Client Overview
The Newberry Group is an eminent IT Services and Consulting firm that delivers innovative, signature-styled, IT and cybersecurity solutions to its clients. Headquartered in Missouri, based in Maryland, and operating since 1996; they serve a myriad of clients. Possessing highly skilled personnel for system vulnerability checks, The Newberry Group is also recognized for Management Consulting, Network Assessment, Managed Services, Staffing, Digital Forensics, Information Assurance, and Industry-specific services.
Providing Information Technology services to both Governmental and commercial consumers, they have an impressively large audience. Their portfolio includes the US Defense Department, Homeland Security, customers from the Intelligence, Civil, Agriculture, Legal, Finance, and Private sector, among others.
The Newberry Group aims for uncompromised quality, aligned corporate goals, an empowerment culture, and diversity; which is why Premier joined hands with them. In early 2020 we arranged a team of IT Service Helpdesk members to provide technical support to their clients.
Team Structure
The Newberry Group team consists of two parts:
Field Technicians/Engineers for physical/on-ground site visits and hardware installation tasks
Virtual operators that are located in different spots and mainly consist of Help Desk agents
The Challenge
The Newberry group required a top-notch solution parallel to the in-house Help Desk team. Quite expensive to expand domestically, they needed fast-paced, cost-effective, transparent, and unified support for their ongoing Help Desk services. Premier brought in a pull model parallel to their push one, for a consolidated methodology for new ticket creations. Entire conversations were then visible
Expectation
The Newberry Group expected replication of the same in-house Help Desk processes with lowered costs when offshored. The purpose was to facilitate high-quality Tech Support for Newberry’s clients while slowly upscaling when needed.
Our Action Plan
Easing the pre-existing everyday process by creating a solution with a two-tiered team, Premier expedited the action time for ticket resolution. Establishing Level 1 and Level two, both with separate skill-set technicians, problems needing more expertise were escalated based upon critical action requirements. Premier’s basic feedback chain involved query resolution, note-tagging, call-back requests when needed, and client engagement for additional correspondence.
Applying various methods to streamline all processes, Premier quickened the work-pace by utilizing interconnected software and tools such as: –
ConnectWise : A comprehensive ticketing system with an attached knowledge base and pre-defined SLA’s embedded within
Atera : Resource Management software providing visibility for system health checks, memory consumption, and latest updates, etc. It is configurable for pre-emptive troubleshooting
Teo : VOIP telephony solution for routing incoming calls to technicians based on escalation levels
SplashTop : Remote monitoring system to fix any arising issues proactively and in real-time
Some of the top support actions that require help from customers include E-mail support, Account creation/termination, Password resets, Office365 assistance, Printer and Server issues, Remote Desktop access, Migration, Reconfiguration, and many other IT Support functions.
Functions Performed by Our FTEs
A range of simple to complex service functions from server patches to printer installations, depending on the complexity of each case
Escalating technical problems from Level 1 to Level 2 based on defines SLAs. Quick resolution (4 hours) for time-sensitive cases, if needed
Creating/Terminating and Disabling user accounts remotely (Office 365 login and licensing). Includes active directory, distribution lists, and shared folder management
Changing rights and disabling Third-Party application access (permissions)
Software app how to’s, installation/uninstallation, and logins (citrix, vpn)
Patch Management, Printer Troubleshooting, and Driver installation/updates (Hardware management)
Cybersecurity management for firewall switching, closing/opening ports, configuring rules and enabling/disabling features. This includes perpetrator protection and securing system access and information
Migrations and Safety (Installation and update of Carbon Black)
Email management (filtering, updating, distribution lists, forwarding, Blacklisting/Whitelisting)
Shared folder management (mapping, permissions)
Network set-up, online server status, and troubleshooting
Restoration and back-up from servers
Coordination for field visit arrangements and overseeing the team ticket distribution to reduce the accumulation of unresolved issues
Our Value-Added Service
Within a few months of our association with Newberry, Premier created the position of the Service Desk Coordinator (SDC), which enabled the triage of the workload. Taking on an enterprising decision-making approach and planning initiatives for enhanced output, the Service Desk Coordinator is responsible for:
Touching base directly with Newberry daily
Realizing individual potential within the team dynamics to utilize to best abilities
Training the existing team according to updated policies
Analyzing, distributing traffic to oversee board progress and handling ticket endorsement
Escalating cases from Tier 1 to Tier 2 according to critical status assessment
Reinforcing SLAs, coordinating with engineers, and following-up procedures
Scheduling site-visits, fault resolution, and admonitory action management
This administrative post demanded a high-level management role that the Newberry Group entrusted us, and we executed becomingly. Our working members also consist of a Quality Assurance Analyst to make sure we deliver better than promised. We take extensive proactive measures in our QA practices to ensure all targets are met, with gradual checkpoints to fortify quality. Re-evaluating indicators, the extensive report circulates between the whole team with added approvals, notes, and coaching feedback.
Premier highlighted every step of each case like a storybook with visible actionable items so that new members can stay updated. Our team documents, updates, and adds to the knowledge base for future uncommon scenarios with analytics derived from the top drivers. It is also equipped with supplementary materials like articles, some of which are contributed by our team. The knowledge base allows new-entrants to view, access, and learn about any relevant topic or customer service subject. Preparing our agents to better handle any circumstances, we adapted to the client culture of our patrons to make them feel like we are one company instead of two.
Our Achievement
Assessment of accomplishment in Newberry operations comes from the results of a Customer Satisfaction (C-Sat) survey taken after every call, attached to each specific ticket. Attaining the revered gold stars’ status from customer reviews regularly, the Premier team performed five times greater than the previously established domestic team. Reducing costs and having lifted and shifted to an offshore model, we continuously exceeded expectations in performance. This reflects highly upon our personnel’s superb Customer Relationship Management skills. Premier’s quality audits are consistently over 92%. However, more importantly, receiving more than 94 gold stars in less than a month; Premier has continuously won the confidence of the Newberry Group.
We provide IT Help Desk Services with 24/7 operability for over 50 Newberry clients. We can add additional members to the pre-existing team by recruiting within 2 weeks. Our capability includes training the new-hires within 1 week to match the expertise level of the project. Premier was not only able to reduce Average handle times, but also increase call volumes considerably
Our Testimonial
“From our first meeting, we knew Premier would be a trusted partner. As we quickly ramped up to support new growth, Premier was right by our side to ensure our clients’ needs were fulfilled and provided great recommendations on how we could improve our service delivery. Premier never skips a beat in terms of service especially during challenging times, like the current pandemic. Their professionalism, efficiency, and quality are top notched. We are ecstatic we have a partner that is dedicated to our overall success.”
Natalie Nethken
Sr. Director of Business Operations
The Newberry Group, Inc.
Why Premier
Premier provides personalized services to fit each client’s requirements. Not only do we dramatically reduce your operational costs, but we guarantee high-quality outcomes, unlike others. We exceed the client’s expectations while administering value-added technological solutions to accelerate profits. Our team’s vast experience in diverse industries, allows us to use blended solutions to create distinct results.
