Cox Communications Increases Field Technician Productivity with Reliable Connectivity from Absolute Secure Access
Cox Communications, the third-largest cable provider in the U.S., delivers voice, video, and data services to approximately six million residential and commercial customers. Every year, its 3,500 field-service technicians handle more than six million work orders.
Difficulty Connecting Remotely Causes Service Delays
At Cox Communications, field workers are constantly on the move, performing new customer installations and upgrades, as well as service repairs. Technicians use mobile devices connected to a cellular network to access their work order management system. However, the company noticed that a disproportionate amount of time was being spent on getting a connection relative to work orders. Field staff had difficulty connecting remotely to their work order management system, causing delays in service. The field staff was also calling and texting the back office to gather customer info when a connection could not be made.
Absolute Secure Access software helps us overcome everyday wireless coverage gaps and interruptions. Their solution is helping to make our field service operation more efficient, ultimately helping us to deliver better service to our customers.
How They Did It
Securely Extending Applications for Remote Workers
The company learned of Absolute Secure Access and asked for a demo to see how the solution could help workers get and stay connected no matter where they were working. The demo showed that Absolute Secure Access, in conjunction with an EV-DO mobile broadband solution from Sprint, safely and securely extended Cox’s LAN-based applications for mobile workers.
Seamless Connectivity and Access = Reduced IT Support Tickets
With higher connection speeds and the seamless connectivity provided by Absolute Secure Access, field technicians have access to the entire backend work order management system, which reduces the number of voice and text interactions with the back office. In addition, with Sybase Anywhere’s Afaria product complementing the management capabilities of Absolute Secure Access, Cox can deploy and update the software on its mobile devices remotely.
Improving Productivity Across the Board
On top of the broad efficiency gains in handling work orders, Cox noted a 10 percent bump in productivity in many cases. This was due to the faster connectivity, as well as access to a broader set of applications, including customer service, testing, standard email, HR systems, and training. Absolute Secure Access simplified the management of the deployment by delivering a real-time, system-wide view of device activity, including application use, device connections, and battery life
Reduced Support Hours Achieve Cost Savings Estimated at Half a Million per Year
Absolute Secure Access also offers customizable policies that allow IT administrators to better manage application and network access, quarantine lost or stolen devices, and prioritize bandwidth for critical transmissions and applications. Being able to deploy and update software remotely helped Cox cut down on support and maintenance hours and saved the company an estimated half million dollars a year.
For the Cox team, Absolute Secure Access:
- Improves productivity by 10% in many cases
- Reduces repair times
- Provides IT cost savings estimated at $500,000 annually
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