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Antek HealthWare has been providing software solutions, including LabDAQ® Laboratory Information Systems and DAQbilling® Practice Management Software, to the healthcare industry since 1987. More than 40,000 physicians in the United States rely on Antek's technology to provide better patient care and better business management within the physician's office, clinics, and hospitals across the country. Antek has to be able to provide fast, effective support for its medical office software products, so Antek support reps must be able to transfer files for the delivery of customizations, updates, and quick fixes without having to physically visit the client's computer. For a period of time, Antek attempted to fill this need with a client server-based solution, but as the company expanded its client base, it became clear that this type of software was not up to the task of supporting Antek's nearly 2,000 clients.
Antek's clients had to install the software before any support sessions could be initiated. This required Antek to bundle it with their own software solutions so that they could provide support to their customers, adding to the time and expense of end-user software implementation. In addition, the software required manual configuration of firewalls in order to allow for high-speed connections. In most instances, Antek's support representatives had to connect to remote clients through dial-up, making the connection extremely slow. "They were required to get a dedicated phone line, but they sometimes had only one fax line," said Steward Macis, Manager of Antek's technical support department. "It became really clunky when we had to get a switch so it would work." To avoid installing client server software on every remote system on the client's network, the support rep would have to first connect to a client's primary computer; from that computer, they would then connect to other workstations using open-source VNC, slowing down the connection still more. "A normal phone call using a dial-up connection was taking anywhere from 18-25 minutes, which should have taken 8-10 minutes on a high-speed connection," said Macis.
In September of 2005, after evaluating several remote control support solutions, Antek HealthWare simplified its remote support processes by implementing NetworkStreaming SupportDesk™.1 Instead of going through a long, complicated installation and connection process over dial-up, Antek can now support its customers without any firewall configuration or pre-installation of a client on the end-user's computer. "Before, I would walk around, and I would see people pulling out their hair, lights blinking, phones buzzing, and I wonder, 'Are we ever going to get the work done?' And that was just trying to connect," said Macis, who made the final decision to purchase SupportDesk™. "Now it's flawless. There's less frustration and a decrease in call time, which allows us to do more with less."
To simplify things still further, Antek has created an additional shortcut to the connection process. "On the welcome screen of our software, we've created a link," said Macis. "When a client calls in and says, 'I need help,' normally we would tell them to go to the internet and go to this address; it's so long they misspell it, and it takes them five minutes. With the link they just click on it and they go to our site. It makes our software even slicker."
Now, approximately 40 Antek support reps use SupportDesk™. Antek's technical support department handles an average of over 3,800 support incidents per month, and SupportDesk™ is used on 75-80% of these incidents. In a period of 9 months, average call times decreased by 33%, from 9:05 minutes to 6:12 minutes. First call resolution and call handling capacity both increased by approximately 20%. "The first month, we could feel the impact, as we could handle more calls in the same amount of time," said Macis. This means less downtime for Antek's customers and a much smoother support experience for both support rep and customer. "The level of frustration is a lot less," said Macis. "Every single employee in this company patted me on the back twice, telling me I'm a genius."
Antek HealthWare (www.antekhealthware.com) is a leader in the development of innovative software solutions for the healthcare industry. The LabDAQ® Laboratory Information System is the trusted source of laboratory information used by thousands of physicians and laboratory professionals every day. LabDAQ® can be found in virtually every clinical laboratory environment, including hospitals, clinics, physicians' office labs, and reference laboratories. DAQbilling® Practice Management Software Solution is an Application Service Provider (ASP), offering lower start-up costs along with easier implementation and maintenance than traditional medical billing software packages.
NetworkStreaming is the only provider of appliance-based remote desktop support solutions, offering greater security and lower total cost of ownership. With the SupportDesk™ appliance, NetworkStreaming's clients can eliminate monthly fees and enhance the security of their helpdesks.
- SupportDesk™ is a trademark of NetworkStreaming, Inc.
The Adobe® logo is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
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