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The HelpConnection Process Overview The processes within parenthesis are done automatically by the HelpConnection.NET solution. Each of the three letters below (A,B,C) is also a link to more detailed information about this portion of the process.
This picture shows the typical lifecycle of a customer support issue, beginning at the submission.
Figure 1 - Customer Support Cycle  A. Question/Issue Submission (via Online Form)
1. Your client finds the support area on your site, through the link you have established, or provided. 2. The client reads some FAQs posted to your Knowledge Base via your installed HelpConnection.NET solution. If the option is enabled, the client may also be able to select a language preference for the interface (headers, tabs, etc.). See install guide. 3. If he doesn’t see a solution to his problem, he may submit a new question title from the online form * in your support area. He may now be presented with a list of related issues before continuing to submit his question. Or, if there is an Alert that is current for this category, he may see a notification of this current issue. 4. If the customer still wants to ask a question, he will complete the online form. (* See notes below.) 5. One of the mandatory fields that visitors will fill out is Category. This is used by the helpdesk to determine which agents should be notified via email of this issue.
Issues can also be submitted directly via email, using the built-in POP3 manager. Or, issues can be submitted internally via the administration menu. (This is useful for phoned-in, mailed-in, or internal issues.) 2. The online form can be shown in different ways, depending on your [ web.config ] settings. a) One option lists possible solutions that already exist in your knowledgebase. With this option the visitor must acknowledge that they have checked the issues presented before the issue submission form can be completed and submitted. b) The other option is for the visitor to go directly to the complete submission form, as in step 3 below. To switch between enforcing the three part question submission, and the direct question submission, you must change a setting in your config.asp file. See your install guide for more information. B. Issue Review / Decision
Unless an agent is preassigned to a specific client, all agents assigned to that category are notified by email that a new issue has been submitted. If no agent has been assigned, the supervisor will receive the email. When free, the agent(s) will click on the link provided in the email to review the issue. ASSIGNING THE ISSUE: In any of the 4 options below, the agent doing the assigning will eventually end up in the update issue area. If the agent has enough information, the expertise necessary, and is available to work on this, he may accept the assignment by either: 1. Automatic Assignment: An agent can be assigned directly to a client. In this case, the issue will automatically be assigned to that agent, unless that agent is marked as on vacation. 2. Claiming the Issue: Each agent can claim their own issues as they become available. The (hand) icon is only found in the issues list (Issues Tab), if the issue has not yet been ‘claimed’ by another agent. To claim the issue (accept the assignment), click on the hand. This will alert other agents that the issue is being attended to, and they are not required at this time. In most cases, this is the optimal solution where there are multiple agents working at the same time. 3. Self-Assigning the Issue: This is optimal only if you are the only agent working at the moment. In this case, begin updating the issue immediately selecting your agent name in the Agent Assignment field, and clicking on ‘update issue’. As with all changes to forms, other agents won’t know you’ve changed this field, until after you click on the update issue button. Use the ‘Claim Issue’ button as much as possible, as it will update the Agent Assignment field immediately. So, the next agent to consider whether to work on this issue will know it’s been ‘taken’. 4. Assigning Issues to Other Customer Support Reps: Or, you can establish a company policy where certain individuals are responsible for assigning agents to all issues. In this case, don’t assign agents to the categories. (The supervisor assigned to that category will still get email notifications, and can ‘reassign’ the issue. When the issue has been updated to show a new agent, that agent will now receive an automated email notifying them.) You may decide in this case to assign a security level to these agents where they can see ‘their own issues only’. Notes: • The agent assignment is done manually, because most HelpConnection.NET users have multiple agents. In these cases, the most skilled and/or available agent can be selected, so that the issue turn-around time is optimized. • If an agent modifies the assigned field from within the update issue area, an email will automatically be generated and sent to notify the new agent. • If an agent escalates the issue to his/her supervisor, they will be given an opportunity to customize some of the email contents to explain to the supervisor about the situation. The issue will be reassigned to the supervisor, and they will be notified by email via the HelpConnection.NET solution. ANSWERING THE QUESTION, OR WORKING WITH THE CUSTOMER (Responses/Updates): If the solution is unknown at this time, the agent may begin working with the customer. Further updates to the question are shown internally and to the issue submitter only at this point. (Issues can’t be added to the KB until they have been resolved and made public. For alerts and advisories, use the category description field.) If at any time, an issue is determined to be outside the realm of the agent, or needs to be elevated to a higher-ranking agent, the agent may simply reassign the issue to his supervisor (who will be automatically notified by email.) If the predetermined elevation expiry time has elapsed, the supervisor will be notified by email the next time an agent logs in to the solution. Anytime the agent logs in, he can see how many new issues he has accepted (or been assigned) in his home (summary) area. The details of all issues are available, and the agent may respond from the site (with or without having received an email.) So, even if he is temporarily without email access, he can still work. Aside from the information gathered by HelpConnection.NET, and offered by the user, the agent has access to his own and/or other agents’ previously written solutions or drafts, which can be sorted in various ways. The previous solutions can then be applied to this answer. (Saves time, adds consistency to solutions.) While the agent is working, it is advisable that he/she updates the status periodically. (This is done in the Update Issue screen.) Issue status options are: New (initial), Updated (more info was added), Pending (awaiting info), On Hold (vacation?), Resolved (answered & completed), Open, or Closed (cancelled prior to resolution or invalid question). C. Resolved / Public IssueOnce the solution has been completed to the satisfaction of the agent, the customer and the manager, the issue status is manually changed to read resolved (if a fix was required), or closed (if only information was required). The customer that submitted the issue may also close it at any time from the public area. Once the issue is either resolved or closed, the issue may be made public (shown in Knowledge Base) by checking the Show Issue to Public box. This way, other visitors and customers can find their answers quickly, and you won’t have to deal with the same questions over, and over again. Internal issues can be kept private, but still visible to other agents (representatives). Another email is sent to notify the submitter that the issue has been resolved, together with a link to the issue. The email content may also be made to include the actual resolution. Note: Unresolved issues can’t be shown to the public, except to the issue submitter, and to your agents. Other Agent Tools: Agents have other tools available to them to help improve efficiency and to allow agents to work from any pc with internet access. Some of these tools are: 1. An online personal contact book (where individual contact info can be made available to other agents, or not!) 2. An online To-Do-List, where an agent may record items that require his/her attention. 3. An online memorandum to email selected agents. (Can be used by Senior Agents and Higher.) Administrative Settings & Tools: In addition to the above, the administrator(s) (usually the manager(s) of the business or group) may also access detailed or summary issue / agent / system statistics at any time through the Tools tab of the HelpConnection.NET solution menu. There are also other tools such as the Message Templates area; this is an online form where agents can modify automatic emails. System wide settings can be found in either the config.asp file, or the System Settings area of the tools tab. |
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