How a Real Organization has Implemented Help Desk - Essay Example

?An Example of How a Real Organization has Implemented Help Desk/Tech Support Operations. In the services industry, the main goal is to enhance customer satisfaction while at the same time, lowering support costs. This requires that for an organization to sustain increased productivity or gain a competitive advantage, it should implement technology support operations that that are geared towards improving the customer satisfaction. This is important because at such times, the organization might be fighting to meet increased demand for their services against their internal resource limitation. An example of a real organization that has implemented help technology support operations is Novell Corporation. Novell is a multinational company that deals with software and services (Novell par 1). It specializes in systems management solutions, networking operating systems and collaboration solutions (Novell par 2). During a time of increased service demand from customers, limited resources and constrained budgets, the company implemented a new remote customer support tool from Bomgar. The company needed to increase its support volumes and customer satisfaction without additional staff. The company management of Novell acknowledged that reducing average request handling times might meet the goals of costs but put the organization at the risk of compromising with the satisfaction of its customers. Novell therefore had to find the right mix that would enhance the model of its customer service experience (Sweeney 24). The company finally settled on multichannel communication. Its main goals were to achieve a 10% increase in customer satisfaction while enhancing technical support to enable the company absorb the in call volume that had increased by 25% (Leggett and Hubbert 1). To achieve its goals, Novell required to change from its traditional customer support strategy that was phone-based into being a community of online customer support that incorporates the best methodologies and practices. Novel worked with the remote support software from Bomgar to overcome common process, people and technological issues so as to bring about a smooth customer experience (Fisher 12). Under the online remote system, customers where suppose to place their requests for any service or help through the internet. Novell’s customer support group and its customers were therefore supposed to communicate online through online chats/online diagnostic solution when dealing with customer issues. Novell already had a customer relations management (CRM) solution and an eService Web portal. Therefore, the remote support solution required to deeply integrate with these two technologies. In order to achieve the required tight integration and get a seamless view of the experiences of its customers, Novell use an application programming interfaces (APIs) from Bomgar. According to Leggett and Hubbert 3), the adopted online support model transitions customers quickly and seamlessly to assisted support directly after initiating a Web incident. Whenever a customer has decided that they want assisted support, the company provides them with a mechanism whereby the customer logs in to the company’s eService portal. The customer then creates a service request and cooperates with a Novel support representative through chat. At this point, the customer has an option of using remote control and remote diagnostic upon permission. The option to accept remote support and diagnostic and chat and is open for returning customers and those with new service requests. Outcome As a result of implementing this the multichannel communications, Novell has realized improvements in customer satisfaction and increased productivity. The remote support system has created a standard customer support environment and a more flexible environment for solving customer challenges in real time. Customers were in a position to select their preferred mode of interaction with the support representative. It also improved staff efficiency and collaboration between staff. Novell was able to transfer 90% of its calls that were incoming into an online chat model. The outcome of this was a 50% reduction in the average cost for every request, 30% improvement in staff productivity and 15% improvement in customer satisfaction. This means the company was able to meet its goals as indicated by the company target figures. Challenges and solutions The main challenges experienced with the multichannel communication were integrating the existing CRM into the online customer support system, and achieving a tight integration between the web experience and its customer support. As noted above, the company used an application programming interfaces (APIs) from Bomgar. A shift from phone to chat could be challenging to both the customers and the customer support group and the company was very concerned about how the customers would respond to this. The company therefore conducted training for this to facilitate an effective and friendlily shift from phone to chat (InfoWorld 120). Fortunately, most of the customers of Novell are very adaptable and technical hence there was a good reception of the online support system. Periodically, the customer support group received concerns from customers about having to use the chat tool to communicate with them. Some of the customers claimed that they were not comfortable using the online chat as a tool for communication. Even with the proficient training, some of the customers still experienced difficulties shifting from phone to chat interface for support. In order to overcome any objections and avoid loosing some of its customers, Novell allowed their customers an option of requesting for phone support. This ensured that those who do not like using the chat or those experiencing difficulties with it get the support they require. Currently in Novell, both the remote control and diagnostic tools, and phone support are used in combination to resolve customer issues. Conclusion The effectiveness and innovativeness of the customer support group of any organization, especially the service industry, is critical to the sustenance of business and productivity. This is because customer service has a direct effect to both the bottom and top line of an organization. If customer experience is good, the company will be able to retain its customers and thus experience sustained business. It is also reasonable to conclude that customer satisfaction not only enables a company to retain its customers. It also enables them to attract more customers. The reason for the above is that high levels of customer satisfaction is one of the best ways of marketing an organization and its products indirectly leading to an increased demand for its products. At the same time, an effective method of handling customer requests saves time and enables an organization to handle increased bulk of customers. This leads to increased productivity among workers. Organizations should therefore invest in technological innovations meant to improve their customer experience. Works Cited Top of Form Fisher, Lawrence. “Longtime Hewlett Executive Named Novell Chief”. New York Times. 1994. InfoWorld. InfoWorld Magazine. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.1996. Vol. 18, No. 14. Leggett Kate and Hubbert Evelyn. Case Study: Novell Uses Collaborative Remote Support To Transform Its Customer Experience: How Novell Transformed Its Global Technical Support Operations. 2010. Online: http://www.bomgar.com/customers/cs-Novell.htm. Retrieved on 26th, October, 2011. Novell. Novell. 2011. http://www.novell.com/home/ Sweeney, Phil. "Cambridge-bound Novell pins recovery on CTP buy” Boston Business Journal. 2002. Read More