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From the Desktop of ABS Associates ...
December 2007
Contents
> ABS 25th Anniversary
> Help Desk Myths & Truths: Myth #3
> Major Chicago-based Association Renews and Expands Contract with ABS
> With ITIL and VoIP: ABS Stays a Step Ahead
 Happy Holidays from ABS!
Best wishes for a safe, peaceful holiday season and a prosperous year ahead ... |
The company, which started off as two entrepreneurs, has grown to a thriving services business today. When PC's arrived, ABS expanded its field service offering. When handhelds appeared, they even developed software for the food, beverage, and automotive aftermarkets. And when clients asked if they could add help desk to their repertoire of services, which at that point also included desktop and network support, ABShelp was born. During the past 25 years, ABS has outgrown three different corporate locations. Presently, ABS is headquartered in Rolling Meadows with employees also working in Arizona, California, and Washington DC.
During these 25 years, what have the Mitchells learned and gained?
- Service to customers, employees, partners, family, and community is a rewarding and fulfilling vocation.
- Treat everyone with dignity and respect.
- The realization that they have not only created and grown a business that has provided jobs and incomes to many families, but also that they have enjoyed pleasing customers who must use technology to perform their work. And best of all, the Mitchells have friends who have become customers and customers who have become friends.
Watching their ABS baby grow has been an inspirational, joyful, frustrating, discouraging, and uplifting experience, all rolled into one. And today, they prefer the motto: Always Better Service – You can expect better service from ABS, and ABS realizes that it can always be better. Here's to the next 25 years!
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Tom & Rosemarie Mitchell
at the ABS Celebration
Barrington Hills Country Club October 2007 |
Displaying 25 Years of Service to Clients |
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Myth #3: Companies, specifically CIOs, lose control when an outsourcer is brought in to provide help desk services.
Truth: When the help desk function is outsourced, control is maintained via a service level agreement where both parties build in flexibility as business dictates. Managed service providers understand, however, that clients of ten experience periods of fluctuating demand stemming from unforeseen circumstances, such as system crashes, viruses, and application roll-outs. Outsourcers generally have the staff and resources to handle peak volumes and retain control of performance during hectic periods. In addition, many outsourcers have real-time data accessible to CIOs giving them continuous insight into their support environment and the opportunity to step in any time they believe something is amiss.
Look for myth #4 in our next e-newsletter ... |
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One of the nation's premier healthcare associations has re-selected ABS for on-going and expanded IT services and support. The Chicago-based organization, in its due diligence process, issued an RFP in the fall and reviewed proposals from six outsourcing firms, including ABS. CEO Rosemarie Mitchell comments, "We have been working with the association for more than four years and are delighted that the relationship will continue until 2011."
With the new contract, ABS will increase the number of helpdesk and desktop teams it maintains on-site and will also broaden its geographical presence to Washington D.C. with additional personnel for IT projects and
desktop assistance. |
ABS Stays a Step Ahead
ABS Associates keeps one step ahead of the competition with its continuous focus on personnel training and technology improvements. In its helpdesk practice, Service Desk Director Sandra Hackett maintains the latest ITIL and HDI certifications and requires that her leads, agents, and analysts acquire various levels of these and other certifications as part of their on-going training requirements."ITIL provides a framework for understanding best practices and has become the new standard in IT Service Management," Hackett stated. "As a service delivery and support organization, ABS adheres to solid and consistent procedures that follow ITIL processes."
In its continual effort to provide "always better service", the infrastructure team recently completed a six-month project to upgrade ABS' VoIP system, which is an integral part of the firm's helpdesk offering. With the latest software release, calls are more easily recorded for quality assurance purposes, IVR programming is simplified, and new VoIP SIP standards are applied. According to Ms. Hackett, "ABS has always been committed to supporting its people with the right tools, both in training and technology, and investing heavily in both to benefit its clients." |
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