It’s that time of the month again where we give you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the departments here at UTOPIA Fiber! This month we are talking to Customer Service Manager Jessica Tuatonga to learn all about what it’s like to work in customer service at UTOPIA Fiber! 

What’s your name, and position, and how long have you been at UTOPIA Fiber?

My name is Jessica Tuatonga, I am the customer service manager and I have been here for almost 10 years. 

What do you do as the Customer Service Manager at UTOPIA Fiber?

Primarily I manage a team of 7 customer service reps. I also help out with other things like residential sales, new project launches, assisting all of our internet service providers, and billing. 

What does a typical workday look like for you? 

A typical work day usually starts with emails and then helping out my team, followed by more emails, and then some meetings/huddles. Just doing everything I can to help us work together to improve the customer experience. 

What inspired you to go into customer service as a career?

I’ve always been in customer service, not necessarily in the role I’m in now but I’ve kind of done it all in this field. I’ve been a waitress, a telemarketer, sales, it’s just something I’ve always done. It’s funny usually I’m a pretty shy person but when it comes to customer service, I don’t know, I just shine. I know how to work with people, and I know how to talk to people. 

What led you to work at UTOPIA Fiber? 

So I actually worked at Comcast in their collection department with a girl who worked here and she kept telling me that they were hiring and that I should come work here. Then I moved over to eBay and I told her “Oh no I’m good” but then you know you just get stuck as a number working in such a big call center, and she told about how it’s just her and one other girl and it’s a smaller company but I would still be doing customer service things that I was used to. So I interviewed for the position and here I am. 

What do you think is the biggest obstacle your team faces?

The biggest obstacle I think my team and I have is the impression people have of customer service. People think that it’s just customer service and they don’t see all that we do on a daily basis. Between emails, chats, phone calls, the 4 different projects that we are working on, and working with the 16 different ISPs they just have quite a lot to work on day to day. I think a lot of people have the perception that “Oh you just take phone calls” but they don’t see everything that our reps have to do. So that’s been a struggle just trying to get people to understand that our reps do quite a bit. 

What’s your favorite thing about working at UTOPIA Fiber?

The people. The environment. In all honestly, I’ve been here for almost ten years and there’s been a lot of stressful times. If it wasn’t for the people that I work with I don’t think I would have stuck with it but I love coming in and being around everybody. 

What’s been the funniest memory you’ve made at UTOPIA Fiber so far? 

I’ve got a lot. I don’t have an exact one but I would say probably when we were in our old office and would scare each other quite a bit. I did dress up in a panda suit one time and rolled into Kelly and Kim’s office to scare them and then I hid in a cabinet to scare Mary once. It was just a big thing back in the old office to scare people. 

What do you wish people knew about UTOPIA Fiber?

I think from the customer perspective just a better understanding of how our open-access network works. It can be really confusing for people but once you understand it’s really smart. If you think about it, it’s just one infrastructure that’s provided and then you get the option to pick from any of the providers without having to swap out equipment and it’s not a huge ordeal to switch providers. Like if you were to switch from Comcast to Century Link you would have to ship back the equipment, sign up for new services, and then you have to get a brand new install, but on an open access network, you just to have that option of saying “I didn’t like so and so for this reason” and then with the flip of a switch you can go with someone else. It’s pretty neat when you think about it. 

Outside of work what’s your favorite thing to do to unwind from work? 

Usually, the things that I love to do are, one watch scary movies and two I love to craft. My husband has built me a craft room so I can sit in my craft room watching scary movies and just make shirts or cups, whatever I feel like making. It’s a good destresser for me.  

What is your favorite animal and why? 

An otter. I love otters, I love that they hold hands so they don’t float away from each other! It’s probably because I’ve been with my husband for 17 years now so I feel like we are otters. 

That’s all for today’s interview! We want to give a big round of applause to Jessica and her incredible team members for all the hard work they put in every day to give our customers the best experience possible! We couldn’t do what we do without them! 

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