atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Telecom Service & Providers Order Provisioning and why to keep records

Let's discuss any issues or questions you have with placing basic adds, moves, and change orders with the LEC (local exchange carrier which is just another term for the service provider) since we have so many choices these days CLEC, ILEC, RBOC, etc. Tell me your procedures for placing these orders.

We get a LOA (letter of authorizaton) from the customer then call the business office, fax them the LOA and place the order.

-Hal

We tell the customer to place the order themselves. The telco's seem to screw up to much for us to have any part of it.

Yep, I am with Larry on that one. Years we spent dealing with Verizon's screw-ups, and of course since we ordered the service, we were the ones that looked bad. Oh and I might add, they enjoyed it when we looked bad right along with them in the eyes of the customer. Kind of like having a partner in crime.

No more ordering for the customers; they must do it themselves. We will help with answers to technical issues, but only through a conference call.

The customers need to know what a pain it is to deal with the telcos. It helps to make them appreciate what we do a lot more.

I'm with NFC.
If they want me to do it they have to pay for my "time on hold" and "time to get them to do it right" could double their cost, especially if verizon is involved.

If there's a way to screw it up, Verizon has a patent on it.

Mark

I should add that along with the LOA they have to sign a waiver that basically says WHEN Verizon screws up they can't hold us responsible.

We charge $110 per hour to sit at my desk and wait on hold and our normal service rates if we have to go to the site. I've had customers tell me afterwards they would be willing to pay twice that just so they don't have to deal with it. We will only do this with Verizon, if they have Bananna Republic Telecom they can do it themselves.

-Hal

Hal, you are more of a man than I am. I don't care how much the customer is willing to pay, Verizon always screws something up and somehow, we end up on the receiving end of the complaining. There's not enough time in the day to deal with them. Their ineffiency eventually trickles into your business like a cancer and drags it down.

We used to have two full-time COG people on staff just for telco orders. Almost $60K annualy in salaries plus benefits to do the customer's (and Verizon's) jobs. I like being everything to everyone, but not to that extent.

Until the general public realizes how bad things are in telcotown, nothing will change. An office manager needs to spend four hours on the phone with them and experience it for themselves. Then, their boss needs to have contacts that can bring this issue to light. Until there's a mass complaint about this issue, nothing will ever change.

Think about it; if your power is out, the power company doesn't argue with you about responsibility or make you wait. They fix it.

If your water or gas is out, it's pretty much the same. Even cable TV in most cases!

It's all about the quality of the employees that a service provider hires. When a company kicks out the quality help and replaces it with disposable help, we as customers and support people end up rambling.....

"t348h;ajkadifpxzuil;aka;dfa;!!!!!"

Well said! Anyhow we end up calling the telco to make them fix the problem or we all look bad. How many times have you told the customer he needs hunting and the customer said they ordered hunting and the lines don't hunt. I often think verizon really dosen't want to be in the phone business any more. Rarely they get things 100% correct the first time. If the customer uses another carrier other than verizon then forget it.

I agree that Verizon and SWB are the worst to work with and I hate to be "Stuck" on the phone with them. But I do not agree that the smaller LEC's (or CLECS or whatever else you want to call them) are all that bad. Now I am sure some are, but a few of the companies I work with seem to do a great job. I have emergency cell numbers of key people that do care about customer service. I get call backs and other people making sure my AMC where done correctly and in a timely manner. And for any outages, I can get a call back whenever I want it.

I tell customer what is needed and then will give them option of me calling. If I call its from customer site on their time, once services are ordered I'll conference customer in to confirm dates , services and prices. Request copy of work order to be sent to my FAX.