PracticeWorks Case Study

Dental practice software provider reduces support costs by an estimated $5,187 per day using remote desktop support solution

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The Challenge

With 272 of their over 700 employees devoted to support, PracticeWorks, Inc. wanted to enhance their web-based support presence through remote support. They needed a solution that enabled a fast remote connection in order to deal with the support issues of their 37,000 clients quickly. However, their previous solution, Symantec's pcAnywhere™ ¹, required a modem to modem connection, which frequently resulted in client-side issues with shared phone lines.

In addition, each customer had to purchase the pcAnywhere™ product and install it on his or her desktop. "All of our customers had to install pcAnywhere™," said Brian Danforth, Senior Manager of PracticeWorks' technical support department. "It was listed on our requirements section." Since PracticeWorks deals with clients in the medical field, security was also a foremost concern. "On the support side, what we ran into was HIPAA," said Danforth. "It requires privacy and security of information. Hospitals and large practices have to meet these regulations themselves, and each one does it in a different way."

The Solution

In November of 2005, after evaluating a number of other remote support solutions, PracticeWorks chose the Bomgar Box™ to fill its support needs. "Bomgar™ allows us to offer clients a fast, simple way to give us access to their computers when we needed to fix their problems," said Dennis Nelson, Support Systems Analyst for PracticeWorks. "This gives us greater opportunity to point the client to our support website and point out our self-help features." In order to satisfy PracticeWorks' security requirements, Bomgar™ protects all session traffic with 256-bit AES SSL encryption and requires client consent to initiate a remote control session. To further enhance security, the Bomgar Box™ was deployed on-site at PracticeWorks to ensure that no third-parties, including Bomgar™, can gain access to the hardware through which the support sessions run.

The Results

Now, PracticeWorks' clients follow a much simpler process to connect. "The client calls our support group, where they are connected to our automatic distribution system," said Krista Ciccozzi, PracticeWorks' Director of Technical Support. "The support representative talks to them and determines if it is something they will have to look at themselves or something only we can do. They direct them through the web to the site, the client clicks on the representative's name or ID, and at that point the support rep gets connected to the client."

With all of their support reps equipped with Bomgar™ accounts, PracticeWorks performs up to 4000 remote control sessions per month. Since purchasing Bomgar™, PracticeWorks estimates that support call times have been reduced by 24 percent. This saves PracticeWorks an estimated $5,187 per day in call costs, recovering the cost of Bomgar™ in less than a month.

About PracticeWorks, Inc.

Headquartered in Atlanta and employing over 700 people, PracticeWorks, Inc., provides practice management, digital imaging, and radiology software for dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, and the staff who support them in over 37,000 practices throughout the U.S.

About Bomgar™

Bomgar™ is the only provider of appliance-based remote desktop support solutions, offering greater security and lower total cost of ownership. With the Bomgar Box™, Bomgar's clients can eliminate monthly fees and enhance the security of their helpdesks.

1. pcAnywhere™ is a trademark of Symantec Corporation

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