Q Data Dynamique (QDD), the e-HR specialist in the PQ Africa Group, has centralised its telephonic customer support desk to head office in Midrand. The move means a single national support centre located alongside the product development team for closer correlation between customer requirements and new product developments.
The centre, which services all telephonic customer support queries nationwide, is supported by a fully operational electronic call logging system. Suzi Manley, manager of product support, says the re-organisation will mean faster turnaround times for and resolution of customer problems and one point of contact for consulting requirements.
"Client liaison within each region of the country is now working closely with central support," she says. "The support and development departments are now situated in the same building, which makes it much easier to resolve complex customer issues."
Alexander Lucas, recently appointed client services manager, says the client services division has redefined those processes which needed improving. "Under the new system, project managers are engaged with clients very early on in the process," Lucas says. "A manager can oversee a project and meet with clients to resolve project problems. We have also redefined how we view our relationships with clients. Client services will become a central contact point so that we can provide better service."
Customers now dial one number, which takes them through to a single support desk manned by eight experienced staff, who take between 40 and 50 calls a day, ranging from business-critical support calls to requests for upgrades and software manuals.
Lucas brings a wealth of experience in customer services, consulting and support to QDD. Formerly applications consulting manager at Oracle SA and customer liaison manager at Tetra Business Systems, he says the benefits of the new setup have already become evident to QDD.
"Projects are more effective, project tracking has improved and the cost of the service to the customer has dropped significantly. All customers now know upfront about the details of project plans and their current status."
QDD`s project base ranges from very small installations through to multi-million rand projects that can span several months from sale to installation. The company has full facilities to replicate customer environments in-house, including AS/400, mainframe, Unix and NT installations in its data centre. Since the bulk of its installed base uses software developed in-house, synergy between the development and support divisions is essential.
"The greatest benefit of the centralised support desk to QDD is continuity," says Manley. "Beefed up internal communications within the support division and between support and development means that everyone is aware of a customer`s problem. This means the service orientation is more effective and that knowledge sharing across the divisions is improved. All of our clients countrywide have direct access to support from a single number. "
The new support line is on 0861-100-541
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