Imagistics

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Imagistics Manages Mobile Workforce with Help from Sprint

Imagistics International Inc. is a large direct sales and service organization offering document imaging solutions, including high-performance, leading-edge copier/MFPs and facsimile machines to Fortune 1000 companies and other organizations. A back-to-back recipient of the illustrious J. D. Power and Associates® "#1 Copier/MFP Product in Overall Customer Satisfaction Among Business Users, Two Years in a Row, Tied in 2003¹," Imagistics recognizes customer service as a core company value, in part by dedicating over 2,100 service personnel to serving customers in the field. Imagistics has already taken advantage of leading technology trends, and pioneered a wireless work force in the 80s. In an effort to maximize efficiencies through online ordering of parts and service, Imagistics had equipped their service personnel with handheld Treo™ smartphones.

Challenge

Imagistics was faced with a large mobile workforce and a rapidly evolving product inventory, complicating communications and rapid information management. Providing exceptional customer service includes the need to disseminate accurate technical information in real-time and process incoming service requests directly from the field. Field staff is dedicated to on-site service and seldom in the office, yet still need to receive the latest updates on parts and availability. In addition, proprietary information stored on the device is very sensitive, requiring stringent security measures.

As Imagistics' mobilized workforce continued to succeed at customer service, they faced the challenge of continuous improvement while incorporating more complex product and part offerings. Despite having a clearly-defined mobility strategy, complexities inherent with wireless usage can detract from a successful company's core competencies. During the process of refining their mobile strategy and optimizing efficiencies, a number of needs surfaced, including:

• Improve customer service without adding additional personnel
• Provide field technicians with the latest product and part updates and availability
• Communicate in real-time with entire mobile work force simultaneously
• Update software, parts catalogues and manuals, currently requiring a return trip to the office
• Reduce the frequency of second visits to customer premises
• Control mobile costs and increase efficiencies
• Implement device-level security to protect corporate data
• Ease the resource constraints on IT required for the management of overall telecom usage
• Extend current IT policy and administration controls utilized for laptops to wireless devices

Solution

Imagistics chose Sprint Mobility Management to solve its mobility challenges. Sprint provided a customized multi-component service offering to meet Imagistics' specific business needs. Sprint Mobility Management is the industry's first and only service that provides the means to intelligently harness the power of mobility, yet avoid dangers and complexities inherent within. Components of Sprint Mobility Management include:

• Security management—remote disablement, data encryption, and passwords managed by Sprint
• Configuration management—"over-the-air" installation of critical software components eliminating the need for customers to tether devices to a computer
• Billing management—Sprint offers a web-based management software tool that provides a robust, easy-to-use system to organize and gain insight into an employee's mobile communications. This billing management tool supports multiple carriers delivering an unparalleled visibility into wireless users, usage, devices and billing costs.
• Asset management and fulfillment—Sprint helps customers manage mobile devices with the detail, efficiency, and security that they typically manage laptops and other technology assets
• Shared Sprint PCS wireless minutes—customers eliminate waste on individual usage plans. Any employee on a corporate plan can draw from a common pool of minutes

Bottom line

Sprint helped Imagistics achieve its goal of increased customer satisfaction, cost reduction, and enhanced productivity in multiple ways. A key result is that Imagistics was able to measure that its workforce's productivity gains plus its cost savings contribute to an ROI well in excess of 120 percent.

Customer Satisfaction

• Helping to reduce second visits to repair customer premise equipment by allowing field staff real-time and wireless access to help desk and the latest parts information, eliminating ordering errors

Cost Reduction

• Giving Imagistics intricate visibility into their total wireless usage, it was discovered that unnecessary roaming fees, excessive 411 usage, zero use bills and group profiles were just a few of the areas where they could slash costs.
• Distributing bulletins and other critical information completely over the air to the entire workforce simultaneously and instantaneously reducing costly and time-consuming distribution of paper-based bulletins and eliminating errors while on customer sites
• Providing detailed visibility and analysis of existing mobile usage patterns, allowing Imagistics to identify inefficiencies by user and department, as well as implement alerts for better adherence to policy administration
• Securing sensitive data by being able to "zap" a device if stolen or employee termination

Productivity

• Gaining substantial efficiencies in productivity and resource management by both the field service personnel and the telecommunications IT department
• Downloading pdf files to update manuals, eliminating the need to carry hard copies
• Updating and deploying application over the air, negating the need to return to the office
• Accelerating the time it takes to get an employee up and running in hours as opposed to days or weeks with 24-hour replacement of inoperative device and over-the-air application installation
• Sending critical bulletins directly to front-line service technicians ensured they could service customers faster
• Deploying applications over the air, provided Imagistics the means to get software updates without time and mileage consuming return trips or overnight delivery charges.
• Using the configuration management component of Sprint Mobility Management assisting Imagistics in increasing the percentage of first-time repairs.

These, in addition to other productivity enhancements, helped move Imagistics further down the path of improving customer service, without incurring additional headcount. In fact, the productivity gains will equate to the costs of nearly three full-time employees.

Why Sprint

When you choose Sprint, you're in good company. In fact, 95% of the FORTUNE 1000® rely on Sprint for combinations of data, Internet, voice or wireless solutions as do more than 26 million customers of all sizes in 100 countries around the globe. The reasons are clear and compelling:

• Sprint is truly dedicated to understanding your needs and challenges and committed to developing tailored solutions that can help improve your productivity and effectiveness
• Sprint is the service provider best positioned to offer a total networking solution—one that integrates wireline and wireless services—so your employees can be connected seamlessly and securely, virtually anywhere their jobs take them
• Sprint remains one of the most financially stable companies in the industry with the resources required to maintain high service levels
• Sprint is a recognized leader in quality customer care, service reliability and product innovation

"Our goal is to simplify the mobile experience and to have visibility and control over assets and costs, Sprint Mobility Mangement is helping us manage that."

John Chillock, senior vice president of customer service operations

¹ J.D. Power and Associates 2003-2004 Copier Customer Satisfaction Studies^SM. 2004 Study based on responses from 2,986 IT and business decision makers at small, medium and large companies in the first 18 months of copier ownership. www.jdpower.com

Treo is a trademark of palmOne, Inc.

FORTUNE 1000® is a registered trademark of FORTUNE magazine, a division of Time Inc.

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