Citrix launches online Knowledge Center to improve customer support

Citrix Systems, the global leader in access infrastructure solutions, has launched the Citrix Knowledge Center,

, an online support environment designed to give customers the information resources they need to ensure maximum success with their implementations of the Citrix MetaFrame Access Suite.

Customers can find out more at the annual Citrix iForum Gauteng conference to be held at Vodaworld on 24 July 2003.

According to Nick Black, systems engineer at Citrix South Africa, local Citrix customers will benefit from the service, which is provided by the Citrix Worldwide Technical Support department, as it creates a structured central resource for finding information on implementation best practices.

"The new self-service Knowledge Center includes discussion forums where customers can share information, comprehensive product and technical documentation on Citrix access infrastructure solutions, and a tool with which customers can create, track and update their technical support cases online," he said.

"The new Citrix Knowledge Center is a world above the previous support site," said Wes Lazara, senior systems administrator, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation. "It is well organised, allowing me to easily search for and find the information I need to do my job better, as well as benefiting from the experience of others through the full-featured customer discussion forums."

Trek to the summit

00Days

:

00Hrs

:

00Min

:

00Sec

"Everything is measured by downtime in my industry and the new Citrix Knowledge Center has allowed me to find answers to all of my questions quickly and easily, dramatically reducing downtime," said Greg McKinney, systems analyst, St Vincent Health System in Little Rock, Arkansas. "I love the format of the support forum. It`s much easier to use and search for information."

A primary component of the Knowledge Center is a Knowledge Base for self-service support by the Citrix user community. The Knowledge Base provides an easy way for users to search or browse for the latest technical documents, including hot fixes, product documentation, security bulletins, service packs and technical notes. Users can interact with the system and give feedback to Citrix through features such as notifications and document ratings.

The Knowledge Center also offers Citrix Community Support Forums, discussion groups for user-to-user and representative-to-user support. When users cannot find answers to their questions using the Knowledge Base, they can search through the discussion forum archives, or post their questions for other community members and support representatives to troubleshoot. Users who are active members of the online community are encouraged to assign points to the questions they pose on the forum, and respondents will receive points by answering. Each member`s profile will track the number of points earned from providing helpful answers. This point system allows community expertise to be tracked and rewarded.

"Citrix is 100% focused on providing access to information. It`s the core of our brand," said Paul Martine, vice-president of the Citrix Worldwide Technical Support department. "By effectively disseminating technical information online, we can provide customers with access to Citrix resources and answers to their questions whenever it`s most convenient for them. As a result, our customers can speed problem-resolution and increase overall productivity."

The Citrix Knowledge Center is powered by Jive Software, a leading provider of software and services for online support environments that allow users to self-support, collaborate with other users or interact directly with support reps.

"This is a powerful vehicle for providing the Citrix user community with quick and intuitive access to documents and communities of practice," said Dave Hersh, CEO of Jive Software. "Quality customer support is extremely important to a company like Citrix and we are honoured to be a part of their support offering. The Knowledge Center is a rich resource and will quickly become a popular destination for Citrix users."

For more information on Citrix iForum Gauteng, visit www.citrixiforum.co.za or e-mail events@pec.org.za.