In today's fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape, companies are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and streamline processes. One area where automation has made a significant impact is in the help desk industry. Automation is transforming the way help desks operate, providing companies with the ability to offer faster and more efficient customer service, while also reducing costs. Help desks can streamline their processes, allowing them to handle a higher volume of inquiries more efficiently by implementing simple automation. Automated systems can handle simple tasks, such as routing customer inquiries to the appropriate support staff, freeing up human staff to focus on more complex issues. One of the most common forms of automation in help desks is the use of chatbots. These AI-powered tools can interact with customers in real time, providing answers to common questions and helping to resolve simple issues. This can help to reduce the workload of human staff and improve the overall customer experience. Automation can be helpful in the management of customer data. Help desks often receive a large volume of information from customers, and automated systems can help to organize and analyze this data, providing valuable insights that can be used to improve products and services. One of the most significant benefits of automation in the help desk industry is its ability to improve customer service. With automation, help desks are able to provide faster and more accurate responses to customer inquiries. Automated systems can handle a large volume of customer interactions at once, allowing agents to focus on more complex and time-sensitive issues. Additionally, automation can also help to reduce customer wait times by providing instant answers to frequently asked questions, leaving agents more time to assist with more complex issues. Another major benefit of automation in the help desk industry is its ability to improve agent productivity. Automated systems can handle repetitive tasks, such as data entry and ticket tracking, freeing up agents to focus on more complex issues. This increased productivity not only improves the overall quality of customer service but also allows companies to handle a larger volume of customer interactions with the same number of agents. In addition to improving customer service and agent productivity, automation can also help to reduce costs for companies. Automated systems can handle many tasks that would otherwise be done by human agents, which can help to lower labor costs. Additionally, automation can help to reduce errors and minimize the need for additional staff training, further reducing costs. Automation also allows for 24/7 customer service. With an automated system, customers can receive assistance at any time of the day, which helps improve customer satisfaction and increase brand loyalty. Furthermore, automation can also help to increase the effectiveness of a company's marketing efforts by providing more accurate and detailed customer data. Automated systems can track customer interactions and provide valuable information about customer preferences and behavior, which can be used to improve targeted marketing campaigns and increase sales. BOSSDesk ™ is a powerful help desk automation software that can greatly improve the efficiency and performance of your help desk operations. One of the key features of this system is its ability to automate ticket routing and prioritization. With BOSSDesk, you can set up pre-defined rules that automatically route tickets to the appropriate agent or department based on factors such as the type of issue or the customer's priority level. This ensures that the right person is handling each issue from the start, leading to faster resolution times and improved customer satisfaction. BOSSDesk also includes tools for prioritizing tickets based on urgency or importance, so your team can focus on the most critical issues first. BOSSDesk automation can help to create a more engaged and productive workforce. Help desk agents are often bogged down with repetitive tasks, leading to burnout and high turnover rates. BOSSDesk automation can take on many of these tasks, freeing up agents to focus on more complex issues and providing them with more opportunities for professional growth and development. All in all, the role of automation in modern help desks is essential to meet the demands of customers and to improve overall business performance. It increases efficiency, enhances customer satisfaction, provides valuable insights, and gives more opportunities for workforce engagement and development. BOSSDesk ™ can help you streamline your operations and provide top-notch customer service. With BOSSDesk, you'll see firsthand how automation can improve your help desk's performance and take your business to the next level. If you're interested in seeing how automation can improve your help desk operations, sign up for a demo today and discover how BOSSDesk can help you improve your customer service and drive your business forward!

BOSS Solutions Suite has received another win, ranked as an outstanding performer by Gartner! GetApp, a Gartner company, recently compiled a list of 10 affordable Help Desk software options, based on user reviews and affordability. Gartner Digital Markets comprises the three leading B2B software search websites — Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice. They are the top destination for software buyers to discover, research and connect with the best software for their needs. BOSSDesk has been an outstanding performer on GetApp as it has been recognized for offering customizable service catalog forms to fit the needs of different teams such as HR, facilities management, purchase requests, and employee onboarding. BOSSDesk also comes with a knowledge base, allowing end-users to get instant answers to their questions. Its active directory feature imports all user information and makes it accessible to customer support teams. Click here to view full article: Top 10 Affordable Help Desk Software on GetApp

A good Service Desk bridges the gap between technician and end-user A better Service Desk does the same while staying completely out of the way. So what makes a great Service Desk? One that saves you time and money? Now I know what you’re thinking, It’s a cliché, one done to death for as long as anyone can remember; neither a new idea nor very unique. But in the rush to deliver services and coordinate support responses it’s easy to forget that everything we do, consumes both. By the same token anything automated becomes one less thing to worry about, to think about, and to eat away at these very real resources. Everyone with skin in the Service Desk game guarantees to save you time, money or both. But different products deliver, differently, on this promise (if at all) and in my experience those that rise to the top lean on practical needs, intuitive processes, and common-sense logic to tie everything together. So how does BOSSDesk fare? I’m glad you asked. Here are five features of BOSSDesk that have saved me time, money, and a whole lot of work. ➡️1. WORKFLOWS One of BOSSDesk’s strongest features is its workflow system. Think of them as a series of rules which integrate into the BOSSDesk ticketing system, governing system actions, based on criteria you define. In a practical sense they allow you to build "if - then" traps, based on a large number of triggers, then offer an even larger number of actions to be taken by the system itself. Turnkey solutions tend to come with rule sets that are very limited, so while you won’t sacrifice much time upfront you won’t get any back in the long term either. Non-turnkey products suffer the opposite problem, being highly customizable but requiring a heavy investment of effort to configure, meaning that while they can save you over the long haul, your return on investment might be literally years away. BOSSDesk is unique in that it strikes a great balance between the two, resulting in a robust toolset that’s easy to use but non-restrictive you once you get the hang of it. Want to base actions around who submits a ticket, whether they’re agents or end-users, what keywords they used in the ticket subject, what form they filled out, what field values they selected, or even what time it is? You can. Want to modify a ticket’s priority, assign it to a specific team or technician, create special tasks to divide up across multiple techs, add other users as watchers, add comments, send emails to recipients, request approval from the requester’s manager, or close the ticket automatically? Again, you can! The irony is that the greatest difficulty in describing what makes BOSSDesk workflows so effective are the limitless ways you can apply them to your environment. There are too many approaches to cover them all, but perhaps I can dedicate a future post to workflows in much greater detail. ➡️2. CUSTOM FORMS No service desk would be complete without having a strong form engine. I used forms exhaustively, handling product support, maintenance requests, account change requests, Windows updates, feedback forms, employee onboarding and off-boarding and more. These forms use conditional logic, meaning that what you enter in one field can determine what other field(s) and options do or don’t appear later on. This allows you to streamline the user experience, allowing a form to grow and adapt in real time, as it's populated with data. This is immensely useful because the friendlier the experience for the end-user the more likely they’ll be willing to use it in lieu of emailing technicians directly. On top of that, the custom fields tie into the workflow engine mentioned above, allowing you to automate tasks based on what the user submits. Want an example? Let’s say a manager fills out an off-boarding request for terminated subordinate. One of the fields asks, "what to-do with the terminated user’s mailbox?" The Options Are: [A] Delete Mailbox [B] Temporarily Forward Emails To Designated User [C] Temporarily Give Designated User Full Access To Mailbox or [D] N/A (employee has no mailbox) In this case, if the user selects A or D, nothing more is asked. But if they select B or C, two additional fields appear. The first is asking for the name of a target employee and the second is asking for how long we should leave the changes intact. And, these additional fields are required. Being able to build customized forms is great, but BOSSDesk forms also tie into the workflow engine I mentioned above. This means that when options A, B, or C are selected above, a special task is created and assigned to me (as the email administrator) to go in and fulfill the email-related request; be it to delete the mailbox, give someone else access, or forward emails. This approach is repeated over and over again, with user data which may need archiving, user phone extensions which may need redirection, and user PCs which must be turned in, data preserved and repurposed for someone else. The best part of it all is that with custom forms married to workflows allows you to create a series of tasks assigned to the right people in the right order with the requester not having to know who is doing what. ➡️3. CUSTOM FIELDS Looking for a great example of something simple that saves me tons of time? Look no further than custom fields. BOSSDesk allows you to create custom fields for assets, tickets, contracts, and more, depending on what you want to track. This makes putting information at your fingertips extremely easy. For example, when a store in my environment opens a ticket, their ISP information is always included on the ticket itself. This is done automatically, without them having to enter it or me having to dig for it. So if they happen to be reporting internet issues, I can immediately determine who to call and what account information to provide. Even better, these custom fields can pull from Active Directory. This means that when a user submits a ticket, all of their contact information can be pulled in automatically, including their office, address, telephone numbers, etc. Since we keep the info up to date in AD it’s always up to date in BOSSDesk. In a practical sense the results are similar to the above example. If an employee at a distribution center submits a ticket but doesn’t bother telling us how to reach them, their phone number appears on the ticket itself as a custom value pulled from AD in real time. ➡️4. THE SCHEDULER Some tasks must be done daily or weekly. They’re easy to remember. Others only have to be done once a month or once a year. These can easily be forgotten. So how do you remember to tackle those infrequent tasks when they’re due? You don’t. You let BOSSDesk’s scheduler do it for you. The scheduler is exactly what it sounds like: a way to schedule automatic ticket creations based on a schedule you define. For me? I use it to remind me to set up next year’s call center holidays in our telephone system (every December), audit our anti-spam whitelists (every October), and audit our Exchange database growth rates (every month). You can also use them to send out reports and queries if you want to see all the tickets that haven’t been updated in XX days or the number of assets which are missing classifications. For handling those items which have a habit of falling off the radar, there’s nothing quite like the scheduler to make things easy. ➡️5. ANNOUNCEMENTS Picture this: You’re sitting in your cube sipping coffee when disaster strikes. Maybe the phone system goes down, or the company website, or the mail system. Whatever happens, you’re about to get clobbered from all sides and you know it. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to proactively let people know that you’re aware of the situation and keep them updated on it? With BOSSDesk announcements we can! Announcements allow you to post clickable alert titles at the top of your BOSSDesk service portal. When clicked, they expand into a description of the problem and can include whatever information you wish, usually an overview of the problem, who is affected, and an assurance that it’s being addressed. Then you can update the announcement as the situation progresses. In this way you can deter people from opening hundreds of tickets for something you’re already aware of. On top of that you, can schedule announcements ahead of time, allowing you to anticipate issues related to vendor maintenance. Would you rather post once and know that your users are being informed? Or juggle the tidal wave of requests as they come in? I know what I’d prefer! And there you have it: 5 features of BOSSDesk that have saved me time, money, and a whole lot of work! Bob Gruett Network Administrator

GRADY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL SUCCESS STORIES / BOSS helps Grady focus on what they do best - helping people Request a Demo Contact sales Customer Overview Grady Health System in Atlanta, GA is one of the nation’s leading facilities for trauma care and emergency services. Grady has grown considerably from its original three story, 110-bed facility. It now stands as one of the largest health systems in the United States. Grady Health System has 5000+ IT Assets and over 10,000 users who are primarily doctors, nurses, health care technicians, assistants and trainees. Challenges Grady needed a system to manage their IT assets, for license management, software version controls, remote control and much more. Their goal was to replace multiple tools they were using for asset management with a simple easy to use flexible solution. They also needed to move away from the wearying mainframe service desk to a more user friendly one so that their 10,000+ users could easily manage requests and incidents related to their day to day operations. Solutions In order to accomplish its mission to provide quick and efficient service, the Grady IT team adopted BOSS Support Central for its Asset Management and Service Desk requirements. Support Central had everything Grady needed to manage all assets and has eliminated the need for multiple product sets. Requirements Grady Health System has 5000+ IT Assets and over 10,000 users who are primarily doctors, nurses, health care technicians, assistants and trainees. They needed a system to manage their IT assets, for license management, software version controls, remote control and much more. Their goal was to replace multiple tools they were using for asset management with a simple easy to use flexible solution. They also needed to move away from the wearying mainframe service desk to a more user friendly one so that their 10,000+ users could easily manage requests and incidents related to their day to day operations. Results Grady found BOSS Support Central to be “very easy and flexible for modifications and customizing”. Ease of use was one of the winning factors in choosing the solution. The Management console of the product enabled Grady to resolve the majority of our requests without having to go on site. Grady became so familiar with BOSS Support Central that they have extended its use for other functions including Project Management, reporting from EPIC, and inventory management of non-IT devices. The BOSS team provided outstanding support and addressed Grady's needs very quickly and efficiently. "We were looking for a vendor to partner with, who was committed to taking care of their product and making sure it was working the way we wanted it to, BOSS did exactly that." Sean Jablonski Technical Support Manager at Grady Want to share this customer story with someone? Send Email More success stories See All Stories Chambers Bank Chambers Bank Leverages BOSSDesk to operate more efficiently Lexington County School District One Lexington County Schools - Taking Service Management Beyond the Help Desk in Education Holt of California Holt of CA integrates Bots to Improve Efficiency and Service Delivery Across the Organization

OBERWEIS DAIRY SUCCESS STORIES / Oberweis Dairy Improved Service Delivery, Efficiency and User Satisfaction with BOSSDesk Request a Demo Contact sales Customer Overview Oberweis is known for its premium ice cream and dairy products, and its oldfashioned glass bottle home delivery service. The company continues to expand home delivery in the Midwest and on the Eastern Seaboard together with a wholesale market. Oberweis has over 1,000 employees working in 45 retail stores selling ice cream, burgers, and pizzas, 8 distribution centers and employs a fleet of delivery trucks and drivers working all shifts. Challenges Oberweis was looking for a modern help desk solution to replace their existing system and required that it had a comprehensive feature set, offered easy access to support teams, and catered to the unique needs and technical skill sets of a diverse community. The solution had to be intuitive, intelligent, mobile friendly and allow for a high degree of ticket automation. Solutions Oberweis conducted a wide search and BOSSDesk was selected due to its ease of use, and customizable Service Catalog that allowed department to configure service request to address their specific needs. The powerful ticketing capability linked to routing rules and monitors allowed Oberweis to simplify and automate processes across the organization The BOSSDesk software was installed, configured and operational in 4 days. Results BOSSDesk saved Oberweis significant time and effort and the automated processes and made things much simpler and more efficient. BOSSDesk enabled the service request experience to be customized for the specific needs of each department or function. Examples of where BOSSDesk helped the most. Creation of a Service Catalog for use by all Departments. The easy-to-use Service Catalog and forms allowed employees to request support for numerous issues. In addition to requests for IT Support, employees at a store are able to submit maintenance issues, product complaints, customer complaints, and other service requests. Ticketing with Routing Rules and Monitors allowed for Process Automation. The powerful ticketing capability linked with electronic forms, routing rules, and monitors allowed Oberweis to automate service request functions. Tasks could be assigned and approvals requested from the appropriate authority. Security on tickets could be fully controlled and Watchers could be specified to monitor ticket requests. Canned response saved considerable time and effort. Knowledgebase provided self-help for employees and improved efficiency. The Knowledgebase capability allowed different content can be targeted for each group of users and content could be totally customized with text graphics and videos. A copy feature also made the creation of content much easier. Customizable Dashboards for Improved Management and Responsiveness. The BOSSDesk dashboard is highly customizable with numerous widgets allowing technicians to view at a glance status of tickets, distribution across teams and individuals as well as the status of contracts coming up for renewal. Watch the webinar recording of the implementation. "BOSSDesk embodies common sense logic to simplify Service Request Management. It just works the way you expect it to work." Bob Gruett Network Administrator at Oberweis Want to share this customer story with someone? Send Email More success stories See All Stories Chambers Bank Chambers Bank Leverages BOSSDesk to operate more efficiently Lexington County School District One Lexington County Schools - Taking Service Management Beyond the Help Desk in Education Holt of California Holt of CA integrates Bots to Improve Efficiency and Service Delivery Across the Organization

THE CITY OF SAN JOSE SUCCESS STORIES / The City of San Jose Saves Millions with BOSS811 One Call Ticket Management Request a Demo Contact sales Customer Overview The City of San Jose is an economic, cultural, and political center of Silicon Valley and the largest city in Northern California. With an estimated 2017 population of 1,035,317, it is the third-most populous city in California and the tenth most populous in the United States. The City of San Jose joined the One Call ticket management center USA North in 1989 when the underground service alert law became mandatory. Challenges The City needed to replace an antiquated 21-year-old computer-based One Call ticket management system with a modern system that could better manage their ever increasing demand of service from underground marker and locate crews while providing customized management information to track time, funding sources and ensure compliance with regulations. Solutions The City chose BOSS811 for its One Call ticket management and saved millions! BOSS811 helped position the City to be more efficient and in compliance with regulations. The powerful workflow capabilities of BOSS811 and features such as auto close resulted in reduced labor costs, increased compliance, a better user experience, and improved morale. The customized reporting reduced staff hours and the implementation of geolocation mapping instead of printed map books resulted in significant cost savings. The City of San Jose is required to provide locate and marking services for many underground facilities including traffic signals, street lighting, communications, recycled water lines, portable water lines, Irrigation, pressurized storm, and sanitary sewers. In 2017 the City processed over 57,000 tickets and projected demand continued to show significant increases. The City was looking to replace its antiquated system with a modern and user friendly solution. Results Following the implementation of BOSS811, the City saved over a million dollars and benefited significantly due to: The process reductions and efficiency improvements in the workflow for new/remark tickets resulted in a saving of 4 minutes per ticket. The ability to auto close no-remark/extension tickets resulted in a saving of 1.25 minutes per ticket. The ability to standardize documentation through drop-down menus and toggle boxes combined with the ability to create custom screens to track funding sources and track time saved a significant amount of staff hours. Implementation of geolocation mapping instead of using printed maps or map books saved significant dollars. Other benefits included data reliability, the ability to rebalance and redistribute the work of locate staff, improved morale, and increased compliance with regulations. BOSS811 has been an absolutely incredible fit. Everyone at the City who dealt with BOSS has been very impressed with the high level of customer service. "BOSS811 has been an absolutely incredible fit. Everybody who has dealt with BOSS has been just floored with how good their customer service is." Brent Erkel Construction Manager with the City of San Jose Want to share this customer story with someone? Send Email More success stories See All Stories Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County MAWC - Utility Improves Efficiency and Compliance with BOSS811 One Call Ticket Management SyncGlobal Telecom SyncGlobal Telecom Improved Efficiency & Reduced Cost with BOSS811 One Call Ticket Management The City of San Jose The City of San Jose Saves Millions with BOSS811 One Call Ticket Management