Business telecommunications and IT systems

Sophie Double joined du Pré in 2010 as a Telephone and IT Support Controller in du Pré's Operations Department. Her role sees her speaking to customers about their IP telephony services and their IT networks due to the nature of her work which ensures business continuity for companies in Newbury, Berkshire and nationwide.

Sophie Double

Telephone and IT Support Controller within du Pré's Operations Department in Newbury, Berkshire.

What is your role in the Support team?

First line contact for customers needing support on their telephone systems and IT networks. I ensure that every telephone call and email is actioned and a 'call' is raised if required. This ensures the most appropriate engineer is assigned to help the customer and the issue is resolved as fast as possible.

What sort of variety do you encounter with du Pré customers?

All customers are different so variety is huge. I can receive a call from a local business in Newbury regarding their IP telephony system and then five minutes later be speaking to the bursar of an ISA independent school regarding their IT network. Every customer has different needs so I treat every query as a unique situation.

What do you enjoy about working in du Pré's Support team?

It's a very customer focused team which seeks to improve customer service at every opportunity.  Lots of companies say this but it really is the case at du Pré.  It's all about the customer here.

And we have a great team-working environment which is very important for enjoying every day at the office. It means I enjoy coming into work each day, even on Mondays (well, mostly!)

What's the most important thing to ensure excellent customer service?

Regular customer communication, whether this is good news, bad news or no news. We always give updates to customers to let them know what's happening with their request for support. There's nothing worse for a business than being in the dark about what's happening, especially when they're unable to use their telephone system or IT network.

When are the busy times for support?

Monday mornings are often busy with people returning to work and forgetting how to action some of the routine steps they take (often with voicemail changes).  It's also busy when the clocks change and customers need to reflect the new time on their phone systems*. I like these busy periods though; there's nothing worse than a quiet department with no life.  There's no risk of that in du Pré Operations!

* For more information on changing the time on your telephone system visit Telephone System Date and Time Change Guides in the Telecom and IT Resources section.