Tonight's our 1st day at the production day. I'm nervous. Last Friday was our "graduation" from almost 1 month of training and 2 weeks of nesting.
This new account, and the training that came with it, is unique because it was done through online meeting all through out. We're 6 in class but two of them have other plans.
Drei from Bulacan had issues with his Internet connection for several days and decided to resign. Jimm (I forgot where he's from) decided to go back to school.
We are Wave 21 of this VOIP account -- Voice Over Internet Protocol -- and I'm surprised that it can do a lot aside from making and taking calls.
I have a Cisco Certified wavemate named Jhoda, a bubbly guy named Tom and a former collection agent named Mark. Me? I'm just your average tech support guy. They are very fun to be co-trainees.
Our trainer Dennis is very patient and knowledgeable with the product. There were no questions left unanswered. He's was very eager to share his knowledge.
We skipped the basic grammar, pronunciation and speech class and went straight to product-specific training. It started with the company's history, the technology behind the product (how it works), features of the product and how it helps the customer (mostly businesses), common call drivers and solutions.
Our trainor explained how VOIP technology works and how it's integrated to the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS). I'm surprised that VOIP also has option to have electronic Fax (eFax) capability. Customers just need additional hardware to connect their old school fax machines.
Then came the different phone models that we support. Good thing we only have 3 suppliers of VOIP phones and few models each supplier. After learning the hardware part of the support, we learned the software part. The software includes the softphone – like Skype – so that the customers can make and take calls from their computers and even mobile phones.
Our training lasted about a month from Monday to Friday 9:00 PM to 6:00 PM. We do ice breaker in between modules which are fun. The training atmosphere is “chill” eventhough we’re only hearing each other in the online meeting. It’s not required to have video enabled during training which is great. I’m a bit shy.
Anothing thing that is unique about this VOIP account that I have is the mock call AFTER the 2 weeks nesting. On most accounts that I have, the mock call or certification comes immediately after the training. This time it’s different and I guess it’s better. We’ve already handled some difficult customers which made the mock call a bit easier.
In the two weeks nesting that we have, I’ve handled calls regarding:
- Follow-up calls on existing repair tickets (transfer to Tier 2)
- Guiding customer on how to use the password reset option on the website for their account
- Billing questions like having a copy of the bill in PDF format (transfer to Billing)
- Customers wanted to terminate/disconnect their account and port their old telephone number to the new service provider
- Customers wanted to change some settings on their account
- Customer wanted to know more about the service they are paying for (details of their account)
- Guiding customers on the basics of using the service – like forwarding an unanswered call to a voicemail or mobile phone
- Customers wanted to add / remove phones in their account either in the same location or in a different location or branch/office
- Misdirect calls to the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS). We only support customers who availed of the VOIP service
- Customers not seeing the details of their incoming or outgoing calls
- Figuring out error messages that customers are getting in their phones, either the hardphone or softphone
- Customers wanted to set up their electronic fax (eFax)
- Resetting the PIN on their phone or voicemail. Setting up voicemail
- Blocking phones to make International Calls
- Setting up cordless phones (connected to a base station and to their network)
- Navigation to the website to change the settings on how calls are handled
These are some of the calls that we will handle moving forward. I’m looking forward to our regularization 5 months from now. Wish us luck!
