Customer or Client issue checking made simple

Here at Hello Hunter we receive a number of common issues which can easily be avoided or detected by our customers, by using a few simple diagnostic tools.

In this blog I would like to touch on a few methods for either avoiding or detecting regularly occurring issues.

For example, if you find you or your customers call centers expanding, many of our clients choose to hire extra staff from places such as the Philippine’s and India. While this makes perfect business sense, as labor is relatively cheep and the level of spoken English is excellent, it can however throw up other problems as internet connections are not exactly the best on occasions.

We would therefore recommend before starting new employees, that they undergo certain checks before starting.

The first test we would recommend would be a VoIP Test — http://myspeed.visualware.com/indexvoip.php

The VoIP test is a good way to test for potential problems before they occur. If it’s a new client or member of staff, it is advisable to have them run this test. If it’s a client calling from outside of the US, it is a must to have them run the test. It will not find any temporary issues, but it will give you something to gauge where next to look. If the report comes back great, then run WinMTR. If the test comes back bad, then the client or new member of staff needs to find ways to fix the issues that have presented themself. If the test results comes back neutral (so-so) then that result plus the occasional issue on WinMTR would spell problems. Again, VoIP test gives you more of a basis to determine how susceptible to problems the client or new member is. And this test is very easy to run with easy to read results.

As mentioned above next is WinMTR WinMTR is used for establishing Multiple Traceroutes and can be downloaded here:http://winmtr.net/

WinMTR has a separate blog wrote about it, and for a more complete picture I suggest reading that blog. As a general guide though, WinMTR is a highly recommended tool, but is generally most useful when established users suddenly develop a problem, rather than being a tool to be a sole means of testing for new users. It is a very useful tool to have in your tool bag, and a highly recommended MUST for all users.

Finally we come to bandwidth testing, this can be tested at http://www.speedtest.net/.

This tool of the trio is probably the least useful of the three. Its primary use would be if you are trying to run numerous agents from a single location. That being said its still a handy tool to keep in mind for such situations.

Suggested Questions that may present themselves and appropriate solutions.

1) I’m having audio issues on VoIP. Is the issue related to your system or my network?

2) I’m going to hire someone and I want to know if they’ll be able to make high quality calls. Is there a way to find out?

Run the VoIP test. Explain how to run it and which location to test against.

3) I’ve determined there’s something wrong with my connection to your host. Is there anything I can use to show me where the issue is happening? And any details I can provide to help resolve this matter?

4) Something odd happens on the network once in a while, and I can’t seem to figure it out.

5) My connection drops to the server, cutting off my phone calls.

Run WinMTR or a basic trace route. WinMTR though will be able to catch the occasional issue where a regular trace route wont.

6) Can my connection support a number of agents from our location?

we would suggest running them all — VoIP test, WinMTR, and Bandwidth test.