When Ryan Williams first saw his department’s new customer service tool, he was a little skeptical.

“I admit, at first, it seemed a little unnecessary. I thought it would eat into my time,” said Williams, a research accounting specialist in Research Accounting Services. “But as time went on, I realized that a lot of the problems I deal with on a daily basis don’t get resolved in one day, so [the tool] is a really nice way of tracking things and keeping everything in order.”

Williams’ department introduced the tool, which was produced by Salesforce, in the summer of 2014. It allows Williams and his colleagues―who are responsible for helping Temple researchers manage funding for sponsored projects, among many other duties―to log every phone call, email or TUhelp ticket they receive.

The software tracks each request, generates a reminder when a request is taking too long and provides useful data that Research Accounting Services can use to further enhance its efficiency.  Everyone involved in a project―from the researchers to the supervisors in Williams’ department―can access the platform to get updates.

“It provides a level of transparency,” Williams said. “I really enjoy using it.”

Williams has created a PowerPoint presentation about the new system and spends part of his time training researchers on how it works.

Through his department’s new system, Williams gives excellent service to Temple’s research community. At the same time, many of the researchers he works with are gaining a new appreciation for just how large his workload can get.

“I think the service excellence initiative is a really great idea,” Williams said. “Whether it’s students or faculty or whoever, all of us who work at Temple have to serve people.”