kewlkeed
Grouch
Premium
join:2005-02-05
Knowlton, QC
| Staffing your WISP
Howdy all!
I am curious on how many of the "old-timers" or gurus I should say, staff their WISPs. What job positions do you have and what are their day-to-day descriptions and what parts of the network/company do they touch and not touch.
I would THINK in the ideal WISP world things would be similar to this...
(I am mainly only concerned with the technical side)
Reason I ask is I notice with just about any company there is always a tiered level of technical support. Usually ranging from "Client, Plant, Core" levels.
TECHNICAL SIDE
=====================================
## Systems Admin
-Deals with upstream providers
-Deals with purchasing of equipment for techs
-Deals with purchasing of radios
-Deals with Servers, Outsourced Hosts, Domains etc.
-Deals with "Core level" of network (Backbones, Routers, APs)
-Deals with trouble tickets that field techs can't fix
-Capable of debugging high end technical problems
-Capable of working out problems related to RF
-Does not touch home/business installs unless serious problems need to be fixed
## Field Tech / Installer
-Does home/business installs
-Troubleshoots problems on installs
-Manages customer config (Email, AV problems, routers, etc)
-Has RF experience
-Has basic netorking experience
-Has good technical support experience
-Does not touch "core level" network systems |
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John Galt
What...me panic??
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
| You are missing the "Office Manager"...someone who answers the phones, deals with the mundane office work such as accounts payable and receivable, correspondence and such.
Don't expect the System Admin to deal with this type of stuff...it has to get done.
They will be busy doing other stuff.
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A is A |
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AMD Phreak
Premium
join:2003-12-14
| reply to kewlkeed
Well, I cover the tech side such as your listing of system admin. There is another admin who doubles as our RF engineer as well. The installer we have does the home and business installs and doesnt even touch the core.
I should point out that we are struggling with finding installers that can do more than the physical install. The technical is always what they struggle with.
We have a billing dept already for the other side of the house, so they handle contracts and billing.
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Using a non-ports-system OS is like masturbating with a cheese grater |
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cmaenginsb
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-19
Palmdale, CA
| reply to kewlkeed
The one thing I've learned is that any serious WISP will have at least 1 person for sales and marketing. Most WISPs I know fail on this side because everyone focuses on the technical. It's important to have a balance.
On the technical side we actually had 4 different areas:
1. Sysadmin who was primary 3rd level tech support and responsible for the network.
2. OPs manager who was senior RF and responsbile for site buildouts, as the sites needed to be trusted to someone with a bit more qualifications than the installers.
3. Level 2 support, this person was responsible for all "upgraded" support calls and most onsite visits.
4. Installers were responsible for installs and some tech support.
We outsourced level one tech support the the company that did our web and mail hosting.
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CCNA, Comtrain Certified Tower Climber |
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John Galt
What...me panic??
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
| I think we are starting to talk about "hats" here...and what function those "hats" perform.
The question then becomes how many hats can a particular individual wear...and still perform effectively.
If you are a "one-man shop"...obviously you wear them all!
How do you add personnel to your business...and what hats do they wear?
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A is A |
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kewlkeed
Grouch
Premium
join:2005-02-05
Knowlton, QC
| reply to kewlkeed
Thanks Everyone,
I was hoping to hear from John and cmaenginsb on this one, and thank you AMD Phreak!
It has definitly become time for us to start looking and building out and delagating the work. So I'm just exploring the different arrangements people have.
Sorry I didn't mention about the business side of things. (That's not my department )
But I was just wondering on tech side how many different levels there were and what did they do and not do.
Thanks again!
P.S. What levels did you guys start to "build out" staff wise? Did you run things like that from the start? Or start out small and build up? If so around what levels did you take on new positions? |
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superdog
I Need A Drink
Premium,MVM
join:2001-07-13
Lebanon, PA
| Our "staff" consists of 3 people. 2 of them only do the technical side, I.E. network admin., email servers, routing etc. When it comes to everything else, its my job.  . I just outsourced the billing to my wife, LOL, so that is one less thing I have to deal with. In my ideal setup, I would have it done the way kewlkid listed it AND an additional person for sales. As john Galt mentioned, I wear every hat we have, and that is getting old very quickly, as it does cut down on my effectiveness and the amount of time I have to spend on other issues. Finding someone who can handle each listed job is another problem, as evidenced by quite a few other threads about how to hire, and where to find competent people. We don't use contracts right now, but I am thinking about starting and then hiring a salesperson and paying them "X" amount of money based on the length of the contract they have signed. That way I am guaranteed a return over a 1 or 2 year period, and it would make the salesperson worthwhile. Any thoughts?
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»www.wavecrazy.net Join WISPA today! »www.wispa.org/ |
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IntraLink
Premium,MVM
join:2002-08-14
Utah Valley
| reply to kewlkeed
We contract out everything that we can't handle.
The only exception is sales.
So if something gets heavy we get a qualified person to work on it for a few hours. Money well spent.
Salaries will eat up your cash flow more than anything else.
We automate as many processes as possible and are still automating. That is what has kept out customers happy and our sanity intact. |
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Keithb
join:2003-09-16
US
| reply to kewlkeed
Our core business is an electric utility, and we're currently using existing resources for all of our different areas. For billing, we are using our existing billing software designed for electric coops, and billing staff which I oversee. I've had to get some customization for the Internet billing where the first $25 is not taxable, but it all shows up on their electric bill. If they are not customers of ours, they are invoiced separately.
For installs, myself and my Elec. Tech. have done 4 of them, and we use our Wildblue Installers for our Wireless when they have the time. Granted we are new to offering after months of testing, so we have a very small client base.
The technical side is handled by myself, from the T1 router through the Mikrotik Router to the end user. Our support is a 7-7 support with an answering service used for our electrical service.
I have my own servers with my personal business, so I host our domains and email, DNS, etc. I know either in this thread or Perscomps, they mentioned the wearing of hats. In Coops, that is our game. We each wear so many hats it's hard to keep up in a day with what we do.
We haven't had to staff, but if we do, it will more than likely be someone with tower experience, and some technical experience 'cause I don't like towers over about 50'. |
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