Communications Cutover Recommendations (Cricket/Hargray)

After the sale of Hargray's Cellular network to Cricket Communications there were a number of issues noted. A recommendation report is a professional way of summarizing a project's successes and failures for upper management.

Date: 10/22/2006

To: Quadrangle Inc., Cricket Communications Inc.

From: Hillary Szydlowski

Re: Sale of Wireless Assets

Abstract:

            On October 15th 2006 the wireless assets of Hargray Communications became the property of Cricket Communications. All software in the network was shifted to the Cricket Schematic. The three Hargray service centers continued to work as Cricket Direct dealers and provided customer care and troubleshooting for wireless clients. Minor software hiccups occurred but the transfer was considered complete by week end.

Table of Contents:

Page One:

Abstract

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Page Two:

Methods

Conclusions

Page Three:

Recommendations

Executive Summary:

            From a corporate perspective, the Cricket Cutover will be considered a success. 90% of current subscribers transitioned to the new network smoothly. Customer retention rates were relatively high and service was handled at existing locations with little to no additional staffing. Within one week the transition was complete and the Cricket Launch team was able to leave the area.  

Methods:

            Existing hardware remained in place. Three waves of text messages were sent to customers in each week prior to launch urging them to visit and store and update their software. Two waves of email were sent to customers owning a Hargray internet account to remind the customer that the software update was mandatory. Programming adjustments were manually loaded to adapt handsets to the new software schematics. Mobiles were replaced as necessary for a $15 exchange fee.

            Verisign, the Cricket software platform, was connected to the Hargray service system, allowing service agents to continue basic procedures on the usual platform. Seven employees, one from each service center and one from each call center team, were trained on Verisign for troubleshooting purposes. 

Conclusions:

            October 15th the system changed hands. Approximately ten percent of existing handsets failed to transition. As predicted, a number of these customers had not updated the software, causing a customer service bottleneck. Some of the Motorola line needed additional updates as the software platform had not varied with new handset releases, thus older version software upgrades were necessary.

Four hundred and sixty customers stayed around long enough to receive service at one store (Hilton Head) in the first day alone. By week end well over one thousand customers had been served at that location. Since so many customers were present due to handset failure the negative mood was palpable. Customers were sometimes forced to pay to have handsets replaced for the move to the new system.

            Service representatives handled up to ten times the usual number of customers in a day and, since the majority involved technical issues, remarkably few sales were made during that week, as well as the rest of the month. Representatives generated roughly half of their sales quotas, resulting in significant losses to the company, and to the employees. 

Recommendations:

            Existing customers were extremely unhappy with the transition and it is highly recommended that they be offered some form of acknowledgement and compensation. Clients tend to understand that occasionally hardware will fail, but are considerably less understanding when that failure is due to corporate decisions. Customers receiving service during the week of October 15th should receive a follow up call to better assess the damage, with a graded range of compensation options made available to them.

            Service representatives received significantly less pay and were subjected to a hostile environment while serving far more customers than usual. It would be wise to address the drop in their paychecks as providing a positive customer experience will be key for customer retention in the months ahead.

            Service associates should be given more opportunities for technical training. Advanced knowledge of the Motorola platforms would have eliminated about a quarter of the technical issues during the cutover. Provider representatives should be encouraged to meet with and train wireless employees and increase their product knowledge.

Date: 03/17/2014

To: Professor Floyd

From: Hillary Szydlowski

Re: Recommendation Report for the Sale of Wireless Assets

            In keeping with Rude’s criticisms of report writing I attempted to present the information in an investigative format. For the majority of the report I stuck to facts and attempted to provide contextual information. The material does not really lend itself to a debate, as the subject matter has already transpired upon its issuance and the only considerations, moving forward, are how to continue “business as usual”. To balance this I attempted to keep my recommendations open ended, targeting problem areas and leaving their resolution for further discussion.

            With the understanding of the future as a construct, I located key points which impacted all of the people involved in the sale and attempted to highlight those points. The technical failures, the negative environment, the customer bottleneck were all contributors to a poor experience that had the potential to perpetuate itself and even expand to unaffected customers as they spoke with those impacted. Likewise the effects of resentful service representatives with a negative view of their company could create a less than optimum future.

            Overall I tried to focus on the situation as a major event that could use multiple perspectives to create an ideal speech situation and generate the strongest ideas for constructing a strong future for the companies involved.

Sincerely,

Hillary D. Szydlowski

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