Case Study
Service Excellence Comes Easy with Antenna
Software on BlackBerry Smartphones
Industry: Life Sciences, Manufacturing/
Technology
Region: United States
Company Size: Large Enterprise
Email Environment: IBM® Lotus Domino
Type of Solution: Field Service, CRM and
Dispatch Operations
BlackBerry Partner Solution: Antenna
Software Field Service Solution by
Antenna™ Software
Challenge: Toshiba America Medical Systems makes service commitments to its
customers for repair response times. Dispatching Customer Engineers (CE) to customer
sites by pager and phone was slowing them down and making it challenging to meet
service guarantees. Management also wanted access to current information from the
field to improve service, make business decisions and effectively manage inventory.
Solution: Building on their existing BlackBerry® Enterprise Solution, Toshiba deployed
Antenna Software’s Field Service Solution to offer a new way to dispatch service calls,
help CEs check parts inventory and debrief completed work. The entire solution had the
significant advantage of integrating with their internal Amdocs Clarify CRM system.
Results:
• Decreases call volume and improves customer service
• On-demand information increases field efficiency
• Better inventory management helps business
• Faster reporting increases business intelligence
Life Sciences | Field Force | Business Case Study
Company: Toshiba America Medical
Systems, Inc. sells and services diagnostic
equipment such as MRI, CT, X-Ray and
Vascular technologies.
The Challenge:
Take Service to the Next Level
Their challenge was meeting Service Level Agreements
(SLA) using yesterday’s communications technology. The
Call Center, called the Assist Center by Toshiba, would
page CEs about new service calls. The CE would then
have to follow up by phone with the dispatcher to get
more detail on the service call and then call the customer
with a time of arrival. With multiple CEs calling the Assist
Center, many wound up on hold just waiting to get basic
work order information.
Once onsite, a CE couldn’t check available inventory
without, again, calling a dispatcher. Once a job was
completed, the CE needed to close the case, or debrief
it, by logging into the company’s Amdocs Clarify CRM
system. That involved waiting until they could sit down
with a laptop and a secure connection to complete the
report.
It was taking up to 13 days to close out – or debrief – a
case once it was completed . That delay meant Toshiba
wasn’t getting current information that could help them
improve service, make business decisions and effectively
manage millions of dollars of inventory.
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“From a service perspective, you have to be extremely responsive to your customers,” says Ted Nemetz, Vice
President, Technology Services Business Unit. “We knew something like the BlackBerry® smartphone would help us
communicate immediate information to the Customer Engineer about the problem or severity of the service call, so
they could respond to our customers faster. Plus, we wanted a quicker way to transfer information that’s critical to
our business.”
“We liked the BlackBerry smartphone because it’s rugged,” says Dave Croteau, InTouch Manager. “The battery life is
longer than any other device on the market, which is important when your technician is out of the office all day.”
TAMS already knew and liked BlackBerry smartphones since the executive team was using them to manage their
email, calendars and contacts. But they had not yet taken advantage of using the mobile data and application
features of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution to securely transmit corporate data to mobile workers.
It seemed obvious that they should build on their investment by extending the value of The BlackBerry Enterprise
Solution to a service solution that could improve the efficiency of their field personnel.
TAMS selected Antenna Software, a BlackBerry Alliance Partner, for a field service solution that could be integrated
with Toshiba’s existing Amdocs Clarify CRM solution. The new wireless solution would mean cases could be
sent, accepted, worked on and debriefed all from the BlackBerry smartphone. And all the information would be
immediately updated in the company’s CRM database with just the touch of a few keys.
“To build excellent service response times and maintain
profitability, you need to transfer information, good
information, about the service side of business to and
from the field – and the BlackBerry smartphone has
helped us do that.”
~ Ted Nemetz, Vice President, Technology Business Services Unit
Case Study: Service Excellence Comes Easy with Antenna Software on BlackBerry Smartphones
Life Sciences | Field Force | Business Case Study
Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. Toshiba employs
several hundred Customer Engineers (CE) to service
the medical equipment they sell – MRI, CT, X-Ray and
Vascular technologies. Because this is critical diagnostic
technology, important to helping patients, and Toshiba is
committed to customer loyalty and satisfaction, Toshiba
guarantees its clients 98% uptime. It also commits that
a CE will answer a service call within 15 minutes and be
onsite within two to four hours.
Why BlackBerry?
Partner Profile:
Un-tethering from the Call Center
The new Antenna mobile application means cases are dispatched directly to the BlackBerry smartphone. A CE has the
ability to see the job as it comes in, accept or reject it and provide activity updates on a particular case – all without
having to contact the Assist Center every step of the way. The CE uses the application to directly contact Toshiba’s
customers and let them know when they’ll arrive on site, reinforcing their commitment to customer service.
Company: Antenna Software
More than 20 years of providing mobile solutions; 125,000 active users across 100 enterprise customers
•
Mobilizes business-critical applications in real-time
Featured Product: Antenna Field Service
The CE’s life has also been simplified because they now only call the ASSIST Center when it’s necessary. Being able
to manage most of the case using the BlackBerry smartphone improves their efficiency on the job and reduces the
frustrations of waiting for answers. As an added bonus, they can also keep up on their email from the smartphone.
Application Type: Field Service/CRM Dispatch
Operations
“I no longer have to lug out my laptop to find an Internet connection so I can debrief the case in the CRM system,
which I either had to do in a hospital setting or at home at night,” says Bob Castro, a CE and Senior Zone Specialist. “I
can do it all remotely from the BlackBerry smartphone. Everything I could do on the laptop is now available to me on
the handheld.”
CE can now also look up parts inventory from the BlackBerry smartphone or even check the inventory another CE has
on hand. This saves time from the old method when CEs had to call a dispatcher every time they needed to know if a
part was available.
“ Within a short time, the Antenna team built a pilot
version of the solution for us which really helped us
see the possibilities.”
~ Dave Croteau
InTouch Manager
For TAMS, the new system reduces delays in recording parts used. Since millions of dollars are tied up in inventory,
TAMS wants to ensure that they keep only the inventory necessary to service their clients.
For more information, visit
www.antennasoftware.com
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Case Study: Service Excellence Comes Easy with Antenna Software on BlackBerry Smartphones
Life Sciences | Field Force | Business Case Study
•
“The Antenna solution on the BlackBerry smartphone has decreased the number of calls a CE has to make to the
dispatcher, because they have the important information in front of them,” says Croteau. “That’s helped decrease
hold times for our customers from about 50 seconds to 20 seconds; now the ASSIST Center is not tied up talking
to CEs as much and can help customers more. And best of all, we’ve decreased how often we have to escalate calls
because the CE is responding to the customer faster and we’re better able to meet our SLA commitments.”
Faster Reporting Nets Better Business Solutions
One of the biggest advantages of the new system is the speed at which cases are now debriefed by CEs
and that information is relayed into their Amdocs Clarify CRM system. Toshiba estimates that they’ve
been able to reduce the close time on cases from 13 days down to seven days now that they’re being
completed using Antenna Software on the BlackBerry smartphone.
“We have been number one in many of our product
lines for years. The Antenna solution on the
BlackBerry smartphone helps us stay quick and agile
in this industry because the quicker you are, the
greater the customer satisfaction.”
Ted Nemetz
Vice President
Technology Services Business Unit
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Nemetz also points out that it’s important to let CEs know why the service call is critical to a customer.
For example, a patient may be on the scanning table, making the repair urgent. By relaying all this
information to the field, Toshiba’s customers ultimately benefit and Toshiba increases their competitive
advantage in the critical care marketplace.
“We have been number one in many of our product lines for years,” says Nemetz. “The Antenna solution
on the BlackBerry smartphone helps us stay quick and agile in this industry because the quicker you are,
the greater the customer satisfaction.”
To further indicate they are on the right track, Toshiba won two awards in 2006 for wireless field
implementation and best wireless ROI – the 2006 Best Service & Support Strategy Implemented Field
Service Award from WB Research; and the 2006 Mobilizer Award - Best ROI from Mobile Enterprise
Magazine.
Case Study: Service Excellence Comes Easy with Antenna Software on BlackBerry Smartphones
Life Sciences | Field Force | Business Case Study
Improving this reporting speed and the accuracy of information collected is critical to the business. “It
provides us with the CRM data that we need to deliver more efficient service,” says Nemetz. “It gives
us the opportunity to determine down times, critical issues and response times so we can have good
business solutions for our customers.”
Results
Decreased Call Volume Improves Customer Service: With CEs managing most of their service calls
from the BlackBerry smartphone, they call the Assist Center less often. This frees up the dispatchers to
handle customer requests and has reduced customer wait times from 50 seconds to 20 seconds, as well as
cut down on the number of service calls that have to be escalated.
Better Inventory Management Helps Business: Inventory is checked and logged in the CRM system,
which keeps costs down and simplifies the CE’s work.
“The Antenna solution on the BlackBerry smartphone is doing the job we need it to do – it’s
giving us more accurate data, it’s reducing our
case open times. And I truly believe it’s giving
better service to our customers.”
Faster Reporting Increases Business Intelligence: Cases are now closed in seven days versus the
13 days they used to take. Getting this information into the hands of decision-makers helps improve their
understanding of the business and serve customers better.
All-in-one Technology Lightens Load: CEs no longer have to carry laptops or pagers to complete a
service call. They use the BlackBerry smartphone to receive and debrief service calls as well as manage their
daily emails.
Dave Croteau
InTouch Manager
For more information on BlackBerry solutions, visit
www.blackberry.com/go/success
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Life Sciences | Field Force | Business Case Study
On-demand Information Increases Field Efficiency: CEs can self-manage their cases without
having to make numerous phone calls or struggle with laptops, which has helped them travel light and
reduce on-the-job frustrations. TAMS won two awards for their field implementation.