Helpdesk Software: Service Desk Management or Glorified Database? Tweet using #APP6
Who s Talking Lance Waagner Chief Executive Officer Intelliteach Founded 1998 Over 150 employees Global 24-hour servicedesk support Over 90,000 users Greater than 30% of the AMLAW 200 Jeff Ward Director of Application Support Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. 900 attorneys 11 US; 6 International Centralized helpdesk Currently use HEAT Recently finished service management product search
Service Desk Poll
Service Desk Poll
Service Desk Poll
2010 Technology Survey What do you use for helpdesk management? 14% C Commercial l 30% 56% None Custom/In-House
2010 Technology Survey Firms without a Service Management Tool 59% 28% 3% 0% < 49 Attorneys 50-149 Attorneys 150-349 Attorneys 350 Attorneys
What are you looking for? Efficient Technology Effective Workflow Transformative Management
Efficient Technology Looking for Record keeping Basic stats Requirements Fast input Reporting on ticket volume
Tickets by Requestor
Effective Workflow Looking for Systematic Workflow Expanded service ACD usage and integration ti with ticketing Advanced call metrics
Effective Workflow Requirements Assignments and stages Fields/views for different service groups Reporting to evaluate service performance (e.g., call volume, hold times, abandon rates, etc.)
Engineer Worklist
Overdue Tickets
Cause by Category
Looking for Transformative Management Premier customer service Knowledge management Ability to predict and act
Transformative Management Requirements Alignment with operating-level agreement Robust knowledgebase integrated into workflow Predictive trending (e.g., root cause, effects of staffing choices, opportunities for development or change of firm systems, service satisfaction)
The Management Discussion What technology changes are not working? What technology changes will improve the firm? What service changes are needed? What is the proper SLA for the firm?
Closure Rates
Emergency Status Ratios
Call Trends Over Time
Call Trends Across Offices 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% Tt Total users Total tickets Unique users 20% 10% 0% New York Chicago London
Conversion Trends Average tickets per user per month 2.85 2.65 2.00 2.30 2.10 Pre-conversion Conversion 30 days post conversion 60 days post conversion 90 days post conversion
Conversion Effects Volume with staffing to maintain service levels 30 25 20 15 Pre-Conversion 10 Staffing 5 Conversion 0 Staffing Pre-Conversion Volume Conversion Volume
Delays and Conversion Average delay (seconds) with same staffing levels as pre-conversion 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm Pre-conversion Conversion
Queue Time and Conversion Maximum time in queue (seconds) using same staffing as pre-conversion 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm Pre-conversion Conversion
Conversion Time Summary Measurement Pre-Conversion Conversion Difference Overall Live Rate 93% 68% -25% Average Time in Queue 10 seconds 1 minute, 21 seconds 1 minute, 11 seconds Maximum Time in Queue 1 minute, 40 seconds 12 minutes, 40 seconds 11 minutes
In Summary Efficient technology for smooth operations Methodology to support effective workflow Management tools that can be leveraged to transform the operation of your firm. ONE SIZE DOESN T FIT ALL!
Questions to Ask Basics Architecture Integration Administration Interface Ticket tracking Knowledgebase Reports, trends, & feedback Other
Basics Company basics (e.g., size, history, number and types of customers, etc.) Server- and client-side requirements Business continuity Frequency and # of product releases Do they have a user group to talk with before buying the product Security of internal data for hosted solutions Live demo/evaluation copy (e.g., 30-day) Administration for hosted solution--is the a lot or is limiting Financial information on the company (Due diligence) Fiscal quarter (to get the best price--tricky)
Architecture Client- or vendor-hosted? How are users authenticated? Are db schema/relationships documented? Is web-based or desktop? Licensing--how many seats per ticket user? Backup plans! Integration to an LMS
Integration Telephony integration? E-mail and chat integration? Enterprise-search integration? Remote system launched from app Asset management system Change management/known issues Workflow Tie into directory so picture comes up LMS tie in
Administration How do you maintaining user accounts? How does security work for groups and roles? What tools monitor system integrity? Archival - how much do you archive v. future search Integrated into payroll/ad?
Interface Custom interfaces based on groups/roles? Can forms change based on data entry? Can files be easily attached to tickets? Do any fields allow rich text and images? User's last five tickets (and opened or closed) Last 5 survey responses (so you know their attitude about support) Mobile interface for operations guys User portal! Red-yellow-green on dashboard (status aging)
Ticket Tracking Can analysts subscribe to certain call types? Can global issues be identified automatically? Is there an broadcast system? Can similar calls be linked/closed together? Ticket auditing/history Escalation notification (service level prebreached and notification occurs) Automatic alert updates Integration with Blackberry/PDAs and updating
Knowledgebase Can the KB store rich text with images? How is change control/aging acheived? Can end-users access "public" KB content? Approval process for articles Searches automatically based on the problem description Tied into troubleshooting workflow (e.g., Outlook issue) "decision tree" Robust categorization Quick access to the knowledgebase Known issues for live issues Links to subject matter experts! Links to other resources Links to security policy
Reports, Trends, & Feedback Is there a customer-feedback tool? How are trends identified? Dashboard functionality? Are there dynamic drill-down capabilities? What stock reports are available and can you customize them? Can reports be scheduled/e-mailed? Reports on how many are coming back to the HelpDesk that could be indicators of training
Other Maintenance/upgrade cycle? Bug/enhancement process? Most-valued and least-mature features? Training and support (including hours)?
References APP6 Conference materials http://bit.ly/qrskio Guru Guide http://www.intelliteach.com/guru Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) explained http://bit.ly/bdgab Help Desk Institute (HDI) http://www.thinkhdi.com ILTA User Support Services Peer Group http://bit.ly/qnfuj5 E-mail us: LWaagner@intelliteach.com, JWard@fulbright.com
Sample Questions to Ask When Researching Support Management Solutions Basics Provide the following: Pricing Company basics (e.g., size, how long in business, number and types of customers, etc.) Server- and client-side requirements Business continuity Frequency and number of product releases Architecture Is the product available for the client to host? Is the product available on demand (SaaS)? If the system is offered in both SaaS and client-hosted models, describe the benefits and limitations of each. Does the system support single sign on? If hosted externally, is single sign on supported? Are the database schema and table relationships documented, and will the company work with us to directly access the tables for our own custom integration needs? Integration with other products Does the product support any telephony services? Can the product leverage asset tracking data collections? Does the product use MAPI or SMTP for e-mail integration? Describe any other strategic application integration the product supports. System Administration How are user accounts created and maintained? Is there an administrative interface or integration with a corporate directory (AD or SQL-based)? Is access to certain features or fields controlled through security groups or roles? What is the process for performing a backup and restore of the data? What tools are available to monitor system integrity? Interface Does the product support custom interfaces (e.g., data entry, reports, dashboards, etc.) based on login, groups, or roles? Does the product support smart forms where prompts dynamically change based on data entered? Can files be attached to the ticket? Do any ticket fields allow for rich content such as images (e.g., pasting a screen shot in the issue description)? Upon creating a ticket for a user, what history for the user is easily accessible? Ticket Tracking Can analysts "subscribe" to certain call types or issues via either RSS or dynamic inclusion on notifications? Can your system automatically identify global issues based on call volume within a given time period? Does the system provide an announcement system for proactive issue notification to analysts? Does the product support call categories, subcategories, or keywords for issue classification? Does the product support "linking" calls so that all can be closed simultaneously with the same solution? Can the system create tickets directly from e-mail messages? Escalation and Notification Workflow Does the system allow for automatic notifications based on criteria such as priority, time passage, customer type, etc? Can message notification priority be set dynamically based on data entered in a ticket? If ticket attachments are supported, are attachments included in e-mail notifications? Can the notifications contain a direct link to the ticket? Can notifications operate on various calendars and "hours of operations" schedules? - 1 -
Knowledge Base Management Describe the auditing or change-control features for managing KB content. Can the KB store rich content such as images, font formatting, and tables? Is there a means for aging KB content? Can subject-matter experts be linked to KB content? How can KB content be leveraged for end-user selfhelp? Describe how the KB integrates with call tracking for issue resolution, with easy access to related KB articles. Reports, Trends, and Feedback Additional questions about the company and product What distinguishes your company from competitors in this market? What distinguishes your product from competing products in this market? What is the most valued feature of your product? What feature or functionality is considered the least mature module of your product by your customers and employees? Describe the training materials available and the formats in which they are offered? (Manuals, elearning, Tips, etc.) For ticket and KB searches, what types of search techniques are supported (e.g., Boolean, fuzzy, stemming, etc.), and how are search results ranked? Does the product have a customer-survey component? How does the product identify trends? What reporting platform(s) are supported (e.g., Business Objects, Microsoft SQL Reporting Services, etc.)? Are reports already included and can they be copied/customized to create new reports? Can the system report how much time has been spent on a category or class of issues? Can reports be scheduled? Describe the delivery methods and scheduling options. Do reports include dynamic drill-down capabilities? Support and Maintenance How does the company resolves bugs reported about the product. Include methods used to rank bugs, notify us of issue status, and lengths of time to resolve a general bug versus high-priority bug. How does the company receive, process, and implement product enhancement requests? How many product enhancement requests were submitted last year? How many were implemented? - 2 -
Support Management Best Practice Considerations Whether you are using a robust, high-priced system to track tickets or using Excel and Outlook, the most important factor is your staff s effective use of the system. When someone calls with an issue, how do you handle it? How do you start the interaction? Have you asked all the right questions? Have you properly and thoroughly diagnosed the issue? How are you going to resolve the issue? Have you informed the caller about the actions you plan to take, along with a timeline for resolution? Whether you or someone else takes actions to resolve the issue, what quality assurance components will ensure proper handling and resolution? Do you ensure the customer is made aware of work completion and understands the outcome? Do you ask if anything else is needed? Do you build in the time to analyze situations for future improvement of your processes? Proven Practices Consider creating a set of proven practices revolving around the software you use and the environment in which your support system operates. Data Entry Standards Who is expected to use the system? What should be logged? What level of detail is expected? What goes in the description and what does not go in? What should be considered when setting ticket priority? When should you escalate or not escalate an issue to another department? Assigning Tickets Who should receive ticket assignments? How will confirmation of accepting an assignment occur? Once a ticket is assigned to someone else, does the originator continue to own the ticket and is he/she responsible for follow-up? Recordation How much detail is required for work performed? Who is responsible for recording the details? Resolving Tickets What goes into the resolution and what does not go in? In various cases, how is the caller notified of the resolution? How are support personnel expected to interact with the user at the end of the incident? When Things Go Wrong What actions should occur when there is no solution? Who should be notified when an error occurs or a caller expresses extreme dissatisfaction? Knowledge Management What types of items should be nominated for including in the knowledgebase? Who is responsible for entering information? What is the process for ensuring quality of entries? What is the process for maintenance and retiring of entries? Operational Level Agreement An operational level agreement can be used within IT to define the understanding within the support system of what is expected in terms of service level. Examples: Live Call Handling: >= 90% within 20 seconds Non-Live Call Handling (in queue or voice mail): <= 5 minute average wait Email Handling Time: <= 15 minute average wait First Call Resolution: >= 85% of all software calls Surveys: >= 85% Excellent or Good all surveys Services Uptime: >= 99.4% Expectations for Between Calls What is expected of support personnel when they are not working on an active issue? Do they review stagnant open tickets to get them moving? Are they analyzing closed tickets for possible process improvements? Are they reviewing new knowledgebase entries? Are they studying more about applications and systems within the firm so that they are better prepared with quick answers? 3