Understanding the Care Quality Commission's Service Types

All health and social care providers are required to register with the Care Quality Commission to demonstrate that they are meeting the standards laid out by the CQC. The standards that you are required to meet and are expected to demonstrate before you can gain registration, vary depending on the service type that you as an organisation, individual or partnership, are classified as.

The Care Quality Commission has defined 28 different service types in all and it is essential that you determine which 'type' or 'types' you are classified as before you begin the CQC registration process. Failing to identify the correct categories could mean that you fail to realise certain standards that are expected of you, which in turn could result in your application being rejected. It is important to note that you may fall into more than one category and in this instance you need to address all of the standards defined within all of the categories that you fall within.

The following details all of the service types available, their associated codes, as used by the CQC, and an example of the kind of provider that may fall within each of the categories:

1. Acute services - ACS

Maternity hospitals

2. Hyperbaric chamber services - HBC

Type 1 hyperbaric chambers

3. Hospice services - HPS

Adult hospices

4. Long-term conditions services - LTC

Complex care and support provided to individuals with physical or neurological illnesses that are unlikely to improve

5. Hospital services for people with mental health needs, and/or learning disabilities, and/or problems with substance misuse - MLS

Child and adolescent mental health providers

6. Prison healthcare services - PHS

Young offenders institutions

7. Rehabilitation services - RHS

Rehabilitation units

8. Residential substance misuse treatment / rehabilitation services - RSM

Crisis intervention units

9. Community healthcare services - CHC

District nursing

10. Doctors consultation services - DCS

Slimming clinics

11. Doctors treatment services - DTS

Travel vaccination centres

12. Dental services - DEN

NHS Dental practice

13. Diagnostic and/or screening services - DSS

Health screening centres

14. Community-based services for people with a learning disability - LDC

Community learning disabilities teams

15. Mobile doctors services - MBS

GP out-of-hours providers

16. Community-based services for people with mental health needs - MHC

Community mental health teams

17. Community-based services for people who misuse substances - SMC

Community drug and alcohol teams

18. Urgent care services - UCS

Walk-in clinic

19. Care home services with nursing - CHN

Nursing home

20. Care home services without nursing - CHS

Residential home

21. Specialist college services - SPC

Personal care and accommodation provided by a college for young people with learning and/or physical disabilities

22. Domiciliary care services including those provided for children - DCC

Domiciliary care agency

23. Extra care housing services - EXC

Care provided within purpose built accommodation

24. Shared lives (Formerly adult placement) - SHL

Care provided by a trained individual, couple or family, inside or outside of the home

25. Supported living services - SLS

Care provided to a person living in their own home

26. Ambulance services - AMB

Patient transport

27. Blood and transport services - BTS

NHS Blood and transport

28. Remote clinical advice services - RCA

NHS Direct

The examples given above are by no means an exhaustive list and the range of organisations that need to be regulated by the Care Quality Commission is extensive, so if you provide any form of health or social care services then you will almost certainly fall within one of the above service types.

Do you need support with your CQC registration or ongoing monitoring? Then use the professional CQC consultancy service from Words Worth Reading Ltd.

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Medical Transcription Outsourcing - Providing High Quality Services

Medical transcription is an integral part of the healthcare process by creating patient records from the dictation provided by healthcare professionals of the patient- healthcare professional encounter. Patient records have a dual role to play in the smooth running of healthcare facilities supporting both the diagnostic as well as the reimbursement process. However as this activity is not part of the core competencies of the healthcare facility; outsourcing this entire process has proven to be an efficient solution. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that healthcare facilities can benefit from high quality services.

How does outsourcing provide high quality services?

Handing over the responsibility of creating patient medical records to a professional service provider ensures high quality services as this is the core business of the service providers and they can provide services with the following attributes -

Service with expertise - This is a service which requires expertise like the right combination of people skills and technology to render services that meet the accuracy and turnaround time standards. Hiring the right service provider ensures that process of creating patient records is executed with expertise.

Service with experience - The transcription requirements of each healthcare facility is diverse. The experience of the service provider in serving the diverse needs of different healthcare facilities would benefit the healthcare facility by ensuring seamless transition to outsourced services.

Committed service - Medical transcription is the core business of the service provider and all the resources of the vendor would be committed to ensure accurate, speedy, secure and cost effective services. The healthcare facility can benefit by the commitment of the service provider by enjoying immaculate services that meet their specific requirements.

Professional services -Availing these services from a professional transcription vendor services ensures that professionally trained transcriptionists who are experts in the specialty they are transcribing in work on the dictation to produce high quality transcripts

Service with integrity - The information in patient records is vital for the treatment process; it is important that this information is captured accurately and confidentiality of this information is ensured. Entrusting this process to a professional service provider ensures that the integrity of the information is preserved both in terms of accuracy and security.

Thorough services - The patient medical record is the basis of further treatments, reference for future course of action, basis for referrals, as evidence in case of litigation and the foundation for the reimbursement process. It is important that all the details are captured thoroughly. This is ensured by availing the services of a specialist.

Reliable services - Availing the services of a vendor ensures that the process of creating medical records is a continuous and reliable process regardless of variation in the volumes or holiday and weekend requirements.

Service based on technical expertise - This process relies on technology to ensure speed and security. Moreover technology also adds to the productivity of healthcare professionals and support staff by providing numerous easy to use benefits like flexible modes of capturing dictation, varied modes of document delivery, archives, HL7 interface and various other features

Timely services - Hiring the services of a transcription vendor ensures that not only are transcripts created in an accurate manner but are also made available to healthcare professionals within the turnaround time required by them.

Cost effective services - Outsourcing medical transcription ensures substantial cost savings to the healthcare facilities by reducing both the direct and indirect cost of transcription.

Outsourcing medical transcription to a professional transcription vendor provides healthcare facilities complete solutions.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry offers customized medical transcription solutions tailored to suit the needs of healthcare facilities. Visit http://www.transdyne.com for more details. Click http://www.transdyne.com/html/contactus.aspx to avail medical transcription services from TransDyne.

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In Challenging Times, Customer Service Quality Matters Most!

As the wind of economic cycles blows hard, some businesses try to contain costs by cutting corners on customer service quality. This is exactly the wrong thing to do, because customer service quality matters now more than ever. Here's why:

A. When people buy during an economic downturn they are extremely conscious of the hard-earned money that they spend. Customers want more attention, more appreciation and more recognition when making their purchases with you, not less. Customer service quality is simply essential.

B. Customers want to be sure they get maximum value for the money they spend. They want assistance, education, training, installation, modifications and support. The basic product may remain the same, but they want more service and higher customer service quality.

C. Customers want firmer guarantees that their purchase was the right thing to do. In good times, a single bad purchase can be quickly overlooked or forgotten, but in tough times, every expenditure is scrutinized. Provide the assurance your customers seek with generous service guarantees, regular follow-up and speedy follow-through on all queries and complaints. Customer service quality matters more than you think.

D. In difficult economic times, people spend less time traveling and "wining and dining," and more time carefully shopping for each and every purchase. Giving great service enhances the customer's shopping experience and boosts your own company's image.

When times are good, people move fast and sometimes don't notice your efforts. In tougher times, people move more cautiously and notice every extra effort you make. Customer service quality is vital because people will pay attention and remember.

E. When money is tight, many people experience a sense of lower self-esteem. When they get good service from your business, it boosts their self-image. And when they feel good about themselves, they feel good about you. And when they feel good about you and your customer service quality, they buy.

F. In tough times, people talk more with each other about saving money and getting good value. Positive word-of-mouth is a powerful force at any time. In difficult times, even more ears will be listening. Be sure the words spoken about your business are good ones by making your customer service quality exceptional!

The Secrets of Superior Service

Giving high customer service quality in tough times makes good business sense. But how do you actually achieve it? Here are eight proven principles you can use to raise customer service quality. I call them The Secrets of Superior Service.

1. Understand how your customers' expectations are rising and changing over time. What was good enough last year may not be good enough now. Use customer surveys, interviews and focus groups to understand what your customers really want, what they value and what they believe they are getting (or not getting) from your business.

2. Use customer service quality to differentiate your business from your competition. Your products may be reliable and up-to-date - but your competitors' goods are, too. Your delivery systems may be fast and user-friendly, but so are your competitors'!

You can make a more lasting difference by providing personalized, responsive and extra-mile customer service quality that stands out in a unique way your customers will appreciate - and remember.

3. Set and achieve high standards for customer service quality. You can go beyond basic and expected levels of service to provide your customers with desired and even surprising service interactions.

Determine the standard customer service quality in your industry, and then find a way to go beyond it. Give more choice than "the usual," be more flexible than "normal," be faster than "the average'," and extend a better warranty than all the others.

Your customers will notice your higher standards. But eventually those standards will be copied by your competitors, too. So don't slow down. Keep stepping up customer service quality!

4. Learn to manage your customers' expectations. You can't always give customers everything their hearts desire. Sometimes you need to bring their expectations into line with what you know you can deliver in regard to customer service quality.

The best way to do this is by first building a reputation for making and keeping clear promises. Once you have established a base of trust and good reputation, you only need to ask your customers for their patience in the rare instances when you cannot meet their first requests. Nine times out of ten they will extend the understanding and the leeway that you need.

The second way to manage customers' expectations is to "under promise, then over deliver.". Here's an example: you know your customer wants something done fast. You know it will take an hour to complete. Don't tell your customer it will take an hour. Instead, let them know you will rush on their behalf, but promise a 90-minute timeframe.

Then, when you finish in just one hour (as you knew you would all along), your customer will be delighted to find that you finished the job "so quickly." That's "under promise, then over deliver." This can help you gain a reputation for customer service quality.

5. Bounce back with effective service recovery. Sometimes things do go wrong. When it happens to your customers, do everything you can to set things right and demonstrate customer service quality. Fix the problem and show sincere concern for any discomfort, frustration or inconvenience. Then do a little bit more by giving your customer something positive to remember - a token of goodwill, a gift of appreciation,

a discount on future orders, an upgrade to a higher class of product.

This is not the time to assign blame for what went wrong or to calculate the costs of repair. Restoring customer goodwill is worth the price in positive word-of-mouth and new business.

6. Appreciate your complaining customers. Customers with complaints can be your best allies in building and improving your business. They point out where your system is faulty or your procedures are weak and problematic. They show where your products or services are below expectations. They point out areas where your competitors are getting ahead or where your staff is falling behind. These are the same insights and conclusions companies pay consultants to provide. But a complainer gives them to you free and can help you raise customer service quality!

And remember, for every person who complains, there are many more who don't bother to tell you. The others just take their business elsewhere...and speak badly about you. At least the complainer gives you a chance to reply and set things right.

7. Take personal responsibility. In many organizations, people are quick to blame others for problems or difficulties at work: managers blame staff, staff blame managers, Engineering blames Sales, Sales blames Marketing and everyone blames Finance. This does not help. In fact, all the finger-pointing make things much worse.

Blaming yourself doesn't work, either. No matter how many mistakes you may have made, tomorrow is another chance to do better. You need high self-esteem to deliver customer service quality. Feeling ashamed doesn't help.

It doesn't make sense to make excuses and blame the computers, the system or the budget, either. This kind of justification only prolongs the pain before the necessary changes can take place.

The most reliable way to bring about constructive change in your organization is to take personal responsibility and help make good things happen. When you see something that needs to be done, do it to raise customer service quality. If you see something that needs to be done in another department, recommend it. Be the person who makes suggestions, proposes new ideas and volunteers to help on problem solving teams, projects and solutions.

8. See the world from each customer's point of view. We often get so caught up in our own world that we lose sight of what our customers actually experience.

Make time to stand on the other side of the counter or listen on the other end of the phone. Be a "mystery shopper" at your own place of business. Or become a customer of your best competition. What you notice when you look from the "other side" is what your customers experience every day.

Finally, always remember that customer service quality is the currency that keeps our economy moving. I serve you in one business, you serve me in another. When either of us improves customer service quality, the economy gets a little better. When both of us improve, people are sure to take notice. When everyone improves, the whole world grows stronger and closer together.

The time to make it happen is now.

Ron Kaufman is the world's leading educator and motivator for upgrading customer service and uplifting service culture. He is author of the bestselling UP Your Service! books and founder of UP Your Service! College. Read more articles and tips about Customer Service Quality.

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A Quality Content Distribution Service Offers a Feast of Features

When choosing an online service, do you demand of them what you demand of bricks and mortar businesses? You should; quality service features are not exclusive to traditional offline enterprises. You understand that you must offer value to your customers. You should expect the same from any online service you use.

This definitely applies to your choice of an article marketing enterprise. For a quality content distribution service to help you succeed, it must have specific service features. Understanding what service features constitute a good service is the first order of the day.

First, a comprehensive distribution list is something to look for in a service. Before signing up as a member explore if their publishers list is significant. You want the list to contain popular publications across an assortment of categories.

Of course, this list must be current and the service should update it on a regular basis. The publishing world, online and offline, is a fickle one. Publishers come and go and you want to know the latest players in the game. In this way, your articles reach new audiences.

A quality content distribution service must also provide for off site use. Some services require you download special software programs to your PC. Consequently, you can only submit articles from your home office. The offsite option isn't available to you.

A good service makes it easy for you to log in from any computer. This ensures you can submit anytime, from any location. Therefore, you're always in control of your article campaign. You can also track distribution and exposure reports from a mobile device while on the road.

Another service feature to seek out from a service is article marketing automation. Lets' face it; you don't want to engage in article distribution functions every day. You have a plethora of other activities, work and non-work related, to attend to weekly.

When you automate your article campaign, you put distribution on auto-pilot. You schedule article distribution ahead of time and then don't worry about it anymore. A quality content distribution service allows you to set article distribution dates up to a year in advance.

A key to article marketing success is a continual flow of articles going out to your niche. Article marketing automation provides for this and aids in you gaining relevant backlinks. These backlinks grow each month as your articles go out like clockwork because of your pre-scheduling.

Another service feature that is part of an excellent service is constant and ongoing distribution. This feature means your articles work for you long after you accomplish the writing. A premier service keeps up-to-date on new publishing opportunities for your work. They send your articles to these new places.

While you're busy creating a new article series, previously written content reaches new readers. Constant and ongoing distribution concentrates on your older articles along with your newer batches. In effect, your overall article marketing effort builds on itself. You still gain backlinks to your site from stuff you wrote months or even years ago.

An equally important service feature is unlimited article distribution. Some article enterprises limit the number of articles their members can submit in a subscription period. In effect, they're limiting the number of backlinks a writer can garner in a period. This is the last thing you want from a service.

A quality content distribution service focuses on maximum exposure for their members. They allow writers to submit as many articles as they're capable of writing in a subscription period. They don't cap article submissions and then charge additional fees for extra submissions.

This is vital to internet marketers, especially for those with small operating budgets. Paying per article or additional fees on top of basic subscription charges can cause your costs to soar quickly. A good service charges a one-time fee with no extra charges.

It's essential you choose a service that offers live article review. You expend time and energy in article research and writing. You don't want a quick once-over of your work from a software program. Human editing of your articles ensures article quality.

A good service offers personalized coaching as part of a live review. Not only does an editor study your work, they offer helpful advice and suggestions. That in itself is worth the membership fee. You're receiving a professional critique of your writing. This can only aid your future writing efforts.

Excellent service features separate a premier service from run-of-the-mill ones. The above mentioned features ensure article campaigns flourish, and within budgets. Choose a quality content distribution service that offers a feast of features and watch your backlinks grow.

Kenneth Vogt is CEO of Content Crooner; a quality content distribution service. He is an established internet marketing professional and respected Web expert.

The Quality Service Features at Content Crooner make article marketing automation a snap.

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Improving The Quality of Your Service Will Immediately Attract and Help You Retain Affluent Clients

In the latest Merrill Lynch/Capgemini study on millionaires, some interesting facts emerged about the importance of service to the affluent buyer. Many clients rated service quality as a necessary component in selecting a wealth management firm . Furthermore, they found most HNW's relied on referrals from family, friends and colleagues, rather than traditional company advertising.

There are 3 critical questions to ask yourself

- As a financial professional how can you use the Service Edge to attract more clients?

- Do you use Service to differentiate yourself in a crowded market?

- How do you sell service up front with a potential client?

I successfully sold to multi millionaires for years. The way you position the service component of your business during the first conversation will determine if you can use 'Client Service' to make you unique from your competitors. Many times during the sales process, sales people get too entrenched in feature/benefit selling. They forget the value of human interaction and what it means to a relationship. They forget to sell 'putting a face to a name'. In my former business, we did events in different geographic areas. People that I had never met would come meet me, just to put a 'face to the name'. It's what makes you human. Multi millionaires are elusive to most sales people; however, once they decide they want to do business with your company, they're eager to get to know their sales person. Don't assume that email is your best communication tool.

I would always introduce the service component in the first conversation. Typically, I'd say something along these lines: "What are the three factors that will weigh most in your decision?" You usually get feature/benefit type answers. I would then say, "How will the service reputation of the company factor into your decision?" If you get a puzzled response, don't be surprised. Most people don't come right out and say they're looking for an exceptional customer service experience. So, you have to say it. This is now your opening to talk about your company, how your goal is a superior client service experience and the things you do to achieve these goals. And, now your competitors have to prove they're equal to you when it comes to client service.

What you're doing is setting the Buying Criteria. By explaining up front the level of service in your organization, you're setting the agenda for all your competitors. You've introduced service as something that must be considered ass they weigh their various options. Now, they're judging everyone else by the standards of service you're offering them. It's extremely powerful.

Service Can Be More Important

Than the Product You're Selling

As the Merrill Lynch/Capgemini study points out, providing an exceptional customer service experience can be more important than the product you're selling. If the client perceives your product is similar to other products he's evaluating, then service is what will help you get their business. I worked in a service business, and the best referrals came from clients who had a service problem that I solved for them.

If you're in a smaller, boutique firm, you have an advantage in developing cutting edge customer service for your clients. Since you're smaller, you can immediately schedule a brainstorming session among the top members of your organization. Service quality is something every member of your company has to be committed to every day. From the person who answers the phone to Accounts Payable. You can't accept mediocrity from anyone within your organization.

It's especially important from your sales representatives. It's up to each person to commit to being the Contact Person for their customers? What do I mean by Contact Person? Let me explain. I made it clear to all of my clients, I was their point of contact. Call one number. Mine. Talk to one person. Me. This was turnkey for my clients. It didn't matter what they had a questions about. They called me. I then took ownership of their issue and contacted the appropriate person to get it resolved. This eliminated my clients making 5 calls, leaving voice mails and , in general, just getting frustrated.

Many sales people believe their job is to sell. That's a very short term view for any sales territory. If you intend to stay in your area, get referrals and be there long term, you must establish a customer service edge with your clients. The only way to do this is by you taking ownership of your clients, and becoming their one, and only, contact point.

That's especially important to the affluent client. As other businesses try to 'woo' them away, they'll remember the exceptional customer service and use that as a benchmark for your competition. It's extremely difficult to take away a customer who's had great service. Many companies sell similar items. Very few sell 'above and beyond' customer service. If you're not, you're missing a huge opportunity.

9.5 Millionaires in the United States....How Many Are Your Clients?

The number of millionaires increased by 8.3% in 2006 and the number of Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (those with assets in excess of 30 million) increased 11.3% to 94,970 people. This is expected to keep rising. The competition for their business is fierce, so understanding the Millionaires Buying Mindset is critical. Correctly positioning service can be your key to immediately attracting, and retaining affluent buyers.

Remember, someone who has $500,000 in financial assets now will be worth over a million dollars in 5-10 years. If you start working with them today, you'll grow their portfolio over time and be there when they become one of the 10 million in the United States to have assets over a million dollars.

In summary, I would offer several suggestions to those of you targeting the affluent market:

1. Get comfortable introducing service into the initial sales conversation.

2. Achieve service excellence throughout your organization

3. Develop 'service benchmarks' that far exceed what your competitors are offering. It will immediately separate you in the eyes of your prospect.

Remember, each affluent client you add to your business also brings friends, family and business colleagues as potential referrals. It's worth the time to achieve Service Excellence in your business. It will pay off today, and well into the future.

Copyright - 2007. Susan Adams http://www.sellingtomillionaires.net

Former Learjet Sales Star, Susan Adams, has successfully sold to CEO?s, High Net Worth Individuals and celebrities.

She is the co-author of Million Dollar Marketing Secrets and the co-creator of Selling to Millionaires.

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Quality Customer Service

What does it mean to be a Trusted Advocate in Customer Service? To be truly successful in delivering service, it is necessary to understand and support the many collective individuals who are part of the complex chain in delivering customer satisfaction.

As an executive in the service organization of a global manufacturer, it was relatively easy to admit that it would be impossible for me to personally handle every customer complaint or escalation. Even with excellent quality product, the sheer number of consumers and potential for escapes in a well run process were more than any single individual could juggle. Fortunately, the quality of the people in the service organization, and the quality of the service provider network, was commensurate with the renowned quality of the brand. This complete circle of quality relied on integrity, honest communication, and trusted collaboration.

Advocate for the People

Mark Blevins put it best when he said, "service pays for the sins of the past." Service organizations do not design the product, the process, or the promise, but service organizations have to fix the problems when one of those three preceding perspectives fails to perform. Quite often, the problems do not appear until long after the marketing, sales, and revenue are long gone. Service organizations continue to provide solutions for items that the sales and promotion pipeline have long since forgotten. Of course, these problems can not be overlooked. There is a stated or implied commitment to the consumer, there is a relationship with the customer to be maintained and preserved, there is reputation, and there is future business to consider.

It takes a very special kind of person to work in a service organization. Each day is full of commitment to understand and resolve numerous consumer complaints. Typically there is very little warning about what type of issues will escalate, or the perceived severity of each one. Most often, problems carry a considerable amount of emotional baggage. It is difficult, if not impossible, to circumvent the emotional baggage on the route to the root cause of the problem. So, customer service associates have the additional burden of assisting the customer with carrying that baggage until the problem is resolved. It takes a tremendous amount of compassion and patience to be a bellhop for emotional baggage on a daily basis, while simultaneously being a detective to solve the problems with a very limited number of clues. Needless to say, customer service associates can be identified by big hearts, broad shoulders, and an incredible sense of humor.

A primary function for any executive or manager in a customer service organization is to give these associates as much support, understanding, and protection as possible. Sometimes the burden of the emotional baggage may become too great. Sometimes the problem or the resolution may be too elusive. Sometimes the associate just needs a helping hand, or someone to refuel the compassion and patience that they have just spent on customers. Sometimes the group just needs a little protection when the policies that they are trying to defend are not keeping pace with other changes in the environment, and the associates are caught in the current of change. A leader of this group must be an advocate for the people, listening intently to their needs and providing the necessary tools. A true advocate will provide not only tools and empowerment necessary for customer service associates to satisfy the clients, but will also provide tools and empowerment for the customer service associates to develop and achieve personal professional goals as well.

This commitment to advocacy is not limited to management. This advocacy is expected and portrayed in the camaraderie that is displayed within the trenches. As the threats, complaints, and abuse fly overhead like so many misdirected bullets, the customer service associates support and defend one another in the trenches. It is this commitment to one another that gives strength, when the satisfaction of assisting a thankless consumer is sometimes not enough.

Advocate for the Service Provider Network

Beyond the confines of the ivory tower are the people in the field. Many organizations enlist the support of network of authorized service providers, field service agents, or similar representation that is much closer to the actual consumer. This closeness is often face to face with the consumer, and quite often is the only face of the organization that a consumer will ever see in person. These faces may belong to retail or reseller associates, detailers, installers, delivery personnel, or technicians. These individuals have power beyond reckoning, because these are the people who are closest to the consumer and have immediate impact by decision and action. The reputation of the brand, the torch of compassion and competence, is carried in their capable hands.

Just as a manager or leader has responsibility for the welfare of the people in the service organization, so too does the entire service organization have responsibility for the welfare of the field service network. To be a successful service organization, it is necessary to advocate for the service providers. This means providing education, training, information, and assistance to enable the service network to satisfy customers, and it is more than that too. The service organization should also study and learn what the service provider network needs to be successful as independent businesses and individuals. The success of the service organization is intertwined with the success of the field service network and external service providers. If you are in a position to hand off a customer relationship to another entity, then learn everything that you can about what you can do to make your service partner successful. This relationship works both ways, and it relies heavily on honest communication and trusted collaboration. With collaboration, all of the partners can succeed and endeavor to work together for the benefit of the mutual customer.

Acting in partnership with service partners is more than a focus on pay. While reimbursement is an essential element of the interdependency, a relationship as a trusted advocate is based on mutual obligation to understand the goals and requirements of the other. It is very much like the relationship between a manager and employee. While adequate compensation is an expectation, employee satisfaction is not based purely on pay. Employees typically desire a career path, opportunity for personal development, a sense of belonging, and self-worth. Managers typically seek cooperation, creative ideas for improvement, and collaboration. Why should the partnership between a service organization and the field service network be any different? Communication with active listening is crucial to developing trusted collaboration.

Advocate for the Consumer

Whether the role is with the central service organization, or with a service partner, it is necessary to have harmony in the aligned efforts to advocate for the consumer. Designing and developing customer services policies and procedures should be based on information and insight gained from listening to consumers. Gather the feedback and you will learn about competition, industry, environment, expectations, issues, and opportunities. Being truly committed to customers does not necessarily mean that every customer is right, or that every customer can be satisfied. Being obligated to customer satisfaction means listening to each consumer with an open mind, identifying the real issues behind the emotional baggage, and acting accordingly. It also means learning from each experience as an opportunity to repeat or improve performance, working in concert with coworkers and service partners to produce excellence.

The excitement and allure of customer service is that there is no finish line. It is a perpetual race to stay ahead, but it is a race without an end. The delight of one customer provides a spark of enthusiasm that carries us to the next one. The camaraderie in the trenches gives us companionship. The challenge to continually adapt and improve, as the industry and the environment continue to change around us, is like a puzzle that can only be solved temporarily. Everything that we have learned in the past can only prepare us for what we will learn today, and give us fresh ideas for tomorrow. By advocating for one another, and for the mutual clients that we serve, we can savor the sense of achievement in our dedication as each new challenge comes along.

______________________________________________________

Words of Wisdom

"Service pays for the sins of the past."

- Mark Blevins

"The crisis of yesterday is the joke of tomorrow."

- H G Wells

"Everything that we have learned in the past can only prepare us for what we will learn today, and give us fresh ideas for tomorrow."

- John Mehrmann

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

- Margaret Meade

______________________________________________________

John Mehrmann is a freelance author and President of Executive Blueprints Inc., an organization devoted to improving business practices and developing human capital. John Mehrmann and Mitchell Simon are authors of The Trusted Advocate, the fundamental guide to achieving extraordinary sales and sustaining loyal customers. This revolutionary sales guide applies peak management techniques and leadership skills to the sales profession, showing you how to utilize authenticity and integrity in your sales to achieve maximum success.

John Mehrmann is an author, speaker and industry expert with Executive Blueprints Inc. http://www.ExecutiveBlueprints.com

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Quality of Service Methods for IP Networks

Summary

This article provides an analysis of the methods and protocols used to improve the Quality of Service (QoS) in Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The challenges of achieving a high level of QoS in IP networks are examined. The traditional methods for QoS are presented along with current and proposed methods for QoS in IP networks. The goal of the article is to educate the reader on the various methods of achieving QoS and to examine the best options for the future. As Internet bandwidth requirements grow and high quality IP applications such as real-time video and Voice over IP (VoIP) become widespread, QoS will be critical to the success of providing high quality Internet Protocol (IP) services.

Quality of Service

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defines Quality of Service (QoS) as a service agreement (or a guarantee) to provide a set of measurable networking service attributes, including end to end delay, delay variation (jitter), and available bandwidth. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines QoS as the collective effect of service performance which determines the degree of customer satisfaction. Cisco defines QoS as the capacity of a network to provide better service to selected network traffic.

This article defines QoS as the capability of an IP network to classify and prioritize traffic flows in order to ensure that the technical characteristics of packet loss, delay, error rate and jitter are met for each customer. Quality of Service (QoS) methods are based on the ability of an IP network to identify and classify traffic that is higher priority so that the technical requirements of the customer are met. QoS methods are based on having an adequate amount of bandwidth (i.e. low network utilization) to prevent traffic congestion and to permit the setup of priority traffic flows.

Traditional QoS Methods for IP Networks

In the early days of the Internet, the applications were low bandwidth and not real-time in nature, so a high quality of service was easy to maintain. The early Internet applications of email, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and web browsing were low-speed bursty IP traffic so delay, latency and bit error rates were not critical. The early networks relied on the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to provide flow control, error checks and retransmission of data packets when necessary. TCP provides a best-effort level of QoS that is acceptable for email and web browsing. However, the TCP protocol alone will not provide an acceptable level of QoS for real-time high bandwidth applications such as video or VoIP. Another method used to improve the QoS in early TCP/IP networks was the First-In First-Out (FIFO) buffer. FIFO buffers provided a simple method to store packets when there was temporary network congestion, but FIFO buffers make no intelligent decision about the priority of traffic. This section will examine some of the traditional methods of QoS to include the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), IP Routing Protocols, First-In First-Out (FIFO) buffers, the Real Time Protocol (RTP) and the Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) protocol.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the most common protocols used in the Internet. Although it is not traditionally considered a QoS protocol, TCP can provide adequate QoS for best-effort Internet applications such as email and web browsing. The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a connection oriented protocol that provides reliable data transport between host computers. The term connection-oriented means the two host computers using TCP must establish a connection with each other before they exchange data. TCP includes flow-control to control the transmission of data so that the receiver can limit how much data the sender transmits. TCP uses a sliding window protocol for flow control. TCP uses the sequence, acknowledge and window fields in the header for flow control. The window field identifies the number of bytes that can be sent without acknowledgements. The window size will slide up and down based on performance of the connection.

First-In, First-Out (FIFO) Buffers. FIFO buffers provide temporary queuing of data when there is network congestion. The shortcoming of FIFO queuing is that no intelligent decision is made on the priority of traffic. FIFO is still used in many networking devices, but is now considered a non-QoS method because FIFO is unable to meet the QoS standards of today's IP networks.

Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN). The ECN protocol provides advance warning of network congestion so the routers can mark data packets being transmitted. With ECN, a bit is placed in the IP header to signal the transmitter that the network is congested. ECN will set a flag notifying the sender to decrease the window size to avoid having to retransmit packets. ECN is also not a true QoS protocol and is incapable of reserving resources or guaranteeing services.

Quality of Service Methods in IP Networks

Quality of Service Levels. The service levels of QoS refer to the actual capabilities of the network to provide end to end service. There are three levels of QoS for IP networks:

1. Best Effort Service. This level of service provides no guarantees of service and relies on basic TCP and FIFO functions to transmit data across the network.

2. Differentiated Service. This level prioritizes traffic and provides a statistical preference for higher priority traffic, but not a hard guarantee of service. Priority Queuing (PQ) is an example of differentiated service.

3. Guaranteed Service. This is the best level of QoS and provides a reservation of network resources for high priority traffic. The RSVP protocol is an example.

Classification of IP Traffic. To provide a high priority service for a type of data traffic, the data must first be identified and classified for service. If the data is marked, then IP precedence throughout the network can be used to provide a higher level of service. For data that is identified, but not marked, classification is on a 'per-hop' basis. On a per-hop basis means that classification of the data only pertains to a single device that uses a QoS method such as priority queuing.

Access Control Lists (ACL). Access control lists are used in IP networks to identify traffic for congestion management methods such as policy based routing. The ACL is a list of permissions on a router that determine the actions that the device will take with a given traffic flow.

Policy Based Routing (PBR). Policy Based Routing permits the classification of traffic based on extended access control lists and set IP precedence bits. PBR uses route-maps within a network to route traffic based on established policies. PBR can direct packets to take a different path than derived from routing protocols.

Committed Access Rate (CAR). CAR is a method to classify traffic and set policies for handling traffic that exceeds a bandwidth allocation. If a traffic flow exceeds an established bandwidth on a device port, it can be either dropped, passed or have its IP precedence changed based on established policies.

IP Precedence. IP precedence takes advantage of the three precedence bits in the IPv4 header's Type of Service (TOS) field to specify a class of service for each packet and provide a differentiated level of QoS. RFC 2475 extends the number of bits used in the TOS field from 3 to 6 and is known as DiffServ.

Priority Queuing (PQ). PQ provides a higher priority to important traffic so that it is handled first at each device in the network. Packets are given one of four levels of classification by the application. PQ is useful at prioritizing certain types of traffic, but PQ uses static routing and is unable to adapt to network changes.

Custom Queuing (CQ). CQ provides a guaranteed bandwidth for a higher priority data flow and is used in situations where network congestion or potential latency must be avoided by high priority traffic. Like PQ, CQ uses static routes and will not dynamically adapt to the network.

Flow-based Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ). WFQ uses a flow-based queuing algorithm to ensure that all data is serviced fairly and predictably without wasting bandwidth on reservations. WFQ uses IP precedence for classification of traffic to provide superior service to high priority flows. The advantage of WFQ over PQ and CQ is that WFQ can automatically adapt to changing traffic conditions. WFQ is the default queuing mode for Cisco routers on low speed serial ports.

Real Time Protocol (RTP). The Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) is a layer 4 transport protocol that can be used with either TCP or the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to improve the quality of service. RTP is frequently used with UDP in voice over IP (VoIP) networks because it provides a sequence number for packets, allows applications to detect packet loss, and provides a time-stamp so delay and jitter can be monitored. RTP does not address resource reservation and does not guarantee quality-of-service for real-time services. The RTP data transport is normally used with a companion control protocol (RTCP) to allow monitoring of the data delivery.

Improving QoS Methods for IP Networks

Differentiated Services (DiffServ). The DiffServ protocol is used to provide service differentiation of services within backbone networks. Packets are labeled with their quality of service when they enter the network and placed within large groups. DiffServ is not an end-to-end solution and is only intended to work within the core of the network. There is no signaling between ends and the service is static, established ahead of time by service level agreements. However when used with an end-to-end QoS protocol such as IntServ, it has potential to provide good QoS. The DiffServ method is a good solution because it removes the per-flow state and scheduling that leads to scalability problems with IntServ QoS architectures.

Integrated Services (IntServ). The IntServ method of QoS provides guaranteed service with quantified delay and jitter standards. The IntServ protocol uses end-to-end signaling and resource reservation with three levels of service:

1. Guaranteed Service supports real-time applications and provides a guaranteed connection with standards for packet loss, delay and jitter that cannot be exceeded.

2. Controlled Load Service is the second best level of IntServ and is intended for applications that can tolerate some delay.

3. Best Effort Service provides no guarantees of service.

In a network using the IntServ protocol, every router in the network must implement IntServ, and every application that requires a level of QoS must reserve resources for the service. The RSVP protocol (described in the next paragraph) performs the signaling end to end and among the routers. There are problems with IntServ such as poor scalability. IntServ works well in small networks, but in large networks like the Internet, it is difficult to keep track of the many reservations. There could be thousands of reservations for some routers. Therefore IntServ is often recommended for use only in the edge networks while within the core of the network, other protocols will reserve aggregate resources. Another problem is that IntServ duplicates some of the functions of RTP such as jitter control.

Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP). The RSVP protocol is used to signal QoS messages across a network. It is used with IntServ and also Microsoft Windows software. RSVP is an out of band protocol and messages are sent end-to-end. Routers listen for the RSVP requests for reservation and respond if they can support the service. RSVP is used in conjunction with other QoS protocols. The RSVP messages can be sent across the core of a network and only the edge routers using IntServ will interpret the messages.

Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). The MPLS protocol enables the transmitter to label packets and establish priority of service. The edge routers in a network mark the packets with a fixed length label that contains information on the route and the priority of the service. MPLS has a wide range of service classes, but it can only provide QoS within a MPLS domain and not end-to-end. Therefore the use of MPLS for QoS is very limited.

Layer 2 Solutions for QoS. A very effective method of implementing QoS within a network is to use layer 2 protocols to prioritize the traffic. Operating at the media control access (MAC) layer, the 802.p standard provides specifications for layer 2 switches that establish eight classes of traffic. Both Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) and VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service) will support 802.p to establish virtual circuits that are prioritized according to the type of content. Layer 2 solutions for QoS may be the most effective means for providing high quality and prioritized service over an IP network. However, layer 2 solutions are normally only used within intranets and VLANs that are controlled by a single system administrator. Over the global Internet, it may not be possible to use layer 2 QoS solutions when accessing public sites.

Conclusion

This article has demonstrated that the early methods of QoS in IP networks such as TCP flow control and FIFO buffers are not adequate for today's high speed Internet applications. Better methods of QoS are necessary to support real time applications such as video and voice over IP.

There are three levels of QoS: best effort, differentiated service and guaranteed service. Best effort provides no QoS protocols other than TCP flow control and can only be used for bursty IP traffic that is not time sensitive such as email and web browsing. Differentiated service classifies and prioritizes traffic flows so that higher priority traffic has precedence in the network. Examples of differentiated service methods are PBR, CAR, IP precedence, PQ and DiffServ. The guaranteed service level of QoS provides the best QoS by reserving resources throughout the network for high priority traffic flows. Examples are RSVP and IntServ. Guaranteed level of service can only be provided when the network has adequate bandwidth to support the traffic.

Implementing Layer 2 QoS is very effective when a single system administrator controls the network. The 802.p standard provides a method for classifying and prioritizing traffic using the MAC address and layer 2 switches. With VLAN, virtual circuits can prioritize traffic and establish a high level of QoS. However these methods are not applicable when the IP network is the global Internet and public sites must be accessed.

The future of the Internet will depend on effective quality of service (QoS) methods. To support future real-time applications over the global Internet, reliable transmission methods will be needed along with the ability to classify and prioritize traffic on an end to end basis. The QoS methods described in this paper provide a framework for implementing QoS within IP networks. Layer 2 solutions will serve the Intranets, while standards and common solutions will have to be decided upon for the public Internet.

Michael E. Bennett has over 25 years of experience in federal government telecommunications and information technology systems. He is currently the operations officer for a Department of Defense organization that provides worldwide telecommunications for the US military. Mr. Bennett's expertise covers a wide area of disciplines to include broadband, SONET, ATM, DWDM, fiber optics and satellite communications. Mr. Bennett is a 1981 graduate of the University of Maryland and holds a Masters of Science degree in Telecommunications from the University of Denver.

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