By Alex H D
Almost all web hosting providers offer ticket based support i.e. have an online support system where you can post messages to the company and the company representatives or support staff will respond to you. Various other industries use such systems as well. But why do most companies insist that their customers use such systems rather than make a simple phone call or send an email requesting support? Does it really make a difference if a message is sent through the support system or if it is sent through any other normal method of communication? This article explains why it is important that a company has a support ticket system for security and confidentiality.
Identity Verification
One of the primary reasons of insisting that customers route all their queries through a support system is to ensure that only genuine service owners or the real person is communicating with the company. Many support platforms have inbuilt Fraud check mechanisms which will alert the support staff of suspicious activity or failed authentication of a support request. For example if a support ticket has been opened from a suspicious IP Address which was blacklisted, requesting a password, it will surely raise a Red Flag. Similarly, if a known device of machine was used to open the ticket, it will add to the trust level of the support request. This can make communicating safer and more comfortable for the customer and the company.
Detailed Logging
Having a support ticket system allows detailed logging of information, which can enable future investigators, in case of some incident. The logs can record all correspondence and information about what transactions were made, how payments were processed and which products or services were affected. This could also provide analytics and statistics to the company to plot trends and understand how a certain customer has behaved or how certain issues affected customers.
Record of Correspondence
Another important aspect of having a support platform is to enable record keeping, especially of correspondence. This can enable future support staff to understand the person whom they are communicating with and also his behavior. A friend’s company had received a support request to process a refund of their unused service. Just prior to that, the bank account details for refund were changed to a Nigerian Bank account. The support request asking for the refund was also in broken English. By pulling out past records of the customer, the support team was able to determine that the client had impeccable English and always signed his name in a particular way. Upon making a phone call to his registered mobile phone number, they discovered that his account may have been compromised.
Useful in an Emergency
When a clients email address has been hacked or he has lost access to all his passwords, or his account has been wiped clean by a malicious attack, it may be quite comforting to know that he can control and reset his account credentials from a single control panel. Further, if he has lost access to emails, he can still send and receive messages through the support portal, knowing that the messages are confidential and not subject to spying. He can also change the contact email address and make changes to his logins.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9034051
