The Best Help Desks On The Internet

If you are having a technical issue with your computer, and you need assistance, your best bet is to call your manufacturers technical support line. In most cases, technical support is part of the package when you first purchased your computer. If, for some reason, you are unable to use your computer manufacturers help desk services, here are a few free help desk sites on the Internet.


Tech Support Guy claims to be the #1 tech support site on the web and can be found at http://www.helponthe.net. Tech Support Guy help desk site offers free assistance to users of Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP and Linux.

This site is free because it is run completely by volunteers and is paid for by donations. Donations are requested but not required to use this site. The way this site works is that first you must search the topic of you problem. If you can?t find it, then you can post your technical issue on one of Tech Support Guy?s forum pages where other users of the site will try and assist you.

One positive aspect of this site is that it has an extensive forum of questions from previous users so you will most likely receive the answer to your technical issue pretty quickly. One negative aspect of this site is that it is up to you to find the answer to your technical issue. There isn?t a customer service support representative to walk you through your technical issue at this help desk.


5 S tar Support technical services can be found on the web at http://www.5starsupport.com. This help desk provides support to users of Windows, Linux, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Netscape, Windows Messenger, AOL, Networking troubleshooting, Microsoft Office Products.

Simply enter your technical issue in a web form that will be emailed to several volunteer technical support representatives and then wait to receive your reply back. You may receive several replies from several different representatives and each solution may be different. You may email the representative back if you are unable to satisfactorily fix your technical issue.

For people who want a solution faster, there is a method available where you can phone a computer support specialist and they can talk you through a solution to your technical issue. There is a small fee for this service however and can be purchased in annual, monthly or per incident increments.

Another service the 5 star offers is free PC help tutorials on topics such as Clean Installation of Windows XP, Install a Home Network, Configuring a Network Card and Partition a Hard Drive.


Suggest A Fix can be found at http://www.suggestafix.com. This site also is run by volunteers but is a free service. It is forum based as well and you need to take the time to scroll through the posting to find something that matches your particular issue. However, in the toolbar virus information and tutorials are also available as quick options.

The best thing about the forums is that you will usually receive good quality answers to your technical or general computing questions. There are a few dedicated people that seem to field a majority of the questions, so depending on the time and day; your answers may vary greatly.

For the latest information about Help Desks visit: Help Desks - Information and Rersources

Justifying a Help Desk

It seems that every time businesses decide to cut down on expenses, they always seem to focus on the Help Desk/IT department. IT Managers are very often asked to work with outdated software, understaffing and an ever- increasing backlog of calls and angry customers.

What the people upstairs seem to forget is that without proper equipment, software and competent support staff, the back bone of the company could very well crumble.

It’s a vicious downward spiral; The IT/support budget is cut, we have to service our customers with outdated software, the support staff is unmotivated and leaves, there’s not enough money to hire competent people so novices will do, we therefore offer a shocking service, the word climbs up the ladder, our budget is cut some more because the service is poor anyway, and here we go again!

The reality is that while a company is spending thousands of dollars on computers and printers and everything else they need, they’re cutting back on the one department that takes care of assuring every system works and that every employee/customer gets his/her problem fixed quickly.

It costs money when a program stops working and an employee stares at that blank screen for half an hour. It’ll cost even more if no one knows how to fix it. It’s very frustrating for people to wait hours on end to get someone to look at their problem. What a waste of time, money and productivity!

No matter how good the warranty is, at some point, the equipment needs replacing or fixing and at one point – which lets face it happens more often then not – you need competent people to come and help. That alone should justify the cost of your help desk.

What it really costs

Take a moment to analyse what your company is already spending for the following items – the ones that you won’t see on any statement:

o Time spent figuring out where to go for help.

o Time lost waiting on-hold for a customer support officer. o Time spent reading the product manual.

o Time wasted through poor practices & procedures.

o Lost productivity of those called away to assist.

o Duplication of support efforts, re-learning the same lessons over and over.

If you think that all these items only occur once in a while and that your staff are resourceful enough to find a solution on their own, think again. The same problem could reoccur time and time again and be fixed time and time again by different people not knowing that it’s happened before. If your staff member can’t fix his/her problem on his/her own, they call someone else to help him or her. That someone else stops what they’re doing and takes an hour trying to fix the problem but can’t. They call another one, and another one. See where I’m going?

Every office has a knowledgeable person that learnt a particular software application or is naturally inclined to technology. That person is often called to help out in the situation mentioned above. And every time this person stops what they’re doing to go and help, they stop being productive at their job. Even worse, if this employee happens to be a high-paid specialist, then the company is throwing away dollars out the window when they could employ a cheaper and trained resource to deliver support.

Worse still, in some instances, when your help desk department is so short staffed that your customers are by-passing the official support people and asking the specialist for help, the company is still losing money!

How to Calculate The Costs of Your Help Desk

Start with the obvious: The salaries, cost of training your support staff, computer hardware and software, phones, copiers, office space etc. The accountants should be able to provide all of this, and tell you how your company for such assets is booking depreciation. Include in the software category the cost for the help-desk automation tools (help desk system). If you don’t have a help desk software that keeps track of the length of your calls, the level of urgency of the calls, what type of problems are logged and how long it takes to resolve the problems, then you need to seriously consider such a purchase.

This is the most efficient way to track what your department is doing, how it spends its budget and what resources need to be considered when the next budget comes around. This software must have the ability to create analysis reports on, the level of urgency of the calls, what type of problems are logged and how long it takes to resolve the problems. If you present this important information to the accountants you’ll show them what your department does and why it needs a bigger chunk of the budget!

Final Note

Basically, when it comes time to determine if you need a support department, think of how you couldn’t afford not to. Computers will crash, people will need support on different software programs, and your employees/customers will need someone to help them with their problems. Having properly trained support staff makes a big difference when we think of a company’s productivity. Without them, so much time and money would be wasted.

Paul Smith is the manager of Auratech Software, a company that specialises in Help Desk Software to help businesses with their customer support. If you would like to read more articles on improving your support or would like to check out Auratech’s range of Help Desk Software, please visit: http://www.helpdesk-support.com/better-support.htm

So Your Starting An Online Buisness? Check For Customer Support First

Starting an Online Business is easier then you think. There are several work at home opportunities that are available. Anything from writing about your own niche related topic to Ad Marketing to Male Enlargement Opportunities. Although most people probably look for a cost friendly avenue to pursue, there is one major detail we all seem to over look. It should be the first thing we look for and we all assume it is there, but it may not be as present as we think. That would be Customer Support.

The last thing you need to find out is not there when starting an online business, is that there is no customer support. It is all fine and dandy to purchase a product for $10 a month, but does it provide all that you need? So yes, it may provide emailing capabilities, server space and auto responders. But if you have questions is there a purchasers forum? Better yet, are you allowed in the forums before you buy the product? Are there any responses to questions you send? How do you take advantage of that "Money Back Guarantee" if you ever need it?

These are the top questions we should all be asking when starting an online business. You may think you will never need to use customer support but at some point even if it is years down the road, you will need it. The last thing you need to find out when beginning your venture, is that your questions are just not important enough to see human eyes because it is a computer automated responder that takes the message. Internet Marketing is HUGE right now. Everyone wants a piece of the work at home pie.

With 70% of people thinking of starting an online business and several making money at it, why not? That is a very high number. But they are only thinking about it. That means they are likely researching about it. Which means a lot of web surfing. Equals a lot of sales gimmicks and having to give up your personal email just to see what is behind "Door # 1". And when you do finally begrudgingly sign your email away and enter the life of starting an online business, it may not be all the peaches and cream we have hoped for. Seems like the most common entry page is another sales page.

Offering free e-zine subscriptions and showing you "Do not take it From Us, here is So and So and their success Story" ads. Then when you scroll down to the bottom, it does not mention anything of customer support or how to find it if you need it. There is a lot of different payment options, signs about a money back guarantee, and "if you buy now get $350 worth of additional products FREE"! And this is fantastic when starting an online business. We want to know that our investment is protected and we all love free stuff. But maybe what we should be asking first is how to contact customer support if there is ever a problem.

Take the major companies of the world. If there was no customer support they would never make it. Someone somewhere will have a question that needs to be answered. If you are starting an online business and you will be selling or promoting a product, are you going to ignore any and every question that comes your way? I doubt it. Although in society today, it seems like we are not as people friendly as we once where, there is something to be said for customer support. A happy customer talks. An irate customer talks, emails, and messages anyone and everyone about their experiences with a name and company attached.

Customer support is the front lines between you and who you will be dealing with. If there is little to no services, there will be little to no recurring business. Word will get around quickly that customer support stinks. We are a freedom of speech society that allows us to say what we want to anyone who will listen in any manner we choose, within reason of course. Nobody needs a lawsuit.

Word of Mouth is Queen in the business world and people listen closely for great customer support but remember names and companies for the worst experiences. When starting an online business, this is no different. Do your homework and ask questions. Yes, several people make it doing little to no research on a specific item, but do you want to promote something you do not care about? Or are you okay with your website "Going on Autopilot" and still making you money while you do the 9-5? Whatever avenue you decide to pursue when starting an online business remember customer support is King.

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Trends In Customer Support Software

A Customer Support Software is a software solution that promotes easy and rapid interaction between the potential and existing prospects and the entrepreneurs in different business domains. A robust and aggressive business environment thrives on customer relationship. If you are able to satisfy your customer then you sustain to be a part of the rat race. A device that enables this effort is tailor-made CSM.

Thriving proper customer relationship is dependent on profound knowledge base that the program provides. This knowledge should also be common knowledge easily reached by support groups including self-service. This should make space for 360-degree analysis of the prospects as well as handle purchases and service contracts. Efficient CSM should be able to route customers and escalate troubled ticket routinely, without human intervention.

A good management program is the tool customized to meet exclusive entrepreneurial needs in service and maintaining customer relations.

Any solution you look ideally assign new tasks/activities to member depending upon their skills and sustain a sophisticated workflow, prompting automatic warning and re-assignment of tasks if these are running behind schedule. Good customer support software is enabled of activity tracking, monitoring, and translating the relevant task to workflow and course automation. Integrated reports and relevant analysis, automated communication options through emails and/or cellular phones are the added advantages of installing such a program.

This is usually developed to extend mutual support to the entrepreneur, users, support and technical segments and customers. The web portal supported is customized for task submission and management. Real-time communication with the support team is the USP of any good program. The centralized information base with self-compatible tools/directives, useful URLs and specified access to sites are distinctive to a quality CSM.

Software solutions are customized for call centers, IT needs to track support requests from department and users. Call centers are now using software that enhances Customer Relation Management (CRM) as a holistic approach to customer retention and escalation. Therefore, software that performs beyond tracking task requests is the need of the hour that such a program should integrate.

There are software solutions that focus on internal support. It is designed to facilitate IT operations and ensuring quality IT service. It also ensures the ability to set and monitor service level agreement (SLA) that reflects customer priorities. Many others have multimedia routing dovetailed with tracking requests. Most Customer Support Software is capable of distributing tasks analyzing the workload. These help in uniform designation of tasks throughout the group. Many CSM's incorporate interactive voice response (IVR) systems that are speech-enabled.

Customer Support Software that might be helpful:
Premium Response
BMC Software
TechExcel
Genticity
Numara Software
FrontRange Solutions
GWI Software

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer Support Software for more info.

Customer Support for Web-Hosting Newbies

Webhosting is a highly competitive field where only those who provide quality service succeed . Quality support increases customer retention which is as important as new customer acquisition.

There is no hard and fast rule on how to provide support. However for a startup webhosting company, its better to be aware of the options available. This article would show how effectively support can be provided with the limited resources available. Many of the ideas and points in this article would help all those who are presently stuck up running their businesses from their homes to foray into this business in a organized way and make it big.

While deciding on how to provide the support, the same rules don't apply everywhere. Larger hosting companies should be handled differently from smaller hosts. If you are a newbie ask yourself the following questions.

1) How many hours can you spend daily for providing support ?
2) What is the level of technical skill you have ?
3) What is your support budget?
4) Are your clients more technically proficient than you are?
5) What are the technical services you would like to provide ?
 

The answers to the above question will help in deciding what support system is to be used . Lets see how the answers to each question would influence the plan.

1) How many hours can you spend daily, for providing support?

A proper customer system can give you more time to spend on other departments like marketing and sales. So when you are designing the customer support system, you should decide on how much time you should be spending on providing support.

What happens if there is not much time available for support? For a startup company, spending just 3-4 hrs ( not necessarily in one go ), would be more than enough. Since there would be only few support queries coming in, it wouldn't be difficult to handle all queries . But here instead of concentrating on replying to each email or phone call, start building a solid self help options for customers . Build a knowledge base and also provide tutorials . A new hosting company with a well laid out tutorials and walk-throughs gives a better impression to the clients. It has been observed that, there is a 60% reduction in the number of support queries coming in, once the above tools are provided.
 

What's advised is, instead of trying for a 24x7 support system running, concentrate on providing self-help-support for customers. A customer would appreciate a site that says "Customer Support from 9am to 5pm" along with self-help support documentation rather than going for the more expensive 24/7 support when your business is small. With competitive pricing this would paint the company to be one run by a professional rather than a newbie.

2) What is your technical capability?

Many startup companies are run by a single owner who juggles the roles of sales, support and billing person by himself. Support is one department where his technical skills would be tested daily . Single owners who are not technically ready, would end up losing more money and time which otherwise could have been used effectively for growth of the company.

There was this owner of a company who was brilliant in marketing and sales .Since he was not a tech guy, he used to spent time googling to find solutions for the support queries from his users . However the support tickets took a long time for getting responses . Due to his customer relation skills, he was able to hang on for some time, but soon clients started leaving . Even after 2 years in the industry, he is still owns a single server, while others have moved ahead. Funny fact, is he is still not ready to accept the fact that his tech skills are not good enough.

The support determines the customer retention factor, which is deciding factor for the company's growth . Hence it should not be neglected . Its okay to try your luck with 50 or so clients at hand . But once your client base grows over 100, get a proper system running . If you are not familiar with systems involved, contact any outsourced tech support company and get a single tech from there to get the system ready . You just need a dedicated tech for 12 hours to install the system for you . Make sure that you get the following services done by the tech.

1) Ticketing System / Help desk installed
2) Backup procedure installed ( if not available already )
3) Customer Contact Form in your site installed.
4) Security auditing of your server.
 

All of this will cost you very little. Once done, you can start providing quality support for your customers. Remember to get the tech from a good company, as there are many out there . A few are Bobcares, Touchsupport ( Don't forget to checkout the testimonials of their customers before coming to a decision ).
 

There are a lot of newbies, who would like to take care of their customers themselves. Problem is most of the issues that can be solved by an experienced person in 10 minutes will take an hour or more for a non-technical person. This will leave a bad impression for a startup hosting company.

If you are technically good, then have an email-based customer support. That'll help archive all communication, and also give time to think twice before providing response. As a startup company, its always safe to read through what you are responding before sending it. The problem with chat/phone is that your knowledge level gets thrown open in front of the customer. A single mistake in the response can bring in bad reputation.

3) What is your support budget ?

Like in any industry, the amount invested can make a major difference in webhosting too . Just in the support department, there are a lot of things that could be done if there is a lot of money at your disposal.

Having a telephone support is the best option. Clients could be handled better over phone, than through any other media. Nothing can beat the personal touch a telephone conversation can provide. On the negative side, you'll have to prepare for understanding all kinds of pronunciation and slangs. This could become more difficult customers are from different parts of the world. Also be aware that phones have to be attended even if you are vacationing with your girlfriend on a lovely beach.

With more money, you can setup a nice informative site and tutorials. Having flash based Howtos can be of real help for the users. Further having a professional looking tutorial will make customers at ease with the services. Also spend money once in a while to get the servers audited for security and resource management. Many outsourcing companies like Bobcares provides this service at low rates of $12/hr.

Also take advantage of the systems like Alertra, Web Site Monitoring system. They can alert you to your Mobile phone or PDA as soon as a support ticket is submitted or the server load goes high. It can save a lot of working time, and since the ticket notifications are alarmed instantly, prompt service can also be ensured.

4) Are your clients more technically proficient than you are ?

A good businessman will know who the future customers are going to be . Market study prior to starting of business, is needed in webhosting too . Decide whether the services are to be offered to hosting novices or power-users . Knowing your customers well can really help in providing efficient support.

 

Hosting novices prefer to go to the companies charging very less . Their requirements are very less, and the sites would consist mostly of static HTML pages . These are people who'll be asking questions on everything under the sun especially startup questions like "how can I upload files" . Just keep a really good knowledge base, and most of the issues will get resolved there. Newbies prefer to go through tutorials than asking questions . Give phone numbers to clients on need-to-know basis. Together these services would give a newbie a homely feeling. But its not suggested to have a user-forum in this situation. There was this company that setup user-forum, but ended up getting bashed on daily basis for no fault of theirs. Newbies are more worrisome people. hence its best to keep them separated .

Power-users are those who use a lot of resources and services ( SSH, CGI, ASP, Java, Coldfusion ..etc ), . They make the best use out of the resources available, but at the same time are experienced and often patient . In case the power-users are being targeted, get a geek ready. Otherwise lot of time would be spent on googling than answering the support queries . A tech guy who is experienced on the services provided will make life easy .

Another benefit of this market is that you'll have a pool of skilled users . Just get a user forum running, and that'll relieve you from most of the support job. The users would be able to help each other here. Many established companies have a well kept user-forum that acts as a support system. However keep a watch on the forum, to avoid getting back-bitten, though that wont take up much time on daily basis . Phone & chat support can be avoided here. Users would prefer to have an efficient email based ticketing systems like Cerebrus HelpDesk or kayako.

5) What are the technical services provided ?

A hosting company would use a lot of softwares and hardwares that are technically complicated . This includes Control Panels, Server's Operating System, Coldfusion, Java, ASP .. etc . Selection of the services that are to be offered will influence the support department too .

Technology changes fast, and its normal to be forced to update the softwares and servers quiet often. But a frequent change and upgrade can cause lot of downtime . Users would also get agitated over it . There would be a rain of support queries after an upgrade or change . If a control panel like CPanel is being used, which updates every fortnight, you would have to be on the toes all the time. Be selective on the services, and prefer using softwares that requires minimum changes . Plesk, another control panel, is a good example for it . Once installed plesk would not require a change very often, which means less support queries.

Further, for a starter its better to start with limited services . This will help in getting a solid support base, and as the company grows keep adding new services. Also update tutorials, and problem solvers as new services are added.

Support is just not about responding to customers, it includes how support is provided. Having a complete support system running, with a professional touch added to it, will make a great impression on customers . Add to it a competitively priced packages and then there will be nothing that can stop this mushroom from growing into a tree.
 

Sojish Krishnan is a freelance author and is currently emplyoyed by http://bobcares.com . He can be reached at sojish@sojish.com