Increasing standardization of processes, implementation of self-service functionalities and equipping an organization’s service staff with optimized, active knowledge bases, have become tried-and-tested means for comprehensive and effective support. It is no longer sufficient to offer knowledge and support only for IT infrastructure, as specialized modern-day applications have to be well supported too. This invites greater complexities, more overall co-ordination tasks and improvisation in the expertise of the service staff. “Today, possessing a professional knowledge management tool combined with a self-service solution is vital for fast and easy access to relevant information—through various channels and in a very targeted and efficient fashion,” begins Sven Kolb, Managing Director KCenter, Division of USU AG. “Our knowledge management and self-service solutions actively give employees, users, and customers the knowledge they require in their specific business processes.”

Specific to the knowledge management industry, USU has developed a wide range of products, which includes Knowledge Center, Knowledge First, Smart Link and Knowledge Scout. Knowledge Center controls ACTIVE knowledge objects that are offered as ‘snippets of knowledge’ to follow the needs at hand and in exactly the right situation. The company’s active knowledge base ensures that the right answers are supplied for all specific questions and avoids problems having to be passed on to other staff or the need for callbacks. Furthermore, the presence of innovative functionalities reduces the total number of documents up to 70 percent and enhances productivity up to 50 percent.

In order to establish a smart connection between IT end users and support teams, USU has created its self-service software—Smart Link, which works in collaboration with Knowledge Center. “Smart Link is present in your taskbar and mobile phones. Users ask their question and, suitable answers for FAQs or helpful documents in the knowledge base are proposed while clients are entering their search,” says Kolb. If an answer is not found, users can immediately create a ticket or request a chat with the IT support staff. With the alerting functionality of Smart Link, notifications e.g. about disruptions can be sent automatically to users, or just to a specific user group or business unit.