30 percent faster resolution of network issues creates more reliable services for Versatel customers

The prospect of faster network fixes was the key driver for Germany’s Versatel to adopt a support system that gives authorized experts instant, secure and remote access to its network. The solution has brought Versatel an innovative way of working that has consistently delivered faster resolution times, boosting operational efficiency and improving services for Versatel’s customers.

“The use of remote access reduces service outage time by solving network issues 30 percent more quickly on average. In a few cases, a remote connection reduces the time to solve a failure from perhaps one or two days to between three and five hours.”

 

Andreas Rothgaenger Teamleader Transport  North/East, Versatel

Versatel has a strong regional presence across Germany, offering voice, Internet and data services to around 800,000 customers in 12 of the country’s 16 states. Operating in a fiercely competitive market means Versatel must deliver a first-rate service to its customers in terms of quality, availability and price. The implementation of a Nokia Siemens Networks solution for remote access and service delivery has helped the company meet both these key goals.

Versatel has set up its network in regions, and each region previously ran its own operational support and network access systems. This required separate support teams to deal with each region, and if external expertise needed to be brought in, there were separate access arrangements for all the different systems. These arrangements often involved slow and complex processes with written permissions being faxed before network access could be granted.

Challenges

  • Germany’s intensely competitive market demands increased focus on delivering a reliable customer experience
  • Complex and cumbersome processes led to lengthy delays in addressing network problems
  • Fragmented monitoring systems risked creating rising operational costs as Versatel’s networks are expanded and evolved

Nokia Siemens Networks has implemented a unified remote delivery solution to remove these complexities, enabling in-house personnel and external specialists to simply and quickly access the entire network remotely via a Remote Access Solution (RAS) based on a single, dedicated server.

Versatel and its service partners use the RAS on a daily basis to provide access to remote parts of the network. Versatel resolves around 80 percent of network issues in-house, but around one in five problems calls for external help from its service partners, including Nokia Siemens Networks. Remote delivery enables up to 80 percent of these externally-referred incidents to be resolved without the need for site visits.

Solution

  • Nokia Siemens Networks Remote Access Solution (RAS) to provide a single and secure point of entry for inhouse and external engineers to access the entire network
  • Remote monitoring and access to eliminate the need for engineer site visits in the majority of cases
  • Local technical expertise to resolve complex network issues quickly

Raised operational efficiency
The remote delivery capability enables authorized personnel to access information securely from across the network. However, the solution is much more than just a window because it enables a wide range of activities to be performed remotely, including deep technical troubleshooting and analysis, downloading of performance data, implementation of configuration changes, and software upgrades.

Mr. Rothgaenger says the change has had a major impact on the way that Versatel works and failure resolution times: “Previously, we often used to discuss network issues by phone or email, which increased the time taken to plan a network change or to resolve a failure.

Benefits

  • Technical resources are freed up to focus on improving the quality of the customer experience
  • Network issues are resolved 30 percent faster on average, with the time taken to deal with some issues cut from days to hours
  • 80 percent of incidents needing support from external partners such as Nokia Siemens Networks are solved remotely saving the time and cost of site visits
  • A single point of network access with clear procedures has delivered substantial efficiency gains and made it easier for people from inside and outside Versatel to work smoothly together

If the service partner needed to set up an on-site visit, the problem was sometimes not fixed for several days. Now we use the RAS for every instance in which it would be more expensive to get an expert on site to solve network issues.”

Furthermore, the RAS tracks and records all remote interactions with the network, enabling Versatel to pinpoint the source of potential errors and resolve them more quickly.

More focus on improving the customer experience  
He adds that using a single system with clearly defined security and access procedures has also had a massive impact on efficiency: “A clearer structure leads to less timewasting and fewer discussions about network or security questions. So we can invest more time in improving the quality of experience for our customers.”

Versatel’s networks are continuing to evolve, but the unified remote delivery capability will provide a strong foundation for growth by simplifying operations and allowing new technologies and networks to be integrated easily in the future. “Remote delivery enables us to extend and consolidate our different, expanding networks, while maintaining an efficient and consistent way for us and our service partners to monitor and control the networks,” says Mr. Rothgaenger.

The local Nokia Siemens Networks team combines with extensive global resources in using the remote delivery capabilities to provide the most efficient support possible to Versatel. Local technical support is particularly important to Versatel.

“Local presence, in my opinion, is the key to understanding our processes and our vision. Without a local team, a company cannot understand and speak the customer’s language. Nokia Siemens Networks provides rapid and flexible support that is an effective ‘insurance’ for our network operations,” Mr. Rothgaenger concludes.

Versatel is one of 390 communication service providers around the world for which Nokia Siemens Networks has implemented remote access and delivery capabilities.