Have you ever wondered what STEM could do, but never troubled us for an answer?
Now you are just a few clicks away from finding out first hand!
To coincide with the launch of STEM version 7.1, we are also launching a series
of regular online sales demos which will showcase existing STEM applications and
answer client queries on an interactive and immediate basis. The same technical
capability will also provide an online support desktop which will enable our support
staff to help you solve problems first hand and demonstrate bespoke solutions.
Modern communications networks have raised expectations of the pace with which business
can be conducted. Indeed, the Internet has made it simpler and quicker to arrange
travel for conventional meetings; but cars and planes do not move any faster, and
airports only get slower as security checks become more frequent and thorough. Why
wait two weeks to spend one day travelling for a two-hour meeting, when we could
meet online in two minutes?
We have invested in a third-party online meeting tool to enable multi-way desktop
sharing, most commonly broadcasting an online sales demo from one of our machines.
The system allows for selected attendees to take control of the STEM demonstration
software (at our discretion), and optionally to switch to the desktop of any one
of the attendees (subject to their consent). The system includes a shared pointer
and on-screen annotation, as well as an integrated chat window.
As well as the obvious one-to-many sales application, we also plan to offer this
facility on a one-on-one basis to overcome occasional limitations of email to describe
user problems, or our solutions to them.
Regular online sales demos
Robin Bailey will run the first session, which will commence with an introduction
in PowerPoint to confirm the agenda and set the scene for the demonstration. Then
the online desktop will switch to the STEM application directly, where Robin will
talk though through an initial model structure, look at some of the outputs and
see how various changes impact the results. He will then demonstrate in real time
how new elements or scenarios can be added to the model, with immediate impact on
the results.
The session will be interactive, allowing straightforward interruptions. An online
chat window can be used to flag issues for the Q&A session at the end.
Pre-registration of attendees and interests enables us to control numbers and tailor
a demo to the particular audience. Closed meetings for groups of attendees from
the same company may be arranged on demand.
STEM online support desktop
Most of our technical support is provided via email, as it is much easier to write
down the sometimes complex details of a problem, or even to attach the relevant
model files, than to explain over the phone (especially if English is not the native
language). An overnight, if not immediate, response is a reliable service for our
many users in different time zones.
In the majority of cases, we may be able to answer a question directly, or to recognise
a set of described symptoms, or to reproduce an error with files emailed by a user.
However, just occasionally a problem will come along which only occurs on the client’s
machine, and may remain a mystery until a face-to-face meeting can be arranged.
The online desktop will change all that.
Subject to availability of this shared resource, support meetings via the online
desktop may be initiated on demand from email, IM or voice conversation.
Example: a client emails to say that he is having trouble with a formula in his
model, but is reluctant to email us the files for reasons of confidentiality.
Response: we call back to check what the client is trying to do. Seems OK.
New: we suggest using the online desktop to see directly what is going wrong.
Action: we initiate the online desktop and email an access code to the client.
Connection: the client clicks a link in the email to access the desktop there and
then. With his consent, we switch the conference to the client’s desktop
and watch as he repeats the troublesome process on an isolated fragment of the
model.
Insight: quickly we observe a trivial syntactical error being made and explain the
correct approach. In passing, we observe that the model is more complicated than
it needs to be, and suggest a simpler approach as a tip. Problem solved with additional
value-add!
Outcome: happy client and enriched support relationship.
This service is offered free of charge to up-to-date commercial users as an extension
and enhancement of our well regarded technical support services and will enable
us to gain deeper insights into any problems our users may face in the field.