Is Your IT Department Ready? Supporting Employees and Their iPads in 2012

January 17, 2012 by

We’ve reached the tipping point. Your IT department is now more likely to buy an iPad than a standalone Mac.

According to a new post on ITManagerDaily.com, in 2012 IT  departments will spend $10 billion on iPads and $9 billion on Mac computers (Forrester, Jan2012 report). The big boom in IT spending on Apple devices is driven by more and more employees bringing their own devices to work, despite IT’s insistence otherwise.

Is your IT department prepared to handle and support these devices? Setting up such capabilities should be a top 2012 IT priority. Indeed, businesses of all sizes are increasingly seeking new ways to keep their workforce connected and productive without tethering them to their desks and laptops.

In this endeavor, the Citrix Online “GoTo” application suite offers crucial solutions to support employees on the go. Products like GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting and, of course, GoToAssist carefully balance personal freedom and connectivity with company security. Whether working from home or held up in the airport, employees can access everything they need. And by creating a more mobile and agile workforce, businesses realize the benefits of increased employee engagement and productivity.

Did you know GoToAssist lets you provide remote support to Mac computers?  In addition (and now more importantly), you can provide remote support from an iPad if you have the free GoToAssist Express/GoToManage iPad app. Give yourself (and your IT department) a break – go mobile.

Sent from my iPad

2011 almost done. Phew!!

December 30, 2011 by

Surmounting IT challenges with Citrix solutionsThe year was a big one for us here at Citrix Online. How about for you? What were your IT and support challenges and accomplishments for the year?

We were sure busy. We rolled out our new website and pushed our integration of fast tech support and 24/7 IT monitoring in GoToManage. Delivered on a free GoToAssist Express iPad app that’s a crowd pleaser. Issued a new app integrating Salesforce, the leading CRM solution, with GoToAssist Corporate. We upgraded GoToAssist Express with a beta version of unattended access to Mac® computers. And, we expanded GoToAssist Corporate with new functionality to support mobile devices.

However, before we dive into 2012, we thought we all ought to take a few moments to reflect, relax and laugh. To help you, here’s some amusing videos thought up by witty and prolific IT blogger Brian Madden. Enjoy!

Best wishes for 2012 from the GoToAssist crew.

The Power of One: Why Customer Service Can’t Ignore Social Media

December 29, 2011 by

Dave Carroll & Catriona Wallace

With over 11 million YouTube hits, Dave Carroll’s song “United Breaks Guitars” resulted in a 10% decline in United Airlines’ share price. It also demonstrated to the world the power of social media as a customer resolution channel.

Join this live webinar with Dr. Catriona Wallace, director of Fifth Quadrant, as she speaks with international social media sensation, acclaimed public speaker and musician Dave Carroll.

Date: Wednesday, January 11

Time: 10 AM (PST) / 1 PM (EST)

Speakers:
Dave Carroll, Musician and Public Speaker
Catriona Wallace, Director, Fifth Quadrant

This is a rare opportunity to hear a legend in social media share important lessons and firsthand insights on how leading companies must compete through exceptional customer experiences.

Attend this interactive webinar to learn:
• Why organizations can’t ignore social media as a customer service channel
• What the power of one person means to us as consumers and employees
• What organizations should consider when implementing a social strategy
• And more…

GoToAssist Express is now powered by GoToManage!

December 15, 2011 by

Have you noticed our exciting new changes? We are rolling out a new release ‒ GoToAssist Express users now have the ability to remotely turn on their unattended machines with the new Wake-on-LAN feature. In addition, GoToAssist Express is now powered by GoToManage®. You will notice updated GoToManage branding when launching a remote support session and at www.fastsupport.com. Your product experience remains exactly the same ‒ simply continue to log in with your current GoToAssist Express credentials. Your plan details and billing will stay the same too.

We have taken this step because the GoToManage platform gives us the ability to more rapidly roll out new features (e.g. Wake-on-LAN and support from your iPad®), which benefits both GoToAssist Express and GoToManage customers. You will continue to see us accelerate the rollout of new functionality over the next few months because of this.

BTW, have you checked out GoToManage? We’ve taken everything you love about GoToAssist Express and poured it into GoToManage Remote Support. All the features you’re used to and more:

  • Shared team-based access to unattended machines
  • Multi-site support to manage all of your sites or clients from one account
  • Administration center ‒ assign access rights to technicians and use permissions
  • Integrated monitoring module (optional)

And as a valued customer, you will soon have the opportunity to take advantage of all the added remote support functionality that GoToManage has to offer at no additional cost to what you are currently paying for GoToAssist Express.  Look for additional communications about this in the coming months. 

 

Our newest remote support product, GoToManage, lets you provide remote support from anywhere at any time.

November 10, 2011 by

GoToManage is designed for IT managers, IT consultants and Managed Service Providers (MSPs). The easy-to-use GoToManage platform combines our #1 remote-support functionality with monitoring and alerting capabilities, giving you total control of your IT world. 

You can choose GoToManage’s Remote Support module, its Monitoring module or both – Customize GoToManage to fit your business!

Did you know GoToManage uses the same underlying technology of GoToAssist Express?   In fact, we’ve taken everything you love about GoToAssist Express and poured it into GoToManage Remote Support.  All the features you’re used to and more:

    • Shared team-based access to unattended machines.
    • Administration center ‒ assign access rights to technicians and organize client accounts.
    • Integrated monitoring module (optional)
GoToManage

GoToManage cloud-based user interface

GoToManage Remote Support Lets You:

  • Provide unlimited live support to PC and Mac users
  • Connect to unattended computers and servers
  • Utilize teams of technicians
  • Includes an iPad App, so you can provide support on-the-go

GoToManage Monitoring Lets You:

  • Visualize the health and performance of servers
  • Inventory all hardware and software (PCs and Macs)
  • Track network usage patterns
  • Be proactively alerted before something breaks
  • Manage multiple sites or clients from one account

More Info for GoToAssist Express Customers

GoToAssist Express customers will soon see a fresh new look of our GoToAssist.com and GoToManage.com websites.  In addition, look for a change to the GoToAssist endpoint and FastSupport.com connect for support page.  Both will soon display the GoToManage logo and be  powered by GoToManage! 

More information and a special promotion coming soon for GoToAssist Express customers who are interested in testing out the easy, robust power of GoToManage!

Trick or Treat – Share Your IT Horror Stories

October 27, 2011 by

Scary IT Stories. Photo courtesy of the Pug Father and Flickr.

Halloween is here!

And to get you into the spirit, we’re inviting you to read some classic IT horror stories from years gone by that might send a shiver or two down your spine.

Although bats, ghosts and goblins usually don’t find their way into these chilly tales, you’ll be on the edge of your seat as you read these unbelievable, yet true accounts from IT pros like you.

Visit the Facebook page of GoToManage, GoToAssist’s sister product, and enjoy these classics:
• The case of the mysterious “dust bunny” and the dead PC
• Why one IT manager no longer kayaks
• How “Fabio” saved the day
• And many more that will make you cringe and chuckle

Plus, I invite you to share your “scariest” tech support story with us ‒ your story could be featured on the GoToManage Facebook homepage for all to enjoy.

Read ‘em now!

Happy Halloween!

The SupportIndustry.com Leadership Webinars Series

October 7, 2011 by

Rich Gallagher

How to Hire, Lead and Motivate Your All-Star Support Team

In this three-part webinar series, industry expert Rich Gallagher will discuss the key (and often unspoken) steps to successfully hiring, leading and motivating your team of support professionals. Rich presents a creative and highly effective process that will dramatically increase your odds of hiring the right person every time.

Rich will also show why support leaders succeed or fail in fast-paced customer contact environments and how you can harness the diverse personalities of your support team for better performance.

Attend this interactive webinar series to learn:
• How to screen, attract and retain top support talent
• How to lead your support teams
• Team building in a support center
Registering for one or all of the events is easy – see below for detailed information on each of these webinars.
________________________________________

Webinar Part I: Hiring for Great Service: How to Screen, Attract and Retain Top Support Talent
Thursday, October 13, 2011 – 11 AM (PT) / 2 PM (ET)

How do you select top support professionals and avoid hiring mistakes – and, more important, how do you create a repeatable process that consistently chooses the best people?

Join SupportIndustry.com as we present a creative and highly effective process that will dramatically increase your odds of hiring the right person every time.

Attend this interactive webinar to learn:
• How to implement a team interview process
• Creative ways to assess problem-solving skills and attitude
• How to build your “brand” as an employer
• Keys to retention ‒ hiring well and hiring less

________________________________________

Webinar Part II: Leading Support Teams: The Mechanics

Thursday, November 3, 2011 – 11 AM (PT) / 2 PM (ET)

If you lead a support team, your day-to-day practices as a leader are likely to have the single biggest impact on the morale, turnover and performance of your support team.

Join SupportIndustry.com as we share the many important and, at times, surprising ways that support leaders succeed or fail in fast-paced customer contact environments.

Attend this interactive webinar to learn:
• Good metrics, bad metrics – how to measure performance
• How to make your team part of a greater whole
• Training that works – creating an environment for collaboration & learning
• Benefits of leadership on the team level

________________________________________

Webinar Part III: Your Cast of Characters: Team Building in a Support Center

Thursday, December 8, 2011 – 11 AM (PT) / 2 PM (ET)

Your support team is like a family – in every good and bad sense of the word! And understanding its “family” dynamics is often the hidden key to reducing conflict and improving performance.

Join SupportIndustry.com as we present how to understand the interpersonal forces that drive your support team and how to harness its diverse personalities for better performance.

Attend this interactive webinar to learn:
• How conflicts arise and how to short circuit them
• Front line/back line relationships
• How to speak everyone’s “language”
• Tips and traps for managing different personalities

2011 Trends in Collaborative Support: On-Demand Webinar

October 5, 2011 by

John Ragsdale, VP of Tech Research at TSIA

Web-collaboration tools have emerged as one of the most popular technologies across all service divisions. This suite of tools – ranging from desktop sharing, collaboration between support reps and even supervisor silent monitoring – is seeing high rates of adoption and planned spending.

Download this free webinar with John Ragsdale, TSIA’s VP of technology research, as he reveals for the first time the new TSIA 2011 survey results, including rate of adoption of web-collaboration tools, satisfaction levels and spending numbers.

View this webinar to discover:

• The ROI of web collaboration for technical support, including metrics impacted
• Key areas of product differentiation
• Why “freeware” increases risk for your organization
• And more…

Learn more about additional webinars from Citrix Online.

Webinar: Drive Customer Satisfaction Up and Costs Down

September 22, 2011 by

Most support managers are expected to maintain or improve C-SAT scores while reducing expenses. In other words, “do more with less.” This may appear to be impossible – but there actually is a way to achieve both goals.

Join this live webinar with Dave Brown, founder and president of Support Center University, as he shares proven methods that will drive your support organization’s performance to new levels while lowering costs.

Dave will detail industry benchmarking data that shows how customer satisfaction is impacted by specific performance factors. These same factors are the key drivers of cost.

Date: Wednesday, September 28

Time: 10 AM (PDT) / 1 PM (EDT)

During this interactive webinar, you’ll discover:

• The relationship between “time to resolution” and C-SAT
• Why efficiency metrics must be considered together, not separately
• Improvement techniques that maximize benefits to your organization

A Match Made in Heaven? #1 Remote Support + #1 CRM

September 2, 2011 by

#1 CRM Tool + #1 Support Tool

GoToAssist is very proud to announce the happy union of GoToAssist Corporate with Saleforce, the leading CRM solution.

Now support representatives everywhere can launch support sessions right from their favorite CRM service. With the GoToAssist for Salesforce app, you can start a GoToAssist support session with just one-click from your Saleforce case record. In addition, all session details are automatically captured as Activity History in Salesforce.

The free GoToAssist for Salesforce app is available for your test driving and deployment at the Salesforce AppExchange.

Key benefits:
• Streamline support operations
• Deliver quick, seamless remote support
• Eliminate duplicate data entry – remote-support session log and survey results are automatically saved in Case Activity History

On-Demand Webinar: Watch Demo of GoToAssist for Salesforce

To learn more, download the fact sheet or watch a special recorded webinar with GoToAssist product line director Barry Dacus. Barry demos GoToAssist for Salesforce and answers the audience’s questions in a lively Q and A.


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