Far more than just a ticketing system, ConnectWise PSA also includes CRM, sales force automation, project management, and more.

by Jeff Goldman [January 11, 2006]

ConnectWise was founded back in 1982 as an IT service company. It later expanded to provide ISP services, as well as a range of other Internet and e-business solutions. To manage the various business units within the company, it developed an application called PSA, for Personal Service Automation.

ConnectWise PSA (813) 935-7100 info@connectwise.com

Company president Arnie Bellini says that when he showed the application to other people in the IT industry, they kept asking him to resell it—and so, in 2002, he began doing so.

Currently, he says, about 400 IT companies of one form or another are using the software. "If you're not in the IT space, then we are not a good fit," he says. "We're very specific—we're not a generic solution."

As its full name implies, PSA is far more than just a ticketing system—but Bellini says it can be used just for ticketing, just for project management, or for any combination of applications that an ISP might require. "It's an integrated solution that includes CRM, sales force automation, project management, ticketing, helpdesk, agreement management," he says.

For ISPs that offer other IT services in addition to Internet access, that can be a key selling point. "It's a great ticketing system if someone's looking for more of a comprehensive system—and especially if someone's looking for a solution that will accommodate their ISP needs as well as a different department that they might need to be charging their time on," Bellini says.

Functionality and pricing
PSA's ticketing function is relatively straightforward—if a user sends an e-mail to an ISP's support address, it can automatically trigger a ticket in the system. Thanks to PSA's time and billing functionality, though, users can be billed for time spent resolving a ticket as well. "What's nice about our system is it is has a lot of the business rules built into it that follow how an ISP would want to operate," Bellini says.

According to Bellini, clients of all sizes are currently using ConnectWise PSA, including larger ones with multiple locations. "It is a complete Internet-based solution, so anywhere you're connected to the Internet, you can be connected to this application," he says.

Pricing for the solution starts at $795 per user, with unlimited clients—an annual assurance package for an additional fee provides ongoing updates and support. "A lot of packages will charge you per client—our clients are unlimited," Bellini says. "If there are five people or ten people in that ISP company, then they would probably want a seat for each user."

A payment plan is also available. "We'll allow you to pay for it on a monthly basis," Bellini says. "We will take the purchase price, and we will hold the paper and make it into 36 payments for you, if you'd like. What's nice about that is our clients that do it that way, they can convert to a full purchase whenever they want—unlike a leasing company that usually makes you wait until the end of the term."

All bases covered
Cohen Barnes is Vice President of Illinois-based TBC, which provides a broad range of services including Internet access, computer manufacturing, networking, and repair.

ConnectWise PSA is particularly ideal, Barnes says, for tracking the computers TBC builds. "We enter a ticket as soon as a computer's sold, and when that ticket is created, it e-mails my product manager, letting her know that this type of computer was ordered," he says. "My product manager goes and gets all the parts, and when all the parts come in, she changes the status to 'ready to be built.' That e-mails my computer builder that he's got another machine that he needs to be aware of, and he builds it. Then he changes it to 'in progress,' so now my salesperson knows this particular computer's in progress, so when that customer calls on a whim, or if she wants to call, she can let him know we're working on it. The whole process is tracked, 100 percent."

Barnes says TBC doesn't use PSA to track helpdesk tickets, though, because that's not a significant issue for the company. "We've only got 4,000 customers, so the problem customers you become aware of right away," he says. "As soon as you see them on Caller ID, you know what the problem is, and you're already logging in to find out what they're typing in for a password, because it's obviously not the right one. So ticketing, we never saw a need for that."

But the fact that Bellini's company is similar in structure to TBC, Barnes says, makes PSA ideal for just about everything else. "Every issue, every aggravation, every headache companies like us had to deal with, [Bellini] already had it, he had it implemented, he had a way to track it, he had a way to audit it," he says.

— End

Related articles:
	[Nov. 3, 2005]	Common Sense in Selling Services
	[April 16, 2004]	Beating the Branded ISPs
	[Sept. 10, 1999]	Keeping Customers: Part 1—Quality of Service

Online resources:
	Trouble Ticketing Systems Directory
	Quick Reference Chart