February 2005Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Cars have maintenance plans, what about plants? In April 2005, Rockwell Automation will officially launch TechConnect, a new and improved support structure, specially designed to offer customers tailor-made support, which will be priced and structured to suit individual customer requirements - nobody will have to pay for services they do not need.
The new TechConnect structure will enable customers to select from three levels of support intensity, namely: econnect (e-mail), direct connect (telephone connection) and priority connect (top-end). All support levels will be made available across four categories: automation products, drives and accessories, motion products and advanced software.
24-hour support
Customers will receive site-wide support for all Rockwell Automation control products, including legacy products either standard working hours or optionally, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The new support programme also comes with the assurance of direct support from the manufacturer. Simpler contract administration will be achieved through a single agreement and a single renewal, once per year for the entire site.
All Rockwell Automation South Africa's customers requiring immediate technical advice, support or assistance will continue to have access to more than 30 experts and engineers - all housed at the support centre in Milton Keynes. These engineers are required to undergo intensive training sessions and peer training in lab skills is conducted on a regular basis to ensure that the highest possible standards are attained and maintained.
Calls routed to experts
"We receive a range of requests - some customers want to know about product related issues, others about programming and application assistance, while engineers calling on behalf of our clients tend to require more in-depth technical information and assistance. We need to have experts on hand who are fully capable of dealing with this sort of range of requests," states John Hartfield, manager of Service Delivery, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Stringent performance standards have been set and to ensure that they are met, customers are interviewed telephonically on a regular basis by an independent and external survey consultancy in order to ensure objectivity. "Various performance measurements and metrics have been applied, and these are adapted according to the customer feedback received. Issues such as the amount of time it takes for a call to be transferred to an engineer who can address a particular request, and the percentage of queries resolved by a first call are useful metrics for assessing and analysing our levels of performance," Hartfield explains.
Downloads and on-line support
Complementing the TechConnect support centre is the Rockwell Automation website, where customers are able to submit requests for on-line support, download software updates and obtain technical notes and product alerts which can be customised to users needs. Clients may also gain access to catalogues, manuals, and literature on Rockwell Automation's industry-leading solutions.
The TechConnect centre number is 0870 241 1804.
For more information contact Brett Spindler, Training & Customer Support manager, Rockwell Automation, 011 654 9700, [email protected], www.ra.rockwell.com
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