Help Desk: Empowering Support Teams, Reducing Call Volume
Customer Support
Help Desk: Empowering Support Teams, Reducing Call Volume
Designing a smarter and more autonomous support experience for Genetec’s integrators and clients.
Project Overview
The Help Desk tool was created to reduce the overwhelming number of calls to Genetec’s customer service by equipping integrators with a self-service solution. By enabling faster, more contextual support, the system helped users resolve basic issues independently while ensuring Genetec had clear, organized escalation paths for more complex problems.
Problem Statement
The Genetec support team was facing a high volume of customer calls, many of which were repetitive or solvable without direct intervention. Integrators, who serve as a bridge between Genetec and end customers, lacked a centralized tool to track issues or provide timely support. As a result, Genetec had limited visibility into support history, which made escalations inefficient and delayed resolutions.
Industry
Customer Support
My Role
Senior User Experience Designer
Platforms
Mobile (iOS and Android)
Timeline
February 2019 - June 2019
Outcome
Significant reduction in Genetec call volume as integrators used the tool as a first line of support.
Escalated issues included better documentation, leading to faster resolution times.
Integrators felt more empowered and responsible, improving relationships with end customers.
Persona
Nick Amgram
Security System Integrator / Technical Consultant
An integrator responsible for installing and maintaining Genetec systems for clients in the field.
Age: 46
Location: Houston
Tech Proficiency: High – technical background
Gender: Male
Goal
Resolve common customer issues independently, without contacting Genetec support.
Have access to a shared issue history and status tracking.
Escalate only when truly necessary, with all relevant context already documented.
Frustrations
Calling support wastes time and is rarely documented for future reference.
Lack of ownership or visibility into support progress.
Having to repeat issues to multiple Genetec reps during escalation.
Process
[01] User Research
Reviewed support ticket logs and call center analytics to identify top repeated requests.
Conducted interviews with integrators to understand pain points in the support journey.
Mapped escalation workflows to identify where context was lost or duplicated.
[02] Insights
Integrators often had the knowledge to fix minor problems but lacked an efficient tool.
Support teams were acting more like first responders to preventable issues.
Escalations were poorly documented, requiring agents to ask the same questions again.
[03] Design Solution
Introduced a help desk interface with structured issue categories and automated guidance.
Built a case history view to keep records clear and accessible to all parties.
Enabled integrators to take the first steps before triggering escalations to Genetec.
[04] Testing & Iteration
Created wireframes of case intake flows and ran validation with integrators on-site.
Tested a status dashboard with support agents to ensure clarity and priority visibility.
Integrated feedback loops to capture missing info at the time of ticket creation.
Key Learnings
Empower Before Escalate
Giving users tools to solve problems on their own first leads to faster resolution and fewer bottlenecks.
Visibility Builds Trust
A shared view of issue history helped Genetec and integrators work more like partners.
Not All Support Needs to Be Live
Asynchronous support options like ticket intake and automated troubleshooting can dramatically improve efficiency.