Telework in Network Operation & Maintenance

Abstract-

At the beginning of 1997 Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) faced the fast growth of the mobile communication
demand in the dynamic and extremely competitive Italian market. Mobile communication customers were
becoming not only larger and larger, but also more demanding, especially in terms of service quality. TIM
was forced to respond to the customers’ expectations by efficiently controlling the plants and ensuring a high
service level for the equipment in place all over the country. This improvement has been achieved by gradually
introducing a Telework Program for the technicians of the Operation & Maintenance (O&M) group Network
Department starting from December 1997.

The Telework Program objective was to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the Network Management
processes by decoupling the technicians from the administrative centers and freeing them from the burden
of daily checking in and out from the Regional Centers (Presidi Territoriali Regionali, PTR). With the telework
implementation, staff clocks-in from home remotely and immediately starts working on the BSC and BTS
transmission equipment in the assigned area.

With the Telework Program TIM is experiencing several benefits such as travel reduction, increase of the
number of daily operations per technician, increase in the number of programmed activities, general reduction
in the operational expenses and greater satisfaction of the work force. 

II - Project objectives

The Telework Program has been an excellent opportunity for TIM to stream out the O&M processes.
The results have shown how a valid strategic choice it was, and how it was useful to improve the Network
quality level, to reduce costs and to allow many operational advantages.

TIM objectives have been pursued on two major directions:

• Efficient use of resources:

• reduction of the technicians’ daily traveling
• reduction of average time for intervention
• increase of the number of daily operations per technician
  
• Improvement in personnel responsibility:

• organization of O&M technicians in teams with responsibility on specific areas
• re-training of personnel and related professional growth
• improvement of personnel lifestyle and working conditions resulting in higher satisfaction

III - Achievements

Data concerning teleworking activities have been closely checked and analyzed. Their evaluation has
demonstrated the following advantages for the Company:

1) Efficiency improvement , testified by the abrupt reduction of operation time and daily traveling
(e.g. reduction of more than 70% of traveled distance for the first intervention).

Another indicator of efficiency improvement is the higher number of operations per day per teleworker
(+40%). As a consequence it is now possible to perform a higher number of preventive maintenance
operations.

2) The improvement of working conditions has been confirmed by interviews with teleworking personnel,
and it has been checked with a qualitative questionnaire distributed to the resources involved with the
Telework Program.

The Telework Program has also been evaluated on a cost/benefit basis. Hypothesis and results of this
analysis are as follows:

IV - Detailed description of activity

Before the introduction of the Telework Program, the Network Maintenance technicians used to clock
in at the Regional Center where they were given the paper ticket with the list of activities to be performed
that day.  Well in advance of the end of the shift the technician would stop the field activity in order to come
back to the Regional Center and clock out. This obligation to pass twice by the Regional Center implied
that the technician had to travel on average up to 150 Km to perform just one operation a day.

With the introduction of the Telework Program it is no longer necessary to stop twice a day by the
Regional Center. As shown in the next figure, the technicians leave home and go directly to the first
operation site.

In order to support the Telework activity as well as keep the necessary level of communication between
the teleworkers and the Company, TIM adopted the GSM technology together with a laptop computer and
a specific trouble ticketing customized system. The technician connects remotely to the Trouble Ticketing
system using the portable computer and the mobile phone, and sends a clock-in ticket to the Assistant in
the Regional Center. After this, he/she receives from the Regional Center a list of the assigned activities.
In order to take charge of these operations, the technician accepts a ticket in the trouble ticketing system
for each activity. Then, he/she goes directly to the operation sites. At the end of each operation, the ticket
is closed and sent to the Assistant at the Regional Center, and the technician moves on reading the next
ticket. At the end of all activities, the teleworker can clock-out sending a check out ticket and go directly home.

The Telework Program implementation has required the planning and execution of several steps:

• Definition by the Top Management of the program objectives and assignment of responsibilities;
  definition of the methodology for the collection and evaluation of the program (efficiency improvement,
  cost reduction, personnel satisfaction level, ...)
• Definition of the new processes and new procedures needed by the technicians involved in the Telework
  Program; Assignment of the coordination and control responsibility for the teleworkers activities and
  design of the Regional Direction Centers (CdR) supervision and control centers
• Definition of the required support systems and tools:
  - support systems (Trouble Ticketing, electronic notice board), integrated with the Network elements
  control systems, the complaints management system of the Customer Care Department, and the
  personnel management systems
  - communication technologies (Personal Computers, GSM and TACS mobile phones, e-mail),
  - logistics processes (logistic plan for the peripheral spare part warehouses, cars, instruments and
  other assigned tools).
• Development and activation of support systems integrated with the Network elements control systems,
  the complaints management system of the Customer Care Department, and the personnel management
  systems.
• Re-definition of work contracts (timing, location, transfer compensation, ...) with the Unions
  representatives
• Selection of resources (internal and new hires) and development and organization of required
  specific training (software courses, time management training, Ö)
• Management of the overall program
• Monitoring and evaluation of program results; collection and analysis of telework data; qualitative
  and quantitative benefits evaluation. In this phase, a particular attention has been given to the evaluation
  of human resources’ satisfaction. This information has been derived by the analysis of a questionnaire
  distributed to all the resources involved in the program

 In the following figure are outlined the set of logical steps that the implementation of telework has required:

With the introduction of the Telework Program, TIM has dealt in a new way with the internal and
external communication.

Having part of the employee in telework has implied the necessity to keep the teleworkers in touch with
what happens in the Company, in an effort to prevent the sense of isolation often felt in companies which
have implemented similar programs. For example Company and Unions information is presented in an
electronic notice board (Web page) which is accessible by all the personnel involved in the telework program
using the same HW and SW interfaces used for the telework activities.

Regularly (usually weekly) teleworkers come back to the Regional Centers for a briefing during which each
teleworker reports to his/her Assistant, comments on the experiences with the coworkers, analyzes
improvement proposals and problems emerged during the various assigned activities. These meetings
at the Regional Centers allow also teleworkers to perform all the required administrative activities
(vacation or leave permit requests, overtime forms etc.) and the replacement/replenishment of spare
parts and instruments in the peripheral warehouses.

The telework roll-out has been done in two phases. The first step was running a pilot test in two regions
with different characteristics (technologies, skills, geography, workers’ attitude, etc.); the selected regions
were Tuscany and Puglia. In these regions, Network equipment and maintenance is performed by a
teleworkers’ team that operates remotely from the field, without being physically obliged to interact with the
Regional Centers. This phase was necessary for the fine tuning of the technological, logistic and support
systems and to check the satisfaction level of the resources involved.
The coordination of teleworkers activities is assigned to the control personnel, usually an Assistant of the
Regional Direction Centers.

TIM is currently undergoing the extension of telework to the whole country.
Recruiting efforts are now focused on specific geographic areas where teleworkers are needed.
By the end of 1998, about 130 TIM technicians will telework.