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Letters to the Editor: Dealing With Our SIGINT Customers

SUMMARY

Several people wrote letters to the editor praising an International Affairs intern's recent article about working in the customer service office. The original article included suggestions for improvement to the office.

DOCUMENT’S DATE

Mar 22, 2005

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

Feb 05, 2018

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Page 1 from Letters to the Editor: Dealing With Our SIGINT Customers
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (U) Letters to the Editor : Dealing With Our SIGINT Customers FROM: SIGINT Communications Unknown Run Date: 03/22/2005 I received several letters regarding the article Thoughts on Dealing With Our SIGINT Customers -- the editor (U) From: ( ) Comment: (U) There is more wisdom in this article than many other I've read. is spot-on with his assessment and he has listed several specific actionable goals which will measurably improve our customer satisfaction. SID leadership should take this for action. This article is also a great indicator of transformation thru interns (new ideas and perspective). From: Anonymous Comment: (U) Excellent insights from an intern. I was quite impressed with the succint conclusions about the importance of Customer Liaison Officers and the shortcomings of the SIGINT reporting. (S) I agree that the actual presentation of the reports would benefit greatly from Information Mapping and a much broader degree of liberty in presentation in formatting and word processing. As Ms. Baginski liked to say, "The only way you can tell the difference between SIGINT in 2005 and SIGINT in 1965 is that we went to upper and lower case sometime in there." (U//FOUO) Digital notebooks? Someday... but how about STE secure mobile telephones so we can reach the customers when they are out of the office? There is existing technology that NSA could deploy now. (U) Please pass my praise to this Intern. I am excited to see that someone so thoughtful and intelligent has joined the Intelligence Analysis career field! From: Vanessa Antoine Comment: (U) This article not only applies to the SIGINT mission, but applies to IAD as well. From: ) Comment: (U//FOUO) I think the author makes very valid points which should each be carefully reviewed by reporting and customer liaison elements at NSA. Having had some considerable contact with NSA reps in varying capacities over the years, what the author says regarding the under-appreciation of the role of the customer reps and the long hours they often have to put in to properly accomplish their mission, the vital role feedback plays -- and the difficultly in obtaining and archiving it -- in Agency production, and the need to regularly review product format for easier reading by customers ... all of this rings a strong bell. These are not new to those engaged in customer support, but I applaud the author for his initiative in seeking out such an assignment and for his passing along these valid and important observations. I hope they are read by managers and others who are in positions to act on them. From: Comment: (U//FOUO) Thank you for an interesting article. I work in S112, Customer Account
Page 2 from Letters to the Editor: Dealing With Our SIGINT Customers
Management, on the Law Enforcement/ Homeland Security team. I agree that customer relations is sometimes seen as not as worthwhile as production, but right now especially it's absolutely essential. We (NSA) could do a lot more to make the downtown positions more attractive to our Reps, at least make it possible to accept a position without having to pay for the privilege of commuting a longer distance, park, work long hours, etc. "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108