BeyondTrust > Case Studies > Transportation Company Reduces On-Site Support Visits 90% With Remote Support Appliance

Transportation Company Reduces On-Site Support Visits 90% With Remote Support Appliance

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

America
Asia

Country

United States
Philippines

Product

Activant Eagle software
Bomgar remote support product

Tech Stack

Remote Support Technology
Business Management Software

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Applicable Industries

Retail

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Remote Collaboration
Remote Control

Services

System Integration
Training

About The Customer

Activant Solutions Inc. (“Activant”) is a leading technology provider of business management solutions serving small and medium-sized distributors and specialty retailers. Activant provides customers with industry-specific software, professional services, content, supply chain connectivity and analytics. The Eagle Advice Line – Activant’s largest support center supports over 5,000 “mom and pop” retailers across the United States running the Activant Eagle software – a turnkey business management system. After supporting customers for years with phone-only support, they were continuously running a backlog of support calls. They sought a remote support solution so they could connect directly with customers and get them back to business.

The Challenge

Activant’s Eagle product includes a support option in the monthly service fee. Customers have immediate access to a Tier-1 phone support desk that operates in Manila, Philippines. These agents handle minor support issues and customer questions. If the call is not resolved in 10-20 minutes, the call is escalated to the Eagle group – a Tier-2 and up support center – based in Livermore, California. The Tier-2 group either receives phone transfers or calls customers back (depending on SLA). The Tier-2 group is divided into four specialty teams: credit cards, accounting, telecommunications and systems. Calls to this support group are usually complex, says Michelle Sanford, senior product support manager. The average call lasts 22 minutes with the average incident lasting around 57 minutes. Fifty-seven minutes away from a small retail business can be detrimental to customer service at the store level, so Activant knew they needed a way to connect to customers where they could view the screen and speed first call resolution. Activant previously used two remote meeting products, but needed a tool that would actually allow them to support customers.

The Solution

Activant evaluated several remote support products, but decided on Bomgar for some very specific reasons: Customer satisfaction – Because Activant’s Eagle team deals with customers on a repeat basis, the trust factor is important. Sanford says Bomgar is an integral part of building that trust. “Bomgar allows us…to really cement [the relationship] in a way that no other application has been able to do for us.” PCI compliance – PCI standards affect all of Activant’s customers. Activant is taking this very seriously because if their customers are not compliant they could face fines that could “literally shut down their business.” Sanford says that because Bomgar leaves no footprint on the remote customer’s system, they are a step ahead in compliance. First-call resolution – Before Bomgar, Activant’s first call resolution rate was running at about 75%. Bomgar allowed them to up first call resolution rates to between 88-92%, because they can now see what the customer sees. Reduced call times – Sharon Sarras, a product support specialist, has been on the front lines with customers for over 11 years. She says the ability to connect to her customers and see their screen has cut the call times in half. Because of this, the number of calls handled per day per rep has increased from five to six-and-a-half or seven calls in a day.

Operational Impact

Bomgar was originally deployed to meet the company’s remote support requirements; however, with the meeting features built in, it allowed Activant to eliminate one of the two existing solutions. In turn, this produced a cost savings for the organization.
Sanford says that field engineers or “local platform specialists” use Bomgar now instead of going onsite to perform Windows support.
Sanford says she finds Bomgar to be a useful tool in managing her employees because many of them are remote. “Sometimes when we’re having personnel conversations, and they want to show me something on their system, we’ll initiate a session,” she says. “There are so many different uses for it [Bomgar]; it’s incredible.”

Quantitative Benefit

Activant’s first call resolution rate was running at about 75%. Bomgar allowed them to up first call resolution rates to between 88-92%
The ability to connect to her customers and see their screen has cut the call times in half. Because of this, the number of calls handled per day per rep has increased from five to six-and-a-half or seven calls in a day.
Field engineers or “local platform specialists” use Bomgar now instead of going onsite to perform Windows support, reducing on-site visits by 90%