Help Desk Industry Blog

At a past HDI conference, I listened to a presentation on Net Promoter Score (NPS). It is an intriguing idea — companies that do well on a one-question survey have better customer relations, grow faster and are more profitable than other companies in the same industry that don’t score as well. Companies using NPS include General Electric, Dell, Intuit and American Express.

Sometimes the NPS question is referred to as “the Ultimate Question”.  The question is: How likely would you recommend us to a friend or colleague? (on a 1 to 10 scale, where 10 is extremely likely) Based on how this question is answered, a score is calculated that takes into account promoters (high scorers) and detractors (low scorers). For details, take a look at www.netpromoter.com.

Our Customer Care Manager, Chris Thompson, is tasked with contacting customers, asking the NPS question, and following up to address any concerns customers might have. For example, Chris went through a period where several customers gave us a score of less than 10 because our report writer could not produce some of the reports they wanted. Chris organized a conference call between those customers and LaDonna Beauregard, our Vice President of Development. Based on that call, LaDonna increased the number of fields available for reporting. 

We find that using the NPS methodology serves as a mechanism for us to unearth problems that we might not hear about otherwise. It also gives us a baseline to see if we are improving over time or not. As we grow, it is a challenge to maintain the same level of quality customer relationships when we were much smaller. NPS is one tool we use in our efforts to stay in touch with our customers.

“Help Desk Software” is a particularly hard term to rank for in the search engines. The competition is fierce and getting harder and harder to get results on the front page of Google. With the great help of my superior at IssueTrak, we finally managed to reach the first page of Google about 8 months ago. We paid attention to the best practices of SEO and put great text/content on the front page. We also paid attention to the number of back links to the IssueTrak web site. Not to mention a lot of researching the competition. That’s how we made it.
And from there, reaching the front page of Google, you think we could stop and breath a sigh of relief and spend some time congratulating ourselves and reveling in our Google glory; but, not so much. If anything, the pressure is turned up to KEEP us on the front page. There are only 10 coveted spots on the first page and MANY companies trying to SEO  their page just right to get you “knocked off” so they can “step in”.
At the time of this writing, we are number 7, out of roughly 7,030,000 results for the term “Help Desk Software“. Not too shabby… But by no means any reason to rest.

If you are seeking information about the help desk or customer support industry, you are in the right place. This blog was created to be a source of information and knowledge sharing for the help desk industry. Members of this industry, from support analysts to CIO’s, are encouraged to share their ideas and seek information about new tools, resources, common issues, processes, news and more on this blog.

Please register and contribute posts and comments as often as you would like. Keep in mind, all content should be generally related to the help desk or customer support industries.

We look forward to hearing what you have to say and are excited to help you share your thoughts with others. Get started by registering and then write a post or add a comment to an existing post.

In a recent Help Desk industry newsletter Douglas Christian, IssueTrak COO tried to dispell some of the myths about ITIL. Here is the first part of his article… 

ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library and represents a collection of best practices aimed at delivering business value from IT service management.  According to the UK’s Office of Government Commerce, ITIL is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management worldwide.  That being said, there is still a lot of confusion around ITIL.  I often hear from companies that are looking to purchase an ITIL certified application so that their company can comply with the ITIL standard. This statement contains two widely held myths.

The Truth About ITIL
Because ITIL is a best practice, and not a standard, compliance is not an attainable goal.  The best one can hope for is to implement processes that are consistent with ITIL best practices. Service management standards do exist. ISO/IEC 20000 is an international standard on IT service management. ITIL is closely aligned with this standard and can be used to help companies that wish to comply with the ISO/IEC 20000 standard.

Applying Best Practices
ITIL offers certification for individuals who wish to demonstrate their knowledge in the various aspects of ITIL.  A number of us at IssueTrak are ITIL certified. ITIL does not offer a certification for applications. There are third parties that attempt to verify that an application will support one or more ITIL best practices. This third party verification is often misrepresented as ITIL certification.  ITIL is meant to be adapted to meet the needs of your business. Because each ITIL implementation will look a little different, flexibility is an important consideration when evaluating an application to support an ITIL implementation.

At IssueTrak, we focus on ease of use, and flexibility. Because of this IssueTrak works great for tracking issues of all kinds. We don’t mind if they are called incidents, problems, or change requests.

Creating Value
If you are trying to get more value from your IT service management function, ITIL is a great place to start.  ITIL covers a lot of ground and is best tackled in pieces.  Where you start is up to you. A logical starting point for me is incident management, problem management and change management.  The return on investment for these processes can be high.  They are easily measured and can be used to build momentum before tackling the heavy lifting in processes like configuration management, capacity management, and SLA management.

Implementing an application isn’t enough to get you to an ITIL end state. A successful IT service management strategy hinges on the effective application of people, processes, and tools.  (In that order) Start with sharp people and invest in them so they have a solid understanding of both their technical responsibilities and the business you are in.  A systems administrator should understand the impact of taking down the order entry system for maintenance at the end of a quarter.

Next, take a look at your processes.  An effective process accomplishes the end goal in a way that can be measured.  The measurement allows for improvement. Common measurements include speed, accuracy, customer satisfaction and cost. ITIL won’t lay out a process for you to follow, but it will provide a description of what the process should accomplish and the key performance indicators to watch along the way.  The processes should be tailored to meet your business. Molding your business to meet a cookie cutter process might be tempting but could have negative side effects.

Once you have the right people and effective processes in place, it is time to consider a tool to help you execute that process.  The tool you chose should enable your processes without getting in the way.  It should be flexible, powerful and easy to use.  Also, look for reporting features that make it easy to track and report on your progress. IssueTrak has been designed with these ideas in mind and is a great place to start your search.

ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark, and a Registered Community Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. IT Infrastructure Library® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce.

We are pleased to announce that IssueTrak 8.0 is here and it is loaded with all kinds of new features. Along with an updated user interface, here are some of the new capabilities you will find in IssueTrak 8.0.

• Issue Classes – classify your issues into categories such as incident or change request and view dashboard counts and reports for each issue class
• Filtered Issue Types, Subtypes and Quick Picks – limit to specific organizations and/or groups
• Organization Administration Role – categorize your users into distinct organizations and then assign an administrator to create and edit users and groups within their organization
• Screen Pops – locate current caller and any corresponding issue information when call information is routed to a special URL
• Automatic Installation – install and upgrade quickly and easily
• Knowledge Base – allow anonymous access to your Knowledge Base by allowing any user to search and view public articles without logging in
• Tasks – cancel remaining tasks after a defined response and send email notifications to groups and/or individuals
• Asset Management – archive audit records, automatically match and assign assets to IssueTrak users
• Password Reset – allow users to define their own challenge questions for use with IssueTrak or Active Directory password reset
• Out of Office – issue automatic assignments based on time and day to accommodate separate shifts within your organization’s hours of operation

Upgrade to IssueTrak 8.0 Watch for an email containing your download instructions or check our support site (support.issuetrak.com) for a link to download the upgrade.

One of my favorite features in IssueTrak is Recurring Issues, which can be used to earmark matters that occur daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannually, annually or just once at a future date.

These issues function much like normal issues. Email notifications can be sent, end dates can be set; a recurring issue can be part of a project and can also carry tasks using the task manager.

Anything that needs to get done on a regular basis is a great candidate for a recurring issue. An example of a recurring issue might be routine maintenance on servers or equipment. These maintenance items can be set up once in IssueTrak as recurring issues and the necessary steps can then be documented by adding tasks. If you combine recurring issues with tasks, you have all of the ingredients necessary for a successful maintenance plan. The recurring issue can include the steps necessary for successful completion of tasks, which can be automatically assigned based on your preferences. When the maintenance is complete, the closed issue can serve as a maintenance record.

This article is a little delayed, as the new Apple iPhone hit stores several months ago, but it still worth a quick read for help desk managers who are considering mobile devices with internet browsing capability…

IssueTrak is just as excited about the new Apple iPhone as all the apple fans and techno-junkies out there. The iPhone’s top-notch web-browsing capabilities, an entirely new level compared to the web functionality of other cellular phones, bring IssueTrak to a whole new level. IssueTrak users have always been able to access IssueTrak with their web-enabled cell phones and other hand-held devices, but the quality and ease of use has always been lacking. Now with the iPhone, users can access IssueTrak to submit and check the status of their issues without missing the quality and ease of use they get on a full size computer monitor. We have always said that IssueTrak is accessible anywhere, anytime from any Internet browser on your computer…now it truly can be accessed anytime, from anywhere in the world. You could run a help desk from your lounge chair at the beach!  With an iPhone, service desk managers and their support staff are capable of doing the tasks they used to do from their desktop, from anywhere they desire. These tasks include:

submitting an issue
searching the knowledge base
checking the issue queue
assigning issues to technicians
adding notes to issues causing emails to be sent to the relevant parties
searching and closing issues
creating tasks
monitoring the status of a project

The iPhone is more than just a toy. It has large implications for the corporate world as well. Numerous corporate Web applications that were not easy accessible with other cell phones are now possible thanks to the iPhone. Up until now, there hasn’t been a good interface for the pocket computer. Now there is. As I think about it, there could be a ton of practical uses unleashed for the iPhone since it has made a major leap in usability for handheld devices, regardless of songs and photos and phone calls. Simply having a truly useful Web browser that fits in your pocket is a breakthrough.

One reason companies and support operations use a tracking program such as IssueTrak is to measure the level of service they are providing their customers. IssueTrak reports on a variety of metrics that help measure performance levels, including how long issues stay open. Every support staff works hard to try to solve problems and close customer issues as soon as possible. There are times when an issue can not be closed because of factors outside of a support representative’s control. For example, a customer may be slow responding to their support representative to say whether a proposed solution solved their problem or not.

With IssueTrak version 7.0, it is possible to stop the clock under circumstances like these using Substatus Rules. Under Administration – Substatus you can set up an issue sub status, such as waiting for customer response, and then indicate that for issues with this sub status the clock will be temporarily stopped and the length of time necessary for the customer to respond will be not be counted against the issue for reporting purposes. Customers who are slow to respond will not increase the issues’ Time to Close statistics and Service Level Agreements will not be adversely impacted. All escalation activity will stop as well.  This feature can be found in the Administration section under Substatus -> Rules.

How many copies of Adobe Acrobat have you installed in your organization? How many licenses have you purchased? If you can’t answer these questions, you are not alone. The record keeping that is necessary to keep track of purchased and installed software can be overwhelming.

 A recent Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC Global Software Piracy Study revealed that 35% of the software installed on personal computers in 2006 was pirated. The BSA, a membership organization consisting of some of the largest software companies in the world, is working to reduce that number. Billing itself as the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world, the group is using its resources to influence public policy, educate and promote anti-piracy enforcement. 

There has been much criticism surrounding anti-piracy enforcement activities and its effect on small businesses. The BSA goes as far as encouraging disgruntled employees to turn in their employers for the use of pirated software. Rewards up to $1,000,000 are offered for these tips, many of which are aggressively pursued with the assistance of law enforcement. Thousands of organizations have been brought into compliance through these efforts alone. If an organization is found to have violated piracy laws, significant fines can be levied and these organizations are typically forced into some type of settlement with the BSA. Money collected through settlements is used to help fund additional anti-piracy actions. 

It is important to keep track of your software purchases and to periodically audit your environment to minimize the use of unlicensed software. IssueTrak has two capabilities that can help keep you out of hot water with the BSA. You can audit installed software using TrakPC and record software license purchases. Use of these features will allow you to generate reports that illustrate which licenses are unused, as well as, any potential problem areas.