Remote Services, Inc.

1. CASE SUMMARY Remote Services, Inc.(RSI) is a computer and office equipment repair company in the tri-city area. RSI has been in business for about five years providing telephone technical support for most name-brand computers, printers, scanners, fax machines, and copiers. RSI has been very successful with its telephone support program, and has grown to the point that it now employs over 20 full-time support technicians. The company provides telephone support that can assist callers in performing most repairs on standard computer and office equipment without the delays and costs associated with having a technician dispatched to perform on-site repairs. In part 1 of the case, Pat Sherman, the owner and CEO of RSI, has become concerned about the ability to accurately track contracts, customers, and support calls. She described the problem as follows: "Our biggest problem is that we don't know what we have done. When RSI first started, it was fairly easy to keep up with the different companies and the contracts that I had with them, but the company has succeed beyond my expectations. Our focus on being customer-driven and responding to the specific needs of each company has been well received. Gone are the days when one company meant one contract and one client. Now we have multiple contracts with several large companies, and even smaller businesses are registering multiple clients on each contract. Our current system for keeping track of all the clients on all the different contracts and the work we do for them, just isn't keeping up. If RSI is going to continue to grow, we have to have a better handle on what we are doing and who we are doing it for." Sydney Wallace was one of the first technicians hired by the fledgling RSI. In addition to strong technical skills, Sydney has proven to have a good head for business and has been promoted to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer. One of his highest priorities is to maintain RSI's reputation for quick responses to client needs. A reputation that Sydney feels is in jeopardy. "Fast service has been one of the cornerstones of RSI's business model from the beginning. When a client has a problem, they want it fixed immediately--not in an hour. A large part of RSI's growth is attributable to our quick response to client needs. Our rapid growth, however, is making that more difficult and customers are starting to notice. During peak call times, our service technicians are being overwhelmed. The problem is that we struggle with balancing our staffing loads. Our current system doesn't provide any useful information on call volumes, call durations, or the number of technicians that have to participate in the solving of a problem. Without this type of information, we are staffing by trial-and-error." You work for a consulting company that has been hired to help design an appropriate database structure to record information to support RSI's business activities. You are working as one part of a small group that has been assigned to work with RSI. Your primary responsibility is to create the design specification for the database structure. In part 2 of the case, the task expands to include on-site repair services. Pat has decided that now is the time to expand into on-site repairs. She explains the decision as the next logical step in the growth of the company. "RSI has an incredible resource in the knowledge base that our technicians represent. Leveraging that resource to get the most out of it only makes sense. There are many problems that clients report that are difficult, if not impossible, for untrained individuals to complete even with one of our technicians talking them through it. However, we have the skilled personnel to complete these tasks in a timely manner. Providing this service to our clients allows us to continue to provide the most complete solutions to their needs." This significantly increases the size of the database development activities that your company will be performing. …