The World's Easiest to Use Secure Desktop Sharing Software Company Unleashes Searchable Community of More Than 5,000 Technical Experts

CrossLoop, Inc. (http://www.crossloop.com/), creator of the world's easiest to use secure desktop sharing software, today unveiled its new online community -- the Help Marketplace -- available now for free. CrossLoop Help Marketplace customers can quickly find and connect to trusted technical experts who can provide troubleshooting assistance, technical support, and training for any computer problem or need.

Whether it's learning how to use a new accounting software package or how to improve the performance of your PC, everyone needing computer assistance now has instant access to the growing CrossLoop community of more than 5,000 user-rated technical experts ranging from independent specialists to engineers at large tech support companies.

By searching through detailed technical expert profiles, those needing help can quickly identify the support professional they need to solve their problem, view ratings and reviews from others who have used their services, and initiate a personal support engagement.

Once connected to a technical expert, the CrossLoop software provides easy-to-use desktop screen sharing so that helpers and those they are helping can collaborate as if they were working side by side. The fast-to-download solution enables any two Windows PCs on earth to connect and share screens. Computers connected by CrossLoop can also exchange files and switch control for a truly collaborative user experience, allowing technical experts to solve problems more efficiently from remote locations.

"Until now, finding trustworthy tech support has been painfully inconvenient and stressful, riddled with travels through a call center or to a retail chain," said Lisa Alderson, president and CEO, CrossLoop, Inc. "We designed the CrossLoop Help Marketplace to reduce frustration and dramatically improve how people both give and receive help on their computers. The collective knowledge found in our growing community of Helpers provides the means to address any technical issue and enables more personalized service. Our global, user-verified helpdesk with person-to-person support will put 'care' back into customer care."

"CrossLoop is really amazing," said Helen Amelio of Tampa, Florida, after being helped by a service provider over 700 miles away in Tennessee. "Your program makes it so much easier to have someone else take care of simple problems remotely. It was fun to watch my cursor move around and solve my problem while I vacuumed my room. CrossLoop is the best thing I have seen in a long time."

"I am a huge fan of CrossLoop," said Kevin Armstrong, owner, Acclaim PC Services, a tech support company out of Ohio with more than 40 credentialed systems engineers that support small-to-medium sized enterprises. Acclaim PC was built to take the stress out of technology, and thanks to CrossLoop, it can more easily and efficiently service computer issues whenever they arise and wherever customers reside. "The market potential here is great. Not only can I help people in less time, creating cost savings for my clients, but I also see tremendous potential for me to develop my customer base. Every time I use CrossLoop to service a customer, my reputation automatically grows stronger in the network, and my services become more valuable."

The CrossLoop desktop sharing software available today is free to download for both personal and business use. Current users of CrossLoop's free desktop sharing software range from professional service providers helping hundreds of clients to large organizations providing help-desk support to remote office employees and specialty consultants to individuals helping friends and family members across geographies.

The CrossLoop Help Marketplace and CrossLoop's free desktop sharing software are live and available now at http://www.crossloop.com/.

About CrossLoop

CrossLoop is a consumer Internet company that makes helping other people fast, friendly and cost-effective by empowering any two people anywhere in the world to connect live via computer. Through its easy-to-use desktop sharing software and global, user-verified Help Marketplace, CrossLoop connects computer users with trusted, qualified service providers and friends who can provide the support they need quickly and conveniently. Available in 21 languages and used by individuals and businesses in over 190 countries, CrossLoop serves over 600,000 unique users and has enabled more than 30 million "help minutes" to provide technical support, training and collaboration around the globe. CrossLoop is backed by El Dorado Ventures (http://www.eldorado.com/) and Altura Ventures (http://www.altura.com/). For more information, please visit http://www.crossloop.com/.

CrossLoop, Inc.


source: www.earthtimes.org

About Hatteland Display

Hatteland Display AS manufactures a complete range of products for the maritime, naval and industrial market.

News

With expansion of R&D, testing and service capabilities, Hatteland Display's new service centre is bound to strengthen the company's reputation, by ensuring the continued high standards of its products and technical support.

Opened in Nedre, Norway, at the end of last month, the new technical Centre is part of an intensive investment program started by the company in 2007, with a focus on ensuring the company's long term capability to meet growing demand for its products and after sales support in the expanding marine and naval markets.

Technical Support including service and helpdesk functions and R&D lab will be one of the functions of the new centre. The company has installed several new systems including a climate chamber designed to cycle through extreme temperature changes to ensure products can cope with the harsh environments on board. A new combo vibrator unit and a tool to measure Conducted Emission noise will also serve to improve operational reliability of Hatteland Display's monitor and computers. Additionally, a new dark chamber has been installed for improved colour calibration development.
The Technical Centre will be home to a new service organisation housing expanded helpdesk and technical support units, with a total of 10 dedicated teammembers. This will ensure that Hatteland Display customers have flexibleaccess to the technical experts at the company, and will ultimately ensure minimal installation issues and downtime if problems occur at sea.

Started Outsourcing Call Centers to India - Reasons and analysis report
-- Quality conscious companies like help desk industries., make an in-depth analysis of the process of its clients and draws up the plan from hiring to delivery. -- India has become the favorite destination for Call Centers in the world. In the span of last 10 years, Call Centers in India have grown rapidly with steady growth rate providing cost-effective services. India has one of the largest English-speaking skilled resources in the globe. Call Centers in India are able to match the expectations of the outsourcing companies from around the globe. In today's internet age, many companies are eyeing India to outsource their non-core area of business largely to reduce costs, and to focus entirely on their core area of business. Indian Call Centers formulate business strategy by completely studying the process employed by the outsourcing companies and provide the most cost-effective services to their clients. They constantly update their clients with the progress made and provide them with full information regarding the process on every stage. They follow customer-specific approach. In terms of cost, the Call Center services provided in India are far more cost-effective, which is one of the main reasons why the outsourcing companies chose India as their favorite destination. Quality conscious companies like help desk industries., make an in-depth analysis of the process of its clients and draws up the plan from hiring to delivery. Through this in-depth planning and subsequent implementation of the process, they are able to save costs up to 40% to 50% to their clients with uncompromising quality. Moreover, Support helps to broaden the customer base of its clients through commitment, strategy, and high focus on customer satisfaction.
Our analyst says,
Why outsource to Call Centers in India? 1. Magnitude of workforce India has one of the largest number of qualified, IT-literate, tech-savvy professionals in the world. Also, it has a large pool of English-speaking resources. The size of India's workforce is one of the biggest advantages through which it is able to meet global Call Center demand. India also provides Call Center services for major languages in the world such as German, French, Spanish, etc. 2. Diverse Call Center services. Call Centers in India offer an array of Call Center services such as inbound and outbound Call Center services, telemarketing services, technical and non-technical helpdesk services, E-mail and Chat support. They also provide a host of IT enabled services such as helpdesk services, accounting services, transaction processing services, remote network management and end-to-end processing. 3. Latest technology and robust Infrastructure Call Centers in India employ the latest technology available and are equipped with world-class infrastructure to match the requirements of its clients. They deploy top-class servers, solid power backup, and dedicated internet lease line, etc., which enables them to deliver their services to the clients without any hindrance. Some of the features of infrastructure,
• India's strong telecommunication network enables high-speed transfer of voice and data across every corner of the globe. • Providing critical Computer Telephony Integration and Interactive Voice Response systems regardless of the customer's PABX, ACD, computer or database. • Deployment of world-class telecom infrastructure with various redundancies at critical junctures and honor uptime commitments of nearly 99%. • Availability of 24x7 support with uninterrupted power supply with solid power backup. • Use of high-grade voice and data communication systems. • Dedicated leased line of internet. 4. Hiring process
Growing companies like Support Pvt. Ltd., hire the creamy layer of talented customer support representatives into their fold to bestow superior inbound and outbound Call Center services to their clients. The hiring process in Support imparts the importance of customer focus to their potential candidates. Once the potential candidates are thoroughly trained on the client-specific inbound and outbound process, rigorous tests are conducted to test them. Only successful candidates will be absorbed into the delivery team of Support. Also, the clients are given the complete list of customer support representatives who work on their project. Any updates from the clients will be immediately followed by the delivery team of Support. Some of the training imparted is the following, • Accent training. • Process oriented certifications. • Etiquette of Call Center. • Internet skills. • Promotional and sales skills. 5. Cost-effectiveness.
Another significant aspect why companies prefer outsourcing to Call Centers in India is because the cost of running a Call Center in India is nearly 50% less than running the same kind of Call Center in Americas, Europe, Australia, etc. Moreover, Indian Call Centers are always quality conscious and they meet up the higher standards set up by the outsourcing companies. Indian Call Centers functions on 24x7x365 days basis with strong customer focus. This has encouraged many global giants to outsource their Call Center services to India since they are able to get the same or better quality of Call Center services at nearly half the cost that they used to spend normally.

Outsourcing Help desk for retail support Mosaic Fashions pieces together helpdesk deal Outsourcing plan the retail group can grow into

Mosaic Fashions, the owner of Coast, Karen Millen, Oasis, The Shoe Studio Group and Warehouse fashion brands, has outsourced its first stage helpdesk support to Retail Assist for its 1,500 stores around the world. The retailer has presences in mainland Europe, Rep of Ireland, the UK and the US and grew significantly after acquiring Rubicon Retail in October 2006. Mosaic group IT director John Bovill explained to silicon.com that Rubicon had an outsourced business strategy for helpdesk support, while Mosaic had an in-house team. He said: "It didn't make sense to carry on running two helpdesk models, so we decided to go with Retail Assist which already had a relationship with the group." But the accelerated growth strategy adopted by the Mosaic made an in-house support team less viable - Bovill said the group expects to triple in size across the world in the next three years.


The service, which was rolled out in March, will support all of Mosaic's electronic point of sale systems. Bovill said the in-house support team had been reduced by half and that he expects the cost of the outsourcing project to pay for itself in less than six months. More problematic enquiries will be forwarded to in-house support, or support from technology providers. Bovill said: "It's more about being able to concentrate on developing new systems to support the business rather than cutting costs."

Microsoft Gulf to debut new Dynamics CRM 4.0 in Middle East


INTERNATIONAL. Microsoft Gulf is set to launch the new version of Dynamics CRM 4.0 in the Middle East during the first edition of the Dynamics CRM conference scheduled to be held in Dubai on 23 April at the Emirates Towers. The event will be attended by an audience of regional business and technology professionals who will have the opportunity to experience how the new solutions can help expand business in various industries, increase efficiency and strengthen customer loyalty.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management (CRM) solution which aims to enhance marketing, sales and service capabilities that delivers exceptional benefits to customers. Microsoft CRM offers flexible solutions for various industries such as financial services, property management, contact centre and IT help desk services and also public sector.

The event will feature high-level executive speakers from Microsoft as well as partners who will share best practices on building and deploying industry specific solutions on Microsoft CRM platform.

Commenting on the launch of the Dynamics CRM, Tamer Elhamy, Business Solutions Manager, Microsoft Gulf said: “Microsoft Dynamics CRM is an integrated, adaptable business management solution that enables organisations to manage their marketing and sales capabilities and to improve customer service. This solution will help organisations to strengthen their customer relationships by providing a single customer view. The event is an excellent opportunity for customers in the region to get an in-depth look at the power and flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Ghanem Dhaheri, Head of IT at ADSM, said: “Abu Dhabi Securities Market was established to organise trading in securities in order to increase liquidity and to create opportunities through an ideal investment environment. Therefore we are committed to providing the highest levels of investor support in a timely and accurate manner. By adopting a state of the art contact center based on Microsoft CRM integrated with interactive intelligence, we have managed to respond faster to investor queries. The solution allows our agents to easily log, route and solve call requests through the combination of workflow, knowledge base and integration with the ADSM Investors Database. Investors can also track their cases and receive notifications by call, fax and email.”

Ayman Haydar, General Manager, Mediaquest Corp, said: “The implementation of Microsoft CRM has greatly improved the efficiency of Mediaquest’s daily business and created a smooth virtual bridge among its different departments and overseas offices. It also increased the productivity of the sales force through proper follow up on all leads, accurate records of client meetings, and higher sales due to clear visibility of targets vs. achievements. Not to forget the clean and easy accessed database."

As a key component of Microsoft’s software and services strategy, Dynamics CRM is designed with a single unified code base for both on-premise and on-hosted deployments. It enables customers to choose the right deployment model for their specific business and technology needs, with the flexibility to change deployment models over time if preferences change. Microsoft Dynamics CRM currently has 14,000 customers and 625,000 users globally. CRM 4.0 is available in 25 languages including Arabic.

Purchasing of New Corporate Headquarters in Downtown Vancouver By help desk software developers - News on Help desk

VANCOUVER, Wash., April 17 /help-desk-solutions/ -- Following a fantastic first quarter with new business growth of 50%, GWI Software announces it has outgrown its current location and purchased of a new corporate headquarters in downtown Vancouver, Washington.

The three-story building originally built in 1946 is located on the corner of 17th and Main Street, and through a partnership with RSV Construction will be completely renovated over the next three months. GWI
plans to take occupancy in mid-summer. In addition to GWI's corporate offices there will also be basement-level office rental spaces available, as well as 1,800 square feet of retail rental space with Main Street
frontage.

GWI Software recently ranked as the fifth largest software developer in Vancouver by the Vancouver Business Journal, and projects further growth with the recent release of two new editions of its flagship product,
c.Support v7.0. c.Support is a web-based, fully-integrated help desk application allowing companies of any size or service requirement to increase efficiency, automation, and accountability within its service and
support activities.

"It is a very exciting time for GWI Software," said CEO Daren Nelson."We have experienced tremendous growth despite the turbulent economy, and the latest release of c.Support is well positioned to continue capturing
market share and creating subsequent growth for us. We recently celebrated a wonderful 16 years in the business, and with the purchase of this new headquarters the future looks to be even brighter."

About GWI Software

GWI Software (http://www.gwi.com) is a leader in providing powerful, yet flexible support solutions for IT service desk applications. With 3,000 installations in organizations worldwide, GWI's highly customizable service
automation solutions are used by companies such as Panasonic, State of Missouri, SAIC, Check Free, and Telesat Canada. The company is privately held and based in Vancouver, Washington.

c.Support is a registered trademark of GWI Software. Other parties' trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners and should be treated as such.



SOURCE GWI Software

Help Desk Software Key Features

Summary: Help desk software can empower businesses to improve and enhance their critical post-sales support operations. This article provides some insight into the key features and capabilities of today's most popular help desk software packages.


Boost Productivity and Improve Your Customer Service

The ability to rapidly answer inquiries, address issues, and solve problems is crucial to achieving and maintaining the highest levels of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. Many businesses are turning to help desk software to dramatically enhance their post-sales support operations.

Help desk software, also known as help desk automation, can significantly improve the productivity and responsiveness of service and support teams by centralizing and streamlining the tasks associated with issue management. Staff members can effectively track and monitor the status of customer problems and related activities every step of the way, from the moment they are reported until they are resolved, to ensure smooth and efficient handling.

With help desk software, support teams can also leverage a comprehensive, yet intuitive knowledge base that provides them with easy access to the thorough and detailed information they need to quickly satisfy customer requirements. This knowledge base not only increases efficiency, it enhances collaboration across product development, quality assurance, field consulting and support, and other departments by allowing them to share timely and accurate information as it becomes available.

Let Your Customers Help Themselves

But, one of the most beneficial features of a help desk software solution is its self-service capabilities. With help desk software, customers have convenient, 24 x 7 access to Web-based help, frequently asked questions (FAQs), troubleshooting tips, and product documentation, so they can solve routine problems on their own. If they have more complex issues that require further assistance, they can then report a problem or open a job ticket online.

Make Better Decisions

Many help desk software packages also include powerful business intelligence capabilities. Supervisors can use reports and analytics to instantly identify and understand the positive and negative trends that impact both help desk operations, and the business as a whole. For example:

* Do certain products have above average defect or breakdown rates?
* Are customers having difficulty understanding assembly instructions, operating manuals, or user guides?
* What new features or functions have clients been asking for?

Customized for Your Business

Customer needs, common issues, and support processes and related workflows vary greatly from industry to industry and from company to company. Businesses must have a flexible solution that can be tailored to effectively meet their unique and specific requirements. But, as important as this capability is, not all help desk software solutions on the market today are fully customizable.

A Few More Common Help Desk Features

Other common held desk software features include:

* Support for multiple communication channels, including phone, Web, email, live chat, and co-browsing.
* Dynamic resource allocation that automatically assigns staff members to specific customer issues, based on their current workload, as well as their skills, education, and experience.
* Dynamic real-time alerts that instantly notify managers of any potential breakdowns in critical support processes. For example, a supervisor can receive an immediate alert when an unusual or highly-complex problem is reported, or when a customer issue goes unresolved for an extended period of time.

Four Tips for Buying Help Desk Software

Summary: Looking for help desk software? With these four important tips, you can simplify the buying process, and get the best help desk software at the best price.


How to Buy the Right Help Desk Software for Your Business

Help desk software empowers businesses to take a more proactive approach to addressing customer issues. Companies can eliminate the inefficient, manual procedures that cause lags in response times, and solve customer problems as quickly and efficiently as possible. But, selecting the right help desk software solution can be complex and confusing. How can you make the process easier?

Outline Your Needs

Build a list of your key requirements before you begin calling in vendors.

Start by talking to key stakeholders and end users to determine what their goals and challenges are, and what kinds of tools they need to achieve or overcome them. This will help you identify the help desk software features you can't live without.

Select a Vendor

Once you know what kind of help desk software you're looking for, you can begin evaluating providers.

Review the latest analyst reports and software reviews to find the best-matched vendors. Then, conduct an in-depth assessment of each product, and compare it to your list of requirements. The best way to accomplish this is to issue a request for proposal (RFP) that asks targeted questions about features and functionality. Once you've identified those vendors who can meet all your needs, review their histories and financial statuses, and speak to a few of their customers.

Request Demos and Trials

Product demonstrations are a standard part of the sales process, but make sure you see more than just a canned or pre-recorded one. Request a customized demo that highlights those features on your checklist, and simulates processes within your current help desk environment.

But remember, a demonstration - no matter how in-depth - will only provide you with an overview of a help desk software package's capabilities. If you want to really see how the solution will work, you'll need to trial the software for 60 to 90 days before you commit to buying it.

Negotiate Like a Pro

Next, you'll need to haggle with your sales rep over pricing and terms. For many companies, particularly those that have never dealt with an enterprise software vendor before, this can be the most frightening part of the process. But, with these simple tips, you can negotiate like a pro and get the best possible deal:

* Vendors often "trick" customers into thinking they are getting a good deal by inflating their list prices, then offering a small discount. Ignore what the price book says, and use the standard discounted price to begin your negotiations.
* Don't stop evaluating other solutions, and make sure your vendor knows that other providers are still being considered. They will be more generous if they know there is a chance they may lose your business to the competition at the last minute.
* Forget about free features or modules - especially if they are not on your initial requirements list. If a vendor is offering something for free, question why.
* Advocate, advocate, advocate. All software vendors need references, and are willing to pay dearly for them. Agreeing to speak to future prospects or participate in a success story is likely to earn you a significant discount.
* The software isn't the only place to score some savings. Ask for discounts on consulting, maintenance, training, and other value-added services.

Brief Definitions for help desk:

In a business enterprise, a help desk is a place that a user of information technology can call to get help with a problem. In many companies, a help desk is simply one person with a phone number and a more or less organized idea of how to handle the problems that come in. In larger companies, a help desk may consist of a group of experts using software to help track the status of problems and other special software to help analyze problems (for example, the status of a company's telecommunications network).

Typically, the term is used for centralized help to users within an enterprise. A related term is call center, a place that customers call to place orders, track shipments, get help with products, and so forth.

The World Wide Web offers the possibility of a new, relatively inexpensive, and effectively standard user interface to help desks (as well as to call centers) and appears to be encouraging more automation in help desk service.

Some common names for a help desk include: Computer Support Center, IT Response Center, Customer Support Center, IT Solutions Center, Resource Center, Information Center, and Technical Support Center.

List of Help Desk softwares:


CRM & Call Center Software
CRM and call center vendors specialize in solutions that help automate the call center and customer management process including customer identification, communications, segmentation, analysis, sales and marketing. Some vendors in this category offer complementary solutions in the form of sales force automation (SFA), help desk software, and related front/back office solutions.


Asset Management Software
The vendors listed here specialize in IT asset management, which focuses predominantly on automating the process of network, PC, and LAN auditing and inventory tracking and reporting. Some of these vendors offer complementary software in the form of help desk automation and related front/back office solutions. Also note that many of the vendors listed in helpdesk.com's "Help Desk Software" category also offer asset management functionality as part of their core suite of offerings.

Knowledge Management Software
Knowledge management vendors specialize in solutions that enable companies to more effectively manage structured data, unstructured information, collaboration, and document management. While a majority of these vendors focus specifically on knowledge sharing, search and categorization tools, some offer complementary products in the form of help desk automation, customer relationship management (CRM), call center management, and related front/back office solutions.

Enterprise Solutions
Vendors that market enterprise solutions are typically large, global organizations that offer a broad range of IT applications and services including network management, enterprise resource planning (ERP), business intelligence, analytics, and business performance management (BPM). Note that not all enterprise vendors offer CRM and/or help desk and related service and support solutions.

Complementary Solutions
Vendors in this category develop, market and support products that complement/supplement help desk, call center, and CRM software. Examples include bug tracking software, survey software, FAQ software, and password management and security software.