Say hello to Rick, Buzztime’s Customer Support Manager! The Customer Support Team is on the front lines helping to assist our locations and players. We sat down with Rick to learn more about him and his experiences at Buzztime.

1) Give us a little background on how you started your career with Buzztime and how much it has changed/grown since you started.

I pretty much was the Customer Service Department when I started with NTN/Buzztime in March of 1987 with maybe 15 customers. We were on the bleeding edge of technology, utilizing wireless technology, satellite downlinks with modem dial back return paths, laser disk players for live commercials, integrated in-house video, and Kaypro computers. The resulting QB1 experience was second to none. The trivia game Showdown was introduced to provide programming during the NFL off-season about a year later. It was an interactive revolution in uncharted territory.
Technologies and programming have constantly evolved in the years since. Playmakers have been replaced with tablets, facilitating exciting new opportunities to not only improve the player experience but also offer significant new applications for the hospitality industry like payment, and menu applications.

2) What do you love most about Buzztime?

That’s a really tough question, because there are many answers. It’s the people, the challenge of a dynamically changing landscape, and the satisfaction that results as we successfully work together both internally and with our customers. Buzztime is a really cool place to work too!

3) You truly love your department and do a great job managing the team. What separates Buzztime’s Call Center Experience from others? Tell us a little bit about your team.

I’m fortunate to work with such a great group of folks on the Support Team. We are truly passionate about helping our customers and communicate constantly trying to improve our performance. We’re also quick to share a laugh together. I guess you could characterize our philosophy as old-fashioned service with a smile, combined with some really cool high-tech resources to remotely monitor and resolve customer issues.

4) Outside of Buzztime, what are some hobbies, passions you would like to share?

I love to fish, mostly off the coast here in my old skiff for whatever is biting. It’s great to share a day on the water with friends. Catching fish is a nice bonus. I also love to cook and am guilty of watching the Food Channel most every night, oblivious to the endless repeats. Mexican food and freshly caught sushi are my favorites to make. But I’m still trying to master that authentic salsa!!!

5) What trending challenges are some of our locations currently having and what are we doing to resolve those issues?

Keeping systems connected to Buzztime is critical for optimal system performance, and allows us to use our remote monitoring tools. We’re working closely with our software engineers to augment our already sophisticated array of tools with even better ones!!! The Support Team is also creating a series of short troubleshooting videos for common problems so customers can play them on smart phones if so desired to make the process easier.

6) Any service calls that standout?

We’ve experienced a lot of pretty unique situations over the years. One recent example that comes to mind; our technician was running cable in an attic and encountered a rather large snake in a tight crawl space. Both the snake and technician are fine, we just had to return another day to finish the job.