Find answers to PhaseWare's frequently asked questions.
The PhaseWare Tracker Suite is a complete customer service and support solution, composed of the desktop-based Tracker ticketing, customer, and knowledge base management application; a browser-based version called Tracker Beyond; the Self Service Center, which is a customizable, customer-facing web portal that allows contacts to submit incidents, search the knowledge base, post in forums, and download documents; and the Event Engine, accessible through an application called Tracker Admin, which allows administrators to automate virtually any process within Tracker, along with creating automated e-mail, SMS, and alert notifications.
PhaseWare is ideally suited for external customer service and support, internal help desk, complaint management, knowledge management, and/or regulatory compliance management. PhaseWare is proud to provide unique, powerful applications for your needs in ticketing features, customer/contact management, knowledge base management, multi-channel support, customizability, incoming and outgoing email handling, and automated workflows and processes. Our suite far outpaces similar products which offer extremely limited depth, customizability, integration, and automation in contrast.
On the other hand, if your primary needs include accounting, change management, or hardware identification, PhaseWare may not be the right solution for you. If you have any questions about what PhaseWare can do, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Incident/ticket management; customer/contact management; knowledge base management; multichannel support utilizing e-mail, phone, web, and live chat; workflow and business rule automation; complete incoming and outgoing e-mail integration; customizable screens and fields utilizing easy-to-use click-and-drag tools; customizable security and global settings; and literally hundreds of other features.
Yes. PhaseWare is a high-end, tailored solution with low-end pricing. You will find that Total Cost of Ownership for PhaseWare products is on par with and most often demonstrably less expensive than competitors. You can contact a PhaseWare sales representative at any time Monday through Friday, from 8:00am to 5:00pm CST for more information or visit our pricing page to request a free pricing quote online.
A basic PhaseWare installation includes, at the very minimum, Tracker and Tracker Admin. Tracker Beyond, which is the browser-based version of Tracker, can be used alongside or in place of Tracker. Tracker Admin is necessary for controlling users, departments, global settings, security settings, screens and windows, automated processes (called “Events”), incoming and outgoing mail, and other key pieces of the PhaseWare solution.
Most companies and organizations opt to install the customer-facing web portal called Self Service Center, which is used by customer contacts to submit and view incidents, search the knowledge base, chat live with agents, download files, post in forums, and more. However, Tracker and Tracker Admin can function independently of the Self Service Center.
PhaseWare’s Event Engine, which can be controlled through the Tracker Admin application, allows you to automatically: send e-mail notifications, send SMS text messages, send Tracker Alerts, update incident information, update customer information, send reports, assign agents to incidents, alert for SLA purposes, close and reopen incidents, and much more. With the Event Engine you can automate virtually any process in PhaseWare.
The installation process is extremely straightforward and handled almost exclusively by our professional PhaseWare team of expert engineers and support agents. If you opt for the hosted solution, we handle the installation entirely on our own (as it is installed on our own secure servers). All you will need to do is make sure your users have the full version of .NET 4 installed on their workstations and then download the application(s) themselves to each user workstation. The download installs automatically and can be accessed from the Windows Start Menu. Tracker Beyond requires no download and can be run from any browser (including in Mac OS X). The Self Service Center requires no download whatsoever.
If you opt for the licensed (on-site) solution, our professional team will schedule a time to meet with your server administrator(s) to create a SQL database, install the installation files, and, if applicable, install the Self Service Center to your IIS server. This process usually takes from one to two hours. Workstation installations are done in the same manner as described above for hosted customers.
The PhaseWare team will be happy to work with your company or organization’s unique requirements to develop a unique implementation process if needed. Some customers have special requirements such as critical data imports that can take extra time. Other customers want to streamline the training process as much as possible. We work with every need. One of the many factors that sets PhaseWare apart from the competition is how our solution is tailored to a company or organization's specific needs during the configuration process.
Our team will set up a SQL database unique to your company or organization, which is used to store all of the data from Tracker, Tracker Beyond, and Tracker Admin. Any customizations are stored here as well. Your database is routinely backed up throughout the week and stored on a separate server for added security. Your database is stored at a secure, off-site data center. If you have purchased the Self Service Center product, we will also set that up for you.
Our team will set up a SQL database on one of your servers, which is used to store all of the data from Tracker, Tracker Beyond, and Tracker Admin. Any customizations are stored here as well. If you have purchased the Self Service Center product, we will also set that up for you. During the installation session PhaseWare needs to have access to any servers that will be needed for installing the database, executing SQL queries, and installing services. IT and mail administrators should be present. Please ensure that you have the full version of Microsoft .NET 4 installed on your servers prior to the installation.
After installation, the PhaseWare team will provide training documentation and walk you through configuring your application(s) to your company or organization’s needs. A series of live training sessions will be scheduled in order to train both administrators and end-users in use of PhaseWare.
Tracker and Tracker Beyond are fully configurable through Tracker Admin utilizing the Screen Designer tool. Screen Designer allows an administrator to easily add and remove fields and controls, rename labels, create lookup tables, change colors, add panels and tabs, and more to virtually any screen and window in either of these applications.
The Self Service Center can be customized either through an administrative website (for hosted installs) or through the file directory where Self Service Center is installed (for on-site installs). Customizations include changing colors, adding and removing text and labels, adding and removing fields, replacing icons, and more.
If customizability is a strong need, you will not find a better solution than PhaseWare.
Our team is committed to helping you get the most out of our software solutions. We can schedule a conference call for brainstorming if needed, or additional training sessions can be scheduled. PhaseWare excels at flexibility, so give us a call or send us an e-mail and we will help you along the way.
If you choose the PhaseWare solution, you can rest easy knowing that your data is completely secure. If you opt for the hosted solution, your installation and data are stored on PhaseWare-dedicated server(s) at a secure SSAE 16 and SAS 70 Type II audited data center that features 24/7/365 on-site staff, biometric identification required for access, and constant power, HVAC, fire, security and IDS monitoring.
Unlike many competitors, you will never share a database with anyone. Your data is your own and we install a database dedicated to your company or organization. In addition, a backup of your entire PhaseWare database occurs nightly.
For both the hosted and on-site (licensed) solutions, the application(s) themselves are highly secure. Security for Tracker, Tracker Beyond, and the Self Service Center can be fine-tuned by your administrator(s) utilizing a simple point-and-click security settings tool, which is only accessible to them.
No. As part of standard support, upgrades are free for both hosted and on-site customers and occur routinely year-after-year. The most current PhaseWare products are version 2016.
Yes. Tracker Mobile is PhaseWare's version of Tracker for mobile phones. It is a web app that runs straight off of your favorite mobile browser. Tracker Beyond is PhaseWare's latest full-featured customer support software solution that runs on tablet devices such as iPad. It is fueled by HTML5 and various other powerful web technologies. Finally, SSC Mobile is a native self-service app for iOS and Android devices. It is intended to be used by your customers for self-service.
Reporting and analytics are one of PhaseWare's strongest features: standardized reporting, a built-in report designer, analytics, statistics, and audit trails virtually everywhere. Most Tracker grids can be exported directly to Excel and standard reports can be exported to a variety of formats. Tracker includes over 80 canned reports.
If you think PhaseWare would be a good fit for your company or organization, please feel free to contact us. A friendly member of our team is only a click away.
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