Not all support experiences are created the same. In fact, some can be described as unproductive, unnecessarily frustrating, complex, and slow. Business and key users must stay focused on their business tasks, which is even more important when users need help to keep their business applications running.
Embedded in business applications, Built-In Support provides direct access to support channels, knowledge, and expertise in ways that are relevant, seamless, context-aware, and, most importantly, productive.
Think about your last support experience when using an application at work. Perhaps you submitted an IT ticket into the company portal, visited a provider’s information site, interacted with multiple support experts, or engaged with a chatbot to find answers to your questions. Whatever the method, it was likely a complex interaction that might have lacked relevance, speed, and a satisfactory solution from a user point of view.
It is unlikely for most of us to achieve deep focus while continually switching back and forth between different types of tasks, which usually span across multiple systems and user experiences. In the case of support interactions, one major challenge is how to collect, prepare, and transfer relevant, contextual information into the appropriate support channel. To perform your challenging business tasks optimally, you need to reach a state of flow, where you give your complete attention to your main activity while having everything else available in a sidecar that is seamlessly integrated and easily accessible.
When support is extended and integrated throughout an application, users can get the help they need without having to leave the application, efficiently solving issues or answering questions much faster. And best of all, with more preventative support features accessible over time, they might not even have to ask questions, instead receiving trending information proactively on certain topics.
Does it sound too good to be true? Not for businesses that have adopted cloud solutions from SAP, such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Over time, more and more cloud solutions from SAP will integrate Built-In Support.
Delivering Support That Is Embedded, Seamless, and Relevant
When considering new software, self-assist support services are inevitably listed as a key feature. However, those options are rarely sophisticated enough to guide users to a viable resolution quickly. The majority provide basic field definitions and instructions, a search for product documentation, or a basic ticketing submission process.
Most users require a more responsive, proactive, and predictive support experience – whether they are a new employee learning how to use a new technology or a seasoned expert encountering a problem. Furthermore, all these capabilities must be accessible within the application without switching systems and impacting productivity and performance.
With an advanced version of Built-In Support, users no longer need the integration of Built-In Support via SAP CoPilot; they can acquire the guidance necessary to optimize the value of our suite of intelligent and cloud-based solutions. This approach simplifies the integration of a combination of support services into any SAP Web-based user interface that users can access with a click of a button.
The Built-In Support approach includes a wide range of support services, such as:
Self-Service and Incident Prevention
- SAP documentation, SAP Knowledge Base Articles, and many more information sources can be accessed directly from within Built-In Support.
- Structured decision trees can be leveraged to find technical answers or to enrich contextual issue description with business process-related information.
- You can get artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled solution recommendations of incident solutions matched with similar support incidents or requests.
Real-Time Interaction
For fast incident resolution and prevention, users can obtain help directly from SAP support experts through the seamless integration of Expert Chat.
Personalized, Context-Sensitive Support
In Built-In Support, every interaction is context aware. This means the technical information of your underlying business application is known and used to provide the best-fit content, solution proposals, chatbot conversation, or support channel. Just think of how much time you can save by knowing exactly where to get the information that can help prioritize and resolve your problem.
Offering Variety in One Place
One of the most significant advantages of relying on SAP support services is the wide variety of channels. But when all those formats are accessible in the application being used and automated to deliver the right assistance, users can gain an edge in their work performance. Furthermore, this approach works to further incentivize and accelerate long-term user adoption.
Now couldn’t be a better time to take advantage of such a comprehensive digital support approach. As executives take a quantum leap in digitalization to get their businesses back on track, employees can be well-positioned to embrace new technology confidently, productively, and successfully.
Josef Schmidt is chief support architect at SAP.