Categories
Outsource Support

How To Install VPN using Remote and Routing Access (RRAS)

VPN or Virtual Private Network offers security and privacy to private and public networks, thereby enabling the user to connect to multiple systems to the VPN server and use VPN’s bandwidth for public network connection.

Installing a VPN is one of the most inexpensive ways to build a secured private network. However, a fair amount of technical knowledge is required for its successful implementation. Various VPN protocols are used for secured communication such as SSL and TLS, IPSec, PPTP, and L2TP.

Out of these VPN protocols, PPTP (Point-to-Pont Tunneling Protocol) is a widely used protocol as it provides flexibility in setting up and maintaining as compared to other protocols.

While there are several paid VPN software available in the market, RRAS can be used to configure your VPN server without any additional cost if you are running it on a windows server.

Remote and Routing Access or RRAS is designed to offer excellent performance in both a router and a remote access server because it supports a wide array of features.

Only a small subset of features like support for IKEv2 VPN connections and LAN routing is required for this deployment.

IKEv2 is a VPN excavating protocol chronicled in Internet Engineering Task Force Request for Comments 7296.

The primary advantage of installing an IKEv2 is that if there is an interruption in the underlying network connection, the protocol would tolerate it.

For instance, in losing the connection temporarily or if the user wants to move a client computer from one network to another when the network connection is reestablished, IKEv2 would automatically restore the VPN connection.

The core perk being all of this would take place without any user intervention.

To support IKEv2 connections while disabling unused protocols, the RRAS server has to be configured.

This is because there is a decrease in the server’s security footprint. Additionally, the server has to be constructed from a static address pool to assign addresses to VPN clients.

Addresses can be feasibly assigned from either a DHCP server or a pool, but using a DHCP server not just delivers minimal benefits but also adds complexity to the design.

This installation of VPN using RRAS applies to users of Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows 10.

Before installing the VPN using an RRAS, the server infrastructure has to be configured, followed by the installation and configuration of the Network Policy Server (NPS).


Things to consider before installing VPN using Remote and Routing Access (RRAS)


Things to consider before installing VPN using Remote and Routing Access(RRAS)

It is important to: –

  • If you are installing the VPN server on a Virtual Machine (VM), you need to install two Ethernet network adapters in the physical server.

  • You also have to create two External virtual switches, one each for the physical network adapter. Additionally, two virtual network adapters for the VM are required to be created, having a virtual switch connected to each network adapter.

The server has to be installed on your perimeter network between the edge and internal firewalls.

One network adapter should be connected to the External Perimeter Network, whereas another network adapter has to be fixed to the Internal Perimeter Network.

Steps to install VPN using RRAS

  1. Login through the Remote Desktop by connecting to the server on which you want to install VPN

  2. On the VPN server, open the Server Manager, select ‘Manage’, and then click on ‘Add roles and features.

  3. The Add Roles and Features Wizard opens.

  4. Follow the steps for the installation wizard. On this ‘Select Installation Type’ page, select the ‘Role-based or feature-based installation‘ Installation Type option and then click on next.

  5. In the Select destination server page, check the ‘Select a server from the server pool’ option and see your server with the computer name in the server pool.

  6. Under Server Pool, select the local computer and then ‘Next’.

  7. Land on the ‘Select server roles page, click on ‘Remote Access’ and then on ‘Next’.

  8. Do not make any changes on the ‘Select features page’, and click on ‘Next’.

  9. On the Remote Access page, check ‘Next’.

  10. After reviewing the installation page, click on install once you are ready. On completion of installation, check ‘Open the Getting Started Wizard’.


  11. Select the ‘Notifications flag’ on the VPN server, in Server Manager.

  12. You will see the ‘Configure Remote Access‘ wizard on the screen. Click on ‘Deploy VPN only.

  13. The ‘Routing and Remote Access MMC’ opens. Right-click on your VPN server name and then select ‘Configure and Enable Routing and Remote Access.

  14. Follow the installation wizard instruction on the ‘Welcome to the Routing and Remote Access Server Setup Wizard’, and select ‘Next’.

  15. In the configuration wizard, select ‘Custom Configuration’ as ‘Virtual Private Network (VPN) access and then select ‘Next’.

  16. The ‘Completing the Routing and Remote Access Server Setup Wizard’ starts.

  17. An IP Address Assignment, select ‘From a specified range of addresses and click on ‘Next’.



RDP Port in NAT Services And Ports

Click on ‘Finish’ to close the wizard. You will be prompted with a message for the DHCP relay agent, simply click on ‘OK’ to close the Routing and Remote Access dialog box.

Follow the below-mentioned steps to allow your RDP port in NAT services and ports.

  1. In the ‘Routing and Remote Access’ dialog box click on ‘Expand the server’ → IPV4 → NAT.

  2. Right-click on ‘External Network’, then ‘properties’ → Services and ports.

  3. Select ‘Add’ and enter the description for this service.

  4. Enter the IP Address and RDP port of the VPS and select ‘OK’.

After completing these steps, your VPN server is ready for client/remote connections. On receiving access to the connection, you have to configure the client machine to connect to the VPN server.

  1. Open the ‘Network and Sharing Center’ of your local system.

  2. Select  ‘Set up a new Connection or Network’.

  3. Check ‘Connect to a workplace’.

  4. Click on ‘Use my Internet connection (VPN)’.

  5. You will receive an option to enter the IP address of the VPN server, after that click on ‘Next’.

  6. Enter the login details of the VPN server.

  7. After that, click on ‘Connect’.

  8. That’s it, your local machine is connected to a VPN server.

  9. Upon checking your IP address from any online tool, you will witness that your IP address is not from a local ISP, but rather from a VPN server.

That’s all, your client machine will now have the access to the internet through a VPN.

Also Read: Top 5 Benefits of Google Workspace for Your Online Business

Categories
Outsource Support

Skyrocket Your Revenues with White Label Support Services and Solutions

In the digital world, every agency owner finds it a very difficult task to handle everything from websites and marketing campaigns to reputation management and social media.

Moreover, as the local businesses are continuously finding themselves in need of growing marketing assemble it becomes hard for keeping track of all your clients’ and their requirements and demands.

We are in an age where many local businesses are always in search of more marketing contributions from fewer partners in order to juggle as fewer companies and contracts as possible.

This makes it difficult for a business to focus only on what they do best. It is here that White Label solutions like the software(s), services and products play a major role in transforming an incomplete business into a full-service providing agency.

But what is a White Label Solution and what does that mean? In its simplest terms, a White Label solution is a product or service that you can rebrand and resell as your own product to your clients.

In order to understand the concept of White Label solutions let us take an example of Company A and Company B.

Say Company B wants to develop a website and assigns the project to another organisation namely Company A. Now Company A will finish the project and hand over the product to Company B.

Company B will now rebrand the product under their brand and resell it to their clients. Thus it can be seen that Company A is technically the brains behind the product while Company B is the face of the product.

The most significant benefits one can gain from availing these solutions is bringing scalability to their business is by scaling up their revenues.

The basic definition of the term White label solutions can explain how it can help to scale up your revenues as you are rebranding and reselling products that were developed through outsourcing.

This means the cost of manufacturing becomes significantly less and profits from reselling the product become quite high.

So now that we know what White Label solutions are and how they can benefit to improve revenues, let us look at what these solutions are and what genres they are available in.

9 White Label Solutions for better revenues :

1. White Label Social Media Marketing

Various social media services such as managed posting, business management, campaign designs along with social media content creation compile White Label Social Media Marketing Solutions.

These are available for rebranding and then can be sold by resellers while keeping their own price tag over the products.

2. White Label Website Solutions

Any website related service or product that can be rebranded and sold as their own by a reseller can be grouped under White Label Website Solution(s).

Services enveloped under this genre may include website hosting reseller programs, web design services that can be rebranded as well as website add-ons that can be resold.

Design and development services provided by third parties are the most common form of White Label Website Solution. Once again these products are sold by resellers with their own price tag.

3. White Label Digital Advertisement

In general, White Label Digital Advertisement encompasses various digital advertisement solutions like advertising platforms and reports, campaigns and/or products.

These are again of course rebranded by resellers and sold at their won price point to local businesses. It must be noted that digital advertising is generally categorised under marketing services and for that reason the most common form of a White Label solution in this field is service fulfilment.

This means a reselling agency can partner-up with a white-label service provider in who will design, develop and maintain the digital advertising campaigns for the resellers and they, in turn, can sell it by branding the product under their banner.

4. White Label Email Marketing

Simply put any email marketing platform built by a white-label service provider to resellers so that they can rebrand the product and sell it under their own pricing schemes can be termed as a White label Email Marketing solution.

A white-label email marketing platform can be rebranded by customising with the reseller brand and sold to local businesses like any other white label solutions we have seen so far.

5. White Label Mobile Apps

With the ever-growing digital world, it is no longer sufficient for local businesses to maintain a website presence only. With the active and spontaneous shift towards mobiles, the necessity of a mobile app for these businesses is very apparent.

As businesses in this modern world of marketing want to reach the clients where they live a mobile app is a very clever idea as according to researches 90% of the time spent on mobiles by us is devoted towards using an app.

Additional overhead costs always come into the scenario as app development is a complex process. By outsourcing, this task businesses can effectively cut costs.

White Label Support and Services SNWN
White Label Support SNWN Infographics

6. White Label Reputation Management

Products that deal with the online reputation of a business and reviews are termed as reputation management service.

Such services that can be rebranded and resold by reseller companies are what we call White Label Reputation Management Solution.

That said, only a few aspects of reputation management services can be white-labelled.

While softwares for monitoring the reputation of a business can be rebranded whereas review response and review generation services fall under a white-labelled fulfilment option.

7. White Label SEO

Like every other service we have seen so far, White Label SEO is nothing but SEO solutions and platforms that can be rebranded by reseller companies and sold at their own price.

White Label SEO Solutions are specifically designed to fetch local business clients found on SERP and increase the visibility of the businesses.

White Label SEO options can include both managed fulfilment products and SEO software that clients can use to manage their optimization processes manually.

8. White Label Graphic Design

White Label Graphic Design solutions include custom-designed projects that a reseller can brand as their own and sell under their own price tag.

This is generally offered by a specialist graphic designer and/or design agencies specializing in graphic designs. It can be also so that the graphic designers from a white label provider work directly with the end client but under the shadow of a reseller company who is branding the service as their own.

9. White Label Content Creation

In the case of White label Content Creation Solutions, copywriters generally provide the written content for rebranding by reseller clients who in turn provide them to local businesses under their own pricing format.

It can be social media posts, blogs, website copies and any other form of digital written copy.

This particular service can be offered in various ways. It can be a one-time purchase for example a blog. It can also be an ongoing service like a specific number of social media posts per month.

CONCLUSION :

We have thus seen some of the most popular White Label Solutions for boosting your businesses’ revenues. So check out the various white-label providers out there, choose the solution and pricing plan that suits your needs the best and get started on booming your business over your competitor.

Categories
Support

Work Smarter: Live Chat Best Practices

Is there a sure-shot formula for your business to skyrocket? Well, no, but yes as well. If not a sure shot hack, it’s definitely a consideration.

Even two decades back, most of the businesses especially in third world countries had monopolistic nature. Today, the world is welcoming an open market. Open market means to match the steps with a competitor.

There is one product but several brands to offer the same product. Sometimes, the quality too doesn’t vary much. Then what is the masterstroke? None other than experience, most importantly, customer experience.

The customer is the king in modern times. There are a plethora of options that one has on their plate.

Out of all of them, it is really the customer’s discretion on which service or brand they choose from. Much of this decision comes from how the customer is treated. People today look for two things precisely: on-demand service and customer satisfaction.

The quality is crucial but it can be given a miss by some if they are promised for a better one when they seek redressal.

According to Esteban Kolsky, Founder, ThinkJar, if a customer is dissatisfied then 13% of them will tell at least 15 people that they are displeased with a company’s service.

Especially if you are a company that is hot off the oven, this is murder. The ideal thing is to build your base keeping in mind the likes of your customers. Be it new or old. New businesses need customer testimonials that are organic over social media for footfalls to increase.

On the other hand, the established businesses need the goodwill to be maintained and talked about all over. They would need the customers to become their brand ambassadors.

Many brands have even considered that as an image positioning vehicle as well. Now technology has come to be a big boon and the best of it is that it has multiple options through which a customer or a potential customer feels at home.

A personalized approach is what many people look for and live chats are proving to be ultimate winners in bridging gaps between businesses and buyers. It is the present and is also the future of the customer experience.

Some tactful practices using live chats can prove to be absolutely useful. Few of the best practices with a live chat that businesses can follow are-

Align live chat with business goals

First thing’s first, you need to ask yourself why your business needs a live chat? Is it a type of business that can leverage from a chat system? If they do, then it has to be an omni channel for your business and customer satisfaction.

It can include KPIs, SLAs, customer issue resolution, and reducing shopping cart abandonment. According to CX Trends Report, businesses embed chat solutions for native customers.

This includes having self- service content in an e-commerce website or an embedded live chat window to provide support.

Optimize user experience

Live chat location, access and timing are the three pillars basis which the user experience can be judged. Potential customers draw the basis of their first impressions on what they see on your website.

The website should have a clear indication of where to address in case of any issues. If they are satisfied with the way they have been catered to, depending on the prompt response, or tone or language used, proactiveness, all of them earn brownie points.

Proper intervention and assistance on the customer support chat are well appreciated among potential customers. The frequently your team can extend support and suggestions, the fewer chances are of abandoned carts.

You got to be unobtrusive so that you don’t drive away your potential customers. For a budding business or a business that sees a lot of competition, driving away customers is the last thing that should happen to you.

ALSO READ : Ethical Formalities Of An Ideal System Administrator And A Security Professional

Good user interface

Good user interface

A website that is easy to navigate and has simple language that speaks the customer’s language will always have a benefit of the doubt.

Your website must speak how supreme the customer is for you. Despite having compelling company stories or uber quality products, it will all fall flat if the customer feels that something is off with the environment.

Chatbots and a dedicated team will be wonderful to serve all existing and potential customers and make them feel special and important.

Not just that but you can also embed a pop-up chat box that opens the moment a potential customer lands on your business page.

Staffing requirements

Go for seasoned and experienced agents as they may be well versed with a live chat feature, chat routing, turn of calls, etc.

An agent who holds a better understanding of the process will inherently serve better and bring business. If you hire a novice agent, make sure that their training includes all basics.

Make them familiar with the chat software, language training, how to conduct research on the customer’s chat history, ticket issue, and resolution.

Sometimes there is a mingle between agents and chatbots. Agents pick on from the data and information that is shared by the chatbots.

An agent must inculcate the understanding that repeating the same stream of information will only lead to frustration which will turn off the customer.

Build a chat workflow

A workflow is a masterstroke to ensure that your customer support system is on point.

The process includes ticket escalation path, agent assignment plan, and real-time monitoring, and channel management.

Monitor and improve

There is always a scope of improvement. You must as a business owner have a team in place that will purely look at the live chat analytics and device any improvement plans.

Using this data, average wait times, customer satisfaction, and agent performance can be determined and outlined for the scope of improvement.

Once the live chat is up, it needs a close watch. Before that what’s essential is hiring the right team of agents, establishing the right objectives, training, and workflow creation are the main aspects.

The rest will be on keeping the objectives that were laid out in place.

ALSO READ : Role And Responsibilities Of Ideal System Administrator In 2020

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Support

Ethical Formalities Of An Ideal System Administrator And A Security Professional

We are constantly subjected to change. The world around us, the technologies it is always changing, evolving into something more advanced.

With this, our ethics and responsibilities wherever we go are always subjected to constant change to fit into the new world each day.

This article discusses the ethical formalities of an ideal system administrator and a security professional.

What does a security professional do?

First of all, a security professional or an IT security professional is an experienced personnel who deals with the protection of data, servers and computer systems from unauthorized data or damage.

A security professional is also an important job and requires a  great deal of sincerity and dedication.

A security professional is mainly entrusted with the duties of securing important data and networks for a business or an organization. He or she should also be a professional with an excellent grasp in the concerned with a strong IT background like a system administrator.

What does a system administrator do?

A system administrator is a professional who maintains the mechanisms or the operations of an electronic system especially a computer system.

This job requires skilled professionals with an excellent grasp in the concerned subject and with a strong IT background. An aspirant must be able to troubleshoot and resolve any sort of technical problems quickly.

He or She should be efficient. A system administrator candidate must have patience with impeccable communication skills. You have to tutor and update its teams and users on various models and technologies released today.

Role of an ideal security professional

An ideal security professional has a lot of responsibilities on his or her shoulders. He or she is entrusted with a business’ or an organization’s confidential data which shall not be compromised at any costs.

An interested candidate shall positively be competent enough to understand and handle the duties of  an ideal security professional.

Moreover, with changing times, the roles and responsibilities are drastically changing as well. With various technologies on the rise, an ideal security professional must also be prepared for crisis.

Some of the major roles of an ideal security professional or a security administrator is listed below:

  • Monitor security breaches or any potential cyber attacks.
  • Upgrading security for potential Cyber-attacks (firewalls, etc.) and planning recoveries in case of a cyber breach.
  • Updating security software in order to prevent loss of valuable data.
  • Conducting stimulatory tests (like potential cyber-attacks etc.) to evaluate the performance and necessary steps during a real-time crisis.
  •  Keeping track of updates on new IT trends and implementing them for an effective security system.

Code of Ethics of an ideal security professional

A candidate applying for the designation of an IT security professional must be sincere, dedicated and productive.

Listed below are some of the code of ethics which is mandatory for any individual who wants to work in this sector:

  • As a security professional, one must educate themselves thoroughly about the laws and policies and strictly abide by it
  • A security professional must be competent in understanding the responsibilities bestowed upon him. He or she must be firm in decision making and should be of clear intent.
  • As a security professional, he or she must respect his or her colleagues and promote a healthy and a safe environment.
  • He or she must refrain from controversies, and issues that might lead to an inappropriate conflict of interests.
  • Professionalism is mandatory. He or she must promise to treat employees fairly and equally.
  • As a security professional, he or she must be trustworthy. He or she must understand his or her responsibilities and refrain from illegal practices.

He or she must maintain the confidentiality of the data that will or might be accessed by the.

  • A security personnel must maintain the decorum of the workplace. He or she must abstain from the use of obscene language and keep away from biased ideologies.
  • Communication is crucial. An ideal security professional must be an expert in communication skills.

He or she should be able to communicate and teach his or her fellow employees about the new trends and other work-related projects.

  • As an aspiring candidate for this designation, he or she must be patient.
  • An ideal security professional must promise to be honest while business dealings and in every aspect of his work.
  • A security professional must promise to keep themselves updated on the new IT trends and always be productive and innovative by suggesting fresh ideas.
  • A security professional should obviously seek help from his or her fellow colleagues and provide timely reports to his superiors in the management department.
  • He or she should be resourceful as a candidate aspiring to be an IT security professional.
role of ideal system administrator

Role of an ideal system administrator

The responsibilities of a system administrator are diverse and wide-ranging and vary from companies to companies.

Apart from just maintaining servers and computer systems, they also have to cater to duties like programming, scripting and so on.

Below listed are some of the responsibilities which are mandatory for a system administrator to perform:

  • The role of a system administrator includes installation and configuration of software and hardware.
  • The role of a system administrator also includes managing technological servers and technological tools required.
  • This job requires to set up accounts and workstations.
  • A system administrator has to keep the performance of the servers or the machines in check and maintain them accordingly.
  • Also, this job demands for the skills to troubleshoot technical faults and power outages.
  • A system administrator also has to ensure security over the network of servers or the machines by using access controls, backups and firewalls.
  • A system administrator predominantly has to upgrade the systems timely with new and upgraded software or models.
  • A system administrator also has to be a patient teacher. An ideal system administrator should have the expertise and skills to train staff and keep them updated on new  technologies.
  • A system administrator also has to maintain and write technological documentation, manuals and IT policies.

ALSO READ : TOP 10 TRENDS TECHNOLOGY FOR NEW DECADES

Categories
Support

Role And Responsibilities Of Ideal System Administrator In 2020

Anything that is remotely related to tech we think of engineers. Especially software engineers. The first phone call we make every time our laptops hang is to that one software engineer friend. We consider them to be fully aware of all tech related problems.

While we cannot take away from the credibility and hands on experience that they have with tech. It is also notable that not all that is technology is a software engineer alone.

In 2020 we have a plethora of goods and services at disposal. Businesses have boosted and become more personalized thanks to the boon of the development of apps in short technology. While there is a pack of best of the minds working round curating them, there is also a sect of people who compliment them.

We talk of the big daddy which is the system. Sometimes praise and sometimes criticise. The system is however the driving factor in any business. The system determines the process and outcome. The value propositions also ride on the same.

The set up and maintenance of it therefore is one of the most crucial jobs. It is this surveillance that guarantees a hassle-free functioning of the system. The system which is the lord of the majority.

There are very specific people who are in-charge of all the operations dealing with looking after the system and they are called system administrators.

System Administrator

ALSO READ : DATA CENTER MANAGEMENT AND SERVER TECHNOLOGY

The system administrators can be interchangeably called as sysadmins. In 2020, what we observe is that their role is of utmost importance for a company. What is their job description but? They are in full charge of installing, maintaining and supporting servers, responding to and planning for services blackout and other errors.

Whereas, additional duties can include light programming or scripting, as well for systems related projects with project management.

The accounts of the system administrator are considered to be the most crucial. It is the only account that has unrestricted access so anything can be done with the system.

In that lieu, the highly essential skill that is required is problem solving. When the workstation servers go down, it is the sole job of a sysadmin to analyse and restore the functionalities. Even though people might confuse them with the roles of a software engineer, they are not.

2020 has a wide range of tech levied enterprises pitted against each other for greater and better businesses. In such a cut throat environment that dominates the market, it only makes sense that the systems are up to date. The only way this can be ensured is by system administrators.

But the operations that were relevant a few years back are not anymore with technological and infrastructural up gradation. The system administrators in 2020 have a very different role to play altogether –

  • User administration

For every new user to have access to a particular system and its resources, their accounts are required to be set up. Once the accounts are set up, the maintenance of the account and the activities done through it. All of it is handled by the system administrator. Frauds can easily creep in at the digital space in recent times. The sysadmins need to be extra vigilant as a result.

  • Verifying the proper functioning of peripherals

Apart from the software, what comprises the system are the hardware as well. Any anomaly in the hardware can have major consequences as well.

A routine surveillance of the peripherals proves to be an important aspect in the checklist. It also means that in case of a fault, the repairs need to be arranged for and done.

  • Monitor system performance

The system for which sysadmins are a watchdog also needs to look into the performance of it. It is only when a detailed analysis on the performance of the system is conducted that we realise the shortcomings.

As per the system administrator’s analysis which will consider the latest trends and also what the competition is up to. This way the quality of the process will also be kept at. Any problems in the system can also be thus identified.

  • Install software

This is a very vital role of the system administrator. The software can be a newly developed one or an upgrade. It can also be an update of the existing operating system. In an enterprise, there may be some aspects that require staying within the four walls of the company.

Thus, the software is built in such a manner that ensures that confidential matters remain that way. While the development is not in the hands of the system administrator, the role of updating all existing accounts with it is crucial. All the more it adds up to the role of user administration.

  • Backup and recovery

Data today is very liquid. The loss of it is easier than generating it. With such an impending challenge, it becomes a priority that the recovery methods are revisited.

Data is paramount for any existing or emerging enterprises. The loss of which is no less than asset loss. What system administrators have levied up is the provision for data recovery backed by cloud storage’s.

  • Identity Management

Cases of imposters looting company data and hacking into systems have become so common that it is beyond alarming. Password protection and other modes of identity verification have become pertinent for the full proof security of data and assets of any business.

All identification interfaces are curated by the system administrator so that there is no scope of any false entrances in the vicinity of the business.

  • Research
Research

Whether it was a decade ago or now. One thing that remains common is that system administrators need to keep their research intact. The technological space is booming and how.

In order to be able to provide the optimum kind of service to the business, it is imperative that thorough research on trends is done. One of the distinctive qualities of a system administrator is how well are they aware of the industry’s changes and progress.

Like every other profession, skills are a given for a system administrator as well. But one thing that sets the game apart is that of the tech. Many appreciate the artists but few, the captain of the ship.

Categories
Support

5 Ways How White Label Tech Support Can Help Your Hosting Business Gain Its Momentum

The term ‘White label’ was first coined from the image of a white label that appears on the packaging of products. You fill in the details of your product on a white label. Outsourced phone services do the same thing.

A top-notch white label tech support service can help you accomplish expert technical skill and excellent customer service customized to your needs, at affordable pricing.

Customers are without a doubt the biggest assets of an organization. Ensuring customer delight is the ultimate goal that can lead to business success.But, what exactly does it mean ?

Customer delight is not just about making them say a “Thanks”; rather creating a “wow” factor to the customer, with your services.

An excellent white label tech support can make it a part of your company culture. An exceptional customer service experience that exceeds your customers’ expectations, can affect them in the most positive way.

Challenges that agencies face while offering support

Offering support services to clients may not be the primary or even secondary capability of a web agency (or business) but they need to do it none the less.

Setting up a support team can definitely drive business costs to go up-considerably, and would require some shifting of focus from the core business areas as well.

Furthermore, subject matter experts might be called upon, from time to time, to get involved with tasks and issues that would be totally unrelated to their areas of expertise and that may lead to a less than satisfactory result from the customers’ point of view.

On top of that, raising an entire support in-house comes with a significant learning curve attached to it.

White label tech support and its benefits

Here, we will look at 5 ways how having an efficient white label tech support team can help your business to grow more.

Focus on your business

With an efficient tech support team to assist you, you will get more time to focus on your core business activities better.

Support calls take away your focus from the core business activities such as sales or marketing, product engineering, etc.

With a top-notch tech support team you need not worry about customer support, as tech support teams working as an extended arm of the agency, can address all the support requests from clients, site performance of the servers, and security issues while ensuring the desired outcomes are fulfilled.

Minimize cost

Offering a competitive 24/7 tech support is costly. It includes various costs such as salary, infrastructure costs, utility costs, accounting costs, and more.

Hiring services from a white label support provider can help you minimize the costs incurred in staff and infrastructure, because they generally do this by sharing the facilities with multiple companies.

Compete with market leaders

By providing pleasant customer experience, your support team can boost your company’s branding and client base.

This would send out more references from your client base and effectively widen it. Furthermore, large businesses can provide a wide range of costly tech support, which borders on the impossible for small businesses.

However, with a white label tech support that is at the same time cheap yet efficient, your business can easily compete with the forerunners of the field, although this would require time and dedication.

Round the clock support with increased uptime

A good and well-established customer service should be able to deliver round the clock support. Let’s say you are out of office or busy with other calls, or even if your power or phone is down, your customers cannot reach you.

This would definitely create a negative impression about your support services to the customer. With  white label tech support you can positively avoid this kind of a situation as these support teams are equipped with solutions to all of these problems and can thus provide a 24/7 customer support.

Web hosting expertise

webhosting

Web hosting comes with service disruptions ranging from PC and ISP issues to server and network issues. There is no avoiding these issues; it is a packaged deal.

Some of the common web server issues include, directory password protection issues, enabling cron tasks, etc. With an efficient tech support team, handling about hundreds of support calls per day, they can easily and quickly isolate the problems and fix them.

A tad bit more

I have discussed about the benefits you can get from having a white label tech support team and how it can help you gain business momentum.

However, i would like to add a titbit about how you can actually gain customer delight because that is the main thing that can boost your business momentum.

A steady quality support is what brings about real customer delight. Quality, more often than not, refers to a set of standards or measurements for the service. And meeting these quality standards can ensure customer delight.

Here are some steps to ensure that :

  • Primarily, the basic support functions need be executed properly. This means fulfilling customer expectations by providing timely and error-free solutions.

  • A vital aspect is to perform an in-depth analysis of the problem and coming up with an absolute solution to it, rather than providing a makeshift band-aid solution. Customers do not like to face the same problem again and again.

  • It is essential to prevent any issue from happening or to avoid repetition of the same problem and in order to do that performing proactive tasks is important.

  • Customers should be handled in a more compassionate manner and provided with a more personalized solution helps win them over.

A ‘delighted’ customer will feel the positive experience and remember it., talk about it to others and will definitely come back for more. All in all having a white label tech support will help you in all these manners.

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Support

How white label tech support can help your business gain its momentum?

The term ‘White label’ was first coined from the image of a white label that appears on the packaging of products. You fill in the details of your product on a white label. Outsourced phone services do the same thing.

A top-notch white label tech support service can help you accomplish expert technical skills and excellent customer service customized to your needs, at affordable pricing.

Customers are without a doubt the biggest assets of an organization. Ensuring customer delight is the ultimate goal that can lead to business success. But, what exactly does it mean?

Customer delight is not just about making them say a “Thanks”; rather creating a “wow” factor to the customer, with your services. An excellent white label tech support can make it a part of your company culture. An exceptional customer service experience not only exceeds your customers’ expectations but also affect them in the most positive way.

Challenges that agencies face while offering support

Challenges with support

Offering support services to clients may not be the primary or even secondary capability of a web agency (or business) but they need to do it none the less. Setting up a support team can also definitely drive business costs to go up considerably, and would require some shifting of focus from the core business areas as well.

Furthermore, subject matter experts might be called upon, from time to time, to get involved with tasks and issues that would be totally unrelated to their areas of expertise and that may lead to a less than satisfactory result from the customers’ point of view. On top of that, raising an entire support in-house comes with a significant learning curve attached to it.

White label tech support and its benefits

Here, we will look at 5 ways how having an efficient white label tech support team can help your business to grow more:

  • Focus on your business

With an efficient tech support team to assist you, you are likely to get more time to focus on your core business activities better. Support calls take away your focus from the core business activities such as sales or marketing, product engineering, etc. With a top-notch tech support team, you need not worry about customer support, as tech support teams working as an extended arm of the agency, can address all the support requests from clients, site performance of the servers, and security issues while ensuring the desired outcomes are fulfilled.

  • Minimize cost

Offering competitive 24/7 tech support is costly. It includes various costs such as salary, infrastructure costs, utility costs, accounting costs, and more. Hiring services from a white label support provider can help you minimize the costs incurred in staff and infrastructure because they generally do this by sharing the facilities with multiple companies.

  • Compete with market leaders

By providing a pleasant customer experience, your support team can boost your company’s branding as well as client base. This would send out more references from your client base and effectively widen it. Furthermore, large businesses can provide a wide range of costly tech support, which borders on the impossible for small businesses. However, with a white label tech support that is at the same time cheap yet efficient, your business can easily compete with the forerunners of the field, although this would require time and dedication.

  • Round the clock support with increased uptime

A good and well-established customer service should be able to deliver round the clock support. Let’s say you are out of the office or busy with other calls, or even if your power or phone is down, your customers cannot reach you. This would definitely create a negative impression of your support services to the customer. With white label tech support, you can positively avoid this kind of a situation as these support teams are equipped with solutions to all of these problems and can thus provide 24/7 customer support.

  • Web hosting expertise

Web hosting comes with service disruptions ranging from PC and ISP issues to server and network issues as there is no avoiding these issues; it is a packaged deal. Some of the common web server issues include directory password protection issues, enabling cron tasks, etc. With an efficient tech support team, handling hundreds of support calls per day, they can also easily and quickly isolate the problems and fix them.

A tad bit more

I have discussed the benefits you can get from having a white label tech support team and how it can help you gain business momentum. However, I would like to add a tidbit about how you can actually gain customer delight because that is the main thing that can boost your business momentum.

Steady quality support is what brings about real customer delight. Quality, more often than not, refers to a set of standards or measurements for the service. And meeting these quality standards can ensure customer delight.

Here are some steps to ensure that:

  • Primarily, the basic support functions need to be executed properly. This means fulfilling customer expectations by providing timely and error-free solutions.
  • A vital aspect is to perform an in-depth analysis of the problem and coming up with an absolute solution to it, rather than providing a makeshift band-aid solution. Customers do not like to face the same problem again and again.
  • It is essential to prevent any issue from happening or to avoid repetition of the same problem and in order to do that performing proactive tasks is important.
  • Customers should be handled in a more compassionate manner and provided with a more personalized solution helps win them over.

A ‘delighted’ customer will feel the positive experience and remember it., talk about it to others and will definitely come back for more. All in all, having a white label tech support will help you in all these manners.

Categories
Outsource Support

How to choose the right support provider for Tech support outsourcing?

These days more and more businesses are outsourcing their technical support processes to third-party support providers. It is important for any kind of business from start-ups to large enterprises, to know exactly why and when they should or should not outsource their technical support processes.

There are pros and cons to outsourcing and one must be familiar with them before making any decisions regarding the same. Here is a guide to what to consider before outsourcing your tech-support process.

  • Know your needs

Before you start looking for third-party service providers, determine your needs with the outsourcing program. Do you need around-the-clock service, or is it that you simply need to have emails answered, appointment scheduling, etc?

The benefits of outsourcing include freeing-up of management time to converge on core-competencies, adding both capacity and specialized skills to your business, increasing efficiency by managing fluctuations in the workflow, lowering costs, among other things. Thus, is very important to clearly define the scope of tasks to be outsourced and the benefits that come along with them.

  • Check experiences

Once you have a clearly defined set of tasks that you intend to outsource and its scope, the next thing you need to do is check the experiences of the vendors in accomplishing these tasks that you are outsourcing. What you should look for is the number of projects completed, types of clients handled, specialization skills in case of knowledge-intensive projects, etc. you can also look for the experience of the management team, project leaders and other team members. Also, if you are entering into a long-term contract it is advisable to interact with the proposed team members (a mini-interview if you will) before signing the contract. This helps to create a better understanding between you and the team.

  • Ask for reference and work sample
Ask for reference

You need to understand your vendor’s scope and quality of services, their client engagement practices, delivery and turnaround time, etc. in order to do that it best to seek client reference from them. Keep in mind to check any challenges that may appear in the course of work and find the best route to overcome those. Further, you can ask for samples of work done by the vendor previously in order to better understand their capabilities. It may be so that they cannot provide you with actual samples owing to customer confidentialities; in such cases respect that constraint and ask for prototypes made for marketing purposes.

  • Guarantee good communication and client management practices.

Ensuring good communication with your outsourced vendor is critical to either make or break the deal. Find out their working hours (does it overlap with your own and if it does then by how much) and the time zone in which they operate. Find out the best communication channel between you and the vendor team; whether or not they are available in an e-mail, phone, VOIP (Skype), etc. find out your point of contact in the team if you have any queries and their response time to this extent. Also, keep a clear idea about whether or not the vendor understands your organization and your visions beyond the scope of the immediate project. This is critical to building a long-term relationship with your vendors.

  • Measure financial stability

In the case of long-term contracts, it is important to make sure that your partners are financially stable and capable of handling such cases. In these cases, it is important to do an in-depth assessment of the vendor’s financial health in order to carry out the contract.

  • Check IT infrastructures and quality certifications

Check IT infrastructures and quality certifications

This is again, related to large outsourcing associations where state of the art IT infrastructure is essential. Let’s say for example you are involved in a partnership, which involves sharing of confidential client/customer data. It is important to make sure that this information remains safe and secure. Information security is crucial for these kinds of client-vendor relations.

Check if your vendors have authorizations that help set up processes to manage projects, maintain quality and deliver the work; namely CMMi, ISO certificates, Microsoft competency certificates, etc.

  • Discuss security and privacy issues

Once again, data security and privacy are very crucial. Dig into the security structure of your vendor’s infrastructure. Keep a clear record of their private security and privacy policies and methods. It is important to know where how safely your client/customer data is kept under their watch. Check if they have a recoverable disaster recovery plan.

  • Know how much you will be charged

Keep track of your costs. Ask your vendors about their method of charging; is it by rounding up to the next minute or to the next second, things like that. Also, make sure your vendors do not charge you for your customer’s time on hold.

Recruit specialists, start small and minimize risks. Big enterprises with standard outsourcing tasks generally opt for large outsourcing agencies, as they are more likely to meet all the above conditions. If your business is as such, then large outsourcing vendors are your best choice.

However, in the case of small businesses looking for a cost-effective and flexible work plan with small outsourcing budgets, small vendors are the best choice. This is because large outsourcing agencies will charge more and their attention may be somewhat dimmed with small clients.

Furthermore, if only an industry/domain specialist can meet your demands, then you must opt for small outsourcing providers, as they will have greater experience and innovative work-rate.

Overall, it is better to start small (maybe with a pilot project and a smaller team) irrespective of what type of vendors you chose. Scale-up with time and keep assessing your vendor needs and their quality of business.

I hope this guide helps you to choose the appropriate vendor for your future endeavors.

Categories
Outsource Support

Why Live Chat Support is extremely significant in eCommerce business?

Nowadays, a large proportion of the urban population shops online. So, in eCommerce business spheres it is not just about getting the right customer but also about keeping them interested in your shop. The trend of online shopping leaves a vast variety of options to the customers and a single slip-up can result in these customers migrating to the competitors.

Quality customer service plays a very crucial role in online businesses and It is the customers who spread the word about you and helps build a good customer base. Customer service is the answer to creating a comfortable shopping environment for your shoppers so that they feel comfortable with your services. This may include, phone support, email, as well as emerging communication channels like live chat support.

Live chat support offers the shoppers a comfortable and convenient platform where they can chat with a “shopping assistant” or customer support executive, while being logged on to your site/store. Recent market studies show that, online businesses that feature live chat as part of customer communication are seen to enjoy better results – essentially cost reduction, revenue growth, and customer satisfaction – than those that do not. Another study shows that 56% of the urban population (aged 18 to 34 years) prefer live chat to telephonic conversations compared to the remaining 27% (aged 35 years and above). Besides all of this a survey of American online consumers shows that, 68% engage in live chat and 63% prefer getting back to a website with live chat for repeat purchase.

There are two types of consumers who use live chat for help. The first group are your potential buyers and the most common questions they pose are:

  • Want to know more about product specifications
  • cannot find specific item(s) on a given website
  • Want to compare products

These scenarios extremely influence purchase decisions. Actually, more than 38% of online customers took their purchase decision due to live chat session. Live chat agents play a very important role in this regard and if they are well trained then they can help generate much more sales.

The second group are your existing customers and their points of enquiry are:

  • Want to know the status of their order
  • Want to ask about “Return policies“
  • Reporting bugs or suggesting improvements in your service etc.

Some of the significances of Live Chat Support for eCommerce businesses are discussed below:

Livechat Infographics
  1. Time Convenience to Customers

Online shopping is a convenient experience, but if a customer has a query, he or she would usually prefer to have it resolved in the shortest time possible. It takes time for a customer to find out your toll-free (customer support) number and dial it. This becomes a drawn-out process, as they have to wait until the voice executive comes to handle the query. Email support takes a much longer time and social media requires browsing thoroughly. Thus, live chat is the perfect alternative, capable of instantly solving any concerns. It also allows the customer to multi-task, while waiting, although their wait is not for long.

Studies also show that within the online channel, live chat has become the leading contact source, as 42% of full-service customers prefer using a live online chat feature vs. Email (23%) or other social media forum (16%). Moreover, online satisfaction is maximum among customers who use the chat feature.

2. Saves money and increases Efficiency

There are three main reasons why Live Chat Support can cut costs:

  • It increases efficiency by allowing chat agents to handle multiple chats simultaneously, thus eliminates the need for hiring more agents, thereby saving money. Intelligent live chat software such as LiveAgent allows multiple options for chat distribution and utilization.
  • It increases the average order value since customers get real-time advice and answers to any queries they might have. It saves product return expenses as a chat agent can help your customers pick the right product or service, which suits them best, thus he or she will be satisfied with it and hence they won’t need to return it back.
  • Chat Support reduces overall helpdesk center costs by lowering the average interaction cost, waiting queue time when compared to a call center.

Thus, we can see that live chat support can cut costs around every corner and can also give a boost to your online business portal.

3. Boosts Sales

Much like the way in which a salesperson in a physical store walks a confused customer through all the available products along with every detail about them, a chat support executive not only makes it easier for a customer to make a detailed decision about making a purchase but also in many cases, this help turn the customer into making a prompt purchase. This feature obviously boosts sales for the business. However, well-trained staff is required for this.

4. Builds long-term relations with your Customers

Builds long-term relations with your Customers

The more satisfied your customers are the more profit you will make and conversations are the best way to do that because this way you can learn about and retain them. Furthermore, if your customers are satisfied with your services, they will refer you to their friends and family. This is always a good way to expand your market. With Live chat support, you can also promote these long-term relations with your customers by assuring them that you value their inputs and happiness. Studies show that 63% of the customers who‘ve used live chat tend to come back rather than the ones who haven’t.  Thus, Live Chat is always helpful to build a satisfying long-term client-customer relationship.

The faster the communication higher is the purchases and thus, the profit. So, including a live chat support feature in the e-commerce business can also prove to be an important tactic.

Technology with a touch of personalization can never go wrong!

Categories
Outsource Support

How Conveniently Is Outsourcing Service Acceptable In The World?

Outsourcing has been one of the biggest ways to bring out organization from a business and the day to day challenges. This has been bringing on perfect technical support to the outside provider of some of the best ways to make business and its associated considerations. This is applicable for both the fresh and experienced or well-established businesses. The benefit of technical support has been bringing on a better impact on the business by setting new examples to determine the feasibility of outsourcing. This is being considered carefully with considering both sides relatively with debating and analysis of their impact on the company.

Supporting outsourcing as a significant aspect:-

The outsourcing has been bringing on better support to leverage the power of knowledge banks, technical resources and the center of competency with relevant time and internet access. These ensure with superior delivery of the services through the rigorous recruitment process, training, and development processes. The outsourcing has been bringing on the best possible solutions for the company. This is going to bring on with embarking on a partnership. The outsourcing will help with focusing its efforts on perfecting its core business processes with ensuring client with receiving the best possible services and even the products directly from the organization. With outsourcing, the company would bring on with tackling several kinds of business needs with bringing a perfect business solution to the organization.

Advantages of outsourcing over insourcing:-

  •  With outsourcing, it becomes easy with spending more time concentrating on the basic business processes and with that, it also adds on with accessing to the professional, expert and some kind of high-quality services.
  •  The organization is going to experience an increase in efficiency and productivity in the non- core business processes.
  • This is going to help with streamlining the business operations and would help you with saving time, effort and even the operational costs.
  •  These are being bought on with providing a flexible change relating to business in the organization.
  • Added to that, you can have an increase the control to your business
  • This is going to bring on with new and challenging demands of the customers and would free up the cash flow to the organization.
  •  You can also share the business risks with bringing on the business a competitive advantage. This is going to bring on with helping every organization to cut its operational cost by more than 50 % with saving on capital expenditures.

Apart from all that it is going to streamline the business processes and make a convenient approach to the business and its growth. This is going to help on with saving on operational costs like that of payroll, administrative costs, HR impacts, rentals and various kinds of utilities. The outsourcing is going to help with overcoming seasonal workflows and even the talent shortages. This is going to enhance the demand with helping on getting perfect information on the enhancement of risk management. This is rather a better option when compared to the in source support services.