Consona Corporation, a provider of customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services for companies of all sizes, has released two white papers entitled, “Thinking Outside the (Search) Box: Powering Enterprise Search with Knowledge” and “Do You Want to Help Customers with Knowledge? (Or Do You Just Want to Buy a Knowledgebase?)” by Tim Hines of Consona CRM.
The research is about best practices for capitalizing on knowledge through collaboration, integration, proper management and technology.
The case for enterprise search states that enterprises are overflowing with valuable information that can be used by support and service employees, as well as customers and prospects. But, in many organizations, this information is not gathered into a reusable format that lends itself to search and capture. Thus, enterprise search demands effective knowledge management (KM). In “Powering Enterprise Search with Knowledge,” Hines presents guidelines on how enterprises can build upon their own existing knowledgebase through enterprise search that is complemented by KM.
“Enterprises are drowning in unstructured information, and search can help employees collaborate, reuse existing work and get the specific facts they need to do their jobs,” Hines says. “To be truly valuable, enterprise search must be paired with capabilities for capturing, maintaining, and continuously improving the content that it serves. Enterprise search demands effective knowledge management. Search alone isn’t enough.”
Implementing knowledge management has become a top priority of service and support providers. However, organizations equate implementing KM with buying, installing and training agents on a knowledgebase tool. While technology is a critical component of success, KM is an ongoing program that comprises people, process and technology, and supports healthy practices for capturing, maintaining and improving knowledge for service and support.
“Do You Want to Help Customers with Knowledge?” talks about knowledge management, showing the common traps to avoid when launching an initiative, and offering best practices.
“Knowledge is power. Service and support knowledge that’s shared with staff and customers is a uniquely powerful driver of internal efficiency and customer success,” Hines stated. “But organizations will only reap the benefits of knowledge when they go beyond thinking about implementing a knowledgebase project and truly embrace integrating knowledge into the entire service delivery process.”
“Every day, our experts at Consona CRM are in the field with enterprises seeking to maximize their return on investment from knowledge management initiatives—these organizations have the foundation of a knowledgebase and the motivation to build upon it, but often lack the proper set of tools and guidelines,” commented Tom Millay, general manager of Consona CRM. “In this research, Tim Hines offers solid expertise for enterprises looking to take advantage of perhaps their greatest asset: knowledge.”
