Why Change the Help Desk System for Service Automation When it Has Already Been Set up and Working?
Before partnering with Okdesk, MONTRANS had tried plenty of other service management platforms. In comparison with the others, it offered relatively inexpensive automation of complex business processes, reduced the amount of information, and completely eliminated hard copy paperwork.
Brief description. Business specifics and scope of services
MONTRANS LLC is a leader in digital fleet management. The company has been working on the market since 2003. Its main goal lies in developing complex business solutions for automation of transport companies, as well as in manufacturing and supplying telematic equipment and software. The MONTRANS solutions are implemented in over 500 enterprises and serve more than 30,000 vehicles.
The technical department of the company installs the equipment purchased by customers for their vehicles. The service department is in charge of warranty and post-warranty maintenance of GPS fleet tracking & management systems. The tech support department is in charge of quality assurance, training, and supporting the customer representatives, they prepare technical documentation and audit of the facilities. The second-line tech support is responsible for server maintenance, interactions with production and analytics departments.
Searching for Help Desk system for field services & automation
MONTRANS key areas are:
field services, requiring engineer's attendance for installation or troubleshooting;
consulting, performed remotely by service managers.
Initially, the MONTRANS experts were looking for an automation tool (help desk software for fleet management integrator & field service automation). They needed a solution that would help to streamline the accounting of all applications from different departments and integrate them into existing business processes regardless of the geographical remoteness.
"We've tried dozens of options. We even tried using the system offered by our strategic partner. The only option was to resort to ERP supplemented by email and a help desk. We used to receive installation and maintenance inquiries via email, then the ERP system would create job orders and would email them to field engineers. The latter would complete the jobs and would send back files with configurations of installed trackers to upload to the monitoring system. We had a dedicated specialist to make sure that this process was efficient and that everything was sent and received on time. Engineers would also submit hard copy statements to the accounting department. These were then used to bill the customers for the services rendered,"comments Dmitry Laptev, head of the tech support department at MONTRANS LLC. The company managed to optimise its business processes. However, meeting all the needs was impossible without dealing with several solutions. MONTRANS had to adjust the established workflow and find a tool that, on the one hand, would support the existing processes, and on the other hand, would facilitate the implementation of changes and provide an even higher quality of services.
"We've examined over 10 different platforms and help desk solutions that promised to automate any process. We encountered Okdesk at one of the events and got immediately intrigued. We realized that this system would allow us to automate our rather complicated business processes involving installation and subsequent service of equipment sets. Besides, we could integrate it with other components of our infrastructure. Among other features, Okdesk offered 'out-of-the-box' tools for customer interactions like customer service portal which proved to be a real innovation in our industry. For instance, their mobile app was demonstrated in two versions at once: the client version and the engineer's one. The flexible API allowed us back then to compile a partner directory on our test account within a few days,"says Dmitry Zhuravlev, managing partner of MONTRANS LLC.
KPI, field service, integration, and implementation of a unique fully transparent help desk platform for customer service
MONTRANS has been using Okdesk since autumn 2019. It automated all processes related to consultation, installation, and maintenance. However, its application and operation model is unusual. From the point of view of business processes, all tasks are logically divided into installation and diagnostics (with subsequent repair if necessary).
Installation requests come through the sales department. Its managers work only on CRM and ERP platforms, where they create the necessary requests. These requests are then picked up by Okdesk via integration. Thus, although employees perceive the outlines of the work from a different perspective, they are nevertheless united into a haltless process. After some adjusting, we managed to create and submit all requests on time.
Service requests are made via Okdesk directly. The active customer base is divided between several service managers, who both act as the first line, answering the calls, and are in charge of events. Thus, all customer requests — from registration up to performance — are handled by professionals who can ensure the deadlines and solution quality for each of them. Requests mostly come via phone calls through VoIP integration and seldom via email or customer service portal. It takes only sending them to engineers or managers to bill an invoice in one click.
“We have shared access to Okdesk out-of-the-box customer service for our VIP customers. This has improved transparency in our communications. They can now create their own requests and monitor the progress of requests at all stages. It makes things easier for us. Of course, customers got used to proactive service, when they practically have nothing to do but consent to make another request,"remarks Dmitry Laptev. MONTRANS managed to implement a workflow roadmap depending on the type of malfunction using automatic rules. Now service managers point out one or more fleet management malfunctions on the customer's transport. When engineers fill in the checklist, they receive the list of tasks they have been approved for to fix the malfunction according to the regulations.
Service process automation on Okdesk
For each request, the first step is to determine whether the problem can be resolved remotely or needs personal attendance. If the latter is necessary, the request is assigned to engineers in the corresponding region.
Each region has its own request distribution system depending on the number of representatives. In each region, characterized by a large number of both the requests and employees, the distribution is handled by the head of the service department. When the request is forwarded to field engineers in some region, it is assigned to the department head and then to one of the employees, taking a lot of factors into consideration. Employee workload schedule is actively used for this purpose.
The company purchases a laptop and a smartphone with a fully functional pre-installed Okdesk mobile app for each new employee. Field engineers use it to receive requests. The routine of an engineer's work is standardized to select malfunctions, for which the app automatically generates a list of necessary tasks or specifications. Engineers go through the checklist on their smartphones and check off the issue items upon eliminating the issues. Then they create a report and send a notification to Okdesk.
After service managers have checked the result of the work, the notification is forwarded to the customer's app together with the report, photos, and statement. Customers must confirm that the work is done and rate engineers. The latter can file a hard copy report act and sign it on-site with the customer, if necessary. The app-generated report filed with the accounting department is then used as the basis to bill the customer. All processed data serves as the basis for deeper analysis and further adjustments. Thus, the entire process is digitized.
""Owing to Okdesk, we've almost entirely got rid of hard copy reports. We have a special form to fill in and sign on the smartphone screen when the request status is "Done". When the report is signed, the status of the request is changed to "Maintenance complete." We have reduced the work completion and payment paperwork deadlines by one month, and solved many disputable issues,"reports Dmitry Baranov, head of the service department, MONTRANS LLC. To ensure ultimate transparency — which at MONTRANS is considered to be of crucial significance for long-term trusting partnerships — the company has configured automatic rules in Okdesk. Due to them customers stay informed about all the main activities relevant to their request. Especially about those, needing the client’s involvement. We have designed chatbots to exchange messages using Telegram and email.
At the final stage, the request is returned to the service manager who conducts additional quality assurance and makes sure it fully meets all internal regulations. It is then forwarded to the accounting or returned for revisions. We use the API and ERP integration to bill customers. All reports are sent to the accounting department. The request is closed after being processed by the accounting. Thus, MONTRANS can keep a record of both warranty and non-warranty repairs, as well as of associated expenses.
The company can calculate engineers’ bonus payments in Okdesk according to their workload. Exact amounts of money are shown in the app and are automatically added to the suitable account and to the ERP system.
Analytics and short-term help desk system development plans
Okdesk provides an opportunity of automating a number of complex business processes at MONTRANS. First and foremost, it is the generation of reports on the number of opened, completed, and closed requests. Since the department closes several thousands of such documents per month, it is obvious that MONTRANS would set optimization of the workflow as a top priority. All processes of every department are rated in the company's BI system.
""For our company, it is vital to have ways of analyzing every site and process as well as of controlling the KPI of the business. We must be fully aware of what is going on when we make our decisions, and it all has to be backed up by data. We've integrated Okdesk with the BI system and we already witness the impact! Soon we are going to create data boards that will accurately reflect the obstacles in certain aspects of our work and help us to overcome them. Being an industry leader, we strive for the best possible quality of service,"points out Igor Yershov, chief technical officer, MONTRANS LLC. Apart from that, MONTRANS is working on a more accurate assessment of internal labor costs. Every step — either warranty repairs or customer consulting — has a digital value.
"We would like to implement and control time standards for different kinds of work. This will allow us both to increase processing of requests and to ensure the best, guaranteed, and controlled terms for our customers to address various issues," adds Igor Ershov.
Results of Help Desk software implementation
Switching to Okdesk allowed MONTRANS to eliminate redundant information and automate a number of business processes. Implementing the help desk system has paid for itself by reducing the customer billing times and putting an end to excessive document exchange.
"We are now able to bill our customers the same or the next day. That's a huge step forward for us. When we worked with several different tracking systems at once, it could take us up to a month to bill our customer,"Dmitry Baranov comments.
"Those, who want to continue developing on a 21st-century market must think about automation and digitalization in the first place. There are but a few functional and convenient tools that can help us cope with the chaos. Okdesk is a unique help desk system with an underlying configuration that meets your expectations. In the course of getting used to this cloud solution, you can either customize your own turnkey workflow for your business or follow the software's logic. In any case, Okdesk allows building enterprise-grade service processes, it's being actively developed as we go along, and the project team is always attentive to its customers. I always advise my colleagues to choose the most profitable solutions which pay off easily,"Dmitry Zhuravlev summarizes.
