Friendly & knowledgable support personnel are just a phone-call away!

• The TSSC help desk utilizes industry best-practices in customer support processes and state-of-the-art technologies for problem recording, tracking, and resolution
  
  
• Help desk services offered to all Target SFA users are resolved quickly and handled in real-time by support personnel who are highly trained and certified in Target SFA software applications
  
  
• Problems that cannot be resolved immediately are escalated to the appropriate personnel but monitored to make sure they get resolved
  
  
• The help desk offers a traceable support environment
  
  
• Standard operating procedures (SOPs) guide all TSSC analysts ensuring the most effective support is provided to your reps when they need it
  
  
• Instant access to Target SFA customer profiles, SOPs, business rules, and policies allow support personnel to offer higher value service while viewing particulars of a case history or when looking for end-user or functionality trends
  
  
• Integration with the Target SFA software engineering staff assures that updates to the Target SFA knowledge base are current and coordinated with each software release (including release notes, new features, and enhanced features)

Help Desk Services Provided

• End-user problem recording, tracking, ownership, and resolution for all Target SFA software and related hardware
  
  
• A single point of contact for any problems with Target SFA software and technology accessible to customers via web, email, or phone
  
  
• Problem trend monitoring and customer notification for recurring problems enabling advanced training opportunities
  
  
• Hardware troubleshooting and management of repair-replace logistics
  
  
• The TSSC Helpdesk offers live Target SFA support and after-hours voicemails are returned the next business day
  
  
• Proactive management and routing of incoming calls via Automated Call Distributor (ACD) system

Target CaseTracker

Target CaseTracker is a web-based help desk and customer support request management application which offers a single point of contact for initiating and tracking all client requests, whether they originate from the field or from the client’s home office technical users.

• CaseTracker provides a convenient interface to mangage all customer support activity including technical hardware support issues, software bug fixes, and new feature requests.
  
  
• CaseTracker offers a unified view of the client sales force to the TSSC help desk and tracks, routes, escalates, and reports on service requests and software application usage problems.
  
  
• This integrated support system ensures that every client’s SFA project has a forum to make end-user support requests.
  
  
• Software release notes, FAQs, and a historical listing of all problem case issues including notes, as they are entered and resolved by the TSSC help desk, are all readily accessible to the client.

Problem Escalation & Support Levels

The TSSC help desk is staffed with analysts who are technically and analytically skilled and dedicated to resolving calls. Calls are escalated to the next level of support only if resolving them will take longer than is practical at the help desk.

Level 1 Support

• Level 1 is the ‘front line’ of support and is the point of first contact with the end-user.
  
  
• Level 1 Support calls are answered, recorded, and typically resolved by the same help desk analyst who answers the phone call when the field rep calls the helpdesk.
  
  
• Ideally, Level 1 Support calls are resolved using the help desk analyst’s own knowledge combined with that of the Target SFA knowledge base.
  
  
• Level 1 Support resolves standard, day-to-day software usage questions.
  
   “I need to transfer samples to another rep. How do I enter this transaction in my PDA?”
  
   “My counterpart rep told me about saving notes that are frequently written during a sales call. Something called Fast Notes? How do I do this?”
  
   “At our last POA, our Regional Manager told us that we need to use the hand-held to enter our time off territory and to order any sales aids and product brochures. How do I do that? Can’t I just use the paper forms that I used last year?”

Level 2 Support

Level 2 Support is staffed by product specialists or business-subject matter experts who are expected to solve complex problems in their specific area of expertise.

• Level 2 Support personnel typically do not take incoming requests directly from end users or callers to the help desk, however they may reside within the help desk and assist with Level 1 support overflow work.
  
  
• Level 2 Support personnel have other responsibilities which may include software testing and installation, and hardware support and troubleshooting.
  
  
• Level 2 Support is also responsible for general call elimination initiatives such as studying help desk support trends and correlating them to specific training initiatives.
  
  
• Customers surveys for quality of service and performance feedback initiatives are managed by Level 2 Support.
  
  
• Maintaining the help desk knowledge base and problem-resolution FAQs, SOPs updates, and adherence at the help desk.

Level 3 Support

• Level 3 Support is staffed by software engineers, programmers, database administrators, and network support personnel and this level of support resides outside of the helpdesk.
  
  
• Complex levels of technical support, software bugs, and system and database administration issues are immediately escalated to Level 3 support and assigned a specific priority.
  
  
• Priority 1 assignments are problems within Target SFA that cause the system to stop functioning completely, and to which the help desk (both Levels 1 & 2) can provide no temporary “work around”.
  
  
• Priority 2 assignments are problems that do prevent certain features of Target SFA from operating correctly, but do not stop operation as a whole.
  
  
• Priority 3 assignments are typically minor issues and general inquiries that both Level 1 & 2 support cannot resolve to the requestor’s satisfaction.

Performance Reporting

The TSSC offers perpetual monitoring, tracking, and reporting of statistics on all customer cases. This enables the proactive assessment and identification of training needs, SOP refreshes, feature modifications, and any negative trends or required training needs for end-users.

Customer reports on all help desk activity from Target CaseTracker and the ACD phone system provide the following real-time performance metrics to clients:

• # of calls logged by ACD
  
  
• Average time to answer incoming call
  
  
• Average hold time of an incoming call
  
  
• Abandon rate of calls
  
  
• Number of incoming calls unanswered
  
  
• Average incoming call duration
  
  
• # of client cases logged
  
  
• Status of all cases in Target CaseTracker
  
  
• % of new cases closed on first call
  
  
• % of cases escalated
  
  
• Help desk cases by type, by caller, and other trends as requested
  
  
• Hardware asset disposition (location of each piece of equipment)

Quality of Service Surveys

To measure the quality of service that is provided, the TSSC conducts periodic surveys to those end users who called the help desk. Regular solicitation of end user feedback is sought to understand the following:

• Are user issues addressed to their satisfaction?
  
  
• Are they being greeted professionally and politely?
  
  
• Do TSSC analysts inquire about other problems they may be having?
  
  
• Was the experience with TSSC pleasant and beneficial?
  
  

Data collected from the quality surveys is shared and integrated with help desk SOPs with the goal of enhancing the quality of service.

TSSC Diagram



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