Part #5 Peripheral Vision
In the big picture, a facilities manager wears many hats. Return to work processes and policies, maintenance and grounds management, and, most importantly, not only keeping the train running, but keeping the train running on time. Every company has an infrastructure. But making that infrastructure impervious to the elements is the key. Impenetrable is the keyword.
One of the key peripheral requirements is the combination of your internet service provider and the modems required to keep your operation live. The last and worst four words in society is, “My internet is down.” This solution is not a battery sensitive dynamic. You can keep your modem lit like a Christmas tree all day long but that cannot or will not stop your provider from having an outage.
My solution is simply simple. I have three internet service providers in my office. The question I always get is, “Why three providers?” The answer is simple. Because I can’t have four. There are six zip codes in the city that have three crossover hard wired providers. We operate in one. Now you may notice the AT&T 5G wireless. AT&T a few months ago discontinued our program and to stay hard wired we would have to wait six months for fiber to be installed. The other option was the Air 5G wireless.
With a 30-day money back guarantee I thought I would give it a try. Installation was shockingly easy. You open the box, plug it in and you are done. I plugged a station in. Did a speed test and was not impressed by the numbers. However, after logging in and taking some calls it was ok. I let a dispatcher who lives in the neighborhood take the modem home for the night to test it. Funny thing is his apartment building has an exclusive contract with RCN, now Astound and we wondered it if would work. Perhaps they could or would block the signal.
Turns out it worked with no problem. He hooked up his apps and firestick and reported it did fine. The next night my IT guy took it home and his house is 2 blocks out of the service zone as shown on the web site. It worked and he loved it. Especially the ease of install and wireless profile. When fiber arrives, I will most likely pass. Bottom line. My AT&T and RCN/Astound are internet only. Xfinity is basic internet with one TV box and remote. Grand total roughly $285.00 all-inclusive monthly.
Our next critical peripheral are headsets. I can’t count how many I have gone through in all these years. I was told by an engineer years ago that Plantronics were the best on the market. While researching it, it appeared he was right. However, Plantronics is also high end on the money scale. In those days you shelled out over $200.00 for a Plantronics headset just to find out chair #6 rolled over it by accident.
My solution reminded me of when I got my last German Shepherd. This dog was the pickiest eater I ever met. Finally, my wife goes to the Pet Supplies Plus in our neighborhood with the dog and purchased the smallest bag of 6 different dog foods. She set them up on the floor in 6 bowls and let the dog make her move. For those dog people out there, the winner was Purina Beneful. And that was the day I also discovered my dog was a shoplifter.
So, I am off to the races. Every month or so I would peruse eBay for the headset du jour. My needs were simple. I wanted one ear only. Our operators use a desk phone at each station and the headset is for our system. It had to be an over ear (cup) model as nobody wanted any hardware inside their ear. A USB connection. And lastly, the staff made it clear it must have a mute button.
In those days we stocked all the equipment at our primary call center. If somebody needed a replacement it was straight to the parts room. When everyone went remote it was trickier. We finally settled on using Lyft to send parts to people. Anyone who had a verifiable problem, we could retrieve the part, order a Lyft and the new part was delivered within the hour. Each time a new model arrived everyone would give it a test call. They would then rate it one through ten and affix the post-it notes to the box. After three or four months it appears that I finally struck gold. I hesitated at first because the price was too cheap, and I never heard of this brand. I buy it on speculation.
It is the MPOW BH323A. Granted it was an “open box” yet still new. No shipping and the price was only $11.20 with tax. I had no great expectations, but it arrived and I passed it around for testing. A rousing success.
The following month I find some MPOW BH328A units. These were double ears, but we have used doubles before. You simply slide your one side off to the front of your ear. The only reason I went for it was the price. $26.00 for three brand new in a sealed box.
That is when I discovered a hidden secret in both models. The main headset is connected to the mute/volume bar with a 3.5mm headphone jack. I knew right away that was the same size as my Samsung Galaxy S9. I plugged it in and sure enough it works. A great device to work while taking out the garbage or just having a convenient manor to be on hold for an extended period of time.
At this point I have made great progress. I want performance and durability. But what really sold me was the Southwest factor. I always admired Southwest Airlines and Ryan Air because unlike other airlines they only use one model aircraft. Their are numerous economic, training, and maintenance advantages of keeping one model of anything system wide. As time went on and we eventually ran out we would still purchase the units online but ship them straight to the employees’ homes. They need one, I shipped two. The super deal was on three. Three they got. The whole process is no longer a work challenge. It is as fine-tuned as they come.
At this point just when I thought I could move on, I discovered by a pop up of all places, the JABRA LINK 265. This is basically two headsets connected with a Y adapter so you can train new employees. We start with the trainee muted, the boom lifted over the head and the trainer processing calls. As time progresses, the trainee is live, and the trainer is muted while analyzing performance.
The JABRA LINK 265 is no bargain basement unit. The Y adapter is around $40.00 to $75.00 and the two headsets which are single, or doubles are in the $25.00 to $65.00 each neighborhood.
If so, remember one last thing. Never buy headset equipment used. Only new will do.
Leave a Reply