Based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Nakornpayap International School has been providing a unique learning environment for pupils from a wide range of cultural backgrounds for almost 20 years.

An exemplary report card

Serving a community of teachers, staff, students and parents, the school’s IT department receives a large volume of queries relating to a variety of subjects, anything from system problems to downloading information from its website.

However, managing these queries had become problematic. With no central support system in place, responses were untracked and slow, and this was starting to have an impact on the school’s reputation.

Recognising that something needed to be done, Larry Schlocker, Director, ICT, introduced software he had used in a previous role, Zendesk. Says Schlocker, “When I joined the school in 2011, my first task was to deploy a new software system. But with no ability to track feedback or queries, I realised it was going to be a challenge. I had previous experience with Zendesk and knew that it was a high quality product that would enable our ICT and facilities teams, in particular, to keep tabs on customer support queries. I also recognised its potential to grow and evolve with the needs of the school.”

More responsive, more students

In June 2011, under Larry’s recommendation and guidance, the school trialled Zendesk. Two months later it went live on the Regular plan with five agents. Says Schlocker, “What we needed was a way to capture each and every request, enable us to respond quickly, and that we could track and measure our performance through. Zendesk enables us to cover all of these bases.”

Since its roll out, Schlocker and his team have started using the Android mobile application, enabling them to respond to requests on the run. The reporting and analytics also help them monitor resolution times and customer satisfaction, both of which have improved significantly since they’ve been using Zendesk.

“Our ICT and facilities teams are now able to answer questions quickly, politely and efficiently, especially at really busy times, such as the start of the new school year. It is making a big difference to our school community. A good illustration of this was when our student information system, Powerschool, went live in September 2011. At that point teachers and administrators were our primary Zendesk users. Following the launch we started handling requests from parents and students, as well. Zendesk enabled us to handle hundreds of queries in a very short space of time and our community was really impressed.

“People are much more satisfied with the service they are receiving, and attendance numbers are starting to increase – which is an important factor for independent schools. We believe our newfound efficiency is playing a role in this, and we’re keen to build on our success with plans to extend the use of Zendesk to other departments,” explains Schlocker.

Looking to the future

Zendesk is currently being used by the ICT and facilities departments at the school but Schlocker plans to introduce it to other teams, “The senior management team has been impressed with Zendesk, its ease of use and the exceptional support we receive. The plan is to roll it out to the admissions team next, and then we will consider other areas of our community that could benefit from Zendesk. It’s an excellent product which provides outstanding customer advocates who are on hand to help us 24 hours a day. We’ve been showcasing it amongst the education community and many of the schools we have spoken to are envious of what we’ve achieved, which makes us suitably proud.”