In response to the shutdown of in-person services, including libraries, due to COVID-19, we have been hard at work putting together a solution that will help libraries continue to fulfill their mission of providing information and services to the public by establishing their own online support platform. We have tested a range of communication and online management tools and put together a suite of products that is affordable, scalable, and integrated to allow libraries to function in a virtual environment with staff distributed in locations outside of the physical library.
Our solution allows library staff to interact with patrons securely from their respective homes by phone, email, online chat, or videoconference. These tools also provide effective management oversight for library managers who are new to managing a remote workforce. The total solution combines four state-of-the-art products: ZenDesk, Slack, Rescue by LogMeIn, and Zoom.
Our solution centralizes all incoming support calls and help requests into one system (based on ZenDesk). Patrons can contact remote library workers via any method: email, telephone, text message, online chat -- even social media. All of these requests are managed in one central application so that library workers can easily respond, no matter the communication method. Crucially, libary management can use ZenDesk to monitor staff activities, assign tasks, open and close service requests, group staff to respond to certain types of tickets, and more.
You can learn more about our offering here: https://galecia.com/virtual
We'll also be hosting a demonstration of the tools, and a discussion of the challenges facing libraries today, on Tuesday, April 14th at 10:00am PDT; registration available here: https://galecia.com/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=22
Please let us know if we can help your library with adoption of remote workforce tools and strategies. In the meantime, stay safe and best wishes from our team to yours!
