subject: 5 Reasons Why Companies Should Use Knowledge Base Software [print this page] Using knowledge base software is critical to the success of any business. Knowledge management is slowly gaining importance in organizations that operates in a knowledge intensive industry. The sharing of knowledge among employees is crucial to their development. This will allow employees with more experience to share their knowledge and create a resource base for the new employees who will be grappling with issues like lack of knowledge in a particular area. Using knowledge base software has many advantages that a company cant simply afford to miss.
Reduction in Employee Training Time:
Knowledge base software helps in reducing the time spent on training new as well as old employees. All the employees should be given selective access to the knowledge base of the company so that they can access whatever is relevant for them. The employees should be instructed to use the software to gain knowledge about specific topics. This will reduce the dependence on group training sessions. The training sessions can also be recorded and added to the knowledge management database. Knowledge base software can be used to bridge the information gap amongst employees.
Respond Faster to Customer Queries:
Companies should use knowledge base software to empower their customers. Knowledge management systems can be designed to give customers immediate, 24x7 access to information that required by them and is crucial to them. The software should be designed in such a way that customers looking for answers to specific questions can find them using powerful search methods like FAQ's, forums, search etc. All this can be enabled if knowledge base software is introduced in a company.
Improved Decision Making Process:
Companies using knowledge base software should encourage its employees to contribute their experience to the knowledge management system. This will help in improving the decision making process as decisions will be made objectively and not subjectively. Distribution of relevant information using a centralized knowledge management system will help in improving the quality of decisions will be taken by the employees. All this will be possible if knowledge base software is used for management and distribution of the knowledge database within the company.
Increase Effectiveness of Support Staff:
Customer service and support staff should be able to access knowledge base software in real time. This will allow them to reduce customer handling time. It will ultimately improve the quality of service that is being offered to the customers and reduce turnaround time. Advanced search capabilities should be embedded in the knowledge management system so that it enables the customer service reps to search for solutions quicker and in a more effective manner.
Save Money on Phone Calls:
Knowledge base software helps reduced phone class and email volumes by providing customers with all the required information and self help online through the knowledge management system. When a customer care rep needs to solve any customer/client query then he can advise them by taking help of the knowledge management system. He can also direct the customer to the knowledge base software and can instruct advise them as to how best they can use this software to find answers to their queries. This would help in saving time as well as money.