Hang it up! - Web-based support replacing telephone support for many customers - Internet/Web/Online Service Information

Software Magazine, May, 1997 by Julekha Dash

The way AFI is approaching Internet-based customer support is indicative of the way industry will move, says Muirhead of the Help Desk Institute. More and more companies will use their CSS systems to automate customer support from the point of customer contact. "Many companies are moving in that direction, where they have an integrated CIS system that tracks a customer from cradle to grave -- from the first sales call to their service and maintenance agreement," says Muirhead.

Though AFI is using its Web-based CSS application primarily with prospects, most companies use CSS applications to serve existing customers. Last December, Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP), based in Roseland, N.J., began using the ClearExpress WebSupport system from Clarify Inc., San Jose, Calif., in their Employer Services (ES) business to offload some of the 70 million phone calls they receive per year and provide support to more than 350,000 ES clients. Using the ClearExpress system, customers can sign on to the Web site and create a "case" by filling in pre-set fields. Each case is assigned an identifier number and is routed to the appropriate customer service representative via E-mail. All inquiries are integrated into a work queue managed by Clarify's Workflow Engine, which runs on Windows NT servers. Customers reps use NT clients, and access a Microsoft SQL Server database.

Though ADP has yet to measure the product's ROI, Howard Koenig, senior vice president of operations and client services for ADP Employer Services, believes the company is saving money by using a Web-enabled CSS application. "It's a lot cheaper to handle calls this way than via phone or in person," he says. ADP clients say they like the system's 24x7 availability and the consistency of the responses they receive, he adds.

Of ADP's customers, says Koenig, small entrepreneurial companies and large, well-entrenched firms have expressed the most interest in using the Web technology, whereas medium-size companies have been more reticent. He believes that younger companies are more open to using new technology and larger firms have the infrastructure that allows their employees dial-up via the Web.

According to Clarify's Donna Novitsky, vice president of marketing, customer self-service is really taking off, as evidenced by the fact that 50% of their installed customer base has also purchased the ClearExpress Web product. (Clarify also sells front-office customer service and sales force automation products.) Novitsky says this summer Clarify will add functionality to their Web product that will allow end users to place orders via the Web. It's part the company's strategy for "turning the Web from an information dissemination system to a medium for conducting business transactions," says Novitsky.

Another company that has implemented Web-based customer support is Broderbund Software, Novato, Calif., which publishes popular games like Myst and Carmen Sandiego. The company implemented CasePoint WebServer from Inference Corp., also in Novato, two years ago, following a hectic post-Christmas when the company received as many as 1,500 calls a day from users requiring technical support. Today, consumers can access online help either through their Web site, or by clicking on the help button within one of their games, which launches Internet-enabled users to Broderbund's URL. Broderbund runs the Inference product runs on a Unix-based Sun Sparc 20, using a Microsoft SQL Server database.