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Salesforce’s Video Help Feature Signals Future for Cloud-Based IT Support

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salesforce-analyticsSalesforce has been a leader in cloud software deployment, with the popular software often serving as a business’s first foray into cloud functionality. Recognizing this, the software provider has often served as a leader in the field, integrating other apps to offer big-business features to businesses of all sizes.

A recent announcement from the company has many help desks taking notice. Salesforce is offering applications the ability to embed videos in their applications to better help customers. This will let businesses create professional videos that address their most common issues, reducing the load on their customer support and business tech support staff.

Desk Application

This feature has already been incorporated into Desk, Salesforce’s customer support module. Desk users can now embed how-to videos into their support centers to create quick, friendly help to customers. Many businesses have found that a well-produced video can go much further in helping customers with an aspect of their businesses, since information can be demonstrated on the screen, rather than relying on words to convey it.

By cutting down on their help desk calls, businesses can cut down on call volumes, allowing them to reduce staff and save money. This process also gives customers more immediate help 24 hours a day, showcasing your business’s commitment to providing high-quality customer service.

What’s Next?

Salesforce recognizes that video is the future of tech support, perhaps following in the lead of companies like Amazon. With Amazon’s Mayday Button, customers have immediate help via live video chat, connecting with an Amazon support representative to walk them through each step of the process.

In a cloud-centered world, businesses will no longer require on-site tech support for software issues. Whether employees connect with software-specific customer support representatives or their own general tech support personnel, the ability to connect by web chat will open up possibilities for businesses of all sizes, helping them save money and centralize tech support to one location.

Migrating to the Cloud? Be Sure You’ll Have Customer Support

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rsz_customersupportrepToday’s savvy consumer researches a product exhaustively before making a purchase. Online reviews, customer service and warranty options, and return policies all factor in, often chasing away potential customers.

Yet when it comes to making the move to the cloud, often businesses focus on security and reliability, paying little attention to customer service. Only when something goes wrong do they realize they’ve chosen a cloud provider with inefficient customer service. By then, it may be too late.

24-Hour Support

While many employees prefer to work banker’s hours, cloud services is a 24/7 business. A server could go down in the middle of the night just as easily as the middle of the day. When there is an outage, someone must be available to fix things promptly.

But quick repairs are only part of what a customer should expect from a cloud service. Businesses have customers and clients to answer to, which means they must be able to get an answer, even at two in the morning. When shopping for a cloud services provider, this means it’s imperative that a professional search for a provider that offers the help they need, when they’ll need it.

Phone vs. Chat vs. Email

We now live in an era where phone support isn’t mandatory for everyone. Some businesses actually prefer a help desk ticketing system, while others prioritize email or chat support. For some, only the telephone will do, with the ability to speak to a human being for immediate reassurance and estimated repair times being essential.

During the selection process, businesses should look for the customer support option they would prefer during an emergency outage. The best time to make those decisions is before committing to a contract.

Even the best cloud services providers aren’t immune to issues. When something happens, it’s important that responses be as quick as possible, with representatives giving the friendly, personalized customer support businesses provide their own clients.

Meet Josh Mindes, Tech Engineer

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Josh Mindes

Josh Mindes

Josh Mindes is brand new to ComputerSupport.com, with just a few weeks on the job, but he’s jumped in with both feet. Working in tech support, he pulls clients’ tickets and gets to work addressing their problems.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I was really into gaming and computers,” he said.

An uncle who worked in IT introduced him to the field, and he took to it quickly, ending up with a degree in engineering and then several years of work in technology.

Josh, who’s 26 now, said he’s getting to know ComputerSupport.com’s clients, reading tickets as they come in and then looking up documentation on the companies’ histories. He’s also glad to have approachable colleagues who can help him out and share the tricks they’ve learned.

“We take our work seriously, but there’s time to have some fun,” he said. “People gladly help you out.”

Josh said some of the client issues he deals with are simpler than others. One ticket was from an office worker whose screen was suddenly upside-down. That took less than a minute on the phone to solve.

“I called and told her ‘control, alt, up key,’” he said.

Other times, Josh said, he has to work with outside vendors like Quickbooks and Apple to resolve clients’ problems. When one woman had an issue with her Apple computer, he said, instead of just referring her to Apple’s support team, he called the computer company himself and conference her in.

“I just didn’t want to leave her hanging,” he said.

Outside the office, Josh has an active social life. He’s signed up for a Boston softball club starting in August, and he’s looking for other chances to play sports. He also plays music with friends, and he loves going out to eat.

“I’m always at a new restaurant,” he said.

Meet Liam Shea, Manager of Customer Support

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Liam SheaAs a kid, Liam Shea always liked playing with computers—“seeing what I could do, seeing how I could make it run faster,” he said.

Even while he was in college studying for a career in criminal justice, he found himself pulled toward technology, working for an IT outsourcing company to put himself through school. Four years ago, he came to ComputerSupport.com, where he’s now manager of customer support, and he has no plans to do anything else.

Liam’s work involves overseeing the company’s help desk and making sure that customer IT issues are always resolved within 30 minutes. That requires not just strong technical skills but also the ability to work with busy businesspeople so that technological problems don’t interfere with their work.

Beyond that, Liam meets regularly with ComputerSupport’s clients to strategize about ways they can improve their information systems. Using tickets that have been put in as guidelines, he’s able to make recommendations about areas for improvement within a given company—“how we can be proactive and kind of cut down the ticket volume,” he said.

Liam’s also responsible for making sure ComputerSupport employees who are stationed at clients’ offices stay in the loop with their coworkers at the main office. The company has daily meetings that the remote workers call in to, which help everyone learn from the work that others are doing. But, since the company tries to be a friendly place to work, Liam admitted the meetings usually involve some talk about the Celtics or the new blockbuster movie that everyone saw over the weekend.

Liam said one of the things that drew him to the company was the chance to get in on the ground floor of a fast-growing enterprise—“kind of experience the benefits, as well as the pains of a small start-up company,” he said.

When Liam’s not in the office, you can find him spending time with his nearly four-year-old son, talking superheroes, playing with action figures or heading off to the zoo.

“We’re never sitting still,” he said. “When I’m not here, that’s where my time is usually being allocated.”