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Welcome to the World of Web 2.0

By Jeff Merron

You know the drill: You call tech support about a computer problem, you're immediately put on hold, and then you wait for anywhere between five minutes and forever before talking to a real person. You're asked to describe the problem, then you're put on hold again while the support person searches the company's internal difficult-to-search knowledgebase for a solution. Or your problem may involve a new product and the knowledgebase might not have been updated. Maybe your problem can be solved over the phone, maybe not. But almost certainly, you'll have lost lots of time waiting to find out.

At least one major computer software manufacturer has successfully tackled the problem using a Web 2.0 technology -- a wiki -- to drastically improve its customer support. "They added our wiki application to their traditional knowledgebase," says Jeff Brainard, the director of marketing at Socialtext, which is located in Palo Alto, Calif. Soon the number of customer service representatives using Socialtext's wiki to share problems and solutions not found in the knowledgebase skyrocketed. According to Brainard, more than 4,000 service representatives now use the wiki.

"There's a tangible benefit," says Brainard. "They get through calls more quickly. What used to take 15 clicks to solve now takes five. Their managers look better. The company estimates it's saving at least a million dollars a year, and maybe as much as $10 million."

The Promise of Web 2.0
Although "Web 2.0" is sometimes dismissed as being a term that's both trendy and vague, the six sources we spoke to, ranging from corporate consumers of Web 2.0 products to consultants to vendors, were able to define the difference between traditional Web applications and Web 2.0 (article continues)

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