Impact of the Internet on Customer Service and Product Development Among the CENDI Agencies

摘要

The CENDI agencies are putting more and more information on the Internet, where traditional as well as new user communities have access. The Internet is creating new opportunities for immediate response, up-to-date support tools, and new products. However, it is also providing new challenges for customer service (including help desk support, user training, documentation, and order processing) and for product development in a rapidly changing environment. Agencies are finding a new user community for their products and services, but resources originally intended for the agencies' more traditional audiences are being stressed to provide services to the new communities. In order to address this situation, the CENDI User Education Working Group conducted two inter-agency workshops. In the first workshop on 'The Impact of the Internet on Customer Service', the agencies shared information regarding the increased helpdesk activity due to the Internet, the use of agency WWW sites to provide information to users that otherwise might have required helpdesk support, the staffing and training issues in this new environment, and the use of the WWW as a resource for helpdesk staff. The group identified seven recommendations for follow-up. In the second workshop, the agencies discussed the impact of the Internet on various aspects of product development. Lead agencies presented information about products they had developed for the Internet and the WWW in particular. Product design considerations, public user access, interface design, overlap with other products, and provision of adequate documentation and training were discussed. The group identified three recommendations for follow-up.