Getting On-Site Services Right the First Time

Reducing the risk of multiple callouts for hardware installations at new sites is no small feat, but the effort is well worth it. The costs of sending out multiple engineers to complete a single job and the associated project delays, additional travel and accommodation expenses can quickly add up and significantly erode your profits.

You’ve seen it happen before: your engineer heads out to a remote site to install a branch office for a new SDWan rollout, only to find on arrival that the telco connections are too far away from the rack. They can't complete the job because they don't have the necessary cabling licence.

A scenario like this leaves you with no choice. You're on a fixed-price contract and have promised to deliver for your client. You have to act fast to recall the engineer, send out a cabler, and then when they’re done, resend an engineer. Here and there, you can absorb these losses. But when you're working on a rollout across multiple branches, where that engineer may need to travel long distances back and forth, it can get seriously costly.

This is not an issue faced only by telco providers; it can happen to systems integrators or managed service providers as well. We've seen partners where return site visits are required in up to 30% of cases, through no fault of their own. It's a problem that can have a dramatic flow-on effect on the rest of your sites, adversely impacting your reputation, profits, and relationship with your client.

This is where you really need engineers who can go onsite with the skills to get the job done the first time. But if it was that easy, wouldn’t you have done it already?

How to get it right the first time

First-visit outcomes are challenging, but with the right workforce, they’re entirely achievable. When you're delivering critical on-site services on a large-scale project with branches across metro and regional Australia, there are a few essential pieces of the puzzle that you need to get it right.

Right skills, right time: Having the right skills in place at the right time is absolutely crucial. Particularly on large-scale projects, even small delays can result in a massively damaging domino effect. While you almost certainly employed the most detailed scoping method, there are inevitably going to be issues that emerge and you need to have a plan in place to mitigate these risks. Your engineers need to be equipped not only with the skills to do the task, but also to overcome minor issues they may encounter.

Reduced travel time: Australia is a vast country and the costs associated with unnecessary travel can very quickly eat into your profits. Returning to a site may mean double the accommodation, meals and transport; it can add up very fast. This is why a national workforce of engineers is not a want-to-have, it’s absolutely essential.

The right partner: When multiple pieces need to work together seamlessly, you need a partner who is truly invested in helping you achieve your objectives whilst delivering the excellent customer experiences that you’re known for. A true partner will be willing to take on some of the risk involved in each project and work with you to find solutions to getting jobs done well, the first time. They also need to make delivery simple and most importantly, easily repeatable.

Developing a solution

We’ve seen this scenario play out one too many times, which is why we’ve developed Best Cablenet. We’ve upskilled and expanded our network of more than 220 engineers who are positioned across Australia. As a result, we’ve created a team of qualified networking engineers with cabling licences, creating a team who are equipped to get the job done in a single visit.

In one stroke, this removes the scheduling and cost problems caused by having multiple engineers doing separate jobs at different times. We offer absolute predictability and guarantee of first-visit outcomes. This is combined with guaranteed service levels, with next business day support service across more than 80% of Australia.

As a true partner, we are committed to shouldering a significant amount of the price and servicing risks that you would have otherwise faced alone. This is why Best Cablenet will be delivered using the same simplified model as BestCare. This means a guaranteed fixed price, with a set number of units per installation or service warranty callout.

In an increasingly complex operating environment with ever-increasing cost pressures, reducing the risk of multiple call-outs is essential to the success of your projects. Our new workforce of qualified networking engineers with cabling licences can help you achieve first-visit outcomes, streamlining your delivery and maximising your customers’ experience.