A culture change: Lufkin-Conroe Telephone Exchange invests in MDSI mobile work force management solution to improve operations and increase the quality of customer service

This is the story of a small Independent telco that managed to close a service bureau, reduce paperwork and start testing local loops remotely after it adopted a wireless data system.

The telco is Lufkin-Conroe Telephone Exchange, a local exchange carrier bought late last year by Texas Utilities. It has provided telephone services for 100 years in two franchised areas-north of Houston and north of Conroe-and now has 16 exchanges that serve 100,000 access lines.

Since the early 1960s, Lufkin-Conroe, like many telcos, relied on voice communications and a paper-based dispatch system to deliver and support products and services.

At the start of each day, field technicians at one of two regional dispatch centers received service orders written on paper.

To send and receive information throughout the day, the technicians dialed into internal plant clerks via customers' phone lines using the company's infrastructure.

But by the early 1990s, the dial-up method of dispatching and completing orders started to show some obvious drawbacks, so executives decided to investigate remote data access as an alternative.

The dial-up system caused a significant bottleneck on the voice network because the ratio of field technicians to dispatchers was high. Also, hold times were long and dispatchers and supervisors had no fast and accurate way of monitoring the status of service orders or field technicians. And the system did not readily accommodate emergency orders.

To address some of these issues, Lufkin-Conroe implemented an integrated voice mail system. The system acted as a buffer, enabling field technicians to receive service orders and send service order completion information through their own voice mailboxes.

It was still an arduous, inefficient and paper-intensive process, but it represented the first step in a needed transition.

A process re-engineering effort identified other ways that technology could improve the telco's routines.

The biggest challenge was the duplication of effort involved in supporting the two service centers-one in Lufkin and the other in Conroe-that were 100 miles apart. Constrained by redundant, inconsistent and even inaccessible information, Lufkin-Conroe urgently needed to consolidate the centers without hurting customer care.

After conducting extensive research and considering several options, Lufkin-Conroe built a mobile data system internally. But four months into the project, telco officials realized the system software presented unique challenges of its own.

In July 1996, the telco chose MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inc. to provide a management system for its field service operation, becoming the company's first telco customer.

MDSI, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, develops, implements and supports mobile work force management and wireless connectivity software, as well as related network and mobile computing equipment. MDSI's Advantex-Telecommunications seemed the logical end-to-end software solution for Lufkin-Conroe.

Solution highlights The solution was rolled out to 54 outside service technicians and six supervisors over a private radio network in October 1996, and it incorporated all service order types for residential customers: new installations, ISDN installations, trouble tickets (minor, major and emergency), cable locate requests, and miscellaneous fill-in orders such as customer requests.

The telco then brought additional systems technicians on-line to address commercial users' trouble needs.

Lufkin-Conroe plans to turn next to computerized timesheets in the field. Instead of filling out and handing in a paper record at the end of each shift, timesheet information will be automatically forwarded to the telco's customer information system and then to payroll when a technician signs off the mobile computer.

Residing on the IBM RS/6000 Unix platform, the software solution includes automated service order distribution, map-based dispatching and advanced customer appointment scheduling modules, as well as the mobile application for technicians in the field.

The system also incorporates a line test interface to the test heads on Lufkin-Conroe's switch gear, which lets field technicians test a local loop line remotely and view the results.

Because the test is initiated via a wireless link, it does not require the use of the customer's line, and the information is stored in the host computer database. For added safety and security, a global positioning system/automatic vehicle location module uses a satellite tracking system to monitor the real-time positions of field technicians on a map displayed on dispatcher's workstations.

The telco also is considering generating a large map display on the wall in the service center.

Before the system was up and running, an internal marketing campaign encouraged Lufkin-Conroe employees to understand its benefits and acclimated them to the impending change.

After the system was installed, tested and working, MDSI trained selected telco workers, who in turn trained other employees. With the solution's user-friendly interface, even people who were relatively unfamiliar with computers became proficient quickly.

Besides consolidating its service centers, the telco learned that the benefits from streamlining day-to-day operations and exceeding customer expectations far outweigh the cost of change.

Lufkin-Conroe's productivity shows a 25% increase. For example, field technicians used to start their day at a central location, where they picked up service order lists or called into the dispatch center for service orders. Today, 90% of the remote work force is home-dispatched.

In another example, field technicians used to arrive on site at their first order at 8 a.m., whereas the norm was between 8:30 and 9:15 a.m. Lufkin-Conroe estimates that it has gained at least one hour of productive time per technician per day.

When a customer reports trouble on his phone line, technicians can initiate a line test wirelessly from a mobile computer. Line test equipment runs a series of tests on the line and transmits the results back to the mobile unit. Technicians analyze this information, determine the source of the problem and repair the phone line. This process is much more efficient because technicians no longer have to request a line test and wait for an analysis of the line.

On the critical customer service front, Lufkin-Conroe now consistently offers same-day service; previously, service orders were worked about two to three days out.

Also, the same amount of field technicians handle more service orders for a customer base that is expanding at about 8% annually (3% per year is typical for telcos).

The telco expects that the software system will pay for itself in less than two years.