Microdyne focuses on the fact that its support is U.S.-based, with the tag line, "Home Field Advantage."

by Jeff Goldman [August 24, 2003]

Microdyne Outsourcing was founded in 1991 to provide in-house repair services for what was then Microdyne Corporation. It gradually began picking up outside clients, and eventually grew to provide a wide range of after-market support services for technology companies, ranging from outsourced customer service and technical support to equipment repair services.

In 1999, the company was purchased by L-3 Communications. John Oakes, Microdyne's President, says the most significant development since the acquisition has been a focus on what it calls the 'Home Field Advantage.' "We're promoting the idea that certain businesses need the kind of service and expertise that you can get by keeping a portion of your calls in the States," Oakes says.

Microdyne Outsourcing 2601 Airport Drive, Suite 240 Torrance, California 90505 Voice: (800) 792-6567 Contact form

Microdyne's call center is located in Orono, Maine, home of the University of Maine, though its headquarters are in Torrance, California. "In the late '90s, we did have call centers in California," Oakes says. "But because of the cost of occupancy and to some degree the cost of labor, we gradually reduced our position in California to where now it's just the corporate headquarters."

The company also runs a repair center in Columbus, Ohio which is colocated with several overnight express carriers, allowing Microdyne to repair equipment quickly and return it the same day. At one point, Oakes says, it made sense for ISPs to contract with the facility for things like modem repair—but no longer. "[Modems are] now mostly just being crushed and put in landfills, because there's no money in it," he says.

The company has been working with ISPs since 2001, providing customer service and technical support as well as outbound calling, both to follow up on support needs and to reduce churn. "About 75 percent of our revenue is inbound, and 25 percent is outbound," Oakes says. "100 percent of the outbound is in support of existing clients for existing customers."

Personnel and pricing
Because Microdyne's call center is located in a university town, Oakes says, the company has access to a large supply of highly computer-literate people—though they're not just college students: about 20 percent of the company's workforce is also composed of people over the age of 40. "That gives you some stability and maturity in the call center, which is also good," he says.

The call center's employees are motivated by a pay-for-performance scheme which provides incentive pay in return for matching or exceeding a client's particular needs. "That means that if the client is getting what they contracted for, the employee is making more money than they would otherwise make," Oakes says. "We find that has worked extremely well in keeping us aligned, in a quality sense, with our clients."

That structure, Oakes says, also helps to keep prices lower than they might otherwise be. "By having pay-for-performance work effectively, you create a lot of self-management rather than top-down management—and we can pass those savings along to our clients," he says. "We find we're extremely competitive from a pricing perspective in the States, and we're not close to but within shouting distance of a lot of the people in Asia."

Pricing for the service can be structured per minute or per call. "Generally speaking, we think variable pricing serves the client the best," Oakes says. "Across our business, I would say probably 90 percent of our pricing is per minute, and the other 10 percent involves per call."

The customer experience
All ISP clients have access to a web-based reporting system which provides detailed information on calls and service levels in near-real time, with a two or three-second delay. "To be able to get that operational data in nearly real time gives them a leg up if they are active managers of their call center activity," Oakes says.

The company offers support in English, Spanish, and French, with other languages available as well. "The core competency of a good outsourcer is getting a trained person, with all the requisite skills, to the problem," Oakes says. "And if that takes German in addition to knowing the Internet and computers, that's our job—that's what we do. So generally speaking, we could bring any language to the call, any time."

In the long run, Oakes says, it's the quality of the customer service that makes one ISP stand out from another. "There are obviously some differences between this guy's anti-spam and that guy's anti-spam, but generally speaking, I don't think that there's a lot of perceived difference except the quality of the customer experience," he says.

That means that Microdyne's ultimate responsibility, Oakes says, is to help its ISP clients differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace. "It really comes down to the quality of the support experience," he says.

— End

Related articles:
	[Dec. 27, 2002]	We Need Cheap Overnight Tech Support
	[Jan. 22, 2001]	When Your Help Desk is Distant
	[June 2, 2000]	Building an ISP Business Plan Part 4: Operating & Organizational Plans

Online resources:
	Outsourced Customer Support Directory
	Quick Reference Chart