Archive for March 2012

10 Advantages of Online Surveys

web surveyOver the past decade, the use of online methods for market research has skyrocketed. Due to ever-increasing technological advances, it has become possible for do-it-yourself researchers to design, conduct and analyze their own surveys for literally a fraction of the cost and time it would have taken in the past.

Online surveys are a great option for business owners who would like to conduct their own research, and online survey tools make it possible for these business owners to perform market research at a fraction of the usual cost. The list below explains ten benefits of using online surveys as a way of researching your target market.

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How to Choose the Right Project Management Software

project-managementProject management software can be a useful tool for tracking project milestones, keeping up with to-do lists and scheduling meetings between team members. Choosing the right program (and the necessary bells and whistles) for your business will take a little research. Small businesses typically start with spreadsheets, followed by an online tool such as Google documents, before looking for something more comprehensive.

Project management continues to become an important and popular topic today. This is understandable because project management done correctly will help an organization get better at what it does, and make it more competitive. Project management software is one of the tools that organizations use to help implement project management. This article provides a five step process for choosing the right project management software.

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Top 6 online help desk software tools

helpdeskWhen a company moves their business online, they enter a new world, a world that never sleeps. The days of writing a letter to a company or calling them for help are gone. Clients expect instant service whenever and wherever they currently are. They are equipped with internet-enabled smart phones and tablets and their business never closes.

One of the most fundamental parts of customer interaction is communicating with the client about resolving issues. This usually involved a lot of paperwork and a team of people to accomplish, but not anymore. Customer support software, also called IT help desk software, is here to simplify customer interaction.

Web-based IT help desk software allows clients to save time by avoiding lengthy phone calls made even longer by being switched around from one department to another. Now, a client can submit a set of questions and get along with life while the support staff compile quality answers in a timely fashion. Since the service is email and web-based, customers can submit questions via online forms 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The majority of customer issues can usually be solved in a matter of minutes. This is where knowledge base software comes in handy. The knowledge base contains articles and instructions that answer a client’s questions or solve his problems without even having to contact the support staff in the first place.

Using the knowledge base is as simple typing in a question or a short description of a problem and instantly getting answers. This feature allows both parties to save time and money while still getting an issue resolved. An employer may open the system to his own employees, which means a more efficient and faster system to handle any internal inquiries ranging from company policy to technical support.

The most important part of help desk software is the automation of work. The trouble ticket software will quickly and easily convert question emails into tickets which allow tracking of each customer’s problems with ease.

This streamlines the whole support process and rules out any chance of mistakes or delays. Also, the customer support software keeps a record of all tickets created, thus providing the support staff with a history of each client’s interaction with the company.

To top it all off, it is possible to simply purchase a web-based software solution from a professional company. This way, the people that know everything about running customer support software are in charge of security, uptime and keeping everything running smoothly.

To summarize, web-based IT help desk software is the product of the future. It allows clients to receive help irregardless of where they are or what time it is. It also automates and normalizes the whole process, saving time and money for all parties involved, while providing a high quality support service to the client and ensuring a long and healthy business relationship.

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How to choose the right help desk software solution

help desk softwareFew people who run an online business would claim that they do not mind a small customer base. Trying to grab the attention of more and more people, for positive reasons, is something that many strive for. No matter how hard a company may work to gain attention, it means nothing if they cannot keep their customers happy.

Websites, no matter what they are for or who runs them, may sooner or later run into problems. For example, the web provider that is hosting the site could experience some down time. There could be an error that causes a certain product to become unavailable for a short time. However, not everything that happens is a result of the overall site experiencing an error. In some cases, customers may simply be confused about a certain page or feature on the site. With such a narrow and individual field, help for this customer can be difficult to tackle, making both the company and customer unhappy in the long run.

How can a business give their customers quick and easy assistance without cutting into the productivity of their employees? The answer sits with IT help desk software. With knowledge base software, all a company needs to do is install it, and the support software will help customers when needed. A worker that has to spend most of their time answering phone calls and emails is less likely to be productive for the well-being of the company. With something else to handle it for them, they can get back to what is important for them to accomplish.

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Help desk software solutions. Support ticket systems.

Internet access drives the modern economy. Where true global reach of products and services was once a distant goal of industry leaders, it is now commonplace. As the Internet continues to saturate the everyday life of more and more people, this trend will only accelerate exponentially. But with growing productivity, you get growing customer support needs. Can your support staff handle an influx of callers on top of what they’re already dealing with?

Of course, a handful of support professionals cannot provide support to millions of customers. However, as the Internet has reinvented the way we do business, it has also reinvented support. Instead of requiring direct contact, many customers are realizing the benefits of online help desks. These services are provided over the Internet, often free of charge, and assist customers with whatever support issues they are having. This movement to provide service on the Internet is a part of a larger movement called cloud computing, and both help desks and cloud computing have demonstrated business benefits in non-traditional means.

The help desk software industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the computer software industry. As companies of all sizes across the globe continue to realize the importance of cultivating long-lasting relationships with their clients through increasingly technical media, this industry is poised to grow well beyond the hundreds of help desk software solutions that are already in existence.

For small and large companies alike, choosing the right software solution is the key to providing outstanding customer service and support. In many cases, help desk software also provides internal team members with an effective way to communicate with one another about internal and external issues, while also allowing them to measure their effectiveness when responding to various types of client issues.

For many companies, the process of selecting help desk software is a major cause of stress and the final decision often comes after many months of deliberation. Usually, this is due to the wide variations in available features across products and the lack of a clear understanding of which features will best suit the company’s needs. However, this process can be made much easier by gaining an understanding of the help desk industry and how each solution approaches the task of creating a transparent flow of information between both staff members and clients.

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Free online project management tools

project management softwareSometimes the hardest part of a project is just keeping everything organized. With an online project management service it doesn’t matter where anyone on the team is located. Having an easy-to-use application that covers everything from schedules, budgets, reports and task managers means that you don’t have to worry about the mechanics of organization but can instead put more time and effort into the actual project itself.

When looking for online project management that will best fit your business, first decide how you want to interact with the program. Do you want to use it on your server or the manufacturer’s server? Also, decide who will use the service. Some online project management services charge per user per month. If you have international team members or a mobile work force, this is essential to know for budgeting purposes.

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Free online survey tools

SurveyOnline surveys are a great option for business owners who would like to conduct their own research, and online questionnaire tools make it possible for these business owners to perform market research at a fraction of the usual cost. There are many advantages of using online surveys. First of all, they are faster. The time span needed to complete an online survey project is on average two-thirds shorter than that of a traditional research method. Because the information is being gathered automatically, you don’t have to wait for paper questionnaires to come back to you. The response rate is almost instant. Online marketing experts say that more than half the responses are in within the first three days of the research project.

Online surveys are cheaper. Using online questionnaires can halve your research costs. Your business can save money on postage, and you don’t have to allocate part of your staff to enter the information into a database. The responses are processed automatically, and the results are accessible at any time.

Online surveys are more accurate. There is a smaller margin of error because participants enter their responses directly into the system. Traditional methods rely on the attentiveness of staff to enter all details correctly, and naturally human error can creep in whenever a person has to perform a repetitive task.

Online surveys are quick to analyze. Many survey software tools provide real time reporting. The results of the online survey are ready to be analyzed at any time. The data can be presented in graphs or tables, and most online survey tools also offer cross tabulation analysis tools to create contingency tables.

Online surveys are more flexible. The order of the questions in an online survey can be changed, or questions can be skipped altogether, depending on the answer to a previous question. This way, a survey can be tailored to each participant as he or she proceeds.

To sum up, online questionnaire or surveys are less time consuming, they are cheaper, you get the results faster, and you can transfer and use the data in other business applications. The results of the survey can be used to answer important questions about your business.

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Welcome to our new blog

This is our first blog post. Web-based-soft.com will keep you updated with the latest news about web based applications. Our site will include product reviews and comparison charts of major online applications. We will focus on several categories:

  • Survey software
  • Project management software
  • Help desk software