Washington State University’s Distance Degree Program Uses RightNow to Deliver Superior Student Service  (email this article)

RightNow Technologies (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies), the world’s leading provider of hosted customer service and support solutions, today announced the successful deployment of a RightNow-powered online self-service system for Washington State University’s Distance Degree Programs (DDP).  The web-based knowledge base automatically answers 98 percent of the questions submitted by current and prospective students, enabling DDP to provide superior service on a 24/7 basis while keeping its operational costs low.      

The online system provides information about all aspects of DDP, from registration and financial aid policies to technical assistance for online coursework.  By allowing students to find answers to their questions, anytime, day or night, DDP’s RightNow system keeps phone and email workloads manageable.  This frees DDP staff to spend less time answering routine inquiries and more time working directly with students on more complex procedural and policy issues, as well as permitting administrators to focus on key organizational issues.  The reduction of phone and email volume also allows DDP to support a growing student population without increasing the staff headcount.

Since implementing RightNow in March of 2002, DDP has experienced a 20 percent reduction in its call volume, even as it has taken on additional programs and new students.

Because the RightNow database is also a staff resource, it enables DPP staff to give students fast, accurate answers over the phone and by email regardless of whether or not the staff member is personally familiar with the topic in question.  Additionally, because the system is fully hosted by RightNow, DDP has not had to take on the significant information technology-related costs and workloads associated with in-house software deployments.  RightNow’s hosted delivery model also enabled DDP to go live with its system in just four days.

“Service quality is becoming increasingly important to universities,” Janet Kendall, director at DDP, said.  “RightNow has become a strategic partner in providing competitively superior service to our students, while keeping our administrative costs manageable.”

“RightNow has seen a growing demand in the higher education market. We have assembled strong domain expertise with more than 50 deployments in the education space, in addition to more than 1000 customers elsewhere,” Sean Forbes, vice president of Marketing and Business Development at RightNow, said.  “Education institutions like Washington State University are turning to RightNow to optimize the quality and consistency of the service they deliver across phone, email and web channels.”
     
Washington State University’s RightNow system can be viewed at http://wsudistance.custhelp.com/cgi
bin/wsudistance.cfg/php/enduser/home.php.

About Washington State University
Founded in Pullman in 1890, Washington State University provides world-class education to a diverse student population of 22,500. The state’s land-grant research university has additional campuses in Spokane, the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco and Kennewick) and Vancouver.  Regional Learning Centers and the Distance Degree Programs offer access to WSU degrees statewide.  WSU offers some 300 fields of study including more than 150 majors plus many minors, options and certificate programs.

About RightNow Technologies
RightNow Technologies is the leading customer service and support solutions company that radically and rapidly improves the effectiveness of service and support operations with easy-to-implement/easy-to-use technology, replicable best practices drawn from the industry’s broadest base of successful implementations and engagement terms that create accountability for delivering quantifiable results.

RightNow has delivered these benefits to more than 1,000 customers worldwide such as: Air New Zealand, Ben & Jerry’s, Briggs and Stratton, British Airways, Cisco, Dolby Laboratories, Inc., Electronic Arts, Pioneer, Raymarine, Remington, Sanyo, Specialized Bicycles and more than 150 public sector clients including the Social Security Administration and the State of Florida.

Founded in 1997, RightNow has offices in Bozeman, Dallas, San Mateo, New Jersey, London and Sydney, with an associated office in Tokyo.  RightNows products are available in 17 languages worldwide.  For further information visit http://www.rightnow.com/.