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Knowledge Management and Help Desk Software

Knowledge management (KM) is the idea that companies can organize and present information to customers so that the customers can easily find what they need. When customers can look up information, they call their help desk with fewer repeat questions. The calls that do come into the help desk will be more complex and be of the kind that requires human attention.

Those call centers with knowledge management resources have learned that KM is faster and less expensive than conventional helpdesk support. According to Frost & Sullivan, a New York research firm, help desks pay less than 11¢ every time a customer uses the help desk's Knowledge Base. Compared to $8-$30 for every help desk call, that's a significant savings! If you consider that up to 80% of calls into a helpdesk are repeat questions, a Knowledge Management system can save your call center time, facilities, operating costs, and salaries.

There are many good KM tools on the market. Also, most good helpdesk software packages can have a knowledge management component, which is often called the Knowledge Base. Some useful features to look for are:

• Multiple layers - Can articles be stored in a hierarchy?
• Search mechanisms - Can users search by keywords or Boolean expressions?
• Feedback - Can users to provide feedback on how helpful the answer is?
• Scalability - Can the helpdesk software's system scale as your Knowledge Base grows?
• Organization - Can the Knowledge Base be organized intuitively?

When Knowledge Management was introduced in the late 1990s, it was a revolution for helpdesks and helpdesk software. KM saves help desks and call centers thousands in time effort and resources. When you look for help desk software, consider seeking call tracking software with a Knowledge Base. It could just save you money.

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