Stand and deliver
Without efficient logistics and field engineering in place, telecom service providers just can’t deliver. At MLL they’re a vital part of overall service provision and help support the company’s industry leading customer satisfaction ratings. We find out from deployment professionals Lauren McGill and Louise Robertson about their respective roles in keeping MLL ticking.
MLL’s logistics and deployment operations emanate from a strategically located warehouse in Northamptonshire, close to the famous Silverstone motor racing circuit. From there, Deployment Project Manager Lauren McGill and Project Coordinator Louise Robertson work within the operations team to manage and deliver on multiple expectations from customers, resolving any issues promptly and ensuring MLL’s field service engineers are armed with the right information and equipment.
They work within a department of 30 which is divided into six teams and together coordinates 47 nationwide mobile engineers. Lauren’s team manages the scheduling of 12 of these who work in pairs servicing the network infrastructure of one of MLL’s Mobile Operator customers. Louise looks after a further six engineers who service MLL’s growing portfolio of Public Sector customers.
Both agree that their type of role is largely learned on the job, demanding strong organisational and people skills, and quick thinking. “Every day, equipment somewhere will need installing, upgrading or replacing,” asserts Lauren. “You have to be good at thinking on your feet as plans and customer requirements can change very quickly, meaning filling in the gaps when jobs fall out at the last minute.” This is a sentiment echoed by Louise: “Our environment can be controlled chaos on occasions so being good at prioritising and problem solving is an absolute necessity.”
Ordering and ensuring timely delivery of new telecoms services and equipment is a daily requirement, along with arranging the de-installation and transportation of kit no longer required – some of which may be needed for re-use elsewhere. Aside from the considerable amount of internal coordination with MLL’s operation team and warehouse personnel, not to mention external transport carriers, diligent financial administration is an important part of their remit.
Lauren has been at MLL for five years. She started out after sixth form as a Marks & Spencer sales assistant, followed by two years of project and admin experience gained at a local telecom services company. Joining MLL as a deployment coordinator – at the time MLL’s first female employee in the Silverstone operations team – she progressed to Junior Project Manager within three years. Then, after trying out Desk-Based Sales for a few months, Lauren moved into her current deployment role earlier this year.
Louise joined MLL in Silverstone in 2018 from a local plastics recycling and refining firm. Her role there had required managing Health & Safety alongside project coordination which she’d experienced previously – at her parents’ road markings business. For eight years, following sixth form, her varied role there had included scheduling and deploying engineering personnel nationwide and overseas.
“We love what we do as every day it brings different challenges. And also the close bond we share with the engineering and warehouse teams, helping ensure MLL always responds to service visits quickly and delivers services on time,” said Lauren.