Network Support

[Ruger]

I would like to find out how other dealers are taking care of Network Support. Are Copier Technicians doing the Network installations and support? Are there techs that are dedicated to network support? Are the network support people from the sales side of the company?
We have a Network Support Group that is part of the service department.
Our Copier Technicians take care of minor issues but the Network Group takes care of all installations and ongoing support. Also are any of you doing complete installations or are you limiting the number of computers that you will set up on an install.
Thanks in advance for your input.

[rthonpm]

The company I work for has the techs do the initial install of the device with a remote network support team available for any issues that come up. After the initial install, any calls for network issues are considered billable if not directly related to the machine. We will do a first look and then test with a crossover or USB cable depending on the customer environment; if everything tests okay then we can start billing at that point for any further troubleshooting. There is some leeway in that though depending on the judgement of the tech and pending a supervisor's okay not to bill. Sometimes it is something very simple like a check in the box in a driver option and not worth billing.
The remote group is pretty much useless other than for installing drivers or configuring folders as anything else just gets pushed back down to those of us in the field anyway. Also, the team is out of our main office which is over 150 miles away so we never get the chance to interact with them directly.
Really, any company not having their field techs not know how to install a machine to a network and also do some basic level troubleshooting are wasting their time and the customer's as well. These machines are becoming so integrated into a network now that having a familiar face that knows both sides of the customer's environment on walking through the door just looks better and saves time in the end.
There have been several occasions where having done just the initial install on a machine and seeing how a customer has their network setup that when a call for a print or scanning issue comes in I can over the phone give at least two or three places for their onsite IT to look.
Of course, there have also been cases where I've known more about how to configure the machine and the server it will be scanning to than the IT person...

[cobiray]

Our initial install is handled by the delivery techs, so one of the techs who is IT savvy needs to be along for connected products. The sale price of the equipment includes initial set up for up to 2 hours of network time. Usually we are able to nail down even large installs in this amount of time. Of course, there are those instances where we do not have the correct network info or it takes us longer and the sales department just credits the invoice. After the install is complete, all network issues not related to our hardware is billable time. Usually we tell the customer or call them back and tell them before we come out that if it is not an issue with our hardware, the time will be billable. This includes, but not limited to, changes to servers, changing email hosts or changing ISP's. Basically, if the machine has not failed, it's billable. There are some exceptions, like if we are there for a hardware issue and we can fix it quick (10 minutes or less). But usually if we make a special trip for the issue it's billable.

We have discussed a "platinum" service plan that includes everything, but we don't think it's really financially viable, unless you've got customers who absolutely can't have down time or are made of money.

[jummamaster]

Simple printer installation is done by copier technicians while there is a dedicated group for advanced network support.

[Ruger]

rthonpm, Thanks for the reply, You said "The remote group is pretty much useless" Does your remote group use remote software such as GoToMeeting? We are helping both local and out of state field techs as well as customers with GoToMeeting. We clear a lot of Network calls without going onsite at all. I agree that all field techs should have at least basic knowledge of how to set up and troubleshoot printing and scanning. Thanks again for the input.

[schooltech]

There does not seem to be any real standard with how network support is done, as I've heard and done many different things. For instance, a company I knew of sold a network contract, and this was separate from any service contract. They sold it with an hour package, like 10 hours for 300 per year or something like that. The customer could call within the year and have them come out for network support. They would send dedicated network techs though.

The problem this can run into is specifically dividing the exact thing that the network guys from the copier company will take care of, because this can easily cross over into other forms of network support.

There should also be separate Fiery support that handles color issues, as this is not really a network issue, but more of an application issue, and this support needs to be explored a bit differently than having a copier tech going out for a PM to end up tweaking Fiery settings for two hours for whatever reason.

At the last company I worked at, we sold three different network packages, although we had a "platinum" package that we had our salespeople push, and it was something like .0002 per click I believe (it has been a few years since I was there). It would cover all network issues and we (mainly me) would do all network support for the devices, except Fiery, as it was not my specialty, we only had a few out, and we had a couple of guys who spent most of their time on color support, so I let them handle it. I was busy enough with other items.

Personally, I believe that companies either sell a separate contract for network services and color application/Fiery support, then sell those on an hourly service contract (giving the customer support when they needed it) or just do it on a per-click basis on top of the normal service contract. In these times, dealers need to be more creative, as the margins are thin on sales and service, as we know, really takes in the money to keep the lights on and the roofs over our heads. This creativity in service, especially if you read the industry publications, is the way most every hybrid dealer (dealers doing service and network support) handles their service agreements.

[jneezy2008]

We operate about the same as everyone else. Our service contracts ONLY cover the mechanics of the machine. If the problem is not with the MFP then we bill an hourly rate. We provide printing/scanning support via email, phone, or remote support using GoToAssist Express. And of course we charge half of the on-site hourly rate for using remote support.

Most of our Service Techs have at least a basic knowledge of how to setup printing/scanning. Others are absolutely clueless or just don't want to get involved. When a MFP is sold and needs connected to a network then our IT guy(me) goes on-site and works with the customer's IT to setup printing and scanning. If the customer has no IT support on their end then we explain to them that we can only setup 2 PCs so that we can stay within out two hour limit.

For Fiery support, we need only a couple of techs to be fully trained in the event of a service issue.