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Search Past Articles All Tables Of Contents Cover Focus Articles Tech & Trends New Products Product Releases MarketPlace News Factoids Opinions MarketWatch Book Reviews What's Next What's Happening Upcoming IT Events The Latest Versions This Week's Issue Jump to first occurrence of: [PARATURE] General Information October 22, 2004 • Vol.26 Issue 43 Page(s) 1 in print issue
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Wiring The Help Desk
Support Software Can Streamline Problem Solving
Broken printers, forgotten passwords, accidentally deleted data: Every IT department is familiar with getting these types of calls for help. As technology has become more complex, so too have those pleas. Users are asking for assistance with more complicated tasks, such as streamlining document creation, hosting Web conferences, and doing desktop security training. The response, especially in small and medium-sized companies, has been to create a homegrown tracking system that prioritizes requests and notes progress in problem solving. But these solutions can be clumsy and ineffective when several IT employees try to work from the same list, and they don't allow for long-term project planning. Some companies are choosing to give their help desk efforts a more professional edge instead, with software programs specifically geared for IT support calls. Scott Bleakley, CEO at Global Support Software, says many SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are realizing they need better systems than spreadsheets and Post-It notes for tracking support requests. "In some ways, the support desk is the center of the universe in a company," he says. "That's why we're seeing huge growth and interest in our products. Any company with more than 50 employees can benefit from having a better support system."
Help, I Need Somebody There are a number of applications designed to assist in-house support teams, and most have a bevy of similar features, such as report creation and incident tracking. Companies can use the software for employee problems or to address customer concerns, or both. For example, a company that develops software can implement a help desk application to stay on top of customer requests and questions. Bleakley's firm offers IssueTrak, which is scalable to fit companies of different sizes. It's powered by Microsoft's SQL server and has customizable email notification tools, a searchable knowledge base, and project management capability. Like many help desk applications, it's Web-based, so an IT manager can access tomorrow's "to do" list from home. Mike Larson, network consultant at Solution Builders, says his company chose IssueTrak when it outgrew its homegrown system. Solution Builders provides support for small businesses and found it was needlessly dispatching technicians for problems that had been solved but weren't marked as completes.
"We were managing things by the seat of our pants," he says. "Now, we know where everyone is and what they're doing. We have much better centralized management ability." He adds that it's been very helpful to have detailed incident information available with only a few mouse clicks. Another popular support software firm, Parature, has a number of products that address specific groups, such as external customers and internal employees. The company also has a product for use in an academic setting, which is tailored to student, faculty, and school staff support. Parature's CEO, Duke Chung, says that 10 modules are available to fit companies of various sizes and budget ranges. He adds that the prices for support software have been gradually getting lower as demand increases, and that's good news for smaller companies in particular. "For a lot of SMEs, these programs have attracted their attention because they can get a good help desk solution up and running and do it on their budget," says Chung. A Parture customer, John Talbert, notes that he chose the company for the governmental hospital where he works as senior assistant administrator because it was affordable and worked out of the box. "We wanted something quick and on the fly," he says. "We didn't need some super expensive program like Peoplesoft that does a thousand things." Talbert adds that before trying Parature, he'd tried to create a custom application, but it proved challenging. "We put something together with an Access database," he says, "but whenever someone wanted a unique report, we had to play around with the database, and it took way too much time."
Customized Support As well as centralizing management capability, tracking problems, and creating reports, help desk software can also have an unexpected and welcome effect on companies: It can inspire employees to skip calling the support desk altogether. Because these programs collect data on common issues, Web-based FAQ pages can be created that help users help themselves. "It's typical for companies to have repetitive questions that are specific to their business or their applications," says Chung. "If you put those questions in a place where employees can find them and provide straightforward answers, you'll cut down on support calls." Users also appreciate being able to see where they are in the support queue and create their own job tickets. Larson notes, "People like feeling some degree of control over their problems. Having the ability to log in and see where they are in terms of support reduces frustration levels." What Talbert appreciates is the degree of accountability that the program affords. When a support situation crops up, he knows who is working on the ticket and what they're doing to fix the problem. This gives users another level of information, as well as confidence in the support process, he says. As more companies employ these software applications, developers such as Parature are tinkering with future iterations to make them even more powerful. Bleakley plans to start adding other modules into IssueTrak that will incorporate IT with other employee needs such as HR and facilities. So, if an employee can't print his sales reports and the light bulb is flickering above his desk, a visit to one support site will solve both problems. Other programs will also expand, as well, to include more features. Talbert looks forward to more capability, but in the meantime, he's happy with what he has. "Using this software has allowed us to do a whole lot with just a few people." by Elizabeth Millard