Knowledge Base Software - An Essential Tool for Internal & External Support

Knowledge Base software is an excellent tool for storing and retrieving organizational knowledge. You may already be using one for storing company knowledge (internal), or providing information on your website for your customers (external), or a combination of both. However, many people who have this commonplace tool may still underutilize it in the workplace. Here are just a few uses to get the most from your company knowledge base system.

The uses of Knowledge Base software are as follows:

Employee Training - Store forms, instruction manuals, policies, etc. to ramp up employee productivity and ensure proper practices are taught and followed.
Human Resources - Create a central repository of general information, policies, and forms for management and employees.
Disaster Recovery - Having an off-site/web-based location for important information, such as insurance and licenses, can be a lifesaver in the event of a crisis. Including policies for emergencies that can be accessed remotely is essential to getting back to business as quickly as possible. For example, there are instructions for the sequence of how to reinstate equipment, password retrieval, etc. that need to be followed in an emergency.
Customer Support - Having information that customers can easily access not only makes them happier but can also result in huge savings for you by reducing support calls. Product information, FAQs, known issues, and workarounds are just a few of the things you can put on your customer-facing, knowledge base web page.
IT Support - Host valuable information that support agents need to quickly manage customer requests.

The helpful features of a Knowledge Base Software are as follows:

A web-based knowledge base tool allows you to access the software remotely, allowing users to use it from any web browser.
Work Flow - Articles that have been added or changed may require multiple people to approve the new or changed article. A Work Flow System provides a flexible method for automating and keeping track of the approval tasks. Email notifications can be automatically sent to the appropriate person or group when tasks are completed or rejected.
Advanced Search - To get the most from your knowledge base ensure it is equipped with a good search and navigation tool. It is also helpful if the tool can search text content inside the file attachments such as MS Word and pdf files. Search filters are also a plus.

So whether you are starting out with a new application or just optimizing an existing solution, take a look around your organization and utilize every benefit from a Knowledge Base System. It will really help you organize information in a way that will save both your time and money.