Could A Help Desk System Save Your Business?

When I recently downloaded my email, and there were 13,000+ messages that had made it past my filters, I knew that I had to do something. It's simply impossible to work through that many messages in less than a few days... which is what my team and I did. In the process, I'm sure that we deleted more than a few that we didn't really intend to.

Before working through that PILE, I realized that I needed a better solution immediately! After discussions with many advisors and close friends, I settled upon using a help desk. Now I force many contacts to go through that system rather than emailing me. I has reduced the sheer volume by about 90%.

In researching help desk options, I asked a lot of friends what they used. I also posted to several popular discussion boards. What I discovered was that there are many different excellent options. They range in price from free to very expensive. I delayed the decision on a final option, but implemented a temporary one that may turn into a permanent one. I simply had to give myself and my assistants some breathing room :-)

The advantages of setting up a help desk, and encouraging your customers to contact you through it, are countless. Let me share with you just a few:

1) It can completely eliminate the barrage of spam sent to random email addresses. Depending upon how you configure your help desk, you can allow customers to file a help ticket via email. However, it has to be sent to a very specific email address. So you could theoretically shut down all other email addresses on that domain.

Many web hosts allow you to delete or "black hole" all email not sent to legitimate addresses. This is a life saver. The host that I've set up numerous accounts with, and have my help ticket system set up on, allows this. Not only that, but this host is so gracious that I'm using 1000 meg of disk space and 120gig of monthly bandwidth and it's free. Actually it's not totally free. It's part of a monthly membership site that I belong to where members get unlimited free hosting.

I'm getting slightly sidetracked here, so if you want to know more about how I get unlimited free web hosting, check out: http://MassiveCashFromArticles.com.

2) A help ticket system can organize those numerous email dialogues that many of us have going at the same time. Often, I'll respond to 30 different people about consulting or various projects/ proposals that we are contemplating. A few hours or days later, some of them might respond. In the past, the problem was that the response was often something like "Yes, let's do option 2"... and they would have not included the body of the original message.

That use to drive me crazy - because I had to try to reconstruct what specific conversations they were responding to. Please don't YOU do that. If you're replying to someone, be sure to include at least enough of the original message to confirm what the conversation is about.

With the help desk, the system allow you to keep a running record of the conversation, all in one window on your computer screen. It's wonderful!

3) It allows enhanced teamwork. You can set it up so that "trouble tickets" are broken down into various categories. Then you can allow assistants access to certain assigned categories. That way, anyone on your team with the proper authority can take care of problems, questions, etc.

This also allows team members to see what transpired on a particular issue or help ticket. It provides a running record.

4) There is no hazard of communications being totally blocked by filters. Certain ISP's are notorious for blocking email. This is especially a problem if you send out email in any quantity... as in... if you publish an ezine.

I've had customers send me 8-10 emails on a problem or concern - and NONE of them get through. I've also received emails from certain customers and responded half a dozen times, but not have them receive any of the responses. I've sometimes had to phone to resolve such issues.

My trouble ticket system does send an email notice telling me and/or customers when a response has been posted to a given ticket number. So, there is still the danger of that notice not getting through. However, if it's a pressing issue, the person is more likely simply to log back in and check on a given ticket number.

5) I've found it at-least three times faster to log in and respond to trouble tickets than it is to deal with the same issue via email. It depends upon how cumbersome your trouble ticket system is, and what email client you use, but to me it just take a fraction of the time to coordinate issues. That makes a trouble ticket system a MAJOR productivity booster.

Those are just a few of the reasons that I absolutely LOVE my new trouble ticket system. I'm sure that once you start using one, you'll probably feel the same. If you?re drowning in a sea of email, it may very well save your business.

The system I'm using temporarily... and may turn into a permanent solution, is one that was pre-loaded into the Fantastico control panel on my hosting account. Installing it was just a matter of selecting that option, following on-screen prompts through a few steps ,and the basic trouble ticket system was ready. Then you can log in to your admin panel and customize things for your preferred options, look and feel, etc.

Your web hosting account probably comes with one or two trouble ticket systems already available to you as free options. If not, check out my host and save yourself some dough. They're called Content Desk, and they're at: http://MassiveCashFromArticles.com. This is a membership site designed to teach you how to grow your business through building high quality content sites. It's a great site, and the free hosting is just icing on the cake. Tell them Willie sent you ;-)

By the way if you need to contact me for any reason, the easiest way to do it is via my trouble ticket system at: http://WeddingFireSale.com/helpdesk/.

Willie Crawford serves as a consultant, mentor, and confidant to some of Internet marketing's top income earners. You can tap into his 9 years of online experience and million-dollar, success-creating advice at http://BlueprintToInternetMarketingSuccess.com

Help Desk: The Solution To All Your IT Nightmares

Technology such as the Help Desk covered in this article are rapidly changing our world in many ways and becoming more affordable for the average person. Its worth mentioning however that better technology is actually properly defined as simply a better way of doing something we already do with whatever process we have at hand. Rather than thinking of better technology in terms of computers, hi tech gadgets and such, for example anytime we find a way to get to work 5mins faster than before we have found a better technology to improve our lives in some respect.

Where do you go if you have a problem with your satellite television or broadband service provider? Whom do you call if your have a problem with your computer's installation system or if your printer just died on you before a major presentation? Who is the one person who can quickly help you stop that whining noise and smoke that your lap top is generating right in the middle of the conference call you are having with your boss? If you are like me, the auto dial function on your telephone will have the number of your friendly global help desk!

According to me, the help desk is the best invention of man in the twenty first century. The computer and all the electronic gadgets are over hyped. Technology changes much before it becomes affordable in the first place. And gadgets and gizmos are flooding the marketplace like never before. If there is anything at all that has remained consistent through all the tumult, it has been the ubiquitous help desk.

The concept of the help desk started off as a service offering, provided by makers of new IT products and services to clients, who were still unfamiliar with the new age technology. But as users have gotten more savvy, the products and services too have become even more complex. Which makes the role of the help desk even more important. Take Windows itself. This simple operating system started off as Windows 1.0. It grew over the years to become Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 97, 2000 and now XP. Obviously, each new version has seen the features increase. And each passing year has seen more users start taking up desktop computing as a real option.

**Running Commentary** - Its interesting to note at this point that the cost of paying for Help Desk support is going to range in price quite a bit and you really need to first identify your needs and wants and when you go shopping make sure you don't overspend for features you want but don't really need. As technology so quickly becomes obsolete 1. many of the features will become obsolete 2. later models will be cheaper if not superseded by a later model with newer features and 3. are you going to actually have time to read the whole manual and understand how all the features work ? (I know I never figure out all the features of any new gadget or gizmo I buy)

This has only meant more work for the people at the Microsoft help desk. As the versions increased and the features expanded, the conventional help desk too expanded to become much more than a mere service offering. Software products and services almost being on par made the quality of the after sales service a critical component in the competitive marketplace. And the help desk, being at the forefront of this arena, has had to adapt and evolve.

So, the typical help desk of today is staffed not just with people who can familiarize you with products and their features, but also specialist engineers and technicians who can troubleshoot your problems and provide you with the correct solution, often within the duration of a simple telephone call. And since the business demands skilled professionals who come with an innate understanding of technology, better prospects have emerged for IT professionals.

In fact, in keeping with the global outsourcing trend, most help desk jobs have moved to countries like India and China where there is no shortage of skilled manpower, and the quality of the professionals is assured. The beneficial cost structures have also contributed to this trend. For like I mentioned earlier, the products may evolve and newer versions may come up. But unless the help desk remains an integral part of the service offering, there will be no exponential increase of market share.

To wrap up our article about Help Desk I wish you luck in putting your new technology to use in your home/work life. In the last 20 years I have seen so many examples of new technology come and go I cant help feeling excited about what I'm going to see in the next 20 years. Although many people seem to feel a sense of foreboding about new things changing their lives in a negative way I must confess that I don't have this fear at all (at the ripe old age of 40 anyway). I understand that new and changing technology is not only inevitable but in fact is opening up more opportunities for us all than ever before in our history and we should only feel threatened if we choose to cling to the past and somehow expect the rest of the world around us to do the same.

Mr James has owned The Cartridge Specialists (Melbourne) since 2004 selling ink, toner, fax rolls etc & regularly writes articles about his industry

Finding Free Help Desk Software

Many companies recognize the benefits of help desk software. From streamlining technical inquiries to responding quickly to customer issues, help desk software has become a basic part of most company’s business strategies. Pricing can vary and some businesses, especially small businesses or start-ups, may be interested in free help desk software.

For small companies, downloading free help desk software may be ideal. Many companies do not offer free software for more than 100 computers, so if you have a larger business, it is like that you will need to purchase a larger version.

Many online companies offer free help desk software. Most of these programs are downloadable, easy to install and relatively easy to use. One company, HelpDeskReloaded.com, offers an excellent free help desk program with almost daily updates.

As a business owner, you may have questions regarding the use of free help desk software. For instance, how can companies turn a profit while offering a free product like this? Many help desk software providers offer limitations on the number of computers that can access the software, some have limitations on the number of tickets supported and some programs are supported by advertising frames. For a small start up business, these limitations may not hinder the purposeful use of the program. For others, it may be necessary to upgrade the account in order to obtain full access to the particular program.

Free help desk software programs usually offer the same features and functions as purchased programs. Some of the features may include the ability to share trouble tickets with the entire support team, tracking the status of the trouble tickets to ensure their resolution and the ability to manage tickets to ensure they are directed to the appropriate personnel. Most free help desk software programs are fully functional and offer businesses a comprehensive solution for their needs.

Help Desk Software Info provides detailed information on help desk software solutions, including IT help desk software, web-based help desk software, free help desk software, help desk tracking, help desk support software, and reviews of help desk software programs. Help Desk Software Info is the sister site of Recruiting Software Web

Customer Support: What Does Yours Say?

 

Whether you are talking about customer support software or you are talking about those employees that answer the phones, what does your customer support say about you? It should portray to the customer that you are dedicated to them and that you will do whatever it may take to make their experience the best it can be.

What should customer support be, then? Here are some things to consider about the amount of customer support you may or may not have.

• First of all, in ecommerce, you still have to supply a solid customer support base. You can do this by making sure that your website is customer friendly, answers questions and allows for them to ask you questions as well. By doing this, your customers are less likely to go somewhere else for their needs.

• In all arenas, customers will appreciate being able to have all the information that they need at their fingertips. So, take the time you need to take to make sure that they get just that. You can offer pricing and availability information as well as a number of descriptions, consumer reviews and price reductions as well.

• Also, make sure to provide a way for your customers to provide you with feedback. For example, they could tell you they had a hard time finding xyz. Then, you’ll know that maybe something could be done better to help that customer. They may also provide you with good feedback which is simply wonderful to hear.

No matter if we are talking about a software program to place on your website or methods to be placed in a retail setting of the local area, there are a number of great ways that you can provide your customers with great customer support. Happy customers come back!

For more information please see http://www.customer-support-info.co.uk