Chapter 4: Technical Writing Skills for Support Professionals

1. Chapter 4:Technical Writing Skills for Support Professionals A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional Second Edition

2. Objectives • Describe the impact of technologies such as the Internet, e-mail, instant messaging, and knowledge management systems on the help desk and its customers and on the role of help desk analyst • Understand the most common help desk documents used by help desks to convey information • Understand the characteristics of good technical writing and use proven techniques to improve your writing skills

3. Technology-Delivered Support • Historically, customers called the help desk or walked in to the help desk area when they needed assistance or information • Today, companies are providing additional ways for customers to obtain support • E-mail • Fax • IM • Web sites

4. Technology-Delivered Support (continued) Technology-delivered support services enable the help desk to: • Anticipate and proactively meet its customers’ needs • Reduce the overall cost of delivering support • Prioritize and manage its workload better • Ultimately, improve help desk services

5. Technology-Delivered Support (continued) • The effective use of technologies requires that help desks must: • Diligently capture and deliver high-quality information • Rethink the skills that help desk analysts must possess • Rethink the skills and knowledge that customers must possess • Used effectively, technology empowers both customers and help desk analysts • Used improperly, technology can frustrate everyone and can alienate customers

6. Technology-Delivered Support (continued) • Telephone, Internet, e-mail, and IM technologies all play a role in customer support • Telephone and IM - Provide immediacy and the ability to interact with a human being • E-mail - Provides the ability to send and receive detailed information • Web-based services - Provide customers with the ability to perform functions • Help desk analysts must feel comfortable communicating via all of these methods and must possess or develop the different skills that each of these technologies require

7. The Help Desk Analyst’s Role in a Technology-Centric World • Analysts must continuously learn new technologies and adapt those technologies to their work • Technologies extend the help desk’s ability to gather, organize, and use information • Information - Data organized in a meaningful way • Data - Raw facts not organized in a meaningful way • Information is an extremely valuable resource • Help desks rely on analysts to capture the high-quality data needed to create accurate and useful information • As a result, writing skills and keyboarding proficiency are important assets

8. Enabling Customer Self-Service • People have become accustomed to using self-services • Self-services - Services that enable customers to help themselves • Self-services benefit both customers and help desk analysts • Today’s demanding customers have come to expect self-services

9. Customer Support Via the Internet • The Internet has dramatically changed the way customers expect support services to be delivered • Some companies give customers access to secured information via an extranet • Internal help desks may enable customers to access a Web site via their company’s intranet • Help desks offer many self-services via their Web sites

10. Customer Support Via the Internet (continued) • Functionality and ease of use are the keys to a successful help desk Web site • Well-designed Web sites offer customers: • A variety of options • The ability to obtain assistance easily when they cannot obtain the information they need • The ability to personalize their support experience • Web sites enable companies to cost-effectively deliver support to their customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

11. Customer Support Via the Internet (continued)

12. Using E-mail Effectively to Communicate with Customers • 93% of help desks use e-mail • Many use primarily for internal communication • Some companies use e-mail to: • Inform customers about the status of outstanding problems and requests • Enable customers to submit problems and requests • Automatically acknowledge that a customer’s e-mail has been received, logged, and assigned a tracking number • Conduct customer satisfaction surveys • Simultaneously inform large numbers of customers about a virus, product change, or new release that might affect them

13. Using E-mail Effectively to Communicate with Customers (continued) • E-mail does not provide many of the capabilities of an incident tracking and problem management system • It cannot be used to automatically create trend reports or as a knowledge base • Help desk analysts typically log all e-mail requests in their company’s incident tracking and problem management system • Including status updates

14. Using E-mail Effectively to Communicate with Customers (continued) • Some companies use e-mail response management systems • E-mail response management systems: • Enable help desks to manage high-volume chat, e-mail, and Web form messages in much the same way that ACDs enable help desks to handle telephone calls • Provide analysts the ability to search and review customer messages and view a history of customer activities on the support Web site

15. Using E-mail Effectively to Communicate with Customers (continued) • Many incident tracking and problem management systems integrate with standard e-mail packages • Allows automation of common tasks • Downside of e-mail: • Can be perceived as impersonal • Can elongate the problem-solving process • To minimize downsides, use common sense and courtesy

16. Using Online Chat and Instant Messaging to Facilitate Communication • Online chat and IM are: • Extremely popular methods of communicating in both personal and work settings • Cost-effective, simultaneous ways to communicate • Chat - A simultaneous text communication between two or more people via a computer • Chat room - A virtual room that provides users the ability to converse (chat) real time with one or more other users • Instant messaging (IM) system – A system that enables two or more people to communicate in real time on the Internet

17. Using Online Chat and Instant Messaging to Facilitate Communication (continued) • Help desks are increasingly using IM • Many use primarily to communicate with level two service providers • Like e-mail, IM does not provide many of the capabilities of an incident tracking and problem management system • Analysts are typically required to record status updates obtained via IM in the help desk’s system

18. Using Online Chat and Instant Messaging to Facilitate Communication (continued) Factors causing companies to look more closely at using IM to communicate with customers: • Customers are increasingly demanding real-time communication • Analysts can often handle multiple conversations simultaneously • Companies are integrating IM into other systems • Integrating channels enables help desks to maximize their technological resources while reducing the overall cost of delivering support

19. Using Online Chat and Instant Messaging to Facilitate Communication (continued) To use IM effectively, companies must: • Establish IM guidelines that address the cost, legal, security, training, and management challenges that companies face • Spell out the types of interactions that are appropriate for IM • Staff this channel appropriately • Ensure they can create a written transcript of communications between analysts and customers

20. Using and Creating Knowledge Bases • Few companies have the resources to: • Re-create solutions • Give analysts adequate training • Analysts must help themselves by learning to use and create online knowledge bases • A knowledge base can be built using sophisticated technology or it can be a collection of books and documents

21. Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Knowledge resources include: • Class notes • Internet sites • Online help • Product manuals • Incident tracking and problem management system • Co-workers and other service providers

22. Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) • Expert and knowledge management systems enable companies to: • Consolidate knowledge resources • Maximize their human resources • Expert system - A computer program that stores human knowledge in a knowledge base and has the ability to reason about that knowledge • Knowledge management system – A system that combines the reasoning capability of an expert system with other information sources, such as databases, documents, and policies and procedures

23. Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) • Much of the flexibility and power of a knowledge management system comes from: • The search retrieval technology that it uses to retrieve data • The quality of the data available • Search criteria - The question or problem symptom entered by a user

24. Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Search retrieval technologies include: • Case-base reasoning (CBR) - A searching technique that uses everyday language to ask users questions and interpret their answers • Decision tree - A branching structure of questions and possible answers designed to lead an analyst to a solution • Fuzzy logic - A searching technique that presents all possible solutions that are similar to the search criteria, even when conflicting information exists or no exact match is present

25. Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) • Keyword searching - The technique of finding indexed information by specifying a descriptive word or phrase, called a keyword • Query by example (QBE) - A searching technique that uses queries, or questions, to find records that match the specified search criteria • Search operator – A connecting word such as AND, OR, and NOT “Garbage In, Garbage Out”

26. Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) • Many incident tracking and problem management systems have knowledge management systems built-in, or a knowledge base can be added on • Some companies purchase and implement standalone knowledge management systems • Knowledge management systems can be used to: • Record newly found solutions • Retrieve known solutions and procedures • Access existing knowledge bases • Help desk analysts benefit because the information they need is available when they need it

27. Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) • Many companies designate a knowledge base administrator (KBA) or knowledge engineer to maintain their system • Knowledge engineer – A person who develops and oversees the knowledge management process and ensures the information contained in the help desk’s knowledge base is accurate, complete, and current • In smaller companies, an analyst with excellent writing skills may perform this role on a part-time basis • Larger companies may have one or more full-time knowledge engineers • The knowledge engineer role is: • Becoming increasingly important • A highly valued position in many organizations

28. Writing Help Desk Documents • The amount of writing done by analysts varies from company to company • A number of documents are common • Each document has a different audience and purpose • Before writing, ensure you understand the audience’s needs and how they plan to use the information • The goal of help desk writing is to accurately convey technical information in an interesting way that can be understood by readers

29. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued)

30. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Trouble tickets: • Typically logged electronically at the time the request is received • Well-written tickets provide: • The information other analysts and service providers need to solve problems quickly • A historical accounting of steps taken to solve a problem • Analyst should clearly record: • All of the information the customer provides • All steps taken to diagnose and resolve the problem

31. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued)

32. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) • Most tickets are made up of two basic parts: • Data field - An element of a database record in which one piece of data is stored • Text field – A field that accepts free-form information • Text fields are used to collect detailed information • Many companies establish standards for how to enter certain words or phrases into text fields • Standards help analysts write consistently and minimize confusion caused by inconsistent terms

33. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Strive to understand how the data you collect is being used in an effort to ensure that you are entering information as accurately as possible!

34. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Accuracy is important: • Entering inaccurate date and time data can make tickets appear late • Customers increasingly have the ability to check the status of outstanding tickets • Trouble ticket data is often automatically forwarded to customers via e-mail

35. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Accuracy is important (continued): • Trouble ticket data is used by other service providers to diagnose and solve problems • Trouble ticket data is used by management to: • Create reports and analyze trends • Justify resources and measure performance • Fully understand your workload and your contributions • Identify improvement opportunities

36. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) E-mail Messages: • Well-written e-mail messages: • Are as clear and concise as possible • Convey a positive, friendly tone • Provide as much of the needed information as possible the first time Try to anticipate follow-up questions a customer may ask and volunteer the information!

37. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): • Well-written answers to the most common customer queries • Well-written FAQs: • State both the question and answer clearly and in a language that is appropriate to the audience • Use jargon and technical terms in the answers, as long as the terms are defined for the reader • FAQs are a basic self-service • FAQs enable customers and co-workers to find solutions and answers to questions on their own

38. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Knowledge base solutions: • Must be accurate and complete • Solution - A definitive, permanent resolution to a problem, or a proven workaround • Typically stored as records in a separate file than trouble tickets • Enables a one-to-many relationship • Solutions do not: • Describe things to attempt when diagnosing problems or responding to inquiries • Contain the details of a single specific problem

39. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued)

40. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) • Many help desks develop standards that describe how to write solutions • Standard solutions contain two types of information: • Fields that are used to index the solution and link it to the type of problem being solved • Text that describes the solution • The description of a solution may contain links to online documents, or a multimedia presentation of some kind, such as a video or audio clip

41. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued)

42. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued)

43. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) When working in a help desk: • Strive to use all available knowledge resources • Contribute to the creation of your company’s knowledge management system • Respect the fact that your coworkers and other service providers are just as busy as you are; look in the knowledge base for answers to routine questions • Seek help if you have difficulty finding solutions or using your company’s knowledge management system

44. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Reports: • Entry-level analysts may not prepare reports but senior analysts and managers often do • Reports may be statistics or detailed accountings produced from the data collected in an incident tracking and problem management system • Creating this type of report requires: • Knowledge of the system • The available data • Knowledge of the reporting package used to pull the data out of the system

45. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) • Reports may also reflect the results of a study, the status of a project, or the analysis of statistics • Preparing these reports requires: • Writing skills • An understanding of the recipient’s expectations. • Common reports an analyst may create include: • Progress reports • Requirements reports • Feasibility reports

46. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) • When asked to prepare a report for the first time: • Find out exactly what is expected in terms of format and content • Ask to see a copy of a similar report • Prepare an outline and ask for feedback and approval prior to preparing actual report • Be open to and ask for specific, constructive feedback

47. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Policies and procedures: • Help desk staff are often involved in the development of policies and procedures. • Policies and procedures may be used by customers, the internal support organization, or simply within the help desk • Procedure - A step-by-step, detailed set of instructions that describes how to perform a task • Many companies develop a standard format, or template, that is used to prepare procedures

48. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Well-written procedures: • State every step explicitly • State the result readers can expect when a task is complete • Let the reader know what to do if they do not get the expected result • May include information about what not to do • May include detailed warnings

49. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued)

50. Writing Help Desk Documents (continued)