High Tech High Touch Solutions eSharings June 2008 Issue

Do you have the right Call Management System to service and support your customers? Are you replacing an existing product or looking for your first Help / Service Desk solution? Is your organization outsourcing your support to a company that uses a different product than you are currently using? Should you have a support tool in mind in case things don’t work out and you have to bring support back in-house?

The following information may offer you some useful information to better understand some of the support solution options.

Since the proliferation of support technology in the early 90’s, technology for service and support units has been difficult to follow. Industry Analysts, consultants, and sales people have done their best to keep up on the trends and products but not without being challenged by the constant changes.

In the early 90’s there were over 250 call management systems (i.e. systems used to track and log calls). Many of the original products went out of business or were purchased by the competition. Purchasing of the competition’s systems was driven by two key factors: getting the competitor’s customer base or adding functionality to their existing product. Some companies purchased complimentary systems to increase the extensiveness of their solutions.

Today, there are fewer options. Many have been scaled down for small centers or primarily sell to larger Help Desks and Contact Centers. There are a very small number of these affordable solutions that will accommodate a small to medium sized organization and offer all of the functionality needed, including the popular ITIL methodology.

The primary change from the 90’s is that support solutions are popping up all over the world offering advanced hosted solutions or ones that have the basic functionality needed to log calls. Many are free to low cost. A small number of the solutions at this level are ITIL compliant. Many do not offer the complete functionality often desired – they are simply ticket- tracking systems. For many support organizations this is all that is necessary. For those who need the more advanced systems there are fewer choices but they are good options - the best of the best have remained in existence. Plan to see a few more acquisitions in the future though.

Bottom line: Today there are numerous products to select from but most of the mainstream solutions have the same capabilities with few differentiators. The typical differences include customer service from the provider, cost, ease of use, ITIL compliancy and corporate stability. If you search on “Help Desk Software” you will find hundreds of products. The products range from Call Management Systems to network monitors, telephony solutions and knowledge bases.

The 10th Annual Customer Service and Support Professionals Conference and Expo
Loews Coronado in San Diego - September 28 - October 1, 2008

Chairing the event is Bill Price, President of DrivaSolutions and author of "The Best Service is No Service". The unforgettable, Dave Stockwell, Help Desk Manager from REI is the Master of Ceremonies. Daryl Covey, Help Desk Manager at NEXRAD, leads the onsite Government activities.

BRAND NEW: Service Desk Certifications

Service Desk Manager and Service Desk Analyst Certification developed by Service Desk Institute from the United Kingdom. This is some of the most advanced certification you can get for the Service Desk. The material has been taught worldwide with positive results. Sign up today.

Pre-conference sessions:

Bill Price teaches, "The Best Service is No Service", a full day course built on the exclusive segments from his book of the same name.
Industry legend, JJ Lauderbaugh, delivers a half-day session on Managing Stress
Donna Holt, returns with her brand new material on "Support Center Best Practices Through Process Improvement"

Session Snapshots:

Over 50 conference sessions. This is a snapshot of just a few of the topics and speakers who will be sharing their expertise with you.

Opening Keynote: Dan Stockdale, the Tiger Guy teaches "How to Tame Your Tigers". From a senior executive team dealing with hostile shareholders and challenging board members, to a group of customer service representatives working the front lines, Taming Tigers is specifically tailored to address the business challenges facing employees today in ways that produce immediate, easy-to-implement solutions.

International Keynote: "The World IS round! IT Support is a Global Issue.......and This is How it Affects YOU! Howard Kendall

Pete McGarahan delivers the closing keynote, Escaping Groundhog Day

Kate Nasser returns with fresh material presenting "Dare to Transform Your Customer Service Team: Develop Change-Ability!" and "The Geography of Customer Service!"

"Service Restoration: ITIL Says It's Everybody's Business" will be presented by Lou Hunnebeck.

"Workshop on "Coaching for Results" by Randy Celaya, plus "Results Focused Training and Interviewing Process Best Practices - 4 steps to Improve Hiring Success"

"Unbiased Technology Review: CRM, CMS, KB and More" presented by Peggy Gritt

Hear how the U S Navy Global Distance Support Center delivers "Cadillac Customer Service on an Edsel Budget: Doing More with Less" from Susan Reisinger

Corina Stretch from Puget Sound Energy delivers a Case Study: Creating a Successful Remote Workforce Program

Understand How to Gain Economic Advantage by Going Green presented by Mary Jo Snavely

Workshop on "Tools of the Trade: Building the Business Case and Legacy System Integration" by Jerry Keely

Case Study: Wiki’s for the Internal and External Customer by Angel.com

Rick Tate shares information on the Contact Center Satisfaction Index

Benchmarking for Excellence" delivered by the experts in benchmarking - Bruce Belfiore from BenchmarkPortal

Brenda Iniguez delivers the "5 Executive Business Skills You Need to Move Up"

"The Spirit of Service/The Pragmatics of Service: How to Demonstrate and Communicate Skillful Service Every Day" presented by Mia Melanson

Comprehensive workshop on Workforce Management Trends and Best Practices" delivered by Penny Reynolds

Learn How Starbucks Implemented a "Global IT Service Desk Support Leveraging ITIL Best Practices" by Mary Lou Blakely

Peer Communities

Over 20 lively Mastermind sessions to select from
Networking breakfasts, lunches and reception
Dave Stockwell's After-hours Bullpen discussions - quickly becoming a tradition at these events
Just for fun - networking with old and new friends at sunset on the beach (weather permitting)
Meet with the conference partners and see their solutions that will contribute to offering exemplary customer service

See the rest of the program now.