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Penn State University's Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Department Selects FootPrints Service Desk Software to Centralize and Manage its IT Help Desk EDISON, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- Aug. 10, 2004 -- UniPress Software, Inc., a leading provider of web-based service desk automation software, today announced that the Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (AERS) Department at Penn State University has selected FootPrints(R) to centralize its IT support operations. Through the use of FootPrints, the IT center at AERS established a centralized service desk to effectively support faculty and staff members and graduate students within the department, which studies the agricultural industry using the latest technology and statistical analysis.FootPrints is a 100% web-based service desk used by nearly 2,000 organizations to centrally track and manage help desk and customer service requests, and control all aspects of the problem-resolution lifecycle. The easy-to-use system includes a broad range of features and functionality such as self-service online, two-way email management, knowledge management, and powerful reporting. The IT center at AERS deployed FootPrints to track and manage all incoming IT support requests from more than 30 staff members, 40 faculty, and 75 graduate students. Prior to FootPrints, AERS did not have a formal system for its technical support agents to log requests. As departmental IT needs grew, AERS needed a system to centralize its support process, and enable the team to share information, as well as run reports for billing purposes. "By using FootPrints we have created a comprehensive knowledge base that allows our technical support agents to collaborate on problem resolution and easily pick up where others leave off," explained Bob Conn, Coordinator of Information Technology Services at the AERS Department. "This capability allows us to create a central repository for our team to find answers to frequently asked questions, and resolve them quickly." Without programming, AERS customized FootPrints with a series of fields and drop-down menus, enabling its technical support agents to capture a broad range of information. The department is also leveraging FootPrints' advanced email management functionality, which automatically triggers email notifications and a series of AERS-defined routing procedures to manage a trouble ticket throughout the problem resolution lifecycle. FootPrints is a completely web-based solution that allows AERS to have a formal system in place to log and track technical support agents' time for billing and charge-back purposes. In addition to IT support, AERS is also using FootPrints to manage several long-term, database-driven projects. "The Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Department at Penn State exemplifies how FootPrints can centralize help desk operations and improve the speed and effectiveness of support," said Mark Krieger, President of UniPress Software. "The system's web-based design and flexibility allows organizations, such as AERS, to automate a broad range of service and support processes as well as other business functions and operations." About Penn State University's AERS Department The Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Department at Penn State provides research that enhances the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the generation, application, and dissemination of scientific knowledge regarding key economic and social issues. For more information, visit www.aers.psu.edu/. About UniPress Software, Inc. Headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, UniPress Software, Inc. is a developer of web-based service desk automation software targeting mid-market companies, departments within large enterprise organizations, and small businesses. The company's FootPrints(R) product line, launched in 1996, provides a comprehensive range of capabilities to significantly improve help desk and customer support operations, and is widely used by nearly 2,000 corporate organizations, government offices, and educational institutions worldwide, including Prudential Financial, BHP Petroleum, IBM, Kampgrounds of America, Schwab Soundview Capital Markets, Hunter Fan Company, the IRS, and the University of Pennsylvania. For more information, contact UniPress at 732-287-2100, or via the web at www.unipress.com. |
