Service Updates

CNS offers shopping cart ordering

Gladys Oddoye, IST–CNS

Before the year 2000, our campus customers were using our order system known as Quest or CSR (Customer Service Request) to place orders with CNS. While this system was reasonably effective, it had limited capability to give full information and flexibility to customers, and offered little choice on products and relevant information. In early 2001, focus groups were started with the sole purpose of finding out what our customers wanted.

As a result, CNS reoriented its product and service offerings to respond to the needs and demands of our customers. All this led CNS to come up with technologically advanced solutions that would offer better options and products to the customers. Thus was born our Shopping Cart (http://sagebrush.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/ws515/sc.r).

Thus far, it is one of our most effective service enhancements. It has empowered our customers and offers them real solutions and valuable flexibility in real time.

The shopping cart gives our customers the following options:

• Product comparison before purchase.
• Information on the merits and demerits of products.
• Capability to see the items and products they are ordering.
• Choices as to color, weight, size, etc.
• Price information.
• Information on compatible accessories and other equipment.
• CNS and Vendor warranty information.
• Browsing capabilities without having to order an item or add new service.
• Ability to change Individual Funding.
• Ability to change Mass Funding.
• Ability to submit Change/Move/Delete Order.
• Security of knowing that only those approved by a department with access rights can place orders for that department.
• Ability to go back and change item orders any time before the transaction is completed.
• Instant confirmation numbers that are assigned as soon as an order is submitted.

These are just a few of the highlights of our Shopping Cart technology.

To facilitate easy customer feed back we included Shopping Cart Feedback via email. With continuing feedback from our customers and focus groups, enhancements are constantly being made.

The newest enhancement was the UserI Page, which was introduced in August. This allows customers to use free-form information to establish profiles that are person, or department, specific. This enables users to add further additional personal information such as job titles. Departments can make changes such as add or delete employer/employee, or processing unit changes.

We have also added the most frequently ordered combinations as favorite packages for easy ordering.

A popular innovation is the I don't see my item order button. When selected, a box pops up for customers to put in a description of what they want. An example of this is placing a project order that is not specifically itemized in the shopping cart. Because the shopping cart technology tracks orders in real time, orders of any size are prevented from falling through the cracks.

Our shopping cart is a real boon to our customers. We intend to continue to provide additional innovative solutions, products, and services to the campus community.

Future developments

We are currently working to add an enhancement called the Delete Page. This will allow customers to see a list of all their services, voice and data, and to be able to choose which ones to delete from the list.

Another request that is also being worked on is the Move Page. At the click of a button, users will be able to see a list of all their voice and data services. They can then decide which ones to move from one location to another.

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Berkeley Computing & Communications, Volume 12, Number 5 (November-December 2002)
Copyright 2002, The Regents of the University of California