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Off the hook: CFP provides top-notch communications support

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clinton Atkins
  • 379 AEW Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The tireless, congenial greetings of computer-age heroes resonate throughout the 379th Expeditionary Communications Squadron Communications Focal Point building, for what seems as never-ending, saving the day for countless servicemembers suffering from the tyranny of rogue computers. 

Omaha, Neb., native Tech. Sgt. Angie Prada, 379 ECS/CFP Helpdesk noncommissioned officer in charge, deployed from Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, leads the few but brave Airmen against the crashing waves of phone calls. They have made staying afloat an art form. 

"We are the first point of contact for trouble calls in the [379th Air Expeditionary Wing]," Sergeant Prada said. "We take trouble calls for Small Computers, Network Management, Land Mobile Radio, Network Control Center, Telephones, Cable Maintenance and Microwave, we gather enough information to complete the trouble ticket so the technicians can solve the problem." 

Barrages of phone calls riddle their tech fortress like a relentless squall pounding against a sea-wearied ship. With a stoic demeanor, they truck onward logging and organizing calls according to the customers' issues. "We take in the phone calls, assess the issue, and if we need to create a trouble ticket we'll create one in our database," she said. "From there, it's sent to our back shops." 

Even though the CFP is the shop that sends out the rescue teams for most, the Airmen behind the phones double as computer technicians and directly handle troubleshooting for computer issues, but it wasn't always that way. 

Sergeant Prada said customers use to have to call different numbers depending on the issue the user had, but the Air Force streamlined the process by creating a central hub for all communications concerns - the Communications Focal Point. 

The heroes and their conterparts, the Client Support Administrators, an additional duty tasked throughout all organizations in the 379 AEW, work together to rescue those facing the storms of computer troubles. "If we can't resolve a problem with [the CSAs] we'll then create a trouble ticket for the specific back shop that can help the CSA resolve the issue," Sergeant Prada said. 

Currently, the 379 AEW and tenant organizations have 300 able bodies filling in roles of CSAs. The CSAs act as a buffer between the users and CFP. 

Sergeant Prada said since CSAs don't always receive the same training as the communications technicians, the CSAs won't always have solutions to users' issues, which results in an overflow of support needed from the CFP. 

Since May alone, the CFP has received 16,195 calls from customers - 13,315 calls were resolved over the phone - processed 6,863 e-mails and assisted 584 walk-in customers. 

Sergeant Prada said the primary reason for the high volume of customer issues is due to the high turnover rate of rotational personnel. 

"At the peak of the rotation it seems like chaos," she said jokingly. "It does get very busy, though." 

With so many servicemembers to safeguard against the horrors of office communications going haywire, it is difficult for the CFP to resolve issues as quick as they would like. There are 8,000 users assigned to the base and only 13 technicians (day and night shifts) who work the CFP Helpdesk and Maintenance Operations Center, which helps the CFP Helpdesk with the overflow of phone calls in times of increased operations tempo. 

Sergeant Prada said on some days her office will receive 250 calls, and one way or another, all issues get resolved. 

Sergeant Prada said she is awed at how all of the work gets completed sometimes. 
"When we requested the numbers to see how many incoming calls we had I was actually really surprised," she said. "I thought, 'How can that be?' It almost seemed impossible." 

Sergeant Prada said she owes it to her shop for keeping them afloat during the influx of customers. 

"The Airmen assigned to our shop have a broad range of knowledge. We pull information from each other," she said. "I rely on them and the backshops for solutions. They are all excellent technicians." 

Additionally, the CFP has established an automated voice distribution system, allowing trouble calls to be routed and customer issues addressed more efficiently. Airmen in the CFP have also improved processes by combining their experience and knowledge, which now allows them to expedite jobs. 

The CFP straightened out their CSA share drive -- a go-to tool used by the CSAs. The CFP posted a list of solutions to most common problems and they created trouble ticket templates for CSAs to use, which reduces the time needed to fill out trouble tickets. The CFP also adjusted the CSA training curriculum to better prepare Airmen for the additional duty. 

At the end of the day, even though the CFP personnel don't get a hero's parade, they take comfort in the fact their service is important to the wing's mission. 

"This is the first time I've deployed and I really feel what I do is important," Sereant Prada said. "Back home you kind of get complacent and you get used the day-to-day of your regular job and then you arrive here and it's a reality check. It's busy work, but very rewarding." 

Sergeant Prada has confidence in her shop, so when calls storm in she knows her office is equipped with the life preservers to survive any wave that comes their way.