Herotel – A Preseem Success Story

How Preseem Helped One of South Africa’s Largest ISPs Slash Support Staff Onboarding Time by Over 50% and Ticket Resolution Times by 30-80+%.

The Hidden Cost of Multi-Vendor Complexity

The real impact of this complexity reveals itself in three critical areas:

1. Extended Training Times

Before Preseem, Herotel required two months to train new support agents before they could handle calls independently. “Two months sounds excessive, but it is a lot of training that we need to do,” said Netta Roetz from Herotel’s team.

The training burden wasn’t just about technical concepts, it was about navigating the maze of vendor-specific interfaces, understanding different equipment behaviors, and learning multiple disconnected workflows.

2. Inconsistent Support Quailty

Multi-vendor environments create another insidious problem: regional inconsistencies. At Herotel, different regions had developed entirely different support workflows.

“We had completely different ways of doing it in Central” than those on other teams, said Darren. This meant customers received different support experiences depending on their location, and agents couldn’t easily transfer between regions without extensive retraining.

3. Credential and Access Management Nightmares

Managing equipment access for 100 support agents across multiple vendor platforms created security and operational challenges. Herotel relied on shared read-only credentials for most equipment—a common but problematic practice.

“It was a single read-only user,” Darren confirmed. While some systems supported individual RADIUS authentication, the complexity of managing permissions across dozens of different platforms made granular access control impractical.

The Preseem Transformation: One Platform to Rule Them All

When Herotel implemented Preseem, the initial reaction was skepticism. “The first words we said were ‘Great, another system,'” said Netta. But this skepticism quickly transformed into reliance as the platform proved its value.

Dramatic Reduction in Training Time

With Preseem providing a unified view across all equipment types and vendors, training time dropped from two months to three-four weeks, a greater than 50% reduction. New agents no longer needed to master multiple vendor interfaces or memorize which system to check for which type of problem.

Standardized Workflows Nationwide

“Preseem’s helped us get the uniformity so we can have one national standard,” said Darren. This standardization means consistent service quality regardless of customer location and easier resource allocation across regions.

Faster Problem Resolution

The impact on actual support interactions has been profound. “We can escalate or close a ticket within five to 10 minutes,” said Netta. Previously, these same issues “would take us 15 minutes to half an hour,” a time savings of between 30-80+%.

This isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about customer experience. When agents can quickly access all relevant information in one place, customers spend less time on hold, get more accurate answers, and experience fewer transfers between departments.

Real-World Impact: Historical Data Changes Everything

One of Preseem’s most powerful features is its ability to maintain historical network data across all equipment types. Jaco Prince, Team Captain at Herotel, shared a practical example where historical data in Preseem helped identify that a performance issue was simply a case of the line being maxed out.

“That was one case where actually Preseem has helped me narrow down a problem that would have taken a day or two or three, depending on the issue,” he said. This capability transforms support from reactive troubleshooting to proactive problem-solving.

The Human Factor: Happier Agents, Better Service

The simplification of daily workflows has had a meaningful impact on agent morale. “Using Preseem is a lot easier than having to go through four or five different OLTs to try and find the customer,” said Darren.

In an industry known for high turnover, reducing job complexity and frustration is crucial. While support departments will always face staffing challenges, making the job more manageable helps retain experienced agents who provide better customer service.

Looking Beyond Equipment Vendors

Herotel’s ultimate goal represents the future for many ISPs: complete removal of vendor complexity from support operations.

This vision, where support agents interact only with a unified platform rather than juggling multiple vendor systems, promises even greater improvements in efficiency, security, and service quality.

The Multi-Vendor Reality Check

When asked what reverting to vendor-specific tools would mean, the response was visceral. “I will run away,” said Netta.

Darren elaborated on the implications: “Going back to the old systems, we’re going to have incredible pushback. The guys are not going to want to. It’s too many different variables that we have to work with.”

For ISPs operating in today’s multi-vendor, multi-technology environment, this isn’t hyperbole, it’s recognition that modern networks have grown too complex for traditional support approaches.

Key Takeaways for ISPs

Herotel’s experience demonstrates several critical lessons:

• Multi-vendor complexity is inevitable – As ISPs grow and evolve, they will use equipment from multiple vendors. Fighting this reality is less effective than embracing platforms that manage it.
• Training costs compound with complexity – Every additional vendor interface and system exponentially increases training time and reduces support quality.
• Standardization enables scale – Unified workflows across regions and technologies are essential for growth beyond local markets.
• Historical visibility transforms support – Access to past network behavior turns guesswork into informed troubleshooting.
• Having one platform across multiple vendors works best – The value isn’t in having another tool, it’s in having one tool that eliminates the need for many others.

For all ISPs, the ability to deliver superior customer support is a key differentiator. By easing the complexity of multi-vendor networks, Preseem enables support teams to focus on what matters most: solving customer problems quickly and effectively.