Network Connex

Network Connex Team
15% Total travel savings
98% Online booking
Industry
Telecommunications Infrastructure
Employees
1,100
Headquarters
Downer's Grove, IL

Getting Network Connex telecomm technicians to job sites fast

The telecommunications infrastructure company that solves the toughest problems

Network Connex is one of those organizations that you’ve never heard of but quite literally keeps our modern world humming along. Without its services, vast areas of our day-to-day life simply cease to function. Innovative clients like Microsoft and Google couldn’t be as impactful without Network Connex’s expertise, and gridiron fans might be interested to know they wired State Farm Stadium in Phoenix for Super Bowl LVII. So what exactly does Network Connex do? While the website states Network Connex brings “best-in-class, mission critical network design and deployment solutions for the world’s most sophisticated networking and data infrastructure companies,” that doesn’t tell the whole story. Network Connex solves the toughest communications infrastructure challenges in the U.S. and beyond.In addition to planning and design/engineering services, actually installing communications infrastructure requires highly-skilled construction technicians who dig trenches and install aerial fibers. Construction technicians must travel onsite to implement and execute the design and engineering plans for projects from the massive data centers to the tiny EV charging stations you see sprouting up across the country. Simply put, the work Network Connex does keeps us connected – and what is more critical to people and organizations today?
"If we're doing our job right, you'll likely never know we've been there, but behind the scenes we play a critical role in people's lives." Ashley Klinginsmith, Supply Chain Specialist

Network Connex specializes in mission-critical build-outs for neocloud and hyperscale cloud operators.

Critical infrastructure projects and travel logistics

Because of the nature of their business, technicians and employees live and travel across the country. This requires travel coordination across multiple complex projects, and that’s where Ashley Klinginsmith comes in. Ashley works for Network Connex as a Supply Chain Specialist, which means, among other responsibilities, she’s tasked with the logistics of getting busy technical staff to job sites around the world, booking three quarters of Network Connex’s trips. “If we’re doing our job right, you’ll likely never know we’ve been there, but behind the scenes we play a critical role in people’s lives.”Of the people Ashley coordinates travel for, most are technicians. When it comes to the kind of work that Network Connex does, getting technicians out to sites is vital to the company’s success. “It's critical,” Ashley says. “There are some people that we can hire locally, but obviously we prefer to send full time employees to the job sites. It’s critical that we can get these people where they need to be when they need to be there, sometimes on short notice.”And since no job is exactly the same and Network Connex has projects all over the U.S. as well as internationally, it’s a lot of logistics to coordinate. Usually two technicians will work on one job for two weeks at a time, and then go home.  If it’s for a couple of months, technicians will  go back and forth every two weeks. Some jobs only require one person where they can go for a couple of days, do something and then hit another job. And there's a handful of jobs where there's seven or eight people on site at a time.Ashley worked in fashion before making the switch to Network Connex. While this might not seem like an obvious career progression, pandemic layoffs in the fashion industry inspired her to pivot. And with Network Connex’s Fairhaven team, eventually she found her home. 

A dynamic travel team requires dynamic support

It turns out her background serves her very well managing the travel schedules of a large team. She spends a lot of her time coordinating schedules for technicians. “You book flights and a hotel for people on the team, plans change, you edit, and you do it again” – just like fashion designs! The nature of the work means you have to be able to thrive in a changing environment at all times. Other aspects of her job include backend reconciliation of car rentals, negotiating hotel rates and, she says: “spreadsheets, many, many spreadsheets.” Before Network Connex started the relationship with Perk AmTrav, they tried using another corporate travel platform but it was so clunky that nobody used it.  Instead Ashley worked exclusively within her world of Excel spreadsheets, but, based on the project timelines she managed and the number of travelers spread out across the country, it was “a nightmare!” 

A game-changing partnership with Perk AmTrav

According to Ashley, “what I did before was when I knew that Joe was going from St. Louis to Miami, I would first look at every single airline, and use lots of different sites to research where the best hotels deals were, then book the traveler, put everything into Excel and send emails so everyone knew about their confirmations and various schedules, then share this information with project managers so they could see what was going on and have visibility into the costs before it hit the credit card.” What about changes? “I kept any changes in a different spreadsheet with flight hours and times.” In short: “Honestly, it was a nightmare. The decision to work with Perk AmTrav was a game-changer.” How much of a game-changer? Ashley goes on. “Perk AmTrav’s booking tool makes everything more efficient and automated with everything housed in one area.” For Ashley, it’s the time savings that’s made her life so much easier. “I don't have to sit down and type individual emails and copy and paste itinerary components; it's just so much smoother and easier to see everything all on one page.” Flexibility when booking also simplifies things for Ashley and her technician team. “I can look at flights and hotels and identify price ranges within a certain distance from the job site, and find hotels easier because I can sort by distance. Network Connex has a 98% online adoption rate with Perk Amtrav because it's so easy to use. For example, Ashley mentions that you can even “book an outgoing Delta flight and a returning United flight and it all just flows together in one booking at one time.”If there is anything Ashley could have changed, it would be access to a practice platform during onboarding. “The one thing I would have liked before the full launch would have been a sandbox platform to practice in.” It's been Ashley’s experience working in product development programs that this kind of training can be useful. 
"Perk AmTrav's booking tool makes everything more efficient and automated, with everything housed in one area." Ashley Klinginsmith, Supply Chain Specialist

Working with a Perk AmTrav Account Manager

Overall, Ashley says the transition to working with Perk AmTrav has been smooth. “When I need assistance, I can ask my Account Manager Fran questions and get those questions answered really quickly.” The Account Manager has helped in other ways as well. Ashley continues, “we also talked about having training sessions with team members new to the system and teaching them what it can do.”When asked if she can point to any specific instances in which Perk AmTrav has been helpful, Ashley quickly answers. “Like every week, I'm constantly making changes to flights and hotels.” When she’s outside of permitted cancellation times, she “can call or chat somebody and get it worked out fairly quickly, to get something switched or canceled, using unused tickets online when we can and making sure that that gets applied.” Ashley used to write down unused tickets on a legal pad but working with Perk AmTrav eliminates that need: “now unused tickets are housed in Perk AmTrav. I can see them when I go to book and I know I should put this technician on an American flight because they have American credits, for example, it’s so easy.”And it helps make travelers more self-sufficient. “If I have a traveler who missed a flight, or the flight has been canceled or delayed, they don't have to call me at all hours, they can contact an agent and get help so it's taken that off my shoulders a little bit. Of course, some people still need help and I’m here for them, but it's great that Perk AmTrav eliminates the need for hand-holding.”
"Every week I am constantly making changes to flights and hotels. I can call or chat somebody and get it worked out fairly quickly, to get something switched or canceled, using unused tickets online when we can and making sure credits get applied." Ashley Klinginsmith, Supply Chain Specialist

Perk AmTrav lets people focus on what's important

From Ashley’s perspective, working with Perk AmTrav has improved travel productivity for Network Connex. Working together has allowed the busy, indispensable organization to focus on their vital work, and let the a2b tool do the heavy lifting. Ashley explains, “it’s a lot less stressful for me, Perk AmTrav definitely saves me time.” Thanks to that time savings, Ashley has more time to spend with her family, geocaching and hiking outdoors when the weather’s nice, playing board games when indoors is better.
"It's a lot less stressful for me. Perk AmTrav definitely saves me time." Ashley Klinginsmith, Supply Chain Specialist

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