled by the (not yet hired)
IST Security team.
Support or provide firewall/NAT service to departments.
This would/could include switching hubs on the department side.
If CNS supports or provides the firewall/NAT, then you could make
your own arrangements for monitoring and service.
security consulting and support
followup on security incidents (tracking down perps with law enforcement)
Video, Teleconferencing, Telecommuting
video conferences
Online conference services - (conference calls, telnet, web-conferencing,
file sharing.)
Increased videoconferencing capabilities for training and meetings
Increased telecommuting technologies (especially in light of space demands)
rich-robust content on demand and effortless-high quality interactive video
between key departments
Infrastructure and Connecticity
DSL
DSL
DSL
DSL service
how can we get DSL for off-campus
DSL (which we do)
DSL for dorms
faster BFS connections
ethernet cable has been installed, but we don't know how to use it
VLANs
Expanded 100base-T support.
classroom should have computer with internet access locked in a closet so instr
can just bring keyboard and mouse. Data on server elsewhere.
cheaper,faster connections to remote site (Carmel Valley)
remote site (250+ miles away), site buildings 1 mile apart
Faster, more reliable internet connections for smaller, off-site locations
with little or no funding. (Oxford Court)
Free bandwidth. Performance tuning and planning for the coming wall-o-traffic.
Infrastructure that can support the growing demand for bandwidth.
Creative partnership with private industry to provide highest possible
performance of our network. Creative alliances which would position
us to try some new network designs.
100Base-T networking! There are a lot of new technologies that we can
not take advantage of because the network is too slow. Two such
technologies are: Net booting of Macintosh computers and VNC -- virtual
network computing. The future of computing is thin clients and the bulk
of the data for that type of computing is delivered via the network.
This model simply can not be done with 10Base-T. It is really silly to
have huge data processing centers -- I'm not talking about computation
centers -- filled with high end workstations that will NEVER be used to
their potential. A good example is most, not all, of the computes at CNS
Shattuck. Most of those computers could be replaced with thin client
machines which pull their data off a high end server. Thin clients are
cheaper to purchase and far, far cheaper to maintain than are
workstations. But this model of computing will never be realized with a
10Base-T network.
Network Administration
Traffic analysis to tune network performance and quality of service.
Providing enhanced network administration services: integrated
DHCP for management of IP addresses and Win2K Active Directory
services with DDNS and authentication services for Win2K and other
Kerberos users.
Provided enhanced remote access services: automated account setup and
Active Directory/Kerberos-integrated authentication for dial-up users.
proxy services for non-berkeley.edu addresses
Provide or support secure access to campus from ISPs (and dialup?)
(PPTP/L2TP? IPSEC?)
This might have to be offered as a service to departments so that
the secure tunnel goes all the way to the departmental subnet. With
Windows 2000 this is builtin and could use a Windows 2000 server at
the campus end, however, I suspect that Cisco and others have boxes
to do secure tunnels. Of course some departments, particularly
administrative departments may want to use secure tunnels across the
campus network.
Campus-wide DHCP, closely integrated with DNS support
Offer a way for students to dial up from off campus and obtain the
various accounts they need. This might take the form of a PPP server
that anyone could connect to but that would only allow http and https
connections to bilink.berkeley.edu (128.32.25.39).
Setup of Home-IP accounts remotely (I asked for clarification on this and got:
"how could we let users get their Home-IP accounts
if they didn't have access to the campus network (i.e., didn't
have their computers configured for Web access). They were
forced to use a machine already connected to the network.
(Now I know they could dial up the campus modems, type in home-ip
and login as home-ip to set up their accounts, but this seems
hopelessly arcane for the average user.)
What we'd like to see is some no-brainer way to get a home-ip
account from their homes or else have Internet Kiosks ubiquitously
placed around campus." MB)
Greatly improved cellular phone coverage on campus (with all
carriers). At the very least, it would be helpful to have a web page
that listed which cellular service providers covered the campus
well--including inside buildings--and which did not.
Expanded wireless services
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Address comments to: margaret@socrates.berkeley.edu
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