Service and Support

Reliability of equipment is critical in remote fire weather deployments—there's little to argue about there. However, 30 years ago FTS was founded on a single guiding principle that permeates every facet of the company: to make our customers successful we have to provide truly legendary service and support. We can't just claim it, we have to mean it. The market is just too small and close knit for us to just strive for it—we have to demonstrate it and be able to prove it consistently. We have to continually invest in it.

We have developed a powerful combination of integrated support systems, technologies, and policies to ensure that we can succeed at making you succeed. All sales, service, support, production, shipping, accounting and other mission critical business functions are coordinated and managed within our custom ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software. Every employee at FTS knows that the company’s mission is to provide customers with the tools, systems, and support necessary to meet their fire weather monitoring objectives.

Our personnel—at every level and in every department of the company—are committed to making sure each customer experiences the correct solution for their project. We ensure that every client fully understands their new system and its installation process. Finally, we back it all up with lifetime technical support and service.

Support starts at the beginning of the sales process. FTS sales personnel are technicians first, sales reps second. They're trained to help customers design effective solutions for their projects, and are qualified to install systems and provide technical assistance. Sales personnel and customers have direct access to the FTS engineering team as needed for each situation.

Problem and Status Tracking

For those times when problems do occur, FTS has developed special integrated systems within our ERP software for preventative maintenance, troubleshooting and then tracking problem resolution so that nothing falls through the cracks. It's an advanced, comprehensive system, and requires heavy investment, but it results in an unparalleled level of service. We strive to be the best...and we mean it.

Remote Support

On a daily and pro-active basis, our proprietary StationTrak system routinely interrogates the NESDIS DAPS GOES database, then formats and displays the listed stations’ transmission performance. To aid in troubleshooting, our helpdesk can display this data ‘on demand’ in a variety of formats via FTS’s intranet. If you are using telephone, landline, cellular, other satellite technology or radio modem telemetry, we are usually able to schedule direct diagnostic calls to each station on an as-needed basis.

Problem Tracking

The FTS NCR (Non-Conformance Report) system is also integrated within our ERP system. The NCR system gives every FTS employee direct access to an on-line problem or OFI (opportunity for improvement) reporting and tracking system. Problem response, responsibility, immediate actions, corrective actions, follow-up actions, action due dates, and resolution results are all automatically tracked. Periodic reviews of the reports and their results allow managers to identify systemic or recurring problems, and then apply the appropriate resources to address root cause. Problems could be customer complaints (about any issue), supplier faults, a manufacturing, process or documentation issue—anything that isn’t right or any suggestion that presents an opportunity for improvement.

Customer Issue Tracking

When a customer calls with a specific technical issue, we open a CSR (Customer Service Request) within ERP. The CSR system provides the same type of automatic tracking as the NCR system. Every related e-mail, phone call notes, equipment diagnostic reports, satellite downloads, photographs, links to related NCR, FO (Factory Orders), and RMA (Returned Material Authorization) tracking numbers are attached to the CSR to provide a comprehensive support and solution record. CSRs are often used to track the results of NCR corrective actions to ensure the actions taken were successful in correcting the problem. Even when a service situation is satisfactorily resolved, and the CSR is closed, it remains within our database for future reference if needed.