TeamSupport.com Adds Screen Recording Feature
TeamSupport.com, a provider of web-based customer support and help desk software solutions, announced the release of a powerful new screen capture capability. It gives users the ability to record audio and video of a discrepancy and embed it in tickets submitted to a TeamSupport-enabled customer portal. Available to users of both TeamSupport's basic and advanced ticket submission portals, the option offers an "Add Screen Recording" button below the description box when filling-out a new support request. Users can add audio, such as a detailed narrative, to their recorded video. The combination of visual and verbal input gives Help Desk staff a compellingly clear understanding of any issue.

Attivio IT Knowledge Expert Solution Improves Support Staff Service Performance
Attivio, creator of the Active Intelligence Engine (AIE), a unified information access platform, introduces IT Knowledge Expert -- a single, aggregated and fully connected view into all relevant support information.  IT Knowledge Expert presents all unstructured content and structured data in one dashboard to resolve IT incidents faster, reduce cost-per-ticket, number of tickets and service level agreement (SLA) penalties and ease the burdens of high employee turnover that plague the IT support industry.

Altitude Software and Virtual CSR Partner
Altitude Software, a global contact center solutions vendor, and Virtual CSR, a provider of automation and integration technologies for contact centers, announced a partnership to bring to the US market innovative solutions that optimize and improve the effectiveness of customer interactions. The partnership enables Virtual CSR to integrate Altitude Software applications in order to deliver comprehensive solutions that are the result of collaborative client engagement methodologies, next generation technologies and superior technical expertise. The Altitude uCI customer interaction management solutions support a wide range of functionality, including IVR, skills-based and intelligent routing, multimedia queuing for email and web chat, integrated screen pop with agent scripting, and predictive dialing.

One in Three Consumers Consider Highly Trained Employees the Most Important Factor
Empathica Inc., a provider of Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions, announced that its Consumer Insights Panel survey of 5,000 U.S. and Canadian consumers found that nearly a third of consumers consider highly knowledgeable and well-trained employees as the most important element of their luxury purchase experience.

Survey results also showed that consumers are very willing to walk out of a luxury retail store if they are not receiving the one-on-one attention they need. In fact, three out of four consumers said they buy either nothing -- or less than what they would normally purchase -- if there are not enough employees in the store to assist them.

Despite the importance of individual attention at luxury retailer stores, many consumers think today’s brands aren’t delivering. Only 38% of consumers said they receive better customer service in luxury retail than in non-luxury retail. On the other hand, if employees are eager to serve customers, a full 80% of survey respondents said it would have a positive impact on their perception of the brand and affect their future business with the store.

Top Luxury Service Elements that Consumers Value, From Most Important to Least Important

• Highly knowledgeable and well-trained employees
• One-on-one customer service
• Brand exclusivity
• Welcoming store atmosphere
• Many employees available to serve them

More...

The Consumerization of IT Helps Level the SMB Playing Field Across the World, IDC Says
Increased adoption and personal use of advanced technology is paying dividends for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) around the world as the consumerization of IT continues to expand, especially in developing countries. Survey research from International Data Corporation (IDC) found that SMBs in developing countries are much more likely to encourage the use of worker-owned technology, allowing employee smartphones, netbooks, and media tablets to be connected to company networks to run a host of different business applications.

Additionally, SMBs in developed countries (e.g., the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan) typically indicate higher levels of advanced technology use, from notebook PC to wireless networks, than do similarly sized firms in developing countries (e.g., China, Brazil). However, the gap closes quickly when portable computing/communications products are added to the mix. SMBs in developing countries are keeping pace with their more developed counterparts when it comes to providing employees with smartphones, netbooks/mini notebooks, and media tablets. In some cases, they are actually more likely to provide these products to their staff.

Additional findings from IDC's research include the following:

• Independent of region, medium-sized firms are more likely to provide employees with advanced mobile devices than are small businesses (SBs).

• China SMBs are providing company-owned smartphones to employees most often.

• In developed countries, 33.7% of SBs and 46.7% of MBs indicated they provide access to the business network for employee-owned smartphones.

More...

Less is More (Better): Building Fewer and Smarter Metrics
A few service organizations function with too few metrics: they are flying blind. Virtually all others are drowning in metrics, too many of them and often the wrong kind. If you are feeling overwhelmed, it's time to step away from the flood and redesign the way you think about metrics. My favorite approach is to start from nothing. That's right, forget about all the metrics you are currently collecting and build from scratch.
Full Article...

Ten Management Practices to Throw Overboard in 2012
It's a new year. I get to write about the 10 management practices most in need of extermination in 2012 -- possibly my favorite topic. How many of these are in place at your employer?
Full Article...

12 Effective Habits of Indispensible IT Pros
Being familiar with the business objectives and how technology can improve the bottom line is more important than ever. But so is expanding your portfolio of IT skills. Mastering cloud services or data management will help ensure your relevance in a rapidly changing work environment. You'll also want to reach out and communicate with your colleagues across the aisle and the organization, and take on dirty jobs nobody else wants. But remember: Becoming "indispensable" can be a double-edged sword. Get too indispensable and you might find yourself unable to move beyond your niche.
Full Article...

Stupid user tricks: IT idiocy loves company
You'd think we'd run out of them, but technology simply hasn't advanced enough to take boneheaded users out of the daily equation that is the IT admin's life. Whether it's clueless users, evil admins, or just completely bad luck, Mr. Murphy has the IT department pinned in his sights -- and there's no escaping the heartache, headaches, hassles, and hilarity of cluelessness run amok.  This article has compiled nine more shining examples of user stupidity for your amusement, and education.
Full Article...

Break Your Addiction to Service Heroes
In their new book, Uncommon Service, coauthors Frances Frei and Anne Morriss show it is possible for organizations to reduce costs while dramatically enhancing customer service. The key? Don't try to be good at everything. This article features an interview and book excerpt from HBS Alumni Bulletin.
Full Article...

Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business
by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss

Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance -- for as long as it takes to calm the customer down and fix whatever foul-up jeopardized the relationship.

In Uncommon Service, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss show how, in a volatile economy where the old rules of strategic advantage no longer hold true, service must become a competitive weapon, not a damage-control function. That means weaving service tightly into every core decision your company makes.

Click here for more information on this book.

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Free Research on the Service and Support Industry
Are you looking for the latest research available (for free!) on the service and support industry? Then check out the research section of SupportIndustry.com. Some of the current offerings available to members are:

• 2011State of the Industry: Six Trends Every Support Organization Should Know
• 2011 Survey Results: How Support Behaviors are Changing for Mobile and Social Media Environments
• 2010 Service and Support Metrics Survey
• Research Insight: Self-Service Support
• Research Insight: Average Speed to Answer, Wait Time and Handle Time
• 2010 Service and Leadership Trends in Customer Support
• Research Insight: Effectively Measuring Customer Loyalty
• Research Insight: Cost Per Contact (Phone & E-Mail)
• Research Insight: First Contact Resolution

All of these reports can be accessed by clicking here...


2011 Service and Support Technology Showcase Now Available
SupportIndustry.com has released the 2011 version of our Service & Support Technology Showcase. This in-depth buyer's guide features the latest tools and technologies in the support services industry that enable support operations to deliver superior customer service. To view the listings, click here: http://www.supportindustry.com/vendorshowcase/index.htm

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