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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
This book is your go-to guide to mastering the Universal Service Desk (USD) for improving service management. The reader will understand USD's role in enterprises, delve into its design process, and learn how to use it for effective customer service and business operations. With practical examples and industry case studies, this book offers deep insights into the application of the USD for organizational success.
The book begins by introducing the USD concept, highlighting its importance in streamlining service delivery and enhancing customer satisfaction. It outlines how a demand-oriented approach can be implemented across various business environments, optimizing workflows from front-office interactions to back-office coordination. Through the chapters, readers will learn to adapt USD to meet the evolving needs of enterprises.
The final chapters focus on advanced practices such as improving service quality, managing virtual USD platforms, and aligning service desk operations with business goals. By following the structured approach outlined, you’ll gain the tools to create a USD that delivers measurable value, fosters seamless communication, and aligns with organizational priorities.
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Seitenzahl: 412
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
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The Universal Service Desk (USD)
Implementing, controlling and improving service delivery
The Universal Service Desk (USD)
Implementing, controlling and improving service delivery
BRIAN JOHNSON AND LÉON-PAUL DE ROUW
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publisher and the author cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. Any opinions expressed in this book are those of the author, not the publisher. Websites identified are for reference only, not endorsement, and any website visits are at the reader’s own risk. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the publisher or the author.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publisher or, in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publisher at the following address:
IT Governance Publishing Ltd
Unit 3, Clive Court
Bartholomew’s Walk
Cambridgeshire Business Park
Ely, Cambridgeshire
CB7 4EA
United Kingdom
www.itgovernancepublishing.co.uk
© Brian Johnson and Léon-Paul De Rouw 2020
The author has asserted the rights of the author under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Formerly published as De servicedesk – Spin in het facilitaire web, third edition in 2018 by Vakmedianet.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by IT Governance Publishing.
ISBN 978-1-78778-150-4
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Brian Johnson has published over a dozen official titles in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) and a total of more than 30 books. He is the author of many books about best practices in business and IT. He designed and led the programme for ITIL version 2, which is widely used in the Netherlands and throughout the world.
Brian has inhabited many roles during his career, including vice president, lead architect, director and consultant.
One of his current roles is as chief architect at the ASL BISL Foundation. The Utrecht-based Foundation provides guidance on business information management to a wide range of public- and private-sector businesses in the Benelux region. It publishes best-practice guidance and, together with certification bodies, provides education and examinations. Brian is chief architect for the redesign of all guidance and will be the author of new strategic publications.
Léon-Paul de Rouw studied technical management and organisation sociology. He worked for several years as a consultant and researcher in the private sector. Since 2003, he has been a programme manager with the central government in the Netherlands. He is responsible for all types of projects and programmes that focus on IT and business (outsourcing, implementation and change).
In general, his interests include policy development, innovation, design and implementation, and management, mostly in the field of IT. Because of this, in addition to his professional career, he also writes, teaches, consults and delivers workshops and masterclasses.
Léon-Paul’s previous books were primarily written for professionals in their field, including IT demand-supply and facilities management. The books have since been used by a number of institutions as guides and textbooks and have also been incorporated into postgraduate courses.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
While writing this book, we were very fortunate to have the reviews, help and support of many people. For this version we especially mention Wil Gooskens, Merle Laterveer and Tim van Leeuwen, Breda University of Applied Sciences; and Ron van Haasteren and Renske van der Heide, Topdesk.
We would also like to thank Katinka Pani-Harreman, Sanjay Nair and Shriram Bharathwaj for their helpful comments during the review process.
So now, all that’s left is for us to offer a few definitions and a few ideas about getting started on a USD.
CONTENTS
Introduction
What is the universal service desk (USD)?
Part 1: The USD – purpose and approach
Introduction
Chapter 1: The USD in the enterprise
1.1 Demand-oriented USD
1.2 Why do you want a USD?
1.3 The USD for service management
1.4 For whom is this book written?
1.5 Structure of the book
Chapter 2: The USD as a concept
2.1 What is a USD?
2.2 Tasks of a USD
2.3 The USD and front office
2.4 Process of service delivery
Chapter 3: Delivering products and services through the USD
3.1 Smart classification of products and services
3.2 Classification from the supply side
3.3 Classification from the demand side
3.4 Combining supply and demand
Chapter 4: The USD customers
4.1 We are all individuals
4.2 The user as a service customer
4.3 The added value of the USD
4.4 Customer groups
4.5 Insight into what your customer wants: the customer journey
4.6 A few words about quality of service
4.7 About customer expectations
Chapter 5: From design to reality
5.1 Action plan: from design to realisation
5.2 Step 1 – Ambition and tasks
5.3 Step 2 – Tune the USD and back office
5.4 Step 3 – Design
5.5 Step 4 – Building and construction
5.6 Step 5 – In use
5.7 How do I use the action plan in my own situation?
Chapter 6: The service desk of Breda University of Applied Sciences
6.1 BUAS
6.2 Service desk with a smile
6.3 Organisation of daily services
6.4 Steering based on a roadmap and a strategic plan
6.5 The image of users
6.6 Training
6.7 Developments in the coming years
Summary of part 1
Section for your notes
Part 2: Components of the service desk
Introduction
Chapter 7: Service management software
7.1 Information services
7.2 SMS within the technical environment
7.3 The functions of the SMS in the USD
7.4 An essential service
Chapter 8: The virtual USD
8.1 What is a virtual USD?
8.2 Construction of the virtual USD
Chapter 9: Call centre functionality
9.1 Contact options on the second level
9.2 Social media: chat, blogs and tweets
Chapter 10: The service counter
10.1 Construction of the physical USD
10.2 Optimising requirements
Chapter 11: Account management
11.1 Where did the concept of account management come from?
11.2 Account management within services
11.3 Roles of account management
11.4 Tools for the account manager
11.5 Account management in conjunction with the USD
Chapter 12: Expert USD Staff
12.1 Employees determine the USD success
12.2 Functions within the USD
12.3 Competencies within the USD
12.4 Practice competencies
12.5 Training and training
12.6 USD management
Chapter 13: The USD and back office dependencies
13.1 The USD and the back office
13.2 Designing and setting up processes and activities
13.3 Mechanisms to connect processes between the USD and back office
13.4 Separation between the USD and back office: handling levels
13.5 Reconciliation and coordination between the USD and back office
Chapter 14: Business information for the USD
14.1 The USD within service management processes
14.2 Metro map: graphic design of the USD and management processes
14.3 Added value of the metro map
14.4 Finally
Chapter 15: USD management and organisation
15.1 Ambition determines USD organisation
15.2 The USD as a primary process
15.3 Types of USD
15.4 Management and control
15.5 Finances
15.6 Capacity of the USD
15.7 Structure and position of the USD in the enterprise
Chapter 16: IT and the service help desk – reflections by a provider of managed services
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Services
16.3 Process and procedure
16.4 Customer service
16.5 IT support
16.6 Help desk and FM software
16.7 The USD
16.8 Next steps
Summary of part 2
Section for your notes
Part 3: Development and improvement of the USD
Introduction
Chapter 17: The USD as a key to management and control
17.1 Management and control
17.2 Nature of work
17.3 The USD in the demand and supply process
Chapter 18: Contract management and the USD
18.1 Purchasing and contract management
18.2 Management of the service
18.3 The USD and contract management
18.4 The USD and associated activities for the services provided
Chapter 19: Success criteria
19.1 Added value of the USD
19.2 Success factors of an effective and efficient USD
Chapter 20: Quality improvement
20.1 Quality management in the USD
20.2 Criteria and standards help to identify deviations
20.3 Measuring is knowing
20.4 Acting on research results
Chapter 21: Implementation and further development
21.1 Stakeholder interests and USD development
21.2 Align with management
21.3 Incremental growth
21.4 Use a project-based approach
Chapter 22: Improvement possibilities
22.1 Four themes and associated tips
22.2 Quality
22.3 Employees
22.4 Delivery
22.5 Orchestration and policy
Chapter 23: The USD of things
23.1 A focus on personal work environment
23.2 The new work environment is virtual and individual
23.3 Technical developments
23.4 The USD as an intelligent hub
23.5 The USD as a hub or platform
Chapter 24: A case study from the UK government
24.1 Introduction
24.2 FM or IT?
24.3 Transformation: governance and strategy
24.4 Business management or IT?
24.5 Practical implementation
24.6 Providing the services
Summary of part 3
Section for your notes
Chapter 25: Finally … for the customer: the USD as an interface
Bibliography
Further reading
INTRODUCTION
What is the universal service desk (USD)?
The USD directs the bundling/combining and delivery of user or customer calls and by default, is the front office intermediary between customer and delivery organisation, or ‘back office’. The USD can be found anywhere, internal service organisation (IT, facilities, HR etc.), as a customer service centre (call centre, help centre etc.) for any enterprise, or as a temporary single point of contact for events, incidents, requests or large scale interventions. Depending on whom you consult, the USD has its own language, approach and good practice.
For example, if you mentioned the USD to someone in IT, they will refer to something like ITIL® as a ‘best practice’ and assume it focuses on IT. The facts are that USDs (or service/help desks) existed long before IT and in many different guises, most often focusing on the needs of employees (internal customers), with regard to their needs such as having a canteen with tea and coffee, or a desk and chair or maybe a pencil or three. In this stone age the original name for this concept was facilities management (FM).
And so came the idea that people from outside the organisation (often called, erm, people, or customers or citizens) need somewhere that they can use to make enquiries or to report problems that need to be addressed in order to work, or to access services (internal or external). FM is applicable to a great variety of services, and it covers many of the principles and processes documented in specific USDs (such as ITIL or VeriSM or whatever IT practice you preach), so this book does not focus on ‘best practice’ though it is certainly covered; the primary focus is service management in the broadest sense, and professional attitudes to the provision of services.
In the wider world, professional FM, as an interdisciplinary business function, has the objective to coordinate the demand and supply of facilities and services within public and private organisations. The term ‘facilities’ means something that is built, installed or established to serve a purpose that, in general, is a very tangible asset that supports an organisation.
FM covers an extensive range of professions and services. Here are just a few which it can apply to:
• Real estate (properties and buildings);
• Technical infrastructure;
• Heating and cooling;
• Lighting;
• Transportation;
• IT services;
• Networks;
• Furniture; and
• Janitorial services, and many other user-specific equipment and appliances.
A service desk has long been the preferred gateway for customers for reporting incidents or problems, making requests or calls and for a whole host of services relating to their needs.
But the USD is not a term only reserved for facility management or IT. In this day and age the USD is a practical and efficient tool that many disciplines use to streamline service management, both internally (in many departments, including HR, finance and IT), or externally (in areas like customer call centres, and municipal desks that answer civilians’ needs and requests and so on).
Despite its breadth, the primary focus of the USD is service management, in the broadest sense, and the establishment and maintenance of professional attitudes for service provision. Although there are many different options, the basic structure and principles used to organise the USD are the same across all disciplines. In accordance with this fact, this book discusses the essentials of any USD, whatever the purpose.
Part 1: The USD – purpose and approach
INTRODUCTION
What is a USD? What are the products and services you will be delivering through the USD? What are the essentials of these products and services? How can you design and build a USD? What do you use the USD for, an internal help desk or an external call centre? Who are your customers?
If your answer is, “Whatever is written in the ten commandments of ITIL, IT4IT, COBIT or VeriSM, ISO 41000 or any other standard or framework”, think again. Businesses (whether they provide services like banking, insurance, government regulation, or whether they make millions of rubber patches for tyres) require help with business issues first and foremost and not on the provision of test environments, or how many angels you can get on top of a pin that certifies you attended some waste-of-time event or other.
See anyone from the business at that IT event? We thought not.
The questions above will be addressed in the first part of this book. The USD will be presented as a guide to structure the demand process according to the front office to back office principle. The USD will be considered as a concept that comprises a virtual USD (delivered via the Internet), a call centre function, a physical desk and some form of account management. All components must be considered as a coherent entity. Of course, your enterprise will decide the precise form and structure of the USD. Some organisations may elect to create all distribution channels to focus on maximum service delivery, while others may choose, for example, to provide only a service portal.
Tight fisted so and so’s…
CHAPTER 1: THE USD IN THE ENTERPRISE
In general, enterprises require that all service processes relating to customers are handled in line with the perspective of the customer. This does not happen when the favourite framework of the IT organisation or department becomes the goal, rather than the tool. Focusing on the customer’s perspective usually means that all services offered through the USD should be streamlined for efficiency and channelled for ease of access.
After reading this chapter, the reader will become acquainted with the subject of the USD and concepts of service delivery. Readers will understand how this book is structured. It is intended as a guide; it is not intended that you plough through every word and pass an exam that certifies that you know where to find a word in a diagram, but that you have no clue what to do about it.
1.1 Demand-oriented USD
The USD directs the bundling/combining and delivery of customer calls (or how to ignore them until they go away, your choice). The USD is, in essence, a concept relating to services or service delivery. In some organisations, a USD may not have a physical location; really, there is no need to have a USD physically in place (such as a bureau or a bunch of IT types with fancy headsets and nice shiny badges of credibility). For example, public services for municipalities and service centres for consumer support which are often wholly automated. A USD can exist as a telephone-based help desk (for your IT types), or as a portal on the Internet or intranet. A USD is not always a physical entity at a location where callers are seen, assessed and sent on their way. Large outsourced USDs are the exception to this rule; although in these cases, greed dictates that many staff work from home in foreign lands (such as County Durham), and get paid a pittance, and have to pretend their name is Derek or Jeff or Pierre or whatever.
In summary, the USD has many appearances.
There are many names for a USD (come to that there are many names for those staffing the USD but most should remain unpublished); you can have:
• Contact centre;
• Call centre;
• Service centre;
• Support centre; and
• Help desk or just front office.
In this book we use ‘USD’ because it makes money.
No, we use USD because it should relate to demand-oriented working and where the customer request is a starting point. The USD is a key component of demand-oriented working (we said that twice to make sure you’d notice). The concept of the USD originates from the management concept of front and back office. This principle states that the demand and needs of the internal customer provides guidance within legal and policy constraints.
Of course there are many definitions of the USD. Here are some examples:
• The central point of contact for services that respond to enquiries from internal customers;
• The single point of contact;
• The internal customer contact centre;
• A functional unit with employees who identify and resolve service incidents. Contact may be made by telephone, intranet or automatic reporting;
• A single point of contact within an organisation for managing customer incidents and service requests1;
• A central department in an IT or business organisation. It may be a comparable department in an organisation, like a call centre or help desk. The USD is also a function that has been described in ITIL; and
• A contact centre; that is a coordinated system of people, processes, technology and strategy that opens, makes available, and admits information sources and expertise, through chosen and qualified communication channels that make possible interaction and add value for the customer and the organisation.2
For this book, we practice the following definition of the USD:
The point of contact/central node of the enterprise where the customer can be admitted/can pose any and all questions and calls about (internal) service delivery. The USD then takes responsibility for appropriate action for the satisfaction of the customer in line with service level agreements.
Notice that this definition does not say anything about conforming to any framework or ‘best practice’; service management should focus on the person at the other end of the enquiry, not on ‘best practice’.
In this book, we show you how a USD within a demand-oriented organisation can be designed and implemented in a pragmatic and organic way. After all, the basic steps of demand-oriented working is acceptance of the customer question, registration of it, following up on it and to deliver a response as appropriate.
1.2 Why do you want a USD?
Enterprises need to react faster and faster to developments in the market or, in government, to societal changes. As a result, working flexibly in terms of time, place and capacity is a necessary condition to stay in business. The USD organisation/support adds (almost always invisibly), to the ability of the enterprise to provide business services. One development is that many enterprises want to provide employees the space to optimise their productivity.
Enterprises are increasingly tying to meet highly individual needs: maybe one employee wants to work at home while the other is a happy worker when they work while others are sleeping. One will a want a room, others like to work anywhere, anytime with their laptop.
An enterprise’s USD:
• Is part of the professional service delivery that is directed by the enterprise;
• Provides many advantages. A USD makes it easy to efficiently streamline processes in ways that meet the needs of internal customers. As a result, tasks in back offices can be organised more efficiently, rather than being ‘fixed’ over and over again;
• Has a clear point of contact for the internal organisation for support so that employees can focus on their own tasks;
• Prevents arbitrary decisions being made within the enterprise about the provision of service support; and
• Ensures that all user enquiries are centrally collated within the enterprise and are forwarded to the right place in (or outside the enterprise) for resolution.
Many enterprises already have a USD or USDs, or something that looks quite like one: if it looks and smells like a USD, then it probably is one.
The role and function of the USD will evolve further and become more important as organisations and their employees learn to work in the new digital world. In other words, life is going to get more complicated in the office and someone will need to be on hand to help.
In the past, a business could focus provision of standard offerings with regard to how support was offered to internal (and external) customers. Today, businesses need to adapt to the individual needs of employees, workplace support and customers. However, despite this increase in scope, businesses cannot allow their total costs to increase. On the contrary, there is more need and demand to decrease costs. So, we have the usual paradox of getting higher service quality for the same or lower costs. The importance of the USD becomes higher as it has a central role in this strategy. This leads to the need for further improvement and development of the USD.
The USD needs to create generic solutions to customer enquiries and incidents in order to increase efficiency. The USD has the potential to act as a spider in the web of an enterprise, and to facilitate the resolution of most internal and external customer enquiries. Such a service requires a solid functional base to serve as a source of information for all, and to store and interpret data to promote innovation.
Example: A complete USD
The USD is the central point of contact for the business organisation where every employee (and/or customer) can submit their questions, problems and reports. From here, the call or report will be followed up and a decision taken regarding the follow-up. If necessary, the call will be escalated to other parts of the organisation. The USD should be founded on close cooperation with colleagues from other parts of the organisation e.g. IT, human resources, finance.
Enquiries or calls will be driven through the intranet where possible (through the service page), email and, of course, via phone – and in some cases at a counter where real people actually exist. On average, there will be around 300 enquiries a day through all channels.
In this example, the USD is needed to provide information about all available services and products. Products and services delivered by the USD, and included in the products and service catalogue, may encompass: mobility (taxi bookings, car hire, air and train tickets), enquiries relating to infrastructure (furniture, trolleys, mechanical and building problems, room reservations and receptions) and information about organisational services (IT, HR, Payroll). The USD also coordinates the delivery of all services to new personnel, including the creation of employee accounts and the provision of furniture, access passes, laptops and mobile phones etc.
1.3 The USD for service management
In this book, we focus on all aspects of the design, construction, improvement, innovation and further development of a USD. Other important aspects, such as the implementation of the USD, and the functioning of the USD and its employees, are only covered briefly in this book. Why? Because the ultimate success of the implementation and functioning of any USD is always dependent on organisational competencies and the actions of individuals.
In this regard, it is important to ask early on: Is the person making enquiries through the USD organisation a user or a customer? Any discussion about customer orientation and being ‘customer centric’ leads inevitably to new questions. The dilemma for the USD function is that ‘it’ wishes to be customer centric, but at the same time sets conditions and constraints about customer choices.
When we talk about customer centric in terms of service delivery, we actually mean that the USD should be demand-oriented and that it should adopt a customer friendly attitude and approach as key principles. It is also important that this customer friendly attitude and approach works within policy constraints, as well as with organisational principles and strategies. Demand orientation is really the key issue. The demand, (and the need behind it), is taken from the perspective of the service delivery.
In this publication, we will discuss ‘the complete USD’, and it will be up to the reader to decide which elements are the most use to them. A choice can be made from the integral design so that the elements concerning design, construction, improvement or further development of the current USD can be assessed and weighted.
Your USD might focus on handling simple enquiries e.g. defective furniture, a lousy coffee machine or requests for a meeting room. However, it could also be used for the coordination of a new employee entering the organisation (onboarding), taking care of all the necessary needs for expatriates, or delivering services to external clients in addition to internal personnel. The principles are the same for all types of USDs, the scaling is the major difference.
Dealing with internal customers differs from external dealings in a number of ways, including that some internal agreements for services will be in place that are not likely to be legal, they will be, shall we say, fraternal? External customers will generally be formally contracted to a service, with legal obligations on both sides.
The USD is part of the totality of internal and external service delivery. Depending on the focus, we can discuss the principles of the USD in relation to any service organisation, whether internal or external. A service organisation could be an IT department, facilities management function, service support centre or any other sort of service provider. As a ‘catch all’ we use the word ‘service organisation’ to mean all of these instances. And of course, service organisations, and USDs, are usually highly IT driven (unless your business has not evolved since 1948)…
1.4 For whom is this book written?
The book is written for students and those working in any guise of service management (facility management, IT and HR service management, customer services etc.), the service desk industry and employees of the service desk sector. Students can use this book to understand the components that relate to a USD. The guidance in this book aims to help people become better prepared for working in service desk practices. This book offers insight, help and advice for further development, value improvement and professionalisation of the service desk sector.
1.5 Structure of the book
This book comprises three parts. In the first part, the principles and conceptual structure including products and services of the USD are discussed. It is advisable to read this first part before reading other chapters. In the second part, all the different components of a USD are discussed in detail. Each chapter in this part can be read separately. Finally, the third part concentrates on the context in which the USD is positioned. The following subjects are covered here:
• Quality of service;
• Considerations when implementing the USD;
• Management and control; and
• Quality improvement.
The chapters in the third part can also be read separately, depending on your needs and interests (and how quickly you become bored).
Table 1.1 provides a quick summary of the subjects covered in each chapter.
Table 1.1: Where to Find a Subject
Chapter 1, 2 and 5
Underlying principles of any USD and a generic approach to build and improve an USD.
Chapters 3 and 4
Customer, users and services of a USD.
Chapters 7–15
Components of the USD.
Chapters 17–21
Context of the USD: USD as part of management and control, contract management, when an USD is successful, quality management, implementation and change.
Chapters 22
Practical tips and tricks to improve the USD.
Chapters 6, 16 and 24
Use cases.
Chapters 23 and 25
Future of the USD and summary.
Examples are included to assist the unimaginative (i.e. anyone who ever copied an SLA from some idiot claiming they are all the same, the SLAs, not the idiots. Mind you, even idiots vary in that a better class of idiot can be found the higher you go up the hierarchy, no more intelligent than the average idiot, but with the power to really screw things up), and with luck our imagination will help you to understand the practical implementation of the USD. At the end of each of the three parts, there is a specific chapter concentrating on a use case. In these examples, you will see that each USD is different but that the underlying principles are always the same. We end the book with a discussion about the future and its possible impact on the USD, as workplaces change from physical entities to virtual workspaces. Should be fun!
Navigation
After the introduction in chapter 1, chapter 2 will explain the meaning and concept of the USD. In chapter 3, we focus on the attributes, categorisation and delivery of products and services from the perspective of supply and demand.
Understanding the attributes and behaviours of customers and customers’ groups, within their specific workspaces and environment, is important for demand-oriented service delivery. Therefore, in chapter 4 we delve into the issues and needs of the customer, and the function and the impact of this on the USD.
In chapter 5, we bring all the different strands together and provide an approach for developing, designing or improving the USD. Part one ends with chapter 6 discussing the service desk of Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUAS).
In chapter 7 we start with the description of the service management software (SMS). The SMS often forms the beating heart of IT service management or facility management, and it provides full functionality for the support of a USD – it is important to remember that the USD is an IT driven business service.
In chapter 8, we cover the service portal, the virtual USD. In chapter 9, we focus on call centre functionality. In chapter 10, the physical desk is described in detail and, in chapter 11, we focus on the role of account management as an important partner of the USD. In chapter 12, we cover the essential success factor for the USD: employees of the USD (a USD will never fully function without the right people on board). In chapter 13, we discuss USD processes in general, as well as the processes that mediate between the USD and the back office, and the management of these processes.
Chapter 14 focuses on the information needs of the USD and the dependency for adequate information from other departments. In chapter 15, we cover the many different components that come together to build, organise and improve the USD.
Chapter 16 (part 3) describes the position and role of the USD as part of management, and outlines procedures for controlling USD organisation. Chapter 17 describes the indicators used for measuring the success of a USD. Chapter 18 focuses on contract management and the role of the USD in it. In chapter 19, we describe the criteria for a successful USD. Next, in chapter 20, you will learn how quality management can help you make improvements based on these indicators.
Chapter 21 is about the approach to change, improve or build the USD through project management. Of course, sometimes you do not have the time or the possibility to start with an improvement plan or strategy, you need to start on the fly. Therefore, in chapter 22 we offer you 30 practical tips and tricks to implement USD improvements immediately. In chapter 23 we explore possible developments of the workplace and the consequences for the USD, and part three ends with another use case in chapter 24.
Finally (at last you might say), the book ends with chapter 25, a summary of the USD development as an interface between supply and demand.
After that take a strong drink, a deep breath and try to relax.
1 Knapp, D, A Guide to USD Concepts, Boston, MA: Course Technology, 2010.
2 Cleveland, B, Call Centre Management on Fast Forward: Succeeding in the New Era of Customer Relationships, Colorado Springs, CO: ICMI Press, 2012.
CHAPTER 2: THE USD AS A CONCEPT
The USD as a concept constitutes a coherent aggregate of intranet, phone, email and digital document handling, desk and account management. The demand process is structured according to the front office/back office principle. After reading this chapter the reader will be aware of the definition and meaning of the USD for the enterprise, which tasks belong to a USD and how the USD can be considered in such a way that it is applicable as concept in all enterprises.
2.1 What is a USD?
The USD is the central point of contact for the service organisation. It accepts all customer enquiries, calls and tickets; qualifies them as specific tasks and services and, where appropriate, hands them over to other parts of the enterprise (or to other providers) for resolution. In most cases, the USD takes ownership of the customer question (the demand) and pursues the progress of any resolution through to the satisfaction of the customer. In consequence, additional tasks for the USD include monitoring the progress of any actions, informing and advising the customer about the status of the call and ultimately, closing the customer’s ticket. Where closure is not possible, the USD may maintain a log of known errors.
2.2 Tasks of a USD
The USD for customers and users is the central point of contact. This is different in any enterprise. The principal tasks of a USD are listed in Table 2.1, instantiation is dependent on the capabilities and requirements of your enterprise.
Table 2.1: Tasks of a USD
Tasks
• Receives enquiries (intake), both standard and non-standard
• Manages complaints, expressions of preference, information requests, incidents, problems
• Provides information (first line customer advice)
• Monitors output on the basis of contract or service agreements
• Manages the products and service catalogue
• Reporting
• Relationship management and account management
• Product and process management
• Contract management
• Quality management
• Ensures enquiries are pursued thoroughly and correctly
• Monitors external and internal developments
• Collects information
• Monitors and oversees progress
2.3 The USD and front office
The USD is responsible for the collection and coordination of customer demands; it is therefore ‘the front office’. The back office (which could be internal or outsourced functions), is responsible for proper and complete resolution.
The USD is therefore often seen as managing the back office as a proxy for the customer.
To manage the customer demands and escalate issues to the appropriate area of the enterprise, the USD needs to structure the intake of enquiries in an efficient manner. The USD of a service organisation therefore has five functions:
1. Taking care of the structuring and orchestration of the customer demand (the enquiries);
2. Starting the delivery process (once the enquiries have been received);
3. Managing the integrated completion of the services;
4. Monitoring internal and external developments (for example, by collecting management information); and
5. Presenting the professional face of the service organisation.
Figure 2.1: Concept of the USD
The drawing in Figure 2.1 illustrates the relationship between the USD and the back office. The USD comprises two layers: a layer of coordination and a layer of service delivery. In the layer of service delivery, contact is made with the consumer, client or customer, and products and services are delivered.
In the layer of coordination, the customer demand will follow a defined process and will be escalated to the back office as appropriate. This coordination layer forms the internal organisation of the USD: the employees, the equipment, management instruments and all of the facilities required for the USD to function (perhaps including strong alcohol and counselling).
To meet enterprise goals (which should be set out in a contract or service level agreement), the USD needs to work closely with the back office. This relationship should be clearly defined, as well as evident in the way processes are arranged into working agreements and tasks, and automated or manual procedures.
Layers of service delivery
The layer of service delivery comprises three levels:
1. A virtual ‘mailbox-office’ on the intranet/Internet service site – this is the first level of service delivery, sometimes known as ‘click’ or level 0 support;
2. Call centre functionality (phone, email and digital post) – this is the second level of service delivery or level 1 support, sometimes known as ‘chat’ or maybe even ‘natter’ (or choose your favourite word for people moaning); and
3. Physical locations (desk or desks) and account management – this is the third level of service (‘face’) delivery, also named level 1 support (it is the place where actual assault can take place if the service is poor).
Example: Division between USD and account management
In practice, USD functionality and account management are often divided. This has to do with the differences in competences needed (knowledge, behaviour, skill) and partly because of the different stakeholders within the enterprise. The USD focuses mostly on the operational service delivery. This means that products and services can be standardised.
For tactical and strategic product and services enquiries, where requests might cause substantial changes and therefore substantial costs, most often the account management function is used. In larger organisations, account management might be further subdivided where service management takes control of tactical requests (perhaps identified by the estimated time needed for resolution or the estimated cost), and account management for strategic requests where criteria determine the necessary escalation.
Depending on the ambition and size of an enterprise, the USD might be responsible for the entirety of a given service or simply a single part.
Demands from customers can hit the service organisation through any of the different layers. Directing traffic to the intranet or Internet offers excellent possibilities to cover a large area of the total services through a standard approach, and ensures that much of the service delivery can be handled automatically. Besides the automation, users should consider the ‘Martini approach’ as being a benefit (the possibility to make their enquiries ‘anytime, anyplace, anywhere’).
The physical location, too, can have different appearances. Sometimes different locations are chosen depending on the type of services that will be provided. However, it is wise (even if simply for logistical reasons) to place these together in one geographical spot (like a service plaza). The management structure will dictate how interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary activities and locations will take place.
In cases where more contact with the consumer is necessary (or maybe less), or more clarity about the desired services and where standard offerings fall short, account management should take over.
The different levels of service delivery can be complementary to each other. In some cases, services will be offered on all three levels; in other cases, only one of the channels is best suited, perhaps help desk support over the phone. When a problem is caused by software or hardware it is not recommended (and highly unlikely), for customers to walk to a counter for service. It is much more practical to phone the help desk, where more often than not, they will take immediate action to solve the problem. There may be some specific cases where visiting the desk is mandatory, for example when requesting a user ID.
An organisation can choose to use all distribution channels, or only one or two, depending on the organisation’s need and desired quality of service.
Example: Customer at the desk
Ever been kept waiting while a clerk takes a call? Well, unless a service contract stipulates something else, someone standing at a service desk counter should always be attended to first, and callers should be placed on hold or asked for a number where they can be reached.
A client on the phone can never see how busy it is at the desk (unless they happen to be using FaceTime).
Layers of coordination and back office
Calls from customers will be taken by the USD and need to be recorded and processed, and sometimes they will require action in the back office. The processing of the call depends on the management and monitoring procedures, and the enterprise (of processes and procedures) between the USD and back office. Back office can be divided into different levels of support, but mostly levels 2 and 3 are distinguished. In practice there are several versions for functional or organisational implementation of the USD.
Often, the desk’s employees also take care of some of the call centre tasks. In these situations, a distinction can be made between the first and second lines of support. The first line of support is responsible for the desk and takes care of emails but takes no calls by phone. The second line of support does not work at the desk but takes phone calls as their principal task and can provide backup to the desk.
In some cases, the call centre functionality is situated at a location removed from the service desk. This is also the case for account management functions and sometimes for management oversight of the entire function.
Keep in mind that account management is often not considered part of USD management. It can have a different responsibility, or perhaps be absent completely. In the last case, (especially in smaller organisations) these account management tasks are undertaken by senior employees or USD management.
From a conceptual point of view, account management tasks should ideally be part of the responsibility of the USD function. When the different levels of service delivery are not managed unilaterally, their coordination, synchronisation and tuning become more difficult. As a consequence, this leads to a lack of clarity for customers (who do I call? Ghostbusters?) and a reduction in the quality of services.
The way in which the resolution processes are actioned and managed depends on the organisation of the back office. Fundamental to the design of delivery of services is that standard processes are followed wherever possible. Of course, not all questions or calls by customers can be foreseen. Therefore, agreements must be made about the coordination between front office and back office or redesign/work around of the processes to avoid problems with delivery of specific services.
Example: Channelling customer questions
Customer demand may move through many different channels and may even go directly to the back office, despite efforts to eliminate such action. It will be the task of the USD manager to arrange the process in such a way that the demand is channelled to the right place in the back office when a call is processed by the USD (routing methodology). In all cases, the swift and comprehensive resolution of enquiries or problems will be valued most by customers.
2.4 Process of service delivery
Coordination tasks of the USD include:
1. Receiving and recording the call, and understanding the issues (resolving the call where practical);
2. Providing information about products and services;
3. Handling, controlling and delivering products and services;
4. Directing the call to the back office and/or account management for resolution (routing);
5. Monitoring progress and closing; and
6. Reporting on performance and quality with regard to the action taken.
1. Receiving and recording the call
A customer can place a call at the USD in different ways: service portal, phone, email, digital post or by visiting the desk. The USD employee can also settle a call in different ways. Depending on the nature of the customer question, the USD employee will accept the call, record the enquiry and, where the resolution is known, resolve the enquiry.
2. Providing information about products and services
When a customer has an enquiry for the USD, the USD clerk checks whether the request can be handled directly (for example, an enquiry or the reporting of a visitor) or whether the question should be recorded and processed in the back office. In some organisations, the USD is set up to resolve as many enquiries as possible immediately; others are set up merely to record enquiries and process the action elsewhere.
Whether a request is handled directly is, of course, also dependent on its urgency or its special nature. If the boss is stuck because of an elevator malfunction, then action would be immediate; leave them there for as long as possible. Well, that would not be the action but we all would like it to be the action (or inaction). In the event of a disaster or emergency of some kind, such as large-scale water damage to computer facilities, regular activities might be shelved while the focus is shifted to the coordination of recovery activities.
3. Handling, controlling and delivering products and services
Once a call is taken by the USD, it is important that the employee becomes the owner of the enquiry. This means that all data relating to the enquiry must be complete and clear. All essential information should be identified using a predesigned, computerised entry screen according to specified procedures. We should always avoid a repeated call to the customer to complete missing information.
4. Directing the call to the back office and/or account management
Of course, not all calls can be handled and delivered by the USD. When the USD cannot process the enquiry, it must be redirected to account management or the back office. Each contact needs to be routed and distributed to the right place. To do this, the back office and USD must have an established agreement about the division between front and back office.
5. Monitoring, progress and closing
Monitoring progress is an important responsibility of the USD. The customer should always be informed in a timely way about the situation, especially when it takes time to resolve and to close an enquiry. It should be easy to track the status of all enquiries. A management information system (MIS) or service management software (SMS) can be a great help with monitoring progress. Within IT, it is often called an IT service management tool; while within the service management world, the SMS is usually a specific service desk software tool or part of an integrated software suite that includes an asset management or a view of the configuration management database (CMDB). In the facility industry it is called facility management information system (FMIS).
In the call centre, usually the SMS is the contact centre software in conjunction with the customer relation management system (CRM). Upon completion, the USD or the back office must close the call. If necessary, the USD must make sure that after care is offered.
6. Reporting on performance and quality
The USD should have, based on its position in the organisation, access to all operational information concerning requests, calls and status of requests/calls, and understand the quality of delivery. Next to that it will have direct contact with users and can check how the USD organisation is perceived. The information a USD reports will be an important part of all management information for the manager.
In Table 2.2 there is a simplified fact sheet of the proceedings of a call. This sheet can be used solely with text or combined with symbols.
Table 2.2: Example of a Simplified Fact Sheet ‘Standard Calls’
CHAPTER 3: DELIVERING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THROUGH THE USD
Products and services that are offered by the USD depend on their attributes, on the choices made in relation to service quality and on the nature of the enterprise (whether the preference is the ‘all in one USD’ or a ‘hub-and-spoke’ distributed set).
A smart classification of products and services, and the way they can be requested, helps to efficiently organise demand and delivery. In this way, it is possible to bring about an effective balance in matching specific customer demand and generic standardised service delivery.
After reading this chapter, the reader should understand the attributes of the USD (or enterprise USD products and services) from the perspective of demand and supply, and understand the difference between the USD customer orientation and the back office’s product and services orientation. Using this information, you will be able to define the process of matching requests to the delivery of products and services in the enterprise.
3.1 Smart classification of products and services
In order to classify the services offered, we must first understand the services. It is not wise to try to run a shop without knowing what you sell, and it is relatively simple to list your products. In some instances, it may be possible to find and reuse templates of standard products. Take a look at the listing in the European FM ISO 41000 series or the IT standard ISO 20000, and also look at guidance about creating products and a service catalogue.
