Unified Messaging Hits Help Desk

IHS now handles support calls in multiple forms easily, but the questions get tougher

IHS Helpdesk Service, the help-desk outsourcing division of integration firm Leveraged Technology Inc. in New York City, has begun melding telephone inquiries, Internet voice calls, and e-mail messaging onto one platform.

The division is letting clients contact it via any of those three communication channels and, when necessary, customers are queued for the next IHS rep as though all were standard phone calls.   The technology, which also allows whiteboarding, shared browsing, and voice-over-IP, was developed by CosmoCom, Inc.

The market for help-desk services has been very, very good to IHS.  Last year the division generated sales of $16 million, up 30 percent from the previous year, according to IHS president Eric Rabinowitz.

Launched in 1989, IHS has built a clientele that mainly comprises large corporations with sales of $1 billion or more.  But Rabinowitz is now considering extending his firm's reach to the midmarket.

When asked to provide integration services, IHS will team with its parent company, Leveraged.  "I say no to integration, because the strength of our company is our focus on the help desk," Rabinowitz explains.

Back in the early days, IHS mostly received questions about using shrink-wrapped applications from customers, such as converting from one word processor to another.  Today help-desk staff members are flooded with tougher questions on topics such as Windows NT and networking.

The above article, "Unified Messaging Hits Help Desk", originally appeared in the November 1, 1998 issue of Solutions Integrator Magazine.