Have you ever called support, only to find that the agent tasked with solving your issues knows less about the product than you? Last week I needed tech support for my bank’s check deposit app. Even though the agent assured me he was a ‘tech’ support agent, he didn’t have the knowledge to answer basic questions about how the app works. It was incredibly aggravating, not at all supportive, and I still haven’t deposited the check. We all rely on technology and sometimes we need support, support that knows the product, knows the customers, and knows the environment and context in which the product is used. SIP trunking is no different. Here’s what to look for in a SIP trunking support team.
Not all tech support knows tech
Too many support centers are simply warm bodies reading scripts. How then, can they really be called “tech support”? Knowing a few standard fixes, or advising a power cycle for every issue is not support. Tech support agents must be subject-matter experts and be able to troubleshoot your specific issues.
In the world of SIP trunking, to qualify as expert support, techs need to able to comprehend your environment, understand your issue, know how to capture and read SIP traces, and have a deep understanding of how calls connect between endpoints. Hiring people (or outsourcing them) and throwing them on the phones without this background might be cheap in the short-run, but it is a recipe for disaster.
Creating SIP trunking support
SIP trunking is a very technical service and it’s important support engineers are rigorously trained in all aspects of the technology before ever answering a phone. Flowroute hires experienced telecom professionals to support our customers and these support engineers receive three weeks of hands-on training before taking a single ticket. After that, support engineers shadow more experienced colleagues for two more weeks to learn the intricacies of supporting SIP for communications experts. And once they are through their introductory period (usually 3 months!), all support staff participates in ongoing training to stay on top of trends and system updates.
When your phones aren’t functioning as they should, your business needs an experienced telephony provider that understands SIP completely. Flowroute techs read SIP traces day in and day out. That immersion gives them the ability to quickly identify the root cause of customer concerns and work toward a solution. Paul Rausch of Greenwire IT says, “Responses come back quick, and they’re competent. Flowroute is the only provider that has engineers who actually understand what’s going on. It seems like that’d be an obvious thing everyone would do, but it’s not.”
How to measure SIP trunking support
Phone lines are a crucial communications channel in and out of your business. Knowledgable support means faster resolution. Challenge the support teams you work with with difficult questions, dig deep into their expertise and test their ability to quickly deliver solutions.“What impressed me about Flowroute,” says Jonathan Scott at Cape Print, “was that I immediately got someone on the phone who could answer all of my questions about our SIP trunking, even questions that had nothing to do with Flowroute.”
For their dedication to fast ticket resolution, our support engineers have won a Stevie Award in the Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year category for two years in a row. The award was earned for developing several programs that reduced first response and full resolution time, including training programs focusing on troubleshooting, streamlining ticket resolution processes, automation in the number porting process, and proactive protection for customers. According to Eric Wald with Acrylicpress.com “I’d be afraid to try anybody else,” he said. “Flowroute service has been so magnificent, we’ve never looked back.”
Understand SIP trunking support
You don’t have time to train your provider’s technical support staff. They need to understand their product, your network and technologies, and be able to effectively troubleshoot and resolve your issues. If you’re responsible for the telephony environment at your company and people are looking to you to make sure communications are always available and effective, you don’t have time for poorly trained technical support. Make sure your SIP trunking provider gives its support staff in depth training that never ends.
