NOTES FROM SIRSI CONSORTIA SIG FOCUS GROUP ON CLIENT CARE MARCH 5, 2006
The session was moderated by George Christian and Eileen Palmer. A specific agenda was distributed, but the session turned out to be very free-wheeling.
Sirsi attendees included Mike Casale, Don McCall, Greg Hayes, Kat Stephens, Jeanne Rodgers, Amy Morgenthaler and Kristina Fengl; my apologies for any omissions.
Mike stated that he wants ideas and indicated that closer integration with the Dynix support office in Provo is imminent.
Debby Conrad expressed frustration with poor communication when issues go back to Development for a remedy and noted the need for better info flow between Client Care and Development.
George asked what internal tracking software is used. Sirsi does daily reports now but is looking to buy a new company-wide package this year, perhaps to be folded into the Great Plains financial system software.
Michael Koehn commented that offers to work with Client Care to fix a problem (e.g., by running some logging) rather than implement a short-term workaround don’t seem to register. Kristina said that Client Care is moving more in that direction.
Michael praised the patch management system. Peggy Shaffer asked that patch installation guidance be better integrated into the basic upgrade scripts.
Pat Kisor noted that answers can cause pain (unpleasant implications) and that Client Care needs to understand the impact on clients when measures are recommended. Kat wants to hear if we think we’re getting bad service in that or other regards.
Roughly one half of incidents now get a follow-up survey.
Don McCall expressed empathy about the expressed need for softer skills (human relations); he said it took roughly 18 months to shape up the basics of Client Care, and that the organization is now in better shape to deal with things beyond providing the right answer.
Eileen reiterated the importance of understanding consortia. (Brief self-indulgent syntax rant: is it just your humble scribe who was raised to believe in mom, apple pie, baseball and “consortium” as the singular and “consortia” as the plural term for the behemoths whose awesome might we wield?)
Sirsi offered to have customers spend time with Client Care.
George inquired about the Knowledge Base. Jeanne agreed with the value of broadening it to include information from the listservs and web forums, (or is that fora?) and refining it, and lamented the indexing shortcomings of the present system.
Peggy Shaffer would like Sirsi to develop a training course on “how to be a Help Desk.” There will be a program on this topic at the fall Consortia SIG meeting, co-presented by Sirsi (Mike volunteered) and a customer. Any customer volunteers?
A complaint was registered about Client Care not looking at screen shots. Information about submitting attachments is on the CC web forum and will be put into the Sirsi newsletter as a reminder.
Asked to designate the best way to open an incident (Web, e-mail or call), CC recommended one of the first two if attachments are involved.
Customers don’t like getting excerpts from Help files when reporting incidents; they’ve already Been There, Done That and seem to feel that providing such basic documentation wrongly infers a lack of sophistication or prior research on the customer end.
A status for calls “closed without a resolution” was requested. Finding these calls in the database is problematic.
Michael Koehn suggested keeping a “Top Ten Weird Problems List” so trends in the customer base can be tracked better.
Eileen asked CC to find a way to extend fixes to other consortia clients when they have broader utility than the site involved in the original incident.
Warning: GL3.0 sites noted a need to re-do Bibload and transaction stats!
George and Eileen were appointed by the audience to coordinate ongoing conference calls, perhaps monthly, with Mike to review issues and progress. Please give them your input.
Michael K. urged CC “please don’t be afraid to call to fix a situation.”
The future of CC account Managers has been subject to some rumor and speculation, due to the imbalance between Unicorn sites’ designated advocates (or lack thereof) vs. Dynix’s 3 LRMs for the whole customer base. Much love for and valuing of Amy and Kristina was expressed.
A perceived CC lack of understanding of OCLC was noted.
George reiterated the need for better communication when a fix for one would benefit more customers. Mike C. cited the DRA model and said we’ll probably see patch clusters.
The session went half an hour past the scheduled ending time, and we barely got started on the agenda. Sirsi seemed genuinely solicitous and open to suggestions and constructive criticism. Clearly many topics remain to be discussed during the ongoing calls and in other venues. Thanks to the organizers, participants and attendees.
—Richard Shurman
ccsig3506.doc