The Durban Institute of Technology (DIT) is using HEAT, the service management solution from FrontRange Solutions, to deliver more efficient information and communications technology (ICT) services to its nine sites.
Dilip Jeena, manager of the client services section of the DIT`s ICT department, says that the creation of the DIT through the merger of the ML Sultan Technikon and the Natal Technikon meant that the two legacy help-desks also had to be merged.
"But, each of the original help-desks had been developed in-house. So integration between them was impossible and long-term maintenance would become an issue as skills for them aged out of our system. So we looked for an off-the-shelf solution that had proven local support and could help us impose the efficiencies we needed."
Jeena and his team investigated a number of products and visited a range of help-desk sites locally and internationally. "Most of them were using HEAT and were happy with it, so we asked for a demonstration of the product as it would relate to our specific circumstances - and were very impressed."
The DIT bought HEAT in May 2005, implemented it in July and quickly reached an average of 600 logged calls a month.
"Our 2 000 customers are very pleased with HEAT, because they get an immediate notification that their call has been logged and are also automatically kept abreast of every step of the process of resolving their call," Jeena says. "So, their confidence in our service capability has improved significantly.
"They`re also asked to fill in a small questionnaire rating our service once the call is closed. Judging by the high number of questionnaires that have been filled in it seems that they appreciate the opportunity to have some say in the way in which we service them. So, on many levels, HEAT has helped us improve our customer satisfaction levels and, therefore, customer relationships overall.
"From my own management point of view, HEAT enables me to track what my technicians are doing and ensure that calls are resolved as quickly as is feasible on such widely distributed campuses.
"It shows me how demand is shifting among the campuses, enabling me to redistribute technicians as needed. And it tells me what sort of problems are occurring most often, which means I can plan maintenance and refurbishments much more accurately."
HEAT automatically allocates calls to technicians in the field, immediately notifying them by e-mail that they have an outstanding call. The system also automatically escalates calls on which there is a delayed response to Jeena`s two service desk agents.
"Because every process in HEAT is automated, I am able to run a very slim service desk staff - even though we have to keep the systems on all nine sites up and running 24x7," Jeena says.
"HEAT`s ability to make you more productive with fewer people is one of the significant reasons for it being the product of choice for more than 7 500 of organisations around the world," says FrontRange Solutions (SA) managing director, Tracey Newman.
"In fact, HEAT and other FrontRange Solutions products are in the vanguard of delivering on the ultimate promise of ICT - which is to release human beings from the drudgery of routine tasks, giving them the time and opportunity to be creative rather than merely functional. After all, it`s computer nature to do the same thing over and over again, really fast. And it`s human nature to be inventive."
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