In the digital era, classroom technology solutions are revolutionizing modern education by transforming traditional teaching methods and enhancing the learning experience. Interactive whiteboards, digital projectors, learning management systems, and online collaboration tools are becoming integral parts of the classroom, fostering engagement, collaboration, and personalized learning. Classroom technology also offers significant benefits to higher education instructors […]

In today’s digital age, universities constantly seek innovative ways to connect with students and support their academic journey. One such technology that has gained traction in recent years is AI chatbots.  These intelligent virtual assistants have revolutionized the way universities interact with students, offering personalized support, timely assistance, and valuable resources to help them succeed. In […]

Helpdesk support plays a crucial role in the fast-paced world of higher education. Whether ensuring smooth operations, supporting students, faculty, and staff, or maintaining the integrity of academic and administrative processes, Helpdesk support is the first point of contact for addressing IT-related issues, inquiries, and requests.  However, providing effective Helpdesk support in this dynamic environment […]

Traditional support methods are gradually being supplemented and, in some cases, replaced by more modern and efficient approaches. Millennials and Gen-Zs being the digital natives, are accustomed to seamless and personalized experiences in every aspect of their lives. As a result, several domains, including the higher education sector, are now shifting towards offering support that […]

In the quest to enhance student engagement, higher education institutions are shifting their focus from traditional phone support to embracing modern, user-friendly technologies like live chat. This strategic shift recognizes the importance of meeting students on their own terms and catering to their digital, rapid-response expectations. One such technology that has gained significant traction is […]

In today’s fast-paced higher education landscape, institutions face numerous challenges in providing seamless support to their students and staff. From meeting the increasing expectations of students for instant and around-the-clock access to support services to adapting to the diverse communication preferences of the modern digital age, universities must navigate budget constraints while scaling their support […]

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, student success remains at the core of every academic institution’s mission. From K-12 to Higher Education, fostering student success and providing comprehensive support is crucial for student growth and development.  This is even more important for today’s students – who have become accustomed to quick and efficient services, whether […]

99.4% of 509 higher education institutions in the U.S. say that artificial intelligence (AI) in education and learning will be instrumental to their institution’s competitiveness in the next three years. In the rapidly evolving landscape of education, student success is paramount. One notable shift is the increasing diversity of student populations, including a rise of […]

Introduction: In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various industries, including higher education. AI-powered solutions are reshaping the way institutions engage with their students, faculty, and staff, particularly in the realm of customer experience (CX). This blog explores the profound impact of AI in higher education CX solutions, highlighting the challenges and opportunities […]

The rapid advancements in technology have significantly transformed the landscape of higher education. From online learning platforms to artificial intelligence-based systems, the education sector is embracing the potential of futuristic technologies to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. However, the impact of these technologies is not limited to academic aspects only; they are also […]

ChatGPT has emerged as a game changer on the technology front. Advanced digital intelligence in the form of chatbots and voicebots is bringing about a paradigm shift in how we access information. Bots are quick, offer simulated human conversation, and provide the advantage of answering in a natural and understandable style. Bot technology is going […]

AI addresses critical challenges higher education institutions face, such as increasing retention and streamlining enrollment. Universities are scaling student support up to 47% with the BlackBeltHelp AI-powered chatbot/voice bot. This technology facilitates consistent, accurate, and prompt responses to student questions. High IT service satisfaction leads to increased student engagement. Our bot even assists prospective students in their search and […]

The advancements in technology have given birth to the adoption of Artificial Intelligence-led learning and communication tools in our daily lives. They have revolutionized various industries. And the education sector is not untouched by the adoption. With students’ changing expectations that revolve around instant gratification, quick and seamless access to all types of information, and […]

Today’s students are used to having technology at their fingertips. From ordering food to booking flight tickets, or gathering information about anything in this world, they are used to having it all in the blink of an eye! They want answers to their questions, and they want them now. With that context, imagine a prospective […]

Can institutions upscale their IT help desk services without increasing the cost? Absolutely yes!   Outsourcing help desk services opens many new doors for higher education institutions to provide a consistent user experience and become highly efficient in handling student queries.   Especially, in the current hybrid model of education in which more students are studying remotely, […]

2020 was a year like no other! The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the world in unimaginable ways and posed unforeseen challenges in all industries and sectors, and higher education was no exception. We don’t think anyone can challenge the fact that the academic year 2020-21 will go down as one of the most operationally challenging, anxiety-creating, […]

In the wake of COVID-19 crisis, the sudden shift of colleges and universities to online learning is likely going to continue this fall semester. This unavoidable push to deliver courses online will emerge as a reliable educational model; unlike the early haste implementation that delivered an unsatisfying educational experience to students. As per a survey, […]

Institutions have accepted the new reality of education; transformed teaching/learning approaches, rising student expectations, and the state government budget cuts for colleges and universities. This move has made the institutions consider ways to nurture relationships with students by simplifying their academic and services journey with OneStop support. OneStop, in this new normal of education, has […]

Recently, I (Michael Zastudil, SVP, CS & Product Development, BlackBeltHelp) and Michael Lyons (CIO – MassBay Community College) presented a live webinar where over 250 higher-ed institutions joined us to learn and discuss the best practices for business continuity during the pandemic. Michael Lyons shared some of his experiences and expertise around how he has […]

Student Retention has always been a major concern for higher education institutions. “Over the past 20 years, roughly 31 million students have enrolled in college and left without receiving a degree or certificate.”– According to a National Student Clearinghouse Research Center Report Identifying at-risk students and utilizing tools (both self-help and mediated) to encourage increased student […]

“Over the past 20 years, more than 31 million students have enrolled in college and left without receiving a degree or certificate.” – A National Student Clearinghouse Research Center Report “1,669 U.S. colleges and universities lost nearly $16.5 billion to student attrition in a single year.” – Educational Policy Institute Study Colleges spend millions on student […]

Touted as the next big thing, Artificial Intelligence has already carved a niche for itself in the form of AI chatbots for highered. In today’s world of instant gratification; bots deliver on the rising expectations of students, augment the institutional staff’s capabilities and help the institutions achieve their various goals (enrollment, engagement, retention, etc.). Following are […]

OneStop is the solutions of all your queries & support students who are running around from office to office on campus– trying to turn in the correct form, searching for the right building to go to, adding/dropping classes, checking in on the status of their admissions or financial aid applications, etc. Don’t you think all […]

Higher education today is experiencing a groundbreaking shift towards student-centric processes. Driven by changing student demographics and rising student expectations, all the emphasis today is on personalization, customization and simplifying the student journey. The growing inclination towards OneStop student services is an important marker of this trend. OneStop student services not only centralize all the […]

Whether Artificial Intelligence is a genie that needs to be kept confined in a bottle or it’s a boon that humanity should be grateful to Alan Turing for, we are way past the discussion stage. AI is a tangible reality you can’t deny the existence and importance of, whatever your views are about it. Whilst […]

Predictive analytics is the process of using statistical techniques to extract patterns from historical data in order to predict future outcomes. From finance to healthcare, and higher education, in particular, the use of predictive analytics is gaining currency. Embarking on a predictive analytics journey not only helps you attain better results, deliver great customer experiences […]

Writing about the financial aid system in one of his blog posts, Bill Gates reiterated one of his interactions with some students who described the system as “nerve-wracking” and “scary”. Consequently, Bill gates called for simplifying the entire process, starting with FAFSA – the application that carries around 180 questions about parents’ finances, personal information, legal […]

Changing student demographics and after hours help desk support Most students today do not fall in the traditional 18-24 age cohort. They juggle more responsibilities than their predecessors, are older, earn degrees while raising families and work full or part-time jobs to pay for their education. All of these changes in the student body demographics […]

For a millennium, the sole purpose of getting an education as broadening one’s intellectual horizons, a luxury reserved only for the rich and elite. But if you look around today, that era is long gone, for good. The best and oldest universities in the world, whether the Ivy League schools or Oxbridge, once a hub […]

Every year across the United States a considerable number of students are unable to complete their college degrees. A vast number of them take more than six years to do so. Surprisingly, student runaround, confusion, increased service wait-times, and unfamiliarity with the institutional processes are only a few in the lengthy list of challenges that […]

One Stop Student Services, in the current academic scenario, aren’t just ornamental marketing tools, they are a must-have. A truly integrated student support experience is necessary to better assist the complex needs of today’s students. With the rapidly changing educational landscape, it becomes increasingly necessary to create a streamlined experience for your students and better […]

After the reigning chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov defeated IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue in 1996, he, in an essay for TIME magazine had said that although he could “smell, feel a new kind of intelligence across the table” yet he felt it be “inefficient, inflexible kind”. It gave him the impression that he still had a […]

Onboarding a student support service provider isn’t an easy feat. Placing your trust in an outsourcer for handling your student support itself is a task. There’s always a hesitation whether the help desk support service provider would be able to provide your end-users the support they expect from your institution. Even when you finally cross […]

Password resets are simple to do. It takes only a few minutes to change one. While resetting passwords might not be complex, the sheer volume of password reset requests is overwhelming. At a time when IT staff is increasingly expected to do more with less, these password reset requests are an unnecessary burden on your […]

A robust IT helpdesk support framework is critical for the smooth functioning of various processes at an organization – the users expect immediate response and resolution when they call the help desk with issues or requests. That’s why institutions make all the efforts possible to keep their IT help desk up and running. Despite the […]

Why Live Chat? Amidst the skyrocketing customer expectations, it all comes down to- greater the communication, better the business. That’s why Live Chat. Having live chat like Neo – AI Chatbot ensures that you are there for your end-users when they require help. Round-the-clock accessibility for the resolution of your customers’ issues tells them that […]

What is Robotic Process Automation? An average knowledge employee working on the backend processes has a lot of repetitive and mundane tasks. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a type of software that mimics human actions in carrying out these tasks in the absence of a human agent. It can do repetitive stuff more quickly and […]

IT helpdesk services provide a single point of contact that helps resolve technical issues for an organization. They serve as a self help knowledge base to resolve problems quickly so that end-users of an organization can get back to their usual operations. The information gathered during problem resolution can help resolve future occurrences of the same issue […]

Technical emergencies can arise anytime. They don’t seek your faculty’s prior permission before arriving. A projector can go awry. Your classroom laptop’s screen might go blank. There can be a network outage. Some important cables might go missing. Mobile Apps ensures that you are prepared when they hit you. What is it, you ask? Classroom […]

Technology has completely changed the way we do business, the way we study, the way we live our lives. With the percolation of technology in all realms of our lives, our expectations from it have reached a new high. IT helpdesk support provides immediate results and simplified processes at lower costs. Technology, basically, has left […]

Higher education has undergone a palpable change in the past decades with the appearance of social media, smartphones, and various other technologies on the learning landscape. Artificial Intelligence is one of the key technologies in bringing about this educational overhaul. With its arrival on the scene, we are constantly moving towards smart, personalized automation which […]

It isn’t easy being a student in this fast-paced, everything-costs-an-arm-and-a-leg age. Today’s students don’t have to contend with academic challenges only. There are finances to be managed, family-school-work life balance to be achieved. You sure don’t want to further complicate their already complex student journey. Besides, with the increasing costs of higher education, students’ expectations […]

Adaptive Learning – Because One Size Doesn’t Fit All! No one can possibly deny the fact that we are moving towards a data-driven world. With the growth of technology, our abilities to mine and scrutinize data to generate actionable insights have also grown exponentially. With the insights obtained from data, we are able to understand […]

Do you need to keep your students engaged? “Involve me and I learn”, said Benjamin Franklin. It stands true for your students also. Each student actively involved equals to a student retained. With the diverse challenges that today’s learners face, they are vulnerable to feeling bogged down if there isn’t a support system to fall […]

Let us break it down for you. The higher education market is flooded with options. If you want to increase your student enrollments, you have to deliver exactly what a prospective student expects, at the right time along with the required enrollment support. Now, the question arises: what is it that the students want? Well, […]

With the growing inclination of customers towards self-service, it has become imperative for organizations to provide exceptional self-service options that are easy to access and use. The key, basically, is to provide the right information, at the right place. For that, your self help knowledge base game has to be really strong. Listed below are […]

Your customers define your business and the kind of support you provide shapes their opinion about you. IT Help Desk thus plays a very important function in your institution’s success. It performs vital functions like executing business processes efficiently, safeguarding quicker and smoother communication, ensuring a reduction in complications in interactions, attending to customers’ needs, […]

Higher education institutions spend millions on Student Enrollment. They invest large sums of money in internet marketing, admission counselors. Thus, when these prospective students don’t enroll, educational institutions suffer huge losses. If these students enroll and aren’t engaged in the learning process, the organizations are again bound to incur losses due to lower graduation and […]

The help desk industry has undergone a paradigmatic shift in the last some years. Customers are still calling the help desk but their expectations are higher than ever. Help desk is increasingly becoming dependent on various technologies. There is a growing reliance on analytics and artificial intelligence to assuage customers’ pain points. The surveys and […]

When your end-users are calling you with support requests, they are already frustrated. If your help desk staff isn’t available when they are looking for immediate resolution of their issues, it adds to their ire and unhappy end-users haven’t ever done any organization any good. Moreover, emergencies can occur anytime. A student’s laptop might stop […]

Are customers ready for self-service? Imagine, as a student, you are in the middle of writing an assignment that is due the next day. Right when you are wondering whether you can be any more stressed, your desktop screen incurs an issue. The screen goes blank. You call your institution’s help desk. The customer support […]

We all are aware of the impact that technology has made in our learning spaces in recent years with MOOCs like Coursera and Udemy making education more adaptive, accessible, and affordable. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education Landscape, we are looking at an age of personalized automation promoting productive learning behaviors. Think […]

This is an era of technological advancements. Well, we have been here for quite some time now with Siri managing our lives, various applications keeping tabs on our activities, Intelligent Machines helping us with everything ranging from simple to complex. In recent years, technology has drastically changed the way we learn and is predicted to […]

Outsourced IT support frees up your IT staff to strategize revenue-generating ideas and tend to various other tasks at hand. While you focus on your core competencies, your help desk addresses your end-users’ challenges. Their issues are handled by industry experts using the latest technology which increases your customer satisfaction rates and helps your business […]

Technology has fundamentally changed the way educational organizations function. With its infiltration in all walks of educational experience, there is an increased reliance on IT processes, including customer service. Educational institutions market their robust IT support frameworks to lure prospective students and retain the enrolled ones. Good IT environment is a significant criterion for potential […]

In the fast-paced age we are living in right now, customers’ expectations from a help desk have reached a new high. They want immediate help. If you can’t resolve their issues instantly, the least you can do is listen to them, let them know that their problems matter, and pacify them that you are making […]

Scene 1, Financial aid office of a college: Two phones ringing incessantly, an inbox flooded with emails from prospective students, a pile of financial aid applications lying unprocessed, and a clock announcing the end of office hours. Scene 2, Somewhere in the US: A student, exasperated with the rising cost of getting a college degree, […]

Successful businesses aren’t a fluke. They are successful because they deliver what the customers expect, at the right time. They actively listen to their end-users’ needs, demands and complaints. They inspire confidence by providing excellent customer service consistently and to be able to listen to your customers at all hours, your business has to have […]

Studies reveal that approx. 70% of customers prefer to resolve their issues on their own. BlackBeltHelp’s Lexicon is a public knowledge base that empowers an institution’s students and faculty to solve their problems on their own, cutting down the institution’s help desk costs and reducing the resolution time. Lexicon, a self-help website enables the end-users to […]

Imagine it’s the end of the semester. Exams are around the corner. You plan to help your students skim through the important concepts quickly as part of your last-minute revision strategy. As soon as you start the presentation, the projector goes awry. You try to fix the glitch in vain. Two hours get wasted by […]

After the then reigning chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov defeated IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue in 1996, he, in an essay for TIME magazine had said that although he could “smell, feel a new kind of intelligence across the table” yet he felt it to be “inefficient, inflexible kind” which gave him the impression that he still […]

It’s 2 am in the morning. There is an exam the next day. Your institution’s LMS has contracted some technical issues. A number of your students are struggling with the login. They drop messages, call the IT department in vain. It’s the weekend. Your faculty members have to update some e-courses on your institution’s LMS […]

A prospective student, looking forward to major in English, calls the financial aid office of her dream college. After two rings, an automated voice asks her what does she need help with. On her inquisitiveness about the financial aid procedure, the voice on the other end runs her through the nuances of the process in […]

How does it feel to be on the phone, chat, for hours expecting somebody from the other end to answer? If the call disconnects, would you want to pick up the phone and call again? What if you have an assignment submission the next morning and there is no help available to fix the damned […]

Your day is not going good. The schedule is all filled up, and the back of your brain is loaded with problems at home. You’re squeezing in lunch with a friend who lost her job. You swipe your card only to discover that credit has been denied. Your jobless friend needs to get the tab. […]

The reality is, computer use by students, faculty, and staff isn’t a nine-to-five activity. For example, many of the students in all our institutions work part and full-time jobs to pay for their educations. They are using their computers at night and on weekends. And with student success on the line, you need a Help […]

Faculty is one of your institution’s greatest assets. Are you doing everything you can to ensure a better user (IT) experience and give them a reason to stay? How often do you hear your faculty complain they had an issue while they were teaching a class and it took too long to resolve their problem? […]

When a customer calls a help desk for assistance, he is already frustrated. He wants the quickest possible resolution of his problem. So, if a help desk agent is not efficient or is not available, it adds to the customer’s ire. That’s why a successful helpdesk seeks to deliver immediate responses, is available round-the-clock, and provides relevant […]