Unisys Is a Worldwide IT Services and Solutions Company with Approximately 36,000 Employees

Situation

Unisys is a worldwide IT services and solutions company with approximately 36,000 employees operating in more than 100 countries around the world. Consultants, industry experts, and infrastructure specialists at Unisys work with customers to understand their business challenges and develop integrated solutions that help these customers achieve their business goals. Nearly 80 percent of the company's 2004 revenues of U.S.$5.8 billion came from providing services.

Unisys utilizes service level agreements (SLAs) that vary by customer. SLAs outline the minimum level of service that Unisys is committed to provide to the customer for services, such as timing of help desk call-handling and reporting.

Worldwide, Unisys’s customer infrastructure representatives (CIRs) resolve an estimated 10,000 IT support service calls daily, often with a visit to a customer site. It’s a pace that keeps CIRs on the move with no time to waste, especially considering SLA contractual obligations and the fact that customers, who have one or more systems down, might be losing money with everypassing minute.

Unisys CIRs received dispatches on pagers and used cell phones to communicate with Unisys dispatchers regarding service call details, status updates, and final resolution. But this dispatch and reporting system was cumbersome and had shortcomings.

Incomplete Dispatches

Dispatchers were unable to adequately describe technical issues via their cell phones and pagers due to character count limitations on these devices. The character count limitation commonly resulted in miscommunications and missing information. In most cases, the CIR had to obtain additional details from the dispatcher over the phone.

Data Entry Errors

The service call system put Unisys dispatchers in the center of inbound and outbound information flow, and data omissions and entry errors sometimes resulted.

Says Bob Verbeke, Vice President of Global Service Technology at Unisys, “The very process of one person conveying, and another person typing, information tends to introduce opportunity for error.”

Sometimes data entry errors had far-reaching consequences. An error might, for example, affect billing accuracy and could result in many costly hours spent tracking down, resolving, and correcting the problem.

Slower Responses

The time spent on the phone, especially when closing a call, slowed down CIRs and kept them from moving to the next call. Slower responses negatively impacted customer service. The laborious system also was costly, essentially requiring two people—the dispatcher and the CIR—to convey, manage, and process the information associated with each service call.

Unisys wanted to improve service response time, enhance the effectiveness of its mobile workforce, and reduce the cost of doing business. Specifically, Unisys needed a system that would:

Automate service call dispatches.

Reduce the need for dispatcher involvement.

Give CIRs the information they needed to complete a call.

Enable CIRs to easily report status and call resolution from the field.

Solution

Unisys deployed a service call automation solution that runs on Pocket PCs running the Microsoft® Windows Mobile™ software for Pocket PCs. The solution is currently being deployed to approximately 2,000 CIRs in North America and Europe. Rollout should be completed by June 2005.

Proof-of-Concept

The company conducted an informal six-week proof-of-concept (POC) using 12 Pocket PCs. The POC showed that CIRs could accept and close service requests more quickly, effectively, and accurately using Pocket PCs.

The POC also confirmed what Unisys managers suspected: CIRs would readily adopt the Windows Mobile–based Pocket PCs. The Windows Mobile–based solution is easy for employees to learn because of the familiar Microsoft Windows® interface that employees already use. With programs such as Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer and other programs that employees are accustomed to using, the Windows Mobile–based solution is just like navigating on their desktops or laptops.

“At the end of the proof-of-concept, none of the CIRs wanted to give up the device. We practically had to wrestle it out of their hands. They felt that much more effective with it. The Windows Mobile–based solution was easy to use, enabled CIRs to more frequently view and report call status and related information vital to handling the service event,” remarks David Gardiner, Vice President of Architecture and Technology at Unisys.

Unisys then put together a business case showing the cost benefit of implementing a solution running on handheld devices. The business case showed that return on investment likely would occur within 13 to 14 months. That fact clinched it, and Unisys decided to move ahead with a deployment built on Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs.

Mobile Workforce Automation Solution

Unisys had several requirements and design considerations for a mobile workforce automation solution:

The solution could not affect (including causing any downtime to) the company’s mission-critical Service Request Management System (SRMS), a proprietary call management application running on a mainframe.

Unisys wanted to avoid making changes to SRMS.

The solution had to be secure. Unisys had concerns about loss or theft of devices and the use of public airways and networks to transmit private, sensitive business information.

The Unisys solution meets these requirements with a customized front-end application that connects to SRMS by way of a wireless network. The application on the device connects to the corporate mobility framework through a URL in Pocket Internet Explorer, and data is transmitted securely using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) over HTTP. Middleware provided by Clickmarks reformats screens from SRMS to fit the Pocket PC screen. No data is stored long term on the device, and the device is password-protected, so even if a device is lost or stolen, sensitive information is not disclosed.

In the United Kingdom, the QTek 2020 Pocket PCs operate on the mmO2 Wireless network. In the United States, the Audiovox 6601 Pocket PCs use the Sprint Wireless network.

The solution was developed and deployed without causing any downtime to SRMS.

Benefits

Unisys expects to save U.S.$10 million over a five-year period based on a global deployment. The savings start the moment CIRs receive a device because they immediately can accept, manage, and close service calls without dispatcher assistance. In fact, today, CIRs complete an impressive 87 percent of all calls using only the Windows Mobile–based solution—that’s an 87 percent decrease in calls handled by dispatchers. Besides providing Unisys customers with better service, the solution reduces data entry errors, improves business efficiencies, and serves as the basis for future technological and service improvements.

Enhances Customer Service

The Windows Mobile–based service management solution is now a critical component in Unisys’ ongoing strategy to continuously improve service.

“With this Windows Mobile–based solution in the hands of front-line service engineers, customers see us as a much more cost-effective, seamlessly integrated service provider. That perception is based in fact, because Windows Mobile delivers real value where our customers feel it—quicker call resolution and improved billing accuracy,” says Gardiner. “The solution removes obstacles and seamlessly puts customer problems, and the tools to help solve them quickly and cost effectively, into the capable hands of CIRs. The improved customer experience is decidedly the biggest benefit that we gain from this Windows Mobile–based solution.”

The solution dramatically reduces data entry errors, a benefit that accrues to Unisys and its customers in the form of cost savings and better service.

Reduces Costs by U.S.$2 Million Per Year

Unisys is still analyzing the financial benefit, but estimates savings in excess of $2 million per year. The savings result from:

Automating data entry and avoiding data entry errors and associated costs.

Reducing personnel costs. Fewer calls require a dispatcher, enabling Unisys to allocate resources to other important areas of the company.

Eliminating pager costs.

Increases Business Efficiencies and Competitiveness

With regular and automated reporting of status and final resolution for service calls, Unisys has achieved near real-time reporting, leading to improved billing accuracy and decreased billing cycles for “per call” events (that is, the initial call taken by the CIR, regardless of whether or not there is an SLA in place). In addition, CIR supervisors armed with knowledge about who is available at any given moment can assign resources with greater accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency. Managers also appreciate real-time reporting of service metrics and call closure statistics, which help them keep their fingers on the pulse of business and escalate organizational performance indicators up the management chain.

By reducing overhead and improving services with this solution, Unisys has become more competitive and has solidified its position in the industry now and into the future. In addition, the company can apply its Windows Mobile experience to its customers who are considering implementing mobility solutions.

Provides a Foundation for Further Improvements

The Windows Mobile–based solution lays the groundwork for future technological and service improvements. Among other things, Unisys is considering adding the following to its Windows Mobile–based service management solution:

Mobile e-mail messaging, personal information management (PIM), and access to other line-of-business applications

Bar code readers for parts sparing and replacement tracking

Electronic signature capture for service call closure and billing processing

Navigation software based on global positioning system capability

Unisys’s experience with Windows Mobile proves the cost benefit of Windows Mobile–based solutions and shows the vast potential to transform and improve the way other Unisys organizations do business.

Gardiner sums up the Unisys experience with Windows Mobile: “Mobility is on a lot of people’s minds, and this solution has heightened awareness of the potential cost savings and process improvements that Windows Mobile offers. I think we’ll see many, many more of our people using Windows Mobile–based Pocket PCs, Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, and Smartphones to work with information and handle the every day things they currently manage using multiple devices.”

Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile software extends the familiar Windows experience to mobile devices, helping you maximize your time and stay in touch with what matters to you. Now you can do more and carry less in a single device, and get your work done when you're on the move, without having to go back to the office. To keep things simple and consistent, Windows Mobile runs the pocket versions of the software you already know, like Inbox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, MSN® Messenger, and Windows Media® Player, and Pocket PCs even include pocket versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel®. Powerful software combined with the familiarity of the Microsoft Windows experience, so you’re up and running right away, without having to learn something new. And, depending on which Windows Mobile–based device or additional products and services you choose, you can make calls, send e-mails, instant message, surf the Web, or access the information you need, the way you need it, even when you’re on the go.

For more information about Windows Mobile, go to: