An open source ITSM system as single entry point
Sometimes, less is more. That's what Falk Scholtz, the team leader of the customer helpdesk at AUCOTEC, thought when he was looking for ways to improve support efficiency.
His team spent a lot of time every day gathering information before they could start working on a ticket. Too much time. This was not only time-consuming for the employees, but also for the customers, who had to wait longer for solutions. A new approach was needed.
About AUCOTEC
AUCOTEC develops engineering software for the entire life cycle of machines, plants, and mobile systems. The company's solutions range from optimizing flow diagrams and control and electrical engineering in large-scale plants to improving modular wiring systems in the automotive industry.
The collaboration platform enables direct communication between AUCOTEC employees and their customers, as well as the integration of internal processes. Since its founding in Hanover in 1985, AUCOTEC has grown to employ over 350 internal and external staff members. Nearly 7,000 companies worldwide rely on AUCOTEC software. The company has subsidiaries and affiliates in the US, France, Sweden, India, South Korea, and other countries. AUCOTEC is a global company where fast and efficient action is essential.
Time lost due to missing information and spam
Until recently, customers could contact AUCOTEC by phone, email, or through a basic web portal. When a call came in, Help Desk staff would manually create a ticket. Requests via email or the web portal were handled automatically. All tickets ended up in a central queue where employees manually checked and forwarded them.
Initial contacts, in particular, required employees to ask for additional information because the details provided were usually insufficient. Which product was it actually about? What is the version number? Even with existing contacts, it was not always clear which queue or support employee should handle the ticket. Additionally, the spam filter was ineffective at filtering out fake requests. The team had to manually remove these. Overall, the effort required for ticket qualification was too high, which increased the time needed for an initial response.
To address the issue, Falk Scholtz, the head of the help desk, organized a workshop. The most important item on the agenda was evaluating the current system. The support team, as well as colleagues from IT and operations management, were involved. In other words, they were colleagues who were close to the processes, but not directly involved in the customer help desk. A crucial question soon arose: Is it absolutely necessary for customers to open a ticket by phone or email? "The answer was clearly no," Scholtz recalls, "because, to eliminate the disadvantages of our previous processes, we had to streamline customer support."
Fall back on tried and tested methods
How should this streamlining process be carried out? Use and expand the existing web portal? Too complicated. Nevertheless, Falk Scholtz and his team were able to find a quick answer here too: they had already been using the KIX IT service management software since 2017 – both at their headquarters in Germany and at their international subsidiaries.
The 15 helpdesk employees at the headquarters in Hanover primarily used the self-service portal and employed it as a ticket system. On average, Falk Scholtz and his colleagues receive 300 to 500 tickets per month. But other KIX functions have also made their work easier: for example, the KPI dashboard provides the help desk with statistics to improve customer support in a targeted manner. And the KIX Kanban module, in combination with the ERP system, also serves to further optimize services.
Persuasiveness and staying power
The decision to switch to the latest version of KIX was made some time ago. This version's self-service portal would likely be ideal for their plans. The preparations seemed manageable. Interfaces were needed to merge customer and license data from the ERP and CRM systems into the help desk software. With Open ID Connect, customers would log into KIX directly after logging into the customer portal. This would save them time and provide greater security.
Falk Scholtz quickly convinced his superiors to use KIX as a single entry point for customer support. The situation was different with his colleagues, however. Since the help desk team did not want to implement the restructuring alone, they sought dialogue with employees early on and repeatedly to gather opinions and feedback. This included colleagues who were not directly involved in the process.
"The initial reactions were negative," Scholtz reports with a wink. The office grapevine buzzed with all kinds of comments, from "Are we going to make the service worse?" to "You can't do that!" to "Customers won't accept that!" Customer discussions, on the other hand, took a different direction: "The feedback from our customers was consistently positive. They thought the idea was great and said that we were already an exception in the industry with our ticket acceptance via email or telephone," says Scholtz.
A little bit of pressure, but lots of advantages
During the first test rounds, Falk Scholtz and his team were able to dispel internal concerns. Now, customers manage their own contacts via the AUCOTEC portal. All registered users can create their own tickets via the KIX self-service portal. They enter all relevant data into a clear input mask, including the subject area, product version, priority of the request, and preferred form of contact.
"In a way, we force our customers to send us all the information we need. But that's the only way it works. It has allowed us to eliminate all the disadvantages," says Falk Scholtz.
KIX has enabled AUCOTEC to significantly reduce processing times. Employees now have more and better-quality information for processing tickets. Customers also benefit from better control over their data.
Currently, AUCOTEC uses KIX in Europe and the US. The ITSM software is set to be introduced in Asia in the near future. "The introduction went smoothly, and now everyone is happy, including customers and colleagues," Falk Scholtz summarizes. "Our employees at headquarters save four hours every day. They are more efficient and cost-effective, which ultimately leads to higher customer satisfaction."
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