faster problem resolution

8/8/2019 Faster Problem Resolution

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The Essentials Series

Faster Problem

Resolution with

Efficient Remote

Support Capabilities

by Ed Tittel

sponsored by

TM


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The Essentials Series: Faster Problem Resolution with Remote Support Capabilities Ed Tittel

i

IntroductiontoRealtimePublishers

by Don Jones, Series Editor

For several years now, Realtime has produced dozens and dozens of highquality booksthat just happen to be delivered in electronic formatat no cost to you, the reader. Wevemade this unique publishing model work through the generous support and cooperation ofour sponsors, who agree to bear each books production expenses for the benefit of ourreaders.

Although weve always offered our publications to you for free, dont think for a momentthat quality is anything less than our top priority. My job is to make sure that our books areas good asand in most cases better thanany printed book that would cost you $40 ormore. Our electronic publishing model offers several advantages over printed books: You

receive chapters literally as fast as our authors produce them (hence the realtime aspectof our model), and we can update chapters to reflect the latest changes in technology.

I want to point out that our books are by no means paid advertisements or white papers.Were an independent publishing company, and an important aspect of my job is to makesure that our authors are free to voice their expertise and opinions without reservation orrestriction. We maintain complete editorial control of our publications, and Im proud thatweve produced so many quality books over the past years.

I want to extend an invitation to visit us athttp://nexus.realtimepublishers.com, especiallyif youve received this publication from a friend or colleague. We have a wide variety ofadditional books on a range of topics, and youre sure to find something thats ofinterest to

youand it wont cost you a thing. We hope youll continue to come to Realtime for yourfar into the future.educational needs

enjoy.Until then,

Don Jones
http://nexus.realtimepublishers.com/http://nexus.realtimepublishers.com/http://nexus.realtimepublishers.com/http://nexus.realtimepublishers.com/http://nexus.realtimepublishers.com/


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Introduction to Realtime Publishers .............................................. ............................................. ...................... i

Ar ticle 1: Setting the Stage for UserCentric Remote Support ............................................ .................. 1

Th e Support/Service/Help Desk Dilemma ............................................ ............................................. ...... 1

The Help Desk Situation .............................................................................................................................. 2

Emerging Trends Boost Urgency .................................................................................... ......................... 2

PresentDay Problems: Whats Needed? ........................................ ................................................. .......... 3

Re mote Sessions to the Rescue...................................................................................................................... 4

CustomerFacing Support ........................................ .................................................. ................................. 4

BehindtheScenes Support ............................................. .................................................. ......................... 5

Management Support ............................................ .............................................. .......................................... 5

Coming Up Next ................................................................................................................................................ 6

Ar ticle 2: Simplifying the Troubleshooting Process with UserCentric Remote Control .......... 7

Be nefits of UserCentric Remote Support and Control ............................................. .......................... 7

Improves Efficiency ....................................................................................................................................... 7

Saves Money .............................................. ............................................... ............................................. ............ 8

Ensures Security ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Improved Problem Investigation and Diagnosis ................................................................................... 9

....... 10Coming Up Next ......................................................................................................................................

Article 3: Understanding How Remote Control and Diagnosis Addresses Typical UserPr oblems ................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Solving Configuration Problems ................................................................................................................ 11

Ric h Online Connection Lets Users Hang Up (or Skip) the Phone ............................................. .. 11

Chat Windows ............................................................................................................................................... 12

ScreenSharing .............................................................................................................................................. 12

Improved Service Delivery ........................................................................................................................... 12

Sticky Sessions See Solutions Through to Completion .............................................. ....................... 13

Increased Opportunities for Learning and Training ......................................... ................................ 13


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Im proved Reporting Reflects Help Desk Activity ....................................... ........................................ 14

Reports ............................................................................................................................................................. 14

Surveys ............................................................................................................................................................. 14

Session Recording ....................................................................................................................................... 14

Summary .............................................................................................................................................................. 15


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Copyright Statement

2010 Realtime Publishers. All rights reserved. This site contains materials that havebeen created, developed, or commissioned by, and published with the permission of,Realtime Publishers (the Materials) and this site and any such Materials are protectedby international copyright and trademark laws.

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If you have any questions about these terms, or if you would like information aboutlicensing materials from Realtime Publishers, please contact us via e-mail [email protected].

AboutCitrixGoToAssistCorporateCitrix GoToAssist Corporate is the fast and effective remote support and service solution provento improve your services margins and customer satisfaction. To learn more about GoToAssist

Corporate and the power of remote service delivery, please visit www.gotoassist.com or call 1-800-549-8541. If you are calling from outside the U.S., dial +1-805-690-5729.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Article1:SettingtheStageforUserCentric

RemoteSupport

When it comes to providing remote user support, the biggest winners in this effort shouldbe the users themselves, who can invite qualified professionals onto their desktops to helpthem solve problems and address technical issues. By fostering useroriented remotesupport, however, organizations can also boost Help desk productivity and reduce time toresolution for user issues. This creates a second win for Help desk operations at the sametime.

This article is geared toward small to midsize organizations with a base of 500+ employees.However, the concepts of remote support and the solutions described in this article canbenefit organizations of all sizes.

TheSupport/Service/HelpDeskDilemmaTodays IT Help desk is expected to provide highquality customer service in anincreasingly complex and mobile environment. Many companies run a mix of operatingsystems (OSs) or varying editions of the same OS on hardware from differentmanufacturers. Although organizations may standardize on an office productivity suite,employees may use different versions due to budget restrictions on upgrading all packagessimultaneously. Some employees also require specialized software, such as graphics,computeraided design (CAD), or modeling packages.

At the same time, mobile computing is on the rise, with many employees needing to workfrom customer sites, between main and branch offices, and from home. Those employeesneed laptops with secure Ethernet, WiFi, mobile broadband, and dialup modemconnectivity so that they can connect to the Internet any place, at any time. All of thesetechnologies fall to the Help desk to support, where the majority of user requests must behandled remotely.

With the usual long queues of users needing help, Help desk managers constantly seekmore efficient and costeffective ways to:

their internal support teamsIncrease the productivity of

sRemotely diagnose system Support mobile workers

Decrease call handling times

n ratesBoost firstcontact resolutio

Ensure business continuity


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TheHelpDeskSituation

Remote and mobile users are spread across offices, cities, and even countries. What oncewas a laborbased local workforce has evolved into a knowledgebased distributedworkforce, with IT technology high on the priority list.

Supporting a remote employee in the traditional Help desk stylesolely over the phone orvia Web chatbecomes an exercise in working by feel. The agent listens to the callerdescribe a computer problem, and asks questions to gain more insight. The type of callercan make a big difference in how quickly the problem gets resolved. More technically savvyand levelheaded computer users tend to work with the agent, eager to fix it and move on.Other users arent as cooperative, for myriad reasons, and can make the agents job muchmore demanding and frustrating. The latter type of Help desk incident can easily turn a 5minute call into a 20minute call, or more.

Such delays lower customer satisfaction and spawn complaints to management. Worse, theproblem can go unnoticed by Help desk managers who dont have the proper tools to helpthem monitor useragent interactions. In addition, Help desk personnel are often measuredby the number and length of calls taken and resolveda series of long, drawnout supportcalls can skew the statistics of an otherwise competent worker.

To be efficient, the Help desk agent needs visibility of the callers PCa way to see whatthe caller is describing. Help desk managers need visibility into the entire Help deskoperation to understand strengths and weaknesses of the process, and to coach their teamon more effective support techniques.

NoteEarly remote support solutions consisted of screensharing programs thatenabled IT personnel to access a PC and attempt to diagnose problems. The

solutions worked reasonably well for employees within the corporatefirewall. However, traveling employees used slow dialup connections andhad to make sure the software was installed leaving on a trip. If the softwarewasnt preinstalled, more time was spent at the beginning of a support callhelping the mobile employee through setup and configuration.

EmergingTrendsBoostUrgency

The mobile workforce is expanding. According to IDCs Worldwide Mobile WorkerPopulation 20092013 Forecast (December 2009), the worlds mobile worker populationwill grow from about 1 billion in 2010 to nearly 1.2 billion by 2013. That means potentiallymore Help desk activity, which will need to be handled in less time to meet increasingdemand for such services and support.

Help desk managers must also work within financial restrictions: Many businesses seeprofit margins tightening, while government agencies have to maintain service levels onreduced budgets. It all comes down to doing more with less. Because personnel is usuallythe largest expense in any organization, accomplishing more with existing staff is anecessary strategy to improve the bottom line.


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Streamlining the Help desk processby handling incidents more efficiently and resolvingmore issues on the first interactioncreates a lessstressful and more productive workenvironment. Employee morale is boosted, which leads to less turnover. With a generalindustry shortage of good Help desk staff, high morale and low turnover are significantconsiderations for managers seeking remote support tools.

NoteKeeping agents happy is important to many Help desk managers, andproviding the right tools can be a key element in fostering employee jobsatisfaction. A reliable, fully featured remote support solution can increaseproductivity immediately, and improve employee and customer satisfactionover the long term.

Finally, senior management is often concerned about workforce continuity. The results ofdisasters in recent years, such as hurricanes, floods, and pandemics, have escalatedconcerns by management to ensure business continuity regardless of conditions. This puts

additional pressure on Help desk personnel to be able to support users in adversesituations, or to continue providing support when their own environment is diminished.

PresentDayProblems:WhatsNeeded?Many Help desk managers struggle with operational problems and technical logistics theywant to eliminate. Although these issues vary among organizations, they come down to acommon set of issues and resolutions. To run a welloiled Help desk, todays managersrequire the following:

Speedy resolution for problemsHelp desk calls must be handled as quickly as

possible while providing quality customer service. Lower firstcontact resolutionsThe goal is to minimize the number of repeat calls.

This enables Help desk personnel to support more users more efficiently.

Webbased Software as a Service (SaaS) solutionsUsers only need a Web browserand Internet connection, commonly used by organizations and individuals, to placesupport requests and get help. No preinstalled software or client agents arerequired nor are firewall reconfigurations.

NoteSaaS is a type of thirdparty hosted service that provides Help desk remotesupport tools, and much more. You purchase services on a monthly or peruse basis, which greatly reduces inhouse hardware and software costs inaddition to IT support effort. Managers get predictable expenses, moreaccurate budgets, and the flexibility to increase or decrease service levels asneeded.


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Quick and simple access for remote and shared controlRemote support tools mustinitiate connections quickly and allow for shared control of a users PC.

Opportunities for users to be guided and steeredSome users just need training orhowto assistance to help them become more selfsufficient. A remote support toolshould include realtime screen sharing so that a user can watch an agent

demonstrate a task.

Opportunities for users to learn by watching and doingA remote support toolshould provide for shared remote control. This enables an agent to change theremote system while the user observes, or hand control back to the user while theagent monitors the action and provides feedback.

Opportunities for agents to learn by watching and doingManagers or other teammembers can take control of the session while the initial agent watches and learnshow to resolve the issue.

Open doors to deliver service or content and resolve incidentsA remote support

tool should include file transfer and diagnostics as well as remote control andassistance. This creates a complete solution for identifying and repairing problemsand issues.

Increased customer loyalty through usercentric soft skillsBy enabling end usersto observe and learn from diagnosis and repair activities, and to allow Help deskstaff to instruct users on how to perform various activities on their own desktops,organizations benefit from reduced problem resolution times and improved Helpdesk productivity. They also provide users with opportunities to learn, and to do soby watching, then doing for themselves.

RemoteSessions

to

the

Rescue

Many organizations are opting for usercentric remote support as a comprehensive Helpdesk solution. These types of solutions are designed to speed the resolution of support callsand resolve problems on the first attempt. Help desk personnel can view and control thedesktop of any user, anywhere, using highly secure connections.

CustomerFacingSupport

With usercentric remote support, users can request assistance over the phone, on theWeb, or via email. A user can select a specific agent to work with, or the system adds therequest to a queue to be picked up by the next available agent. Once an agent accepts the

request, a remote session is established quickly with the users computer. This is referredto as rapid entry into sessions.

TipLook for a solution that allows an agent to open a session with any mobile orremote employee in less than 30 seconds.


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With permission from the user, the agent takes control of the remote PC just as if the agentwere physically in front of the computer. Remote diagnostic tools enable the agent to checkthe system configuration and gather details to diagnose the problem. The user can see

y time.every task being performed, and can resume control at an

Beyond screen sharing, this type of solution also enables: File transfers for updates and patchesAgents can install system updates and

patches on a remote PC as part of routine maintenance.

System reboots with automatic reconnectionIf a reboot is needed during a userade.agent session, the session resumes automatically when the new connection is m

Chat sessions while sharing screensThe user can open a separate window toexchange chat messages with an agent during screen sharing.

Team collaborationThe initial agents and a supporting agent or manager canresolve a users problem together, either visibly or invisibly to the user.

TipLook for a solution that uses compression technology to enable realtimesupport for all users, even while connected to users overseas or far away.

BehindtheScenesSupport

In addition to assisting users, agents can help each other through the system. For example,if an agent encounters an unfamiliar problem while in a user session, the agent can requesthelp from another agent using team collaboration tools. This assistance occurs in thebackground without the users knowledge or involvement. An agent can also seamlesslytransfer the session to another agent, if that proves necessary or desirable.

ManagementSupport

A usercentric remote support solution provides a number of essential managementfeatures. Help desk managers work from a management dashboard to get a complete viewof live sessions, silently monitoring and observing the quality of customer service that teammembers deliver. Monitoring live sessions is also an effective training tool for new agents,who can learn the interface while seeing how experienced agents respond to and resolve avariety of issues for users.

Each interactive session, whether its between agents or an agent and a user, is recorded.Managers can get complete information about each session, including system diagnostics,chat transcripts, screen sharing, and team collaboration. A remote support solution

archives sessions for a predetermined number of days (perhaps 90), and then gives you theoption to export sessions from the SaaS server to your local storage.

One feature of a remote support solution that enhances customer satisfaction is the abilityto submit postsession surveys. Upon completion of a session, users are provided anelectronic survey to rate the quality of the agent and overall service. Agents and managersreceive the feedback, which they should use to improve customer service skills anddelivery.


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Managers also benefit from custom reports that provide metrics about call volumes, callhandling times, and firstcontact resolutions. You can generate additional reports thatcontain user satisfaction data to evaluate individual agent, team, and companyperformance.

TipOnce you export saved session data and store it locally, you can use your ownbusiness intelligence tools to fully analyze the data and run reports.

ComingUpNextThe second article of this series explores Help desk troubleshooting and how the process issimplified with a usercentric remote support solution.


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Article2:SimplifyingtheTroubleshooting

ProcesswithUserCentricRemoteControl

The first article in this series explored the dilemmas of todays Help desk environment:higher customer expectations, the challenges of an increasingly mobile workforce, and theneed for shorter support calls and firstcall resolution. The article also introduced you tousercentric remote support solutions that meet user needs and streamline the Help deskprocess. This article focuses on the Help desk troubleshooting process, and how a usercentric remote solution simplifies that process for users and agents alike.

BenefitsofUserCentricRemoteSupportandControlA usercentric remote support solution provides immediate, direct support for mobile and

remote users. Rather than spending time attempting to resolve computer issues on theirown, users may initiate a remote support session with a live agent by phone, over the Web,or through email. To obtain assistance over the Web, a customer can use a standard Webbrowser and an ordinary Internet Protocol (IP) connection. The burden of resolutiontransfers to an experienced Help desk agent, and the user gets back to work more quickly.

NoteUsers who call in for support can choose to remain on the phone with theagent or switch to Web chat once a remote session begins.

Many of todays remote support solutions are based on Software as a Service (SaaS), which

delivers many types of services over the Internet. Because a SaaSbased remote supportsolution is remotely hosted, organizations dont have to worry about security and staffingto support a thirdparty solution. They can instead focus on their organizations corecompetencies.

ImprovesEfficiency

Rapid entry into sessionsquick connections to support queues with live agents standingbyspeeds call resolution times. In addition, many remote support solutions enable agentsto handle multiple calls or sessions simultaneously, viewing sidebyside sessions inseparate onscreen windows or in tabs. To address common questions and keep one userengaged while working with other users, agents use Web chat to push prescripted

messages to users. As a result, agents can handle higher call volumes than is possible fortraditional telephone support technologies.

NoteAnother method for reducing call volumes is to eliminate repeat calls byteaching and demonstrating to users how to solve common problems forthemselves.


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The screensharing and remote control features of remote support solutions eliminate theneed for mobile users to follow instructions over the phone, reducing the time needed toresolve problems for technically challenged users. With these tools, agents can show auser how to perform a task, or fix a problem for the user while the user watches the agentsactions.

The firstcontact resolution rate is an important metric that Help desk managers watchclosely. The firstcontact resolution rate is tightly tied to a Help desks overall efficiencyand performance rating.

NoteUsing a remote support solution, your organization can experience a 50 to95percent increase in firstcontact user resolution rates at the tier1 supportlevel.

This stems from users getting into the support queue quickly, the agents ability todiagnose problems accurately using the remote control feature, and the users ability toresume work with minimal downtime. In addition, agents can spend extra time with someusers coaching them on computer tasks so that users become less dependent on support inthe future.

Help desk callers get an immediate benefit from a usercentric remote support solutionbecause they can be productive again in a few minutes. A remote solution fosters increasedcustomer loyalty through newly acquired soft skills and faster incident resolutions.

SavesMoney

Because you pay for services over the Web rather than the infrastructure costs of a Helpdesk, a remote support solution can greatly reduce an organizations operating costs. Many

vendors claim that you should see a return on investment (ROI) within the first year ofimplementing a SaaSbased remote support solution; some say youll achieve actual ROI inas little time as 3 or 4 months.

By allowing agents to fully control a PC remotely, some organizations save thousands ofdollars in travel costs. Lets look at a few examples:

Salespeople can easily set up sessions to provide demonstrations using a remotesupport and control solution at a fraction of the travel costs. For example, if aprospective customer is 4 hours away from the main office, a salesperson caneliminate the initial sales visit by expediting a demo with the prospect remotely. If

the prospect is highly motivated to buy, the salesperson can then make a visit toclose the deal.

A usercentric remote support solution with file transfer capability eliminates theneed for IT staff to travel to remote locations to perform upgrades and routinemaintenance. To minimize downtime, agents can handle these tasks remotely,during offpeak hours when remote employees are not working.


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NoteThe file transfer feature of a remote support solution also reduces thecomplexity of having to ship laptops used by mobile or remote employees toa centralized IT department for repair or maintenance.

EnsuresSecurity

When receiving assistance, users dont have to worry about the security of their computersor stored data. Remote support sessions operate via port 80, 443, or 8200 without anyfirewall reconfiguration. In addition, they use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and 128bitendtoend Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption. Agents must provide strongpasswords to gain access to the system, and they must get customer permission to access aremote PC before establishing a support session. Users must also enter a unique connectioncode into the Web interface when first invited to participate in a support session.

NoteMultilevel security features help organizations maintain compliance with

regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act(HIPAA) and the GrammLeachBliley Act (GLBA).

ImprovedProblemInvestigationandDiagnosisTodays usercentric remote support solutions are vastly improved as compared with olderremedial screensharing programs. Using just a small plugin downloaded over the Web,users gain access to remote control sessions that enable agents to run sophisticateddiagnostic tools and resolve technical issues.

For example, realtime direct access to a users PC or Mac permits agents to see for

themselves the problems a user is experiencing. Over a secure connection, a Help deskagent can log in as the administrator on a users PC to dig into system configuration,settings, drivers, and softwareand can even access hidden system files. The agent mayalso run diagnostic utilities to collect user system information, including operating system(OS) details, total and available memory, applications and services currently running, andmorewith just one click. If a reboot is needed, the agent can send a Ctrl+Alt+Del to restartthe remote PC, without interrupting the session in progress.

TipBecause of differences between the OSs, remote support for Macintoshsystems from a PC has always presented challenges. If your Help desksupports a heterogeneous environment of Macs and PCs, look for a solutionthat allows PCbased agents to view or share control of Mac users desktopsas well as PC users.


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To enhance the user experience, annotation tools and shared control provide an easy,transparent mechanism for sharing key information items and observations. An agent mayuse a pen or highlighter tool to draw attention to something on the users screen, such ascircling a menu or drawing an arrow to a particular part of the screen. The user can use thesame tools on his or her end to clarify a question or pinpoint a problem for the agent. In

addition, some remote support solutions support multimonitor navigation, enabling anagent to easily navigate around a users multimonitor computer setup.

Agents may contact another agent or a group in the background to collaborate on a difficultor unfamiliar customer issuethe exchange remains invisible to the user. Alternatively,another agent can be brought into the session to work as a team with the user and theoriginal agent (referred to as visiblecollaboration). If the incident must be escalated to ahigher level, the agent can seamlessly transfer the session to the appropriate person. This isa key feature in incident handling and necessary to preserve a high level of customerservice.

Finally, remote support solutions allow session recording for later review, trainingpurposes, and to maintain a record of support encounters. You can incorporate recordedsession data into your customer relationship management (CRM) tool in polling intervals,on demand, or per a custom schedule.

TipIf integrating session data with your CRM system is important to yourorganization, look for a remote support solution with a data replicatorfeature that automatically downloads session data to a local Microsoft SQLServer database.

ComingUpNextThe third article in this series will examine how remote control and diagnosis featuresaddress typical user problems.


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Article3:UnderstandingHowRemote

ControlandDiagnosisAddressesTypical

UserProblems

The first two articles in this series explored usercentric remote support solutions,provided an overview of the Help desk situation, discussed key benefits of switching to aWebbased solution, and explained specifics for the troubleshooting process when using afullfeatured solution. This article focuses on the actual remote tools used to diagnose userproblems, along with management reports that provide valuable metrics to help improvecustomer support and satisfaction.

SolvingConfiguration

Problems

When a user experiences just about any computer problem, the two main sources areeither hardware or software. Although many hardware problems can be diagnosedremotely, resolution usually requires an IT technician to visit the users work area or havethe unit shipped to the IT department.

Configuration issues, however, can almost always be resolved remotely with the rightremote support solution. These solutions save time, travel/shipping costs, and can greatlyimprove the efficiency in any Help desk operation.

A remote support solution allows Help desk agents to establish control over a users PC

with administrativelevel permissions to install/upgrade and configure softwareapplications, modify operating system (OS) settings, and install or upgrade drivers. Realtime connections let agents accomplish such tasks quickly and get users back to work withonly minimal downtime. The remote control feature in a support solution is particularlyimportant for mobile workers who may have no alternative equipment to use whenproblems crop up.

RichOnlineConnectionLetsUsersHangUp(orSkip)thePhoneFrom a Help desk managers perspective, two of the primary benefits of a remote supportsolution are improved firstcontact resolution and speedier service call resolution. Theseresults are significant, and mean lower overall call volumes owing to fewer repeat calls, and

an increased ability to support a larger user population more efficiently.

Users may contact the Help desk for assistance by phone, email, or through a Web form.Once a connection is established between a user and an agent, phone contact becomesoptional. The remote support solution opens a viewer window on the agents computerthat displays the users desktop for screensharing purposes. At the same time, a chatwindow appears on both the users and agents monitors through which the parties cancommunicate one on one.


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ChatWindows

Chat and remote control work handinglove to promote ongoing communication. Theagents chat window includes tools that allow the agent to:

Select prescripted responses and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to send to the

user Initiate file transfers

Reboot the users computer, where automatic session recovery following rebooteby eliminating callbacksmaintains the current session, ther

Start or stop screen sharing at will

Perform remote diagnostics and change access levels

Use annotation tools, such as a pen, arrow, and highlighter, to direct the usersattention to specific parts of the screen

Tools in the users chat window enable the user to save a chat log, participate in a filetransfer, change access levels, and use annotation tools.

NoteIn most cases, organizations find the chat window feature to be a faster, moreeffective means of communication than traditional phone support. Chatsessions can help agents avoid language barriers and miscommunicationwith users, reducing the need to escalate the call to another agent.

ScreenSharing

The viewer window enables the agent to view the customers desktop and share control of

the mouse and keyboard (if configured to do so). Some remote support solutions alsoenable the agent to share his or her desktop with the user for guided learning. From theviewer window, the agent can access annotation tools, the chat window, and commands forsession transfer, session invitations, reboot/reconnect, file transfers, and remotediagnostics.

ImprovedServiceDeliveryRemote support solutions provide easeofuse for the end user and agent alike. Thecapability to use screensharing, remote control, and chat windows enables faster responseand more accurate problem solving. Using the remote control feature, agents have

complete control of the remote PC for diagnostic and troubleshooting purposes, withoutneeding to rely on the user to provide action, input, or even understand the OS orapplications.


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Help desk managers gain access to a host of tools that enable ongoing monitoring andobservation of agentuser sessions. For example, a management dashboard or console letsmanagers view realtime status of incoming queries or the status of agents who are loggedin. Silent monitoring enables managers to monitor live support sessions to ensure thatagents comply with approved support procedures. Managers can also access individual

agent and team metrics, chat session logs, and realtime snapshot reports. With the use ofautomated surveys (covered later in this article), a remote support solution providesincreased opportunities for feedback and customer satisfaction.

StickySessionsSeeSolutionsThroughtoCompletionThe concept of a sticky session means theres no need for the user to manually reconnectif the agent must reboot a remote PC. The solution automatically reestablishes theconnection to the session in progress. Plus, the support agent remains visible and helpfulthroughout the session, even when supporting multiple users at the same time.

NoteGenerally, agents may run as many sessions as necessary but are limited to aspecific number of users in a multiuser session.

To speed resolution time, team collaboration tools enable support staff to get guidancefrom managers or help from other agents in the background while a session is live. Anagent can also bring in a manager or another agent on a session to provide more indepthtroubleshooting or support, or transfer the users session to other support staff forescalation purposes.

Sessions are never dropped or left in a queue to be forgotten accidentally. Queue and help

alert windows display incoming requests, requests being transferred, and informationabout the user and session, such as time of the request, user language, and other importantparameters. Managers can monitor all queued requests from a single interface.

IncreasedOpportunitiesforLearningandTrainingA usercentric remote support solution also provides multiple means of learning andtraining. Agents can interact with users for mentoring, learning, escalation, and division oflabor.

Screensharing allows users to receive guidance from individual agents or through team

collaboration, yet still act for themselves. New agents can learn by first watching livesessions, then participating in sessions with another agent or a manager. This systemprovides a safety net for new agents and improves the overall quality of training, whileusers get the support they need.


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NoteEven experienced agents benefit from a virtual overtheshoulder look at auser session if the problem being resolved is new to them.

ImprovedReporting

Reflects

Help

Desk

Activity

Most remote support solutions provide a wealth of preconfigured reports, automatedsurveys, and the ability to record user sessions. Reports provide key metrics fordetermining the capacity limits of the Help desk, and provide measurable insight to drivecontinuous process improvement. Use of satisfaction surveys from users help managersmonitor quality of support. Recorded sessions can be analyzed for statistical purposes andfurther learning.

Reports

Reports generally include the following information:

esolution, and success metricsService call duration, r Agent characteristics

Entire Help desk time, resolution, and satisfaction statistics

Managers may run reports daily, weekly, or monthly, or customize reports to cover a rangeof dates. Reports may also be configured to run automatically and be sent to a specifiedemail address.

Surveys

Many remote support solutions deliver a builtin survey to the user automatically at theend of a session. The user may complete the survey to provide instant feedback on the

effectiveness of the agent during the session (to resolve a problem, provide training, and soon). The system stores survey results as satisfaction metrics, which are viewable by theHelp desk manager and can be shared with the agent as a learning tool and as part of anorganizations employee reward and recognition program.

TipManagers may use collected survey data to prove the value of Help deskoperations to the organization by demonstrating high levels of service andsatisfaction.

SessionRecording

Many remote support tools automatically record user sessions for training and qualityassurance. Managers can export remotesupport sessions, chat, diagnostics, and customerfeedback to a local server to run analysis tools or incorporate the data into a customerrelationship management (CRM) system, then archive the data to permanent storage.


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SummaryUltimately, a usercentric remote support solution can solve many of a Help desk managerspain points: boost productivity of the internal support team, remotely diagnose systems,support mobile workers, decrease callhandling time, and increase firstcontact resolution.All of these benefits not only improve typical Help desk metrics and performance measures

but also can help ensure a quick return on investment (ROI) in stateoftheart, usercentricemote access and management software.r

faster problem resolution

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