 A key activity for customer support centers is resolving customer inquiries. While many inquiries are resolved during the first call, others are entered in ticketing systems such as HP OpenView® for handling by other support levels. A typical scenario has a customer calling with a technical questions, first level support not being able to resolve the issue, entering the issue into a ticketing system and then assigning it manually or automatically to a second level support team. The second level support team resolves the issue and returns it to the first level support which then informs the customer of the resolution and closes the ticket. In some organizations third and fourth level support levels exist.
The ValueNetworks.com application can be configured with support center data to help resolve three key issues that arise when first level support opens and assigns a ticket.
1. It can enable automated assignment of a ticket to a second level team and individual that will resolve the ticket fastest based on historical performance, availability of staff and competence of staff.
2. It can help predict whether or not a ticket will be completed within service level requirements.
3. It can help re-assign teams and individuals during the resolution process to maintain service level requirements.
While ticketing tools will commonly allow for transparency regarding which team is currently active, ValueNetworks.com also identifies individuals and key roles within that team to answer four basic questions:
1. Which team and which individual should be handling a ticket to allow for on-time ticket resolution?
2. Which team and individual is currently responsible for the ticket?
3. Is a ticket resolution within service level requirements?
4. Which team and individual should handle the ticket next?
The above is especially relevant for multiple support levels operating in a "follow the sun" process.
Data required for configuring the ValueNetworks.com application originates from a) standard queries on the ticketing tool for case information, b) the business warehouse for statistical performance information, c) the organizational management structure found in the ticketing tool or collaboration tools, and d) calendaring tools. Data is aggregated by ValueNetworks.com and then used to provide on-demand insights and to support triggering notification systems predicting deviance from service level agreements. Additional information sources of relevance can be accessed from the service level agreement database, internal time tracking and cost tracking systems.
Implementation of the above usually involves reconfiguring ticketing tool case status, organizational measures to ensure discipline in the use of calendering tools, and use of regression analysis to identify thresholds for triggering notification systems.
Practically speaking a first step is taken by manually aggregating the needed data daily via ODBC driven MS Access files, exporting the reports to ValueNetworks.com and generating a dashboard of tickets which are flagged as likely predicted to fail service level agreement requirements, thus enabling faster and better interventions to stay on track.
If you have questions or wish more information please contact us at info@valuenetworks.com.
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