Heritage Technical Support

For nearly twenty years now we have supported customers using Heritage around the world. We take the matter of support very seriously and recognise that in the library world, recommendation is everything. The proof of our claims can be found in talking to our users and we think that you will notice a difference in the way we support them.

Our ten-strong Support Services team provide help to Heritage customers via telephone, email, fax or on-line Support team . Our support has always had a very good reputation – we believe this is primary reason for our unrivalled customer retention figures. Every customer is assigned a named Support Guide to ensure continuity of service at the support desk. Your guide will also call you proactively a couple of times a year with information updates and to check that all is well!

The secret of our success is well designed, well tested software, backed by a strong support team which enjoys problem solving and helping Heritage users to get the most they possibly can from the system.

"The support [IS Oxford] offers is very professional, friendly and comforting!!"

Nicky Swainson
RNLI

User Support Website

The Heritage Support Website provides a whole host of helpsheets as well as frequently asked questions. These are provided as part of our support service to any customers with a current maintenance contract. Upgrades to Heritage are posted on the Website as well.

Heritage users can follow www.heritagesupport.com to visit the site (a username and password is required for some of the site). If you would like to see some examples of helpsheets please click here.

Marvin, The Heritage List Server

Our list server is a facility by which users of Heritage can communicate by email with other Heritage users. It is available to everyone with a support contract. Each message submitted to the list is forwarded to everybody else on the list and some useful discussions develop as a result. Any information which might be useful to others can be submitted and many find it an invaluable service. To join all you have to do is email with your serial number and requesting to join `Marvin'. You can unsubscribe at any time and rejoin later, e.g. during holidays etc.

On-line Support

Our support team can use the same software as used by our Webtrainer to enable them to access users systems directly. Users must grant us access on each occasion that we wish to use the service and hence it does not present a security risk. Initial installation of the necessary software happens automatically the first time the system is used. It only uses HTTP to communicate and therefore does not require any adjustment to firewalls.

Support Guides

Every Heritage customer has their own assigned ‘Support Guide’ to ensure continuity of service when they call our support desk. The guide is also responsible for providing them with regular information updates regarding Heritage upgrades and services. Although the guide may not personally answer every support query the customer raises they will have an overview of their current situation and be on hand to ensure the quality of their Heritage support service is consistently high.

Charges

While some systems suppliers impose heavy ongoing support charges - and may even provide a sub-standard service in return - IS Oxford maintains a commitment to the opposite ethos: high quality support to all our customers at fair prices which have changed little over the years.

On-site Consultancy

We can provide on-site consultancy services after implementation for a variety of different purposes: system configuration, annual MOT etc. Normally most customisation can be carried out by library staff, as the system design allows this (almost all customisation is menu-driven) but if you have any specific requirements which the core, off-the-shelf Heritage product (as described in this tender document) does not satisfy then please let us know and we can provide a quotation for any customisation required.

Implementation

Since Heritage is an off-the-shelf product most users find that implementation is generally relatively straightforward. The only elements that need to be scheduled are any data conversion work and training required.

As a result, we do not normally charge for project management - the core implementation team (including the Sales Manager, Support Services Manager, Data Conversion specialist and assigned Support Guide) will liaise with the customer throughout the sales and implementation cycle, and the Support Services Team will take over once the system goes live. IS Oxford is a relatively small company and we all work in the same building so communication between our staff and departments is constant, ensuring that everyone knows what stage the implementation is at. This is how we have operated with our customers for a number of years and it has always worked very well.

Some customers do not have access to IT support, however, and we are very happy, in these cases, to attend on-site for system installation and configuration. This is a chargeable service. For further information please contact Charlotte Knight-Benjafield, our Support Services Manager on (01865) 481020 or email .

Heritage Online Hosting

We have offered a Heritage Online hosting service to our customers for several years. We offer a hosting service both for live catalogues - where item availability, reader information and reservations are available - and for offline catalogues - where it is only possible to search for items and not see if they are on loan or not. In addition to this, we have a secure NHSNet connection and can therefore host live catalogues on the Internet for our NHS customers with availability, reservations and reader information. For further information on our hosting services (including prices) please contact our sales team at .

Standard Heritage Online Hosting

If we are to host a live or offline catalogue then the customer will need to meet a one-off set-up fee and an annual hosting charge. They would also need to purchase Heritage Online and additional OPAC licences. A major advantage of us hosting the catalogue is that we will be responsible for installation and maintenance of the module. The data that is published can be updated as frequently as required and tools are provided to facilitate this.

If live data is hosted then a connection will be required from our WebServer back to your Heritage fileserver. Security considerations mean that this is not always possible. In particular NHSNet users would not be able to access availability and reader information using our standard service.

NHSNet Heritage Online Hosting

This scenario differs from the Standard Heritage Online Hosting in that it gives full Heritage Online functionality to all users whether within NHSNet (via the Internet) or on the Internet. Heritage Online would be installed here but would use the individual NHS library's live data. Any requests for item availability, reservations or reader information would be passed back to your system live i.e. just like running Heritage Online at present. You would therefore need to do very little in terms of setup or daily support of the web side of Heritage.

An important advantage of this approach is that we would be handling the installation, configuration and maintenance of Heritage Online - you (or your IT department) would not have to. Also it will continue to work if your data server goes down - there will simply be no reservations and availability information during that period. Furthermore, if your IT department are in agreement, we should be able to offer remote support of Heritage for customers using our Remote Hosting Service.

Upgrades

Upgrades are nearly always provided free of charge as part of the annual support contract and can also be downloaded from our website. We have made a nominal charge for upgrades only twice in the past, when we have made major changes to the software and additional underlying software needs to be provided (e.g. in the move from our DOS version to Windows).

Documentation

When purchasing Heritage, a comprehensive user manual is provided to support all aspects of the system. This manual is provided in pdf format on our support website and on the Heritage installation CD-ROM. It covers installation instructions and basic operations through to high level management functions. It can also be accessed from the 'Help' menu in Heritage.

An additional source of documentation is our support website, from which it is possible to download helpsheets on all areas of the system. Helpsheets are constantly added and revised, and we have recently employed a full-time technical writer to ensure that information is always up to date.

In addition to the online manual, on-screen help is also provided throughout the system, at field, form and module level. All help screens are editable by library staff with the relevant system privileges.

Our documentation is updated on an ongoing basis and can be downloaded from our support website by Heritage users at any time.

The following are examples of helpsheets. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these. If you do not have this it can be downloaded from Adobe.

Recalls | Stocktaking | Global change

Our Customer Care Philosophy

At IS Oxford we put into practice a strong ethical philosophy, coupled with a facilitative management style, to give our customers the confidence they need to commit their futures to us. For many of our users Heritage is the largest capital purchase they will make and we recognise the significance of this, both for the institutions they represent and also for them personally. We seek to match the faith shown in Heritage with continuous refinement and development as well as always being there for them when they need us.

We have recently created the post of Customer Liaison Officer, and Alex Smolonska is currently working her way through our list of customers, contacting them to introduce herself. She will be the first port of call for any customers that wish to ask questions that fall outside the normal support desk remit and will provide a link between all the IS Oxford departments and our customers.

We are also grateful to the majority of Heritage users who are happy and willing to let prospective customers contact them and visit their sites to get an accurate feel for the system in a real-life situation. We value our relationships with our users.

The Heritage User Groups provides the user with forums within which to voice any views about the quality of our support service and it also provides an environment in which to exchange ideas.

Contact Technical Support
Telephone: (01865) 481020 or email