How Service Desk saved a service company, or What to do if your business is growing?

My name is Daria, I'm a product analyst. The main product of my company is the service desk, a cloud platform that automates business processes: for example, repair work, maintenance of various facilities. One of my tasks is to participate in the process of implementing our platform in the business of clients, while you need to dive into the specifics of the work of a particular company as deeply as possible.

I want to tell you how we managed to automate labor-intensive business processes for one of our clients, the Brant service company. The company turned to our platform when the number of its customers, and, consequently, service requests, began to skyrocket. The business is actively developing, because it's great, what's the catch? The fact that the number of the same type of routine processes is also growing sharply, and this danger cannot be underestimated. And besides, it becomes obvious that it is impossible to use the same tools that worked when there were fewer applications.

Is that familiar?

So, the story of salvation.

Exactly service companies use the functionality of our platform as fully as possible, because they need operational communication between several parties. What are these sides?

• Customerwho has something broken
• Service Managerwho accepts the application, appoints the contractor and controls its implementation
• Lead engineer, which provides quality control of the work performed and provides technical support in the implementation of complex applications
• service specialist, who will come to the point and will fix the problem

Information about the company "Brant"

• Rendered services: repair and warranty maintenance of equipment, construction and installation works; cleaning;
• More than 1000 service facilities are located in Moscow and Moscow region;
• There are more than 60 service specialists on staff.
• The company fulfills more than 4500 applications every month.
• We use pseudonyms in this text to refer to Brant's clients. These are: a federal network of grocery stores - let's call it "Polyanka"; two pharmacy chains - "Doctor A" and "Doctor B"; service centers of the telecom operator "Op Mobile"; as well as several production facilities;

Each of the major chains insisted that all application support be done in their accounting software. Automation of interaction is effective for both the customer and the service company, and is justified in the field of complex services. However, when there are more than two customers, the work of a service company in several programs at once creates difficulties.

How it was BEFORE the introduction of Service Desk

The Polyanka network uses the 1C: MRO program; "Doctor A" - submits applications through the Intraservice system; "Doctor B" and "Op Mobile" - through their own Service Desk. Non-network customers submit orders via email, phone calls, or even WhatsApp and Viber.

The collection of all received applications was carried out in an excel file. The number of applications could be more than 4 thousand at once - and these are only active applications, and you still need to store the history of completed applications.

The summary file simply threatened to die at any moment, and we had to constantly make copies so as not to lose the database of applications. Collecting applications from all sources and transferring them to an Excel file took an unacceptably long time. And then it was also necessary to manually send requests to performers via SMS messages, e-mail, Viber and WhatsApp.

In this case, the application sent to the service specialist must contain the maximum information necessary for its implementation. After completing the application, it was necessary to collect information on the implementation and photo reports. And somewhere else to store it.

One can imagine how difficult it was for such a multi-channel system for receiving, accounting and distributing applications. With the company getting new customers to service and hiring more and more specialists, the process was in desperate need of automation and greater transparency. Nevertheless, it is impossible to refuse to work with applications in a way that is convenient for the client, because this is provided for by the terms of the contract.

This means that a separate system is required that will allow:

1. collect tasks from all customer systems in one place;
2. standardize applications received in different formats;
3. transfer applications to service specialists with all the necessary information;
4. receive a report on the implementation of the application;
5. keep a history of completed orders.

And at the same time, it should be convenient for the performer - a field employee who only has a phone with him as a means of communication.

How it all became after the introduction of Service Desk

After studying the market for software products, Brant chose our system - the HubEx platform.

Step 1: With the help of Excel import, data on all serviced objects were transferred to the platform (at the time of launch there were more than 900 of them) - now all the necessary information about each object is stored in the web passport of the object: address, geolocation on the map, technical documentation, contacts , service history. Everything that may be required for the prompt execution of the application.

Step 2: - Uploading applications to the common system was done quickly. Import in the HubEx system takes place in two clicks, and now all applications for each object are collected in one place. An alternative way to collect applications from customer systems is to set up a mechanism for accepting applications directly by e-mail. This option is also available in the platform.

Result: Brant dispatchers see all applications in one program and distribute them among field employees.

Each employee in his pocket has a phone with a mobile application that will notify you of a new assigned application. And in the application itself, the specialist sees the current list of his applications:

An important point: now all communications on the application are made not through a telephone conversation and not through instant messengers, but strictly in the application itself.

This allows you to store the history of the application, clearly segment communication for each of them, and make sure that nothing important is lost. The contractor can request additional information about the performance of work, report a delay, invite the necessary participant to the discussion - for example, another specialist - who served this object before.

Now, when transferring an application to another specialist, all the necessary information on previous actions is available to the new employee.

Thus, the introduction of the service desk allowed Brant to combine all its projects into a single system. In addition, routine processes that threatened to “drown” the company in themselves were significantly reduced: despite the fact that the number of service facilities increased, it was not necessary to bloat the staff with new employees just to cover the increase in the number of similar tasks.

Source: habr.com