Customers tell me that one of the first steps they want to take to show their CIOs meaningful ROI is to measure customer satisfaction in relation to staff efficiency ...and to find an effective way to enhance first contact resolution. First contact resolution is key because it impacts or eliminates backlog and internal or external customer satisfaction (c-sat) which in turn can impact customer loyalty and repeat business.
To enhance first contact resolution, we need to deliver support when and where people need it most.
Which means instantly. Today end users are working on site, or at remote offices in Web-connected and often collaborative environments on a variety of platforms and operating systems. They are working on applications on laptops, desktops, netbooks and smartphones that offer several ways for people to connect and interact on line via chat, Skype, etc. These online channels are often pervasive, immediately visible and instantly available with a click of the mouse.
But for IT and help desk service providers, a common reaction and "out of process" way ;for workers onsite to get support is a walk if not a run over to the help desk for "drive by troubleshooting" or if the IT Pro is at a nearbye station...the user may cry out "can you help me for a sec and I promise to put in a help ticket later?"
Mea culpa! We know this is inefficient as requests can´t be logged effectively much less resolved upon first contact. IT reporting time and accountability evaporates and resolving these kinds of requests becomes frustrating and seemingly complex for both the end user and IT.
For end users in remote locations, the requests may come to IT and help desk managers by email or chat, phone or any number of modes other than the process that IT needs and requires. First contact resolution is now down for the count while again frustration mounts for both IT and the end user.
But imagine if an end user in any Windows application such a CAD program or a spreadsheet or proprietary Windows programs for healthcare, insurance and other financial services, education, legal...could click on a small icon that gives instant access to the help desk and IT support team without leaving the app in question. Imagine the help desk getting the request from the appropriate channel process and knowing instantly which app needs to be addressed.
That is exactly what new NTRsupport Direct Support for Applications (DSA) can do. NTRsupport DSA offers access to the live help desk and IT pro with a click of the mouse. The enduser does not need to exit the application to hunt and search for the right way to contact support.This makes connecting to support an instant process. NTRsupport DSA helps IT to create a seamless, hassle-free way to deliver support in a contextual way and thus increase first contact resolution with the first connection.
With NTRsupport DSA:
- Customers can just simply click on a help icon in any Windows application (or desktop) on their computers
- You can identify your customers when they request help.
- Eliminate redundant time to evaluate who your customer is and qualify the customer´s request.
- Automatically retrieve useful information before responding to help requests directly from requests.
- Identify all your support requests by a code or name.
NTRsupport DSA is available today. Contact your NTRglobal account manager to learn more or visit the NTRglobal Website at http://www.ntrglobal.com.
With estimates of the costs of volcano-related air travel restrictions and the economic impact on business around the world reaching millions of Euros, dollars and British Sterling, mobile workers, salespeople and frequent travelers with free access to NTRconnect were able to telework or telecommute right through the ash. While most wouldn't call it business as usual, NTRconnect allowed business continuity to a great extent in a context that most IT planners did not previously anticipate.
NTRglobal executives based in Europe were visiting California during the crisis. They were scheduled to fly to Paris from Palo Alto the day of the eruption. They, unlike John Cleese, were certainly not in the position to take hire a car or some other sort of transportation to get to where they needed to go... across the Atlantic and over to Paris for example. But with NTRconnect, they were able to easily access all the applications and files available on their computers from their computers, iPhones and even the iPad, as if they were actually in the office in front of their PCs. NTRconnect offers these kinds of essential capabilities for on-demand secure remote access to help enable business continuity. And when stranded workers connected to the Web need technical support, one click support from an IT expert is available from companies using NTRsupport on-demand remote support.
Curtis Franklin, Jr., senior contributing editor to the InfoWorld Test Center, recently named new NTRconnect remote access as one of the ten great iPhone apps for business users. Dropbox, Evernote and Documents to Go are other "top-notch" apps he reviewed among many others.
He wrote, "As a member of the nomadic business class, I appreciate how Apple has managed to make a device as small as the iPhone a truly useful enterprise tool..."
Change is truly at hand...ok I couldn't resist. But seriously, the diversity of devices used by webworkers and the remote workforce is daunting and accelerating for IT managers. Business users want their favorite devices and apps running on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, smartphones, desktops, laptops, netbooks, iPads...But IT needs to keep these remote systems running and ensure critical security, compliance and the achievement of environmental goals. How to be flexible and secure?
With the advent of cross-platform, proactive management tools, on-demand automation and remote support delivered via SaaS, do you see 2010 as the year non-Windows platforms will make serious inroads in the enterprise?
Exceptional customer service must be the backbone of businesses in today's tough climate. But the good news is that innovative technology and communication processes are available that are easy to adopt and require no capital outlay. Now the challenge of providing high touch customer service has never been easier while also dramatically reducing operational costs and enhancing customer satisfaction. These next generation support solutions add the vital "human element" to communication with customers and create a new level of attention that ultimately improves client retention and loyalty. The right
remote support solution can make this possible.
NTRglobal is a worldwide SaaS company that is making it easier for help desk and IT managers to deliver instant remote support to customers and their employees, including mobile workers, employees in satellite offices, Web commuters at home and teleworkers in the extended enterprise. NTRglobal provides the highest level of security (AES 556-bit encryption) and reliability for on-demand remote support and on-demand remote systems administration across more platforms than any other solution currently available, including Windows Vista, Windows Mobile, Mac Leopard and Linux. NTRsupport breaks down the barriers of communication and helps build a better customer experience.
Today, technology is pervasive in all aspects of most people's professional and personal lives. The dramatic increase in the adoption of devices, laptops and other computing devices has allowed increases in productivity and efficiency. However, these increases have not come without a cost. When a problem occurs, customers, employees or partners generally are not able to fix it themselves and must turn to professional support for help. And because of today's on-demand economy, technical issues are underscored with a sense of urgency to resolve the problem quickly or lose valuable business opportunity. The pressure is magnified by the increasing challenges that support staffs face coupled with the dramatic rise in the number of mobile workers over recent years.
The convergence of these forces increase the complexity and challenges IT faces. With ever tighter compliance and security mandates you are probably trying to prioritize better ways to "manage the seemingly unmanageable" diversity of network connected devices and applications. And perhaps concerns about security, performance and the unknown-makes it seem too daunting to take on one more thing.
But SaaS for remote support and customer service offer benefits that have evolved beyond the initial target market of IT service and help desk support services to deliver profitable value added services. According to IDC's research director, Matt Healy, the benefits of the solution come from being able to geographically decouple IT personnel from the task they need to complete. By doing this, organizations can effectively "virtualize" and "automate" repetitive tasks in their IT departments and see a wider range of benefits.
Best of breed support for customers and employees, including cost-cutting solutions such as remote support, enables small business to act on par with large enterprise on a global scale and perhaps differentiate based on service quality. Large organizations can benefit by automating repetitive lower level tasks to redeploy valuable engineering hours to focus on core competencies and issues that contribute to the bottom line.
Remote support via SaaS provides a free evaluation trial for you to actually utilize the service before you buy. Test for yourself how IT support and service capabilities can work for your organization, and perhaps discover innovative revenue-generating profitable services that transform into competitive advantage.
To survive in today's tough economic climate, many businesses, whether established, new or global, will be looking to drive efficiency and reduce costs in the months ahead. Coupled with budget cuts, staffing challenges and dwindling resources, operations will be impacted more than ever before. But, at the same time, keeping your customers satisfied is more critical than ever.
The emergence of virtual support
During the last recession, technology was in its infancy with the Internet being used as a place for email, chat and ecommerce. Now it offers business software on-demand for the same price or less then your monthly mobile bill, meaning that company size no longer determines the reach or rate of business growth.
With virtual, anytime, anywhere, internet-based applications businesses can prioritise which geographic markets to sell to that were previously unreachable and unprofitable in the past. Even small companies can now deliver services to customers and partners in distant places. Communication can increase and training and technical support can all be provided remotely over the web. All of these are real capabilities that can reduce or eliminate onsite travel, minimise downtime and optimise productivity for customers and overworked IT staff. Importantly, the web is all changing the way customer support is delivered.
CAPEX, A Non Issue
With next-generation Internet capabilities, companies can now demonstrate and sell product, deliver virtual training and service customers almost anywhere in the world. IT infrastructure services such as remote support, network system management, on-demand storage and IT automation tools, not just point solutions such as CRM, are available as subscriptions via software-as-a-service (SaaS). This is a game changer that helps IT enhance support services "on demand" and automate repetitive time-sinking functions while enhancing security because updates can now be done automatically as scheduled. Deployment is as quick as a few clicks of the mouse because the application is available on the Internet and requires little if any training or manual deployment. Best of breed complement and easily integrate with existing products and are also easy to customize for your unique business needs. No new hardware is required. CAPEX is a non-issue.
Traditional premises IT management software deployments are time-consuming and expensive, with significant capital costs. Quoting Jeff Kaplan, Managing Director of ThinkStrategies.com, "31% of software projects are cancelled before they are completed. Of those software projects, over half (52.7%) have taken twice as long or have cost twice as much as originally expected."
SaaS deployments are cheaper and faster and the best of breed have significant investment in complimentary dedicated professional services and training, integration services, security protocols and redundant server systems with robust service level agreements. This helps eliminate the need for specially trained IT staff to handle the maintenance, monitoring and software updates.