bio

A Quick Summary

Tom Kisha has been in the Technical Support and call center culture since 2006, the most recent with Time Warner Cable in North Canton, Ohio. During his employment with TWC, Tom has been well received by colleagues and peers, and has been recognized for his contributions with a Mission and Values Performance Award in Q4 2011 and a nomination MVP in Q4 2012.

As a Consumer Affairs Representative with Universal Electronics in Twinsburg Ohio, Tom helped with several growing problems in the call center that was often causing agent productivity issues. First being the client documentation in disarray and unkempt. Being a call center dealing with multiple clients, each having their own way of handling certain circumstances and processes; it was often difficult to find information quickly, especially if it was a new problem. Another was simply a matter of saving keystrokes. A lot of notes left on accounts were often incomplete, or just plain missing. One of the problems discovered was a matter of having to copy/paste notes in several places, which led to mistakes and miscommunications [and sometimes customer frustration]. Tom helped create a system where notes could be standardized and conventiently copy/pasted into the areas where required quickly. This helped boost agents in-call and wrap-up times and thus generating more revenue for the call center.

Previous to Technical Support work, Tom worked for a Property Management corporation in Washington DC as a general IT assistant. It was quickly discovered that this was a quintessential and multi-faceted, blurring the lines of the scope in IT. Aside from working on projects to help manage and track certain operations in the company, there were many varied tasks that would be handled by our department from correcting software issues on workstations to troubleshooting the phone systems, as well as managing some construction and maintenance projects, and working with property inspectors from government agencies. Not to mention the occasional IT issues that would crop up with the network or the various servers used in the company for email, file sharing, RDP, backups, and security.

To kick off his career, Tom started off with a computer repair shop near downtown Akron, where the new University of Akron football stadium stands today. In the shop, Tom helped repair computer software and hardware issues. Occasionally we would get the occasional client needing help building a web-site. The owner, Steve Kelley would be responsible for design and static pages. Anything that required a server side language and a database, was Tom’s responsibility. Typically storing products in a database or integrating a shopping cart application into a web-site.

Growing up, Tom has always been a computer geek at heart. From taking apart random electronics around the home to experimenting with programming back in the IBM PC days, Tom has always had a passion for computers and technology.

Development

Tom has always been an avid coder from the beginning. Ever since discovering BASIC code found in a 4th grade math book, and putting the code into his IBM PC to find out what it does; Tom was quickly pulled into the world of programming. From there it was on to QBASIC working on fun little projects through middle and high school. When the internet started becoming popular, Tom transitioned to Web-Development and has been with that since.

Science & Physics

Curiosity rules in the world of Science and there is no exception here, physics in particular. Learning about the universe we live in, how things interact in space, and the theories that make things work is of keen interest. Tom has an extensive collection of documentaries and videos on these subjects. The things that really sparked these interests were various inspiring books from the younger years; the first being an amatuer astronomers guide and the Physical Science textbook from high school.

Technology

Aside from taking apart alarm clocks and stereos as a child; electronics, technology, and software have always been at the foundation of Tom's interests. One of his more memorable moments growing up, Tom helped one of his cousins build a computer (a 486 DX2). Even though the term "helped" is used loosely, it was found that this was a life-altering experience, despite it's being an ordinary computer. After watching that machine boot up for the first time and getting the 9600 baud US Robotics modem configured for dial-up to a BBS, Tom was hooked.

About the Projects: Extended Reading

A Final Note

This is quite a bit to read and more than I was initially expecting to write, so if you made it this far, I truly do appreciate the time you took to read about my career history... Thank you!

Project Details: Time Warner Cable

Tom has helped develop several new tools for the Tier 3 Technical Support department to help streamline various operations and aid in making some of the more time consuming tasks more efficient.

The first project was to specifically help agents with schedule compliance. Due to some changes made in the way certain off-phone tasks were handled, Tom saw an opportunity to help automate the process and track schedule compliance. A system was developed where anyone needing off-phone time to work on a task would submit a form with the alloted time which was sent to a supervisor queue where it could get approved and entered into the offical schedule to maintain compliance. Reports were then generated daily to track approved entries and any missed or unreported times were handled on a per case basis. The departments schedule compliance improved by a wide margin after this system was put in place.

Another project need that came along was the Tier III Event Manager. The idea behind the Event Manager is to provide leadership with a means to track potential network issues, find a commonality between the trending examples, and get the correct groups involved to resolution as quickly as possible. The current system in place was overly complex, yet did not help provide the necessary information to find a commonality, effectively lengthening the time it takes from identification to resolution. Tom was asked to help find a way to integrate the Event Manager with other tools to be able to get all of the needed information as quickly as possible. Working with engineers and developers from other groups responsible for the development of the diagnostic tools, a system was created that could poll equipment in real-time and save that information as it occurs as a snapshot for ticket entry. When the information was added to the potential event ticket, all the necessary data could be viewed and filtered as needed. The end-user interface was redesigned so that agent could get examples to leadership with a few clicks. As a result, agents were able to get examples of issues sent to the Event Manager faster and with less effort; and leadership was able to identify problems substantially faster than before. What was once a time consuming task typically taking hours, was taking minutes, and with the simplification of example submission for agents, agent participation was increased significantly as well.

A common annoyance often found in call centers with billing systems is how notations are implemented. In Tier III, there are several templates that need to be followed. One for the billing system, another for IssueTrak, and several more for the other ticketing system used by Engineering, TOC, GNOC and the RNOC’s. In the beginning, there was a program developed by one of the agents to help others maintain the templates and provide simple forms that were then formatted and copied to the clipboard. The program was written in Python and required installation of libraries to work properly. Some workstations couldn’t even use it due to domain policies and permissions issues. With the input of several agents and leadership, a new tool was developed, building on the original Noter project. This time web-based, that provided the same functionality, an improved interface, and also some additional features that helped in agent productivity. Direct integration with the Event Manager, the ability to poll equipment for diagnostics, retrieve customer information from the billing system, along with a slew of other features.

Project Details: Universal Electronics

Tom, along with a few other colleagues experienced in web-development, created a new site where all the information can be organized and catalogued in a way that made sense to those who used it the most. Knowing the specific nuances of each client’s systems, and combining them into a unified interface, all the documentation was presented in several ways to the point where finding the correct information was quick and easy.

As stated above Noter was built on a previous project. It was originally developed for use by agents at Universal Electronics. The original idea arose from a need to have a common template that could be formatted for multiple systems. The existing system in place was a mess web-forms taking on particularly bad designs and poor UI elements. To go along with that, the ability to copy & paste various strings of text and numbers generally required one or more instances of notepad and no ideal way to get the information from one application to another quickly. It became a frustrating task, constantly reiterating mostly the same text and numbers over and over. Armed with JavaScript, CSS, and Microsoft Debugger; Noter 1.0 was born. Its primary purpose was to compact and reformat the forms and provide quick access to frequently typed text as well as some extra fields for other random texts that need copy/pasted in various places.

Project Details: Castle Management Corporation

One of the first tasks after onboarding, was that of a system that could help IT and non-IT employees with keeping track of certain equipment, tools, and supplies. As a result, a simple web-form was created for checking in and out equipment, and a tool that helped us keep track of software licenses and who’s using what software licenses. This could be done from the users’ workstation, or at a console laptop located in the supply room. This helped reduce issues with hunting things down and managing licenses with some of the specialized software that was used in the company.

Another problem facing the IT department was that of taking care of employee computer issues. The usual issues tended to be of either software, connectivity, or education related problems. Of course things got handled by the most part, but since our department was small (three of us) and we had a wide variety of things to do throughout the day, some things would slip through the cracks and caused other issues to arise [which goes without saying]. So we got together and decided to develop a simple ticket entry and tracking system that helped us keep track of all the things we need to take care of. Regardless of the number of issues in the queue, we would always manage to make sure everything got taken care of along with maintaining accountability.

One of the most ambitious projects the IT department faced was getting a surveillance system installed. Security was a big concern with the properties that were being managed by the company. The problems with crime were growing at an alarming rate, and our security staff was having a hard time keeping things quiet. This included eight SPO’s along with some off-duty police on patrols. The company has been considering getting surveillance systems in place for several years and we decided to take action. We talked with a few consultants in the city, but they were asking for too much money, for the services being offered. Our group got together with the company’s construction division and the security staff, and we decided to do it in house. Over the first few weeks, we planned out how to handle the wiring, where the cameras were to be installed, how they will be programmed, where the monitoring stations will be located, and how to implement all the systems. Our results exceeded expectations, after nine months, we had 62 cameras recording at three stations with remote management and security staff trained and working. The program was a success and we finished under budget.

experience with

Job Experience

Technical Support III

• Work with local and national RDC/GNOC to resolve individual and multiple customer service problems.
• Analyze, diagnose, and correct hardware and/or software errors associated with all HSD/voice equipment to minimize system downtime.
• Act as liaison to all vendor help desk personnel, division technical personnel, and other internal and external departments who require high level technical support or assistance.
• Responsible for monitoring invalidated DPO's and their associated functions.
• Process LSR's from CLEC's and ILEC's and troubleshoot invalid LSR requests.
• Investigate BTS provisioning failures and take corrective actions to ensure proper provisioning of ATN's/eMTA's.
• Respond to all terms of service violations in accordance with company and ISP policy.
• Communicate with company legal department representatives and may be responsible for communicating with local and federal law enforcement as required.
• Utilized various monitoring tools to minimize the impact on infrastructure due to e-mail, hacking, copyright violations, illegal internet traffic, threats of bodily harm, denial of service attacks, internet and voice theft and fraud concerns, and other related network impairing problems.
• Support dispatchers, installers and service technicians with troubleshooting equipment diagnostics on scheduled day of install.
• Work through audits to ensure proper service and billing.

• Responsible for the troubleshooting and resolution for high speed internet subscribers.
• Analysis of equipment readouts and logs to help determine the source of the problem.
• Create Work Orders or Remedy tickets when necessary to dispatch field technicians or escalate problems.
• Trended possible network/headend issues with the NOC.

High-Speed Internet Technical Support Representative (Inbound)

• As a Video Tech support agent, the client Bresnan Communications is represented for Video and UEI is represented as the manufacturer of the remote controls used by Bresnan Communications customers.
• Both Tier 1 and Tier 2 are represented for both Video Tech and Universal Remote Controls.
• Helped customers who were having issues with their Cable Television, Analogue/Digital/HD.
• Advised customers on device connectivity and walked through every step involved with operating equipment.
• Provided customers with information about cable services and equipment
• Unresolved or system issues requests were forwarded to the NOC, Dispatch, Maintenance, or Construction.

Precall Technical Support (Video Tech, HSI/HSD, Digital Voice)

• Precall troubleshooting, an alternative method of providing advanced troubleshooting for customers who already have service calls scheduled. Our department’s goal is to determine the nature of the customer’s problem and find ways to fix the problem without sending a service technician to the customer’s home or place of business.
• Technical support included all the client companies support departments, digital cable, high-speed internet, and Digital Phone.
• Our department cancelled on average 20% of each markets scheduled truck rolls, freeing up the pool for other tasks.
• Reworked and reorganized the company’s internal documentation and technical information (codenamed: TRON) to provide a superior troubleshooting experience with the clients customers.
• Highly regarded and recognized as one of the most experienced support agents with one of the highest number of positive escalations to date.
• Mentored and trained new agents hands-on for each system, demonstrating how to utilize each tool to their maximum potential, how to develop the necessary soft-skills to provide excellent customer support, and provide each with the working knowledge and confidence to succeed.

Support Agent

• Provided technical support for customers who are experiencing problems with their internet connection.
• Utilized various tools for aiding in troubleshooting and guided customers through the process of determining where the issue is originating.
• Guided customers through configuring their internet connection or setting up email clients (Outlook / Mail for Mac), or troubleshooting configuration problems.
• If the problem is not within the support scope or could not be fixed over the phone; a technician could be dispatched, escalated to Tier 2, referred the customer to Cox Tech Solutions (paid support), or a software / hardware vendor respectively.

Floor Control

• Helped other agents who are having problems troubleshooting issues.
• Monitored phone call times, breaks, and lunches; aided in bringing down call times and minimized overages.

Receiving Associate

• Nothing really interesting to tell here, the function of a Receiving Associate is to take goods off the truck, palletize, and send said goods to the Stocking Assoicates for shelving.

Network Administrator / Web Developer / Systems Integrator / PC Technician

Multi-Network / Multi-Site Infrastructure Administration

• Maintained all network related hardware & software in multiple locations as well as connectivity on various remote sites.
• Responsible for several Local network servers supporting various services in site connectivity, Mail, File Sharing, network security, and remote accessibility.
• Maintained network topology, subnets, routing, VPNs, and Operating System policies within Domains and isolated workgroups.

On-Site & Remote Tech Support

• Worked with multiple teams, employees, and contractors with different computing requirements & performing support based on team parameters. (On-Site / Remote).
• On-Call availability for teams working outside of normal business hours, available by 2-Way & Cell Phone.

Multi-Site Property Security / Surveillance Design & Implementation

• Current system utilizes Class III Bulletproofing CCTV System with 60+ cameras & internally built PC based Digital Video Recorders (DVRs).
• All surveillance systems are internet accessible through various client connectivity applications.
• Developed manuals & troubleshooting guides & trained security and IT staff with surveillance equipment.
• Trained & worked with construction teams during first phases of development of systems, & personnel in regular maintenance of field equipment.

Special projects

• Vista-Ridge LP Capital Improvements 2006 Re-Finance Project: Responsible for collection, integrity, & accuracy of data including in-house comparable property survey data (statistics, amenities, photos); expedite organized data to various parties including appraiser, underwriter, attorneys, and corporate officials. Interpreted & organized data within HUD specifications for rent comparables & assisted in data analysis with comparables rent adjustment logic. Also participated in corporate profile presentation, as well as part of the corporate profile itself.
• Security Routes & Electronic Paperwork: To increase productivity, a solution was developed for security staff to have ability to fill & file electronic forms with mobile equipment. Data was appended to local intranet database, for easy archiving, searching, filtering, & report generation. Was also responsible for development & implementation of Intranet site & databases. Also aided in barcode system to log routes of security officers.
• Computer & Equipment Database: Responsible for the development of system to track computer and network related equipment, including PCs, servers, networking equipment, and tools. System also included a technical support log for the logging and tracking of trouble tickets. Acts as an agent to track computers, support, generate reports and summaries, and gives IT a better perspective on troubleshooting problems within software and hardware; as well as the ability to cross-check logs and history reports. Also served as a tool for helping IT in making decisions regarding computer and equipment purchasing and distribution. Other duties included sub-system front-end for employees, training, and full documentation of the system. System later integrated into company operations manual.
• Vista Ridge & Stanton Glenn Marketing Campaign: Aided in marketing campaign for Stanton Glenn Apartments and Vista Ridge Apartments. Main responsibility was to setup and train leasing managers on E-Commerce and paper publications (brochures, newspaper, rental web-sites, corp site) to synchronize with unit vacancies and seasonal specials.

Network Administration / Web Developer / PC Technician

• Maintained internal network & basic networking services.
• Responsible for all computer maintenance, repair, and upgrades.
• Kept bulletins on the latest Malware and Spyware applications for customers.
• Provided recommendation services for anti-virus, anti-spyware, & firewall applications, & expedited recommendations on customers summary invoice sheets.
• Responsible for all dynamic web-development & design, including database administration.
• Assisted in design of publication graphics and logos.

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