| HP proves the power and ROI of wireless WAN. Just like many of its customers, HP has thousands of customer support engineers whose productivity during onsite service calls depends on rapid access to public and private information sources available on the Web and via corporate intranet and e-mail. Until recently, cell phones and pagers were the information lifeline for those engineers who couldn't get access to dial-out lines at customer locations to connect to the HP corporate network.
Wireless WAN is changing all that. Equipped with an HP notebook personal computer, wireless card and wireless service, HP customer engineers will be able to take their online connection with them. The results: faster service for customers, greater productivity and time savings for engineers, lower support costs for HP and increased customer satisfaction.
HP pilot proves the wireless WAN theory.A recent month-long pilot project with nearly 100 HP customer support engineers in the U.S., Canada and Latin America proved the power of wireless WAN and its return on investment. HP engineers using Compaq Evo notebook PCs, wireless cards and mobile service got on-the-spot access to information they needed to help customers.
Before the wireless WAN test, some engineers were skeptical about the need for wireless connectivity in the field.
"When I was offered wireless WAN, I didn't think I had a need for it," says Mike Vogel, HP customer engineer. "Now I say, 'how did I ever live and do my job without it.' With wireless WAN, as soon as I receive a call for support, I use my notebook computer from wherever I am to research the problem, review case notes and request parts."
The 20-year HP veteran discovered something else to like about wireless WAN. "Now I can keep up with all of my e-mail during the day, and it doesn't have to wait until after dinner. I'm not going home and spending two hours on the computer just trying to close out my day."
Customers are noticing the difference, too. "Our HP customer engineer, Mark Morris, is solving problems faster," says Ryan Meldrum, UNIX administrator at Acxiom, an HP Services customer. "With wireless access, Mark can get parts ordered and delivered within minutes. I would like to see other vendors use wireless WAN, too."
HP support engineer Lee Wolfe caught the attention of customer Intel by being able to update a storage area network (SAN) switch within minutes by downloading new firmware without returning to the office. The firmware file located behind the HP firewall could not be downloaded from the Intel network due to Intel's firewall protection.
Wolfe says wireless WAN has made data collection easier and eliminated disadvantages caused by location. Previously, he might have been forced to scribble notes while talking on his cell phone with the service center representative who took a customer call. Now he can get those notes and log files in an e-mail and even input data directly into applications, eliminating phone calls and dictation errors.
Wolfe has another favorite example of wireless productivity. "I was driving when I got a call that I needed to update an HP Web site immediately," he recalls. "I pulled the car over and fired up the laptop, which was in hibernation mode. I tunneled into the Web server, identified the issue and was able to publish the update to the server and bring production application back in less than 10 minutes. This whole event was totally Star Trek cool."
Power outage, no problem
On August 15, 2003, the largest power outage in the history of North America showed that wireless WAN can also be a great tool for emergency situations.
"When the power went out at my house, I was still able to get online to HP with my notebook," says Gerry Bullock, HP engineer in Ottawa, Ontario. "The next day, still without power at my house, I used my car battery with a power inverter to keep the notebook battery charged so I could login and get my e-mail. It was unbelievable. I stayed connected with my customers throughout the blackout and was able to make them feel like it was business as usual at HP."
Back-end benefits
By giving customer support engineers access to information and parts ordering online, calls to HP service centers and parts departments have declined substantially, says HP Services' Don Thompson, who supervises 20 customer support engineers participating in the pilot. "What used to require a phone call to the service center for product information and second call to the logistics help desk to locate the required part can now be done online by the customer support engineer. We've gone from two phone calls to zero phone calls."
Right hardware, fast access
Some HP engineers expressed frustration with earlier versions of wireless cards and mobile service. No longer. "The card is simple to install and I'm getting near-LAN speeds," Bullock says.
Another component that made the pilot successful was the Compaq Evo notebook, says Mark Morris. "It is faster and lighter, has a larger hard drive and is more reliable than other notebooks I've used. It's the perfect partner for the wireless WAN connection."
Weighing less than five pounds, the Compaq Evo notebook used in the HP pilot makes it easy to stay connected. The industry standard integrated Mini-PCI modem, integrated NIC or optional PC Card devices combine with a long battery life and Windows XP hibernate feature to provide long-lasting connectivity. Other favorite features of HP customer support engineers are fast processing capability with the latest Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor-M, and generous storage with a 40GB hard drive.
For more information on how working with HP can benefit you, contact your local HP service representative, or visit us through the Internet at our world wide web address: http://www.hp.com/ .
Challenge
- Help improve customer satisfaction.
- Help HP customer engineers be more effective.
- Reduce costs of providing customer support Potential Savings.
Solution
- Equip 3,000 HP customer engineers with HP notebooks, wireless cards and wireless service.
Potential savings
- 15 minutes' repair time for each service call, which will significantly enhance customer satisfaction
- 68,250 work hours total, including overtime hours
- 60,000 back-end hours for inbound calls for technical support and parts
- $6,480 in overtime per customer engineer
- $720 in toll-call fees per customer engineer
The potential return on investment is based on an average cost of $100 each for wireless cards and $70 per month mobile service fees per user.
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