Parature Service Desk Widgets

Service Desk Widgets allow you to have contextually relevant content from outside systems integrated into the Ticket Details page. With a widget, you can pass Ticket, Customer, or Account fields as URL parameters to the third-party system, allowing data specific to the ticket being viewed to be displayed in the customizable-size widget.

Custom Service Desk Widgets pull contextual data about your Tickets, Customers, or Accounts and insert them in a special frame in a ticket. You may only have one active widget at a time, but as many inactive widgets as you wish. Custom Service Desk Widgets currently only work with Parature Ticket. We suggest first trying out widgets on your Parature Sandbox as a best practice.

To get started on creating widgets:

1. Click on the Setup tab
2. Expand the Customization menu
3. Click Service Desk Widgets; the Service Desk Widgets Overview window will open in the right frame
4. Click New Service Desk Widget; the Create Service Desk Widget window will open
5. Enter Name and Display Name in the fields provided; the Name field is what the widget will be known as internally and in list views, and the Display Name will be what your CSR(s) see when they log in to the Service Desk
6. Check the Active box if you want the widget to be visible to your CSR(s)
7. Select the type of Custom Service Desk Widget from the drop-down menu; at this time, the only available option is URL
8. Adjust the height and width from the drop-down menu
9. Enter the URL in the URL box; the widget variables section will explain how to construct a URL that allows you to draw contextual information into the widget
10. Click Save to save your widget, or cancel to discard

The following is a sample of what a widget could look like:

Service Desk Widgets - Sample

The use of widgets can be very helpful in your Tickets. For more information on Widgets, please see the following Knowledgebase articles in the Parature Support Center, or contact Parature Support at support@parature.com

Setting Up a Service Desk Widget

Leveraging Parature Email Templates

Email Templates is one of the new features Parature introduced in the Parature ‘10 Release. Parature’s Email Templates can be used to improve readability of emails, enhance branding of email messages, and provide more control over the support experience. Check out the points below to see how you can improve the customer experience with the Email Templates feature:

Email Styling
Customize the design of the email notifications received by your customers and CSRs. These customizations can range from including a company logo or custom fonts, colors, and layouts. This feature also provides the ability to include applicable text, such as disclaimers, contact information, or department links.

Contextual Variables
Modify email notifications with information specific to the ticket of your customer. This feature enables you to include any ticket, customer, or account fields in the email. Any relevant information can be personalized to the account or customer. This will allow for more consistency in email responses, as well as an improved customer experience.

Email Template - Sample

Customize Email Subject, Sender, Reply-to
In addition to the email body content, this feature provides you with the ability to customize other specific items including your email subject and senders. This feature can be used to provide more helpful content in the email subject and improve readability of emails.

Different Templates for Customers and CSRs
Defining different content for internal and external email templates allows you to personalize the email appropriately for your audience-a CSR versus a Customer. Creating different templates will let you present personalized emails to customers and include extra issue details in a CSR email.

Email Template - Sample

Create HTML and Plain Text Versions
Generate emails in either HTML or Plain Text versions to make content appropriate for any email client.

Preview Email Template
Preview Email Templates in HTML style and formatting as they will appear to customers. The Edit and Preview features will make it easier for you to develop an effective Email Template and allow you to eliminate errors in email template customization.

Variable Inserter
Utilize an intuitive control to pick contextual email template variables. This includes all customer, account, and ticket fields.

Email Template - Sample

To find out more about Email Templates and additional features offered in the Parature ‘10 release, be sure to navigate to the Parature Support Portal and check out the articles located in the “Parature ’10-Latest Release” folder!

Parature for Facebook

Newly Available Parature for Facebook Helps Companies Increase “Face-Time” while Keeping Support and New Customer Acquisition Costs Low

Today we announced the general availability of Parature for Facebook, the industry’s first and only customer service application that enables direct customer engagement through Facebook. The Parature for Facebook application, delivered on-demand through Parature’s software-as-a-service model, helps companies, educational institutions and government associations directly engage with their Facebook fans to resolve service issues, answer pre-sales questions and conduct one-to-one customer interactions, all within Facebook and accessible through an easily installed Support Tab on a Facebook page.

Several new and existing Parature customers have signed on as users of Parature for Facebook, but language learning software giant Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) made history today when it became the very first company in the world to unveil support and service through Facebook to its more than 6,000 fans.

“We are excited to be the first company, ever, to provide live support through Facebook. Our Facebook presence is key to our customer acquisition and retention strategies, and we knew we needed a way to foster stronger relationships and resolve any questions or issues encountered by our growing Facebook fan base,” said Jay Topper, senior vice-president of customer success, Rosetta Stone. “Parature for Facebook empowers us to do just that, while fully integrating Facebook as an additional channel into our customer success operations.”

Parature for Facebook is designed to meet the market’s increasing demand to provide rich and meaningful communication, service and support through the world’s most popular social media platform, Facebook. Recently surpassing Google as the most visited website according to Hitwise and announcing it reached its 500 million member milestone, Facebook is a cultural force that is changing how and with whom people communicate. Companies desiring stronger and more profitable customer relationships need to figure out how to use social media to build their brand and drive more business through the emerging channel.

“Social Media has taken over several business functions over the past few years, and most organizations are beginning to understand how Twitter and Communities work for Customer Service,” said Esteban Kolsky of ThinkJar, LLC. “The continued migration from several social networks, as well as the rise of Facebook as the destination for more and more customers has put organizations in a particular uncomfortable situation – most of them are not even sure whether Facebook can or should be treated as a channel for Customer Service, or what to do if they decide to move into it. As a result, most of the implementations we are seeing are escalation recommendations for clients. Research has shown that companies that engage customers in the channels of the customer choice are going to have higher customer satisfaction. It is time for companies to consider how to engage customers across all social channels seamlessly, as they have done for email, chat, and other customer service channels.”

Prior to Parature for Facebook, companies had to manually monitor and respond to individual posts. Now, organizations can take advantage of a fully integrated solution that automates and streamlines the service and support process within Facebook. By offering customers direct access to service teams through Wall posts, private chat sessions or tickets, the application enables one-to-one engagement in a very social forum.

Faster and Lower Cost Issue Resolution with Live Chat, Ticket Submission, Knowledgebase Access and More

Parature for Facebook includes several features all directly accessible through a Facebook page and designed to help customers gain access to sales, service representatives and tools that help rapidly resolve service issues and answer questions while keeping support and new customer acquisition costs low for companies. Parature for Facebook features are accessible through the application’s Facebook Support Tab, which is easily installed on any corporate Facebook page, and include:

Real-time Facebook Wall Monitoring for Quick Customer Response
Via the ‘Parature Page Monitor’ all relevant posts containing chosen keywords will be read from the wall and sent to the Parature Service Desk as a ticket, enabling service representatives to easily monitor and respond to otherwise unmanageable wall posts and comments without ever leaving their Parature software;

Knowledgebase Search Right from Facebook The ‘Find an Answer’ feature enables customers visiting a page to enter a search term and receive the relevant answer directly from the organization’s knowledgebase without ever leaving Facebook. Additionally, the customer can use the ‘Ask a Question’ feature for resolution if their question wasn’t answered via the aforementioned method;

Live Chat Direct from a Fan Page
A customer visiting a page can ‘Chat with an Agent’ to discuss a service problem, issue, or to ask a question directly from Facebook. The representative will respond to the Facebook user via Parature Chat™ for quick issue resolution and a rich one-to-one interaction;

Sharing a Customer Service Experience
Using the ‘Share’ feature, a customer who uses the support functionality within Facebook can share their answers and service experiences on their personal wall; attracting new customers and building positive brand perception for organizations

Parature for Facebook is available as a stand-alone application, or as a component of the complete Parature Customer Service™ software suite. All Parature software support solutions are delivered on-demand in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) environment.

“With today’s release of Parature for Facebook, Parature becomes the first software company, ever, to provide organizations the ability to extend their sales, support and marketing operations to Facebook and provide direct engagement,” said Duke Chung, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Parature. “We are extremely proud to be the first to market and to, once again, demonstrate our commitment to innovation by delivering a cutting-edge product that addresses evolving business issues for our customers.”

Webinar - Facebook for Business: How to Engage and Support Your Customers Directly on Your Facebook Page

In the beginning, Facebook was viewed as a personal-focused networking tool. Now users outnumber the entire population of the United States.

Clearly, Facebook can be a powerful tool for brands, businesses, and non-profits. This webinar will help you maximize your business to get the most out of being on Facebook.

You will also learn how you can add the Parature for Facebook customer support application directly to your Facebook Page to ensure your customers’ experience is optimized.

Taking part in this webinar provides the opportunity to hear about the latest stats and changes on Facebook, as well as discover some unexpected surprises that can happen on your page when you are able to support customers directly from your Facebook Page.

This webinar is essential for anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of what Social CRM on Facebook really means and learn about the new Parature for Facebook product.

Attend this webinar to:

• Discover the benefits of social customer relationship management
• Get business results through connecting and engaging with fans on Facebook
• Learn how you can offer customer support directly from your business page
• See the benefits of monitoring, listening, and engaging with your customers on your Facebook Page

A copy of this presentation is available in our SlideShare profile.

If you missed the webinar, the recorded version will be available here. Share your thoughts and continue the discussion here.

Webinar: How 2 Give GR8 #CustomerService & Have Your Followers 'Like' You in All Social Channels

Customers are increasingly turning to social media to air their service issues – especially when they feel companies could give a tweet about them through other channels. In the process, your service reputation is now out in the open for everyone to see. But some companies are leading the charge to use services like Twitter, Facebook, and virtual communities to brand their 21st century service identity.

This webinar will show you how to leverage social media for better service if you’re new to it, and how to sharpen your virtual service image if you’re an old pro. Topics we’ll cover include:

• Why your service is going public and going viral: a look at today’s digital consumer
• Social media service success stories: Comcast, Southwest Airlines, Zappos, and more
• Understanding virtual service channels:
  • Twitter: A public dialogue that takes place in real time
  • Facebook: Building a community around your brand
  • Virtual communities: Communications channel or feeding frenzy
  • The blogosphere: Everyone has a soapbox
• Do’s and don’ts: How to communicate effectively in a cyber service world

A copy of this presentation is available in our SlideShare profile.

If you missed the webinar, the recorded version is available here. Share your thoughts and continue the discussion here.

Webinar: Why Customer Service is NOT Enough

Today’s customers want an experience that engages them and gives them a reason to remain connected to you. Their mindset is one that is fickle, demanding, vocal and not very loyal.

In this webinar, customer service expert, Lisa Ford outlines her strategies for improving the customer experience.

• Go beyond average service to a relationship
• Ask tough questions to examine the quality of your experience
• Learn the customer connection rules
• Focus the culture on everyday service excellence
• Create a team that is inspired to keep customers loyal

A copy of this presentation is available in our SlideShare profile.

If you missed the webinar, the recorded version is available here. Share your thoughts and continue the discussion here.

Parature Day with "I Wear Your Shirt"

This blog was originally posted by “I Wear Your Shirt” Thanks to our friends Jason and Evan! Great videos guys!

Good customer service is the best marketing you can do. Parature offers software for customer service including customer support help desk software, knowledge base, case management, and trouble ticket helpdesk software. So what does that mean?

Parature gives your company the ability to reduce the cost of supporting your customers through software and support. Their on-demand software is custom tailored to your website and your customers will never know the difference. Join companies and organizations like Citrix, Rosetta Stone, IGN.com, Colorado State and many more that use Parature’s software.

You can also follow @Parature on Twitter,  like Parature on Facebook,  and see how Parature integrates with Facebook. Have a great Sunday everyone!

Photos | View All Video Clip | Watch on YouTube | View All Live Video | Watch on UStream | View All

Photos | View All Video Clip | Watch on YouTube | View All Live Video | Watch on UStream | View All

White Paper: Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does It - An Insider's Point of View

Southwest Airlines recognized long ago that they were in the Customer service industry, they just happened to fly airplanes. Subsequently, they built and maintain one of the most faithful Customer bases in existence today.

Parature is pleased to offer you this free white paper entitled Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does It – An Insider’s Point of View

Phenomenally successful Southwest Airlines is renowned for its stellar Customer service. Their continual dedication to achieving the highest level of Customer service led them to:

• Always capitalize the “C” in Customers to emphasize their importance
• Imbed each employee paycheck with a reminder message that their “Customers were responsible for providing this paycheck”
• Design a hiring system to attract and retain “Warrior Spirits” with innate Customer service skills
• Implement a recognition system and invite the external Customer to help recognize employees
• Utilize fun as a strategy to find the kid in everyone

Read this white paper to discover the principles and practices that, when implemented correctly, will boost the level of Customer loyalty in your organization, ultimately positioning your company as a leader in your industry and giving you a tremendous competitive advantage.

How to Build a Culture of Loyalty - How Southwest Airlines Does It

Phenomenally successful Southwest Airlines is renowned for its stellar Customer service. Learn from former Southwest Executive and author of Lessons in Loyalty, Lorraine Grubbs, how Southwest built and maintains one of the most faithful Customer bases.

Southwest Airlines recognized long ago that they were in the Customer service industry, they just happened to fly airplanes. They were one of the few companies who realized the existence of dual Customers – the internal one (employees) and the external one (passengers, vendors, partners, etc). This Customer service mindset was established from the onset in the creation of their mission statement, which in two separate parts, vows to deliver care and service to both employees and Customers. Their continual dedication to achieving the highest level of Customer service led them to:

• Always capitalize the “C” in Customers to emphasize their importance
• Imbed each employee paycheck with a reminder message that their “Customers were responsible for providing this paycheck”
• Design a hiring system to attract and retain “Warrior Spirits” with innate Customer service skills
• Implement a recognition system and invite the external Customer to help recognize employees
• Utilize fun as a strategy to find the kid in everyone

In this webinar you’ll learn how to create a Customer Service culture in your organization, regardless of size. The principles and practices learned in this session will, when implemented correctly, boost the level of Customer loyalty in your organization, ultimately positioning your company as a leader in your industry and giving you a tremendous competitive advantage.

A copy of this presentation is available in our SlideShare profile.

If you missed the webinar, the recorded version is available here. Share your thoughts and continue the discussion here.

ParaFest Panel: Support as a Differentiator - Bringing Customers to the Forefront

This morning ParaFest ‘10 started off with a strong line-up of customer panelists weighing in on everything from how to best integrate Chat into your support mix to establishing a “customer happiness index.”

Panelists Tammy Woodruff (Coremetrics, and one of this year’s Legend Maker award winners), Scott Montgomery (e-MDs), Doug Young, (finalsite), Hugh Ujhazy (Hitachi Data System) and Jon Landau (Huddle.net) offered plenty of practical advice and predictions.

As far as making customer support a competitive differentiator, Doug Young probably said it best: “In our business there are lots of lower-priced options, but our support is a big selling point and justifies our price point. For us, customer support is not a cost, but a real part of the product.”

The session wrapped up with each panelist asked to give just one parting piece of advice for fellow Paraturians. Some good stuff we’ll share in a future post.