Ascent Media Sets Sights on Peak Service Performance

Postproduction company taps Astea for solution to improve field service response and customer satisfaction

Postproduction company taps Astea for solution to improve field service response and customer satisfaction

Horsham, PA — August 17, 2005 — Postproduction services company Ascent Media is set to use a solution from Astea International to expand how it delivers mission-critical services to its broadcast, cable and telecommunications customers.

Ascent, a long-time Astea customer, provides engineering, systems integration, consulting and technology solutions for many of the world's largest broadcast and electronic media companies, which expect always-on availability and extremely rapid customer support.

Astea said its Alliance Service Management Suite offers Ascent such capabilities as mobility, customer self-service, contracts, customer support, field service, logistics, depot repair, sales orders, employee portal and development studio that will help to drive and improve the efficiency and costs of service delivery.

"Our customers require 100 percent up-time," said Bob Lawson, vice president and general manager of Ascent Media Systems & Technology Services. "With Astea's real-time remote access to our field force and our customers, we can quickly identify the available technicians to dispatch, improving response times, our own efficiency and customer satisfaction."

In utilizing this software, Ascent Media has three core objectives:

  • Reduce the load on the call center by giving the field staff remote access and enable real-time response to customer orders and service needs.

  • Improve customer interaction and give customers greater visibility, by providing customer self-service capabilities so their customers can now log in and view their own service orders, trouble tickets and reports.

  • Boost internal efficiency, by integrating multiple aspects of the job cost model, including labor, materials and direct expenses.
Astea said that the real-time view of customer information helps Ascent Media drive higher levels of customer satisfaction with faster response times and proactive communication. It will be deployed at the group's Palm Bay, Fla., support center and used by field service engineers nationwide.


Additional Articles of Interest

— For more information on solutions for the service and support chain, see the articles "In the Field and All Grown Up," the Net Best Thing column in the June/July 2002 issue of iSource Business (now Supply & Demand Chain Executive), and "Time to Prove It," the Net Best Thing column in the April/May 2003 issue of the magazine.

— For best practices in service parts management, see the SDCExec.com article "Three Keys to Successful Service Parts Management."

— By deploying an automated point-of-use dispensing solution at its New Bedford plant, this medical devices company is driving down the cost of MRO. Read "Uncribbing the Tools at DePuy Orthopaedics" in the June/July 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.


Latest