One of the central pillars of ONTRAM is customer support. But what exactly does that mean? Let’s take a look behind the scenes of the ticketing system and live chats.

Often, the support work is rather vague and can include lots of different duties. Most of all, it will come in via various channels, one of which is the live chat support. With a click, you are connected immediately to a staff member of the ONTRAM team.

So, what are all the queries that reach us via chat support?

Live Chat Is Personal

There are general questions regarding the system, for example:

‘Do you have a review function?’

Or corrections of small mistakes:

‘I mistakenly pushed this job to the next stage can you push it back to me?’

Sometimes there are inquiries about specific functions:

‘Hello, can you please explain how to upload a translation in XLIFF or a Word document in ONTRAM?’

Also, new users have to be created.

‘New tester! Could you please create a new personal account for my colleague and send her the access details.’

Detective Work

From time to time, it is necessary to do some detective work as an occurring problem is not quickly and easily narrowed down. Often, there are complex connections and one has to look carefully. The steps taken by the previous user and other people that are part of the process have to be taken into account to clarify the problem. There also have to be additional technical prerequisites to be considered like different browsers or operating systems, etc.

Not everything can be easily recreated. Sometimes a lot of separate tests have to be performed and can even lead to the discovery of a real bug. To make the right decision, one needs a lot of sensitivity and a lot of stress-resistance. Especially since bugs and more complex issues as well as new feature requests are not easily dealt with in a chat support situation.

Tickets

As soon as it becomes obvious the customer inquiry needs more time, the staff member of the support team transfers it to the ticketing system. User inquiries sent via email are also dealt with in the ticketing system. Of course, all the incoming mails will be addressed in less than four hours. The ticket requests are usually more comprehensive; there is more capacity to transmit extensive information than in a short chat. The internal information-flows of the ONTRAM team are very short, therefore, it is even possible to engage with a developer quickly, if necessary.

Working in support is really diverse and exciting. From trivial inquiries to obscure bugs – everything is possible. Thus, the daily job specifically implies the human touch. Not every user is the same – everyone reacts differently to the variety of problems and questions.

Direct Feedback

Something very special in this area is certainly the direct feedback when the problem has been solved. As there is personal contact with the client, the support team often gets the client’s feeling of joy or relief when the solution is found instantly.

Now and then, it is possible to introduce new features and functions to the client about which he was unaware before, but that solve the momentary problem directly. Another positive aspect is to see the product from the client’s point of view. The support team finds out quickly where there are problems of understanding, and which functions are being easily accepted and which aren’t. This can even result in more precise and better feature ideas in the daily meetings at the ONTRAM team’s white board.

All in all, it can be said that the support area consists of more than just a technical knowledge base. At the end of the day, it’s where the first responses to the product can be collected as one is in direct contact with the client and how they use the software trying to work out the best possible solution. This can be called a living partnership, one that profits from the mutual exchange of experiences and demands.

It is an important, varied, and supporting job that we take extremely seriously – and it is also a lot of fun.