“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” – Paul J. Meyer Why a Productivity Corner? Welcome to the Productivity Corner, a new web resource all about improving productivity in communication service provider (CSP) field operations. While it is Sunrise Telecom’s business to raise productivity for our CSP customers through test, monitoring, and workflow management solutions, we also know there are many aspects about raising productivity. Most CSP personnel understand the importance of raising productivity to raise customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, and profits. But at the same time, many aren’t quite sure how to go about a productivity improvement initiative. This is particularly relevant for CSP field service operations, composed of “invisible” employees, who work out of view, but are most often in face-to-face with customer subscribers. So we hope the range of information we aggregate for you here sparks your initiative to raise productivity in your organization. Be sure to come back to this resource regularly as we will be constantly updating it with new productivity and efficiency insights. Better yet, we can alert you about new content in a monthly email by signing up here. Sincerely, The Sunrise Telecom Customer Solutions Team

Featured Topics

In late March, Sunrise Telecom will be conducting a live webinar on improving productivity for CSP field operations. This will be an insightful and informative event you will not want to miss. To receive an invitation to this special industry event, please sign-up here.

Sunrise Telecom Featured Solutions

The RxT Smart Productivity Test Platform

RxT is the first connected, workflow-optimized test solution that modernizes the field workforce. It improves field productivity, reduces CAPEX/OPEX and helps to ensure high quality subscriber services. Smartly integrated with the realGATE workflow optimization system, the RxT offers a complete productivity solution for telecom, cable, and mobile operators.

The RxT is a field platform capable of quickly verifying a wide range of advanced services – all in a single modular handheld device. Further, the RxT’s ease of use minimizes learning time, quickly boosting productivity. This translates to more satisfied customers, since work gets done faster and more efficiently, with fewer repeat “truck rolls” and less hassle.

The realGATE Workflow Optimization System

realGATE™ is a comprehensive web application suite and centralized system to manage and optimize workflow for centralized engineers, managers and field technicians.

Using the RxT or CM3800 connected to realGATE, a field technician can download test profiles for a given service configuration, upload pass/fail test results as service “birth certificates”, view previous test results, and associate tests to a subscriber work order. Thus, it can streamline work order processes, maximizing test consistency and supporting increased productivity. As well, realGATE can resolve subscriber service issues faster, ensuring the job gets done right the first time, eliminating repeat service calls.

The centralized system also collects, analyzes and reports on field activities, including key productivity performance indicators (KPIs). With realGATE, supervisors and managers can track and manage the progress of productivity-improvement and customer service-improvement initiatives, as metrics can be viewed by group down to the individual. Moreover, realGATE will increase centralized engineers’ productivity by automating test profile and test asset management, increasing job quality across the field organization.

Noteworthy Productivity Links

• Everything is Measurable
  By Douglas Hubbard, CIO Magazine, 11/15/97
  This article is a classic refutation of the idea of "intangibles" and the ability to measure them. All perceived intangibles are actually an illusion caused by one of three types of misconceptions about measurement. Although written in the context of measuring IT value, the concepts are relevant to measuring productivity in CSP operations.
• Employee Productivity Revisited
  By Allan Engelhardt, CYBAEA Journal, 6/22/10
  This blog post summarizes research about employee productivity, finding that it declines as companies get bigger. It reveals the 3/2 rule: triple the number of workers in an organization and you halve their productivity.
• The Hawthorne Effect – the Psychology Behind Employee Productivity
  By Brandon Miller, Yahoo! Contributor Network, 3/9/10
  This article introduces the Hawthorne Effect – the phenomenon that employee productivity will increase strictly as a result of employees’ awareness of being observed – and how it can be applied in modern business.
• The Manager’s Guide to Increasing Employee Productivity
  By Joshua Riddle, WorkAwesome, 11/18/10
  This article outlines a simple approach to improving employee productivity based on the main aspects: (1) measure employee productivity in your company, (2) implement a process for improving employee productivity in your company, (3) review and reward employee productivity.
• Productivity Improvement – What a Manager Can Do
  By Dr. Ben Carlson, EzineArticles, 5/11/10
  The manager can have a profound impact on productivity by implementing a few simple practices. This article outlines a 10-step useful process, along with tips to improve productivity.

Sunrise Telecom Productivity Insights

• Six Tech Tips That Reduce Truck Roles
  By Bahaa Moukadam, Sunrise Telecom
  New demands require cable, telco, and wireless operators to equip their field service workforces with test-and-service-verification tools that are simple to use and improve workflow management. This article outlines six considerations CSPs need to consider when evaluating test-and-measurement options for maximum effectiveness and productivity.
• Testing the Future
  By Bahaa Moukadam, Sunrise Telecom
  Test equipment is evolving rapidly to keep up with advances in network technology and to help network operators and equipment manufacturers deliver the next generation of network services. The coming generation of test equipment will be field productivity platforms – standards based, handheld, back office connected, field reconfigurable devices. They will be easy to use, yet capable of performing complex tests and resolving complex problems - then communicating the test results instantly to headquarters for more advanced diagnostics and technical support.
• What Will Cable Test Equipment Look Like in the Future?
  By Bahaa Moukadam and Jerry Green, Sunrise Telecom
  Now through the next five years, cable test equipment will undergo a major transformation into full-featured productivity appliances, sophisticated and elegant, yet rugged and intuitive. It will appear simplistic to the user, but execute complex tests that automate, coordinate and apply judgment on a host of activities and processes. From advancing technologies to a changing field workforce to growing consumer expectations, this transformation will be a turning point for the industry.

Recommended Productivity Books

• How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business
  By Douglass Hubbard
  This insightful and eloquent book will show you how to measure those things in your own business that, until now, you may have considered "immeasurable," including employee productivity, customer satisfaction, organizational flexibility, technology risk, and technology ROI.
• Total Productivity Management (TPmgt): A Systemic and Quantitative Approach to Compete in Quality, Price and Time
  By David J Sumanth
  Written by one of the pioneers of productivity management, this is the most extensive book available on the subject of total productivity management. The book shows you how to treat human resource situations with a caring, customer-oriented, yet competitive attitude through integration of technical and human dimensions. This book makes use of a set of proven models and provides a systematic framework and structure to link total productivity to an organization's profitability. Total Productivity Management describes the tasks required of all constituents in an understandable format that they can relate to and by which regards can be realized for performance in all resource categories.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPI): Developing, Implementing, and Using Winning KPIs
  By David Parmenter
  This book makes an important distinction that separates performance indicators (like employee productivity) from results indicators (like profits, market share percentages, or customer satisfaction numbers), and gives an intriguing list of characteristics for identifying a KPI in the wild. All in all, it's a very handy reference for making sense of something people think they already know - but don't.