Case Studies Florida SouthWestern State College assists over 10,000 students with Olark

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	Florida SouthWestern State College assists over 10,000 students with Olark

Florida SouthWestern State College assists over 10,000 students with Olark

Technology Category	Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries	Education
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Facility Management
Use Cases	Remote Collaboration
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration
Challenge	Because FSW was forced to halt its operations in the middle of an academic year, the IT professionals at FSW had to act fast to find a technology solution that would continue to provide students and faculty the best academic experience, even while the offices and campus remained completely closed. COVID-19 presented an unprecedented challenge, but the FSW IT team remained committed to their goal of ensuring that FSW students are learning, excelling, and receiving top-tier education. Read More
About Customer	In 1962, FSW was founded as Edison Junior College before being renamed to Florida SouthWestern State College in 2014. During the 2019 - 2020 academic year, FSW served over 22,000 students. This was the academic year (like many other higher education institutions in the United States) when FSW had to shut down its campus and send everyone home on March 13, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
Solution	Immediately after FSW’s campus was shut down, the IT department was tasked with finding a live chat software to adapt to the situation. Daniel Ramos, Director of Application Development and Integration, and Ted Tramote, Coordinator of Web Design and Content, wasted no time and swiftly found Olark. Within a week, Ted and Daniel had implemented Olark and trained the FSW staff on how to use the new chat system. Daniel and Ted ultimately selected Olark as FSW’s chat solution because of Olark’s extensive API. One of the questions the IT department needed to address was, “How are advisors and staff members going to authenticate students’ identities and have students’ information pulled up when a chat is initiated?” With Olark’s API, the IT team built a custom integration between Olark and FSW’s student portal, CAS, so that when a student wants to chat, FSW’s SSO authentication prompts the student to log in to verify him or herself. Not only did this allow Student Services Support Staff and chat agents to easily identify students on chat, but this also allowed students a familiar way of logging in. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Education

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Facility Management

Use Cases

Remote Collaboration

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Challenge

Because FSW was forced to halt its operations in the middle of an academic year, the IT professionals at FSW had to act fast to find a technology solution that would continue to provide students and faculty the best academic experience, even while the offices and campus remained completely closed. COVID-19 presented an unprecedented challenge, but the FSW IT team remained committed to their goal of ensuring that FSW students are learning, excelling, and receiving top-tier education.

About Customer

In 1962, FSW was founded as Edison Junior College before being renamed to Florida SouthWestern State College in 2014. During the 2019 - 2020 academic year, FSW served over 22,000 students. This was the academic year (like many other higher education institutions in the United States) when FSW had to shut down its campus and send everyone home on March 13, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Solution

Immediately after FSW’s campus was shut down, the IT department was tasked with finding a live chat software to adapt to the situation. Daniel Ramos, Director of Application Development and Integration, and Ted Tramote, Coordinator of Web Design and Content, wasted no time and swiftly found Olark. Within a week, Ted and Daniel had implemented Olark and trained the FSW staff on how to use the new chat system. Daniel and Ted ultimately selected Olark as FSW’s chat solution because of Olark’s extensive API. One of the questions the IT department needed to address was, “How are advisors and staff members going to authenticate students’ identities and have students’ information pulled up when a chat is initiated?” With Olark’s API, the IT team built a custom integration between Olark and FSW’s student portal, CAS, so that when a student wants to chat, FSW’s SSO authentication prompts the student to log in to verify him or herself. Not only did this allow Student Services Support Staff and chat agents to easily identify students on chat, but this also allowed students a familiar way of logging in.

Impact #1	From day one of Olark’s launch on FSW’s website, students flooded the FSW chat agents.
Impact #2	Before Olark, students would have to wait 30 minutes to an hour to have basic questions answered on the phone or in person.
Impact #3	With Olark, students can be chatting within seconds and have their questions answered within minutes.

Impact #1

From day one of Olark’s launch on FSW’s website, students flooded the FSW chat agents.

Impact #2

Before Olark, students would have to wait 30 minutes to an hour to have basic questions answered on the phone or in person.

Impact #3

With Olark, students can be chatting within seconds and have their questions answered within minutes.

Benefit #1	In the first 3 months of using Olark, FSW served over 10,000 students via chat.

Benefit #1

In the first 3 months of using Olark, FSW served over 10,000 students via chat.

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Overview

Florida SouthWestern State College assists over 10,000 students with Olark

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit