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Ideas and news to stay ahead of the IT game
Stories on software, AI, IT support and tips. Βetter understand AI, emerging technology and IT support trends, and how they impact your job. Browse the latest news, research, product tips and best IT practices, to educate yourself, lead the IT game and feel empowered to thrive at work.
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Reset passwords automatically on Slack, MS Teams and Jira Service Management with Gaspar AI
Thu May 25 2023
5 things that only Gaspar AI can do
## What makes Gaspar AI better than the competition? This is probably one of the top questions on your mind when evaluating Gaspar AI among different solutions for your IT support automation needs. It’s a fair question but a tough one to answer because there are just so many things to compare. So instead of presenting you with one of those classic “us” vs. “them” comparison tables, we decided to do something unconventional and showcase some of Gaspar AI’s unique features and functionalities. ## 1. Virtual Agent on Slack, MS Teams AND Jira With Gaspar AI, your Virtual Agent has an omnichannel presence to make your team’s and end users’ life easier. Your company’s employees have more opportunities to interact with Gaspar, our AI chatbot, wherever they find more convenient: Slack, MS Teams or Jira Service Management portal. They can automatically and instantly resolve their requests on any of these platforms, without you or your team being involved. Moreover, when employees need to join email lists, groups or channels, access folders, calendars or new applications, they simply ask Gaspar on the platform they are on (Slack, MS Teams, Jira). The approval process takes place on the same platform for both the requester and the approver. The approver can simply accept or decline the request on any of these platforms, and Gaspar will notify the requester accordingly. All the information is available right there (but also automatically syncs with the ITSM platform you use) and users can track it anytime. Gaspar AI is the only platform that offers an [AI chatbot for Atlassian’s Jira Service Management](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1230453/gaspar-virtual-agent?hosting=cloud&tab=overview) portal and has built all the backend capabilities to provide seamless, automated support. Moreover, with Gaspar AI on Jira, your end users can immediately find any information they look for in Confluence articles. ## 2. Auto-reset passwords with no manual involvement We have all been there: forgetting our password for the 100th time and having to go through the painful reset process once more! And what’s worse, your team must spend more than 30% of their time doing it. With Gaspar AI, every time an employee asks for a password reset, the Virtual Agent will automatically verify their identity thanks to multiple integrations and instantly reset their password. Rather than deflecting a ticket via a solution article, guiding the end user through a manual reset, or sending email links to reset it, it will immediately provide a temporary password for the user to log back in and change it. Thanks to Gaspar AI password resents now take only 10 seconds! ## 3. Workflows included in the platform Gaspar AI offers workflows along with the AI chatbot to not just automate processes but fulfill them automatically when needed without human involvement. For example, your team can set up workflows to simplify onboarding without any coding skills. On the Admin portal, they can create accounts and add them to the company’s SSO service, add the applications needed depending on their department, grant access to folders on shared drives, and automatically share the account details with HR systems. They can then set the date to run the workflows. When a new hire joins the company, the workflows will automatically run directly on Slack, the Admin portal or Jira Service Management – the choice is yours! ## 4. Choose your unique self-service levels You like receiving significantly fewer tickets but you may feel uncomfortable with allowing end users too much autonomy around certain IT issues. No problem! Gaspar AI is designed to meet each company’s unique requirements and to also enhance privacy and governance. This is why we offer you and your IT admins the possibility to choose which and how many automations you will enable. On the Admin portal, you can select which features you want to deploy and for which users. You may also decide to request further approval from your IT team for some issues, e.g. for password resets. This can easily be done on the Admin portal by selecting the relevant configuration. ## 5. Deploy in 30 minutes You might be thinking now that a sophisticated AI platform as Gaspar AI will probably require months to be implemented, data to be transferred among applications, knowledge to be shared, complex approvals to be performed. Nope! You just have to give Gaspar AI access to your SSO and systems, decide which integrations to enable and in 30 minutes to 1 hour you are ready to go! Gaspar AI has been built from the ground up to seamlessly integrate with your applications so that you don’t have to transfer any data or switch between different apps. It is also platform-agnostic which means that even if you decide to change some of the software you use, it will still work. ## That’s obviously not everything… Gaspar AI has many more unique features that will offer you effortless, AI-powered IT support. If you would like to see it in action, you can [contact us](https://www.gaspar.ai/contact-us) or [schedule a demo](https://www.gaspar.ai/demo-request) so that we showcase more of the unique things that only Gaspar AI can do. *Note: These features were selected by comparing Gaspar AI to other similarly priced AI platforms. It’s quite possible that some of the lesser-known tools have one or more of these features.
Ethical AI
Tue May 23 2023
Ethical AI: paving the path to responsible innovation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized various aspects of our lives, from healthcare to finance, and from transportation to entertainment. As AI continues to advance at a rapid pace, it raises profound ethical concerns. These arise from the potential AI systems have to embed biases, lack transparency, be misused, threaten human rights, and more. Such risks associated with AI have already begun to compound on top of existing inequalities. As AI systems become more powerful and pervasive, it is crucial to address the ethical challenges they pose. This is why you might have recently seen lots of discussion around creating ethical AI, building a regulating framework to ensure its ethical deployment, and developing safeguards for protecting against the risk of AI to humans. At [Gaspar AI](https://www.gaspar.ai/platform) we recognize the importance of creating, implementing and using AI systems that are safe, ethical, responsible, trusted and acceptable. This is why we believe that Ethical AI is an extremely important topic that needs to be understood by all of us creators and users of AI applications. In the coming weeks we will explore various thought-provoking ideas and topics related to Ethical AI, shedding light on the need for responsible AI development and deployment. We will delve into ways to guarantee AI fairness, avoid unintentional prejudice, and implement AI compliance tactics. In this blog post, we will explore what ethical AI entails, dig into the challenges it presents, discuss its significance, and provide examples that highlight the importance of incorporating ethics into AI systems. ## Understanding Ethical AI Ethical AI refers to the development, deployment and usage of AI systems that align with moral principles and human values. It involves ensuring fairness, transparency, accountability, and respect for human rights and dignity throughout the lifecycle of AI technologies. Ethical AI strives to minimize potential harm while maximizing the benefits derived from AI innovation. We should never forget that AI should serve humans and not the other way around. ## What are the ethical challenges of AI? Type “greatest leaders of all time” in your favorite search engine and you will probably see a list mainly made of the world’s prominent male personalities. How many women do you count? Take a moment to reflect, why is this happening? This is just an example of gender bias in artificial intelligence, originating from stereotypical representations deeply rooted in our society. You can easily now start to understand that AI systems pose significant challenges that need to be addressed. Let’s review the key ones: #### 1. Bias and fairness AI algorithms can inadvertently perpetuate biases present in training data, leading to discriminatory outcomes in areas such as hiring, lending, and law enforcement. Ensuring fairness in data representation and mitigating biases in terms of race, gender or ethnicity is a significant challenge in developing ethical AI systems. #### 2. Privacy and data protection AI relies on vast amounts of data, raising concerns about their source, along with the privacy and security of individuals. The responsible collection, storage, and usage of data becomes crucial to maintain user trust and safeguard privacy rights. #### 3. Explainability and transparency The lack of interpretability in AI algorithms creates challenges in understanding how decisions are made. When AI systems go awry, teams need to be able to trace through a complex chain of algorithmic systems and data processes to find out why. Organizations using AI should be able to explain the source and resulting data, what their algorithms do and why they are doing that. Ensuring AI transparency and traceability is vital to address concerns related to accountability and user trust. #### 4. Misuse AI algorithms may be used for purposes other than those for which they were created. These scenarios should be analyzed at the design stage to minimize the risks and introduce safety measures to reduce the adverse effects in such cases. #### 5. Unintended consequences AI can have unforeseen consequences, potentially affecting employment, social dynamics, and power imbalances. Identifying and mitigating these unintended consequences is essential to ensure the responsible and ethical development of AI technologies. #### 6. Responsibility The question of responsibility arises when AI systems make decisions that lead to severe consequences, such as significant financial losses, threats to health, or even loss of life. Addressing this issue requires a collective effort involving lawyers, regulators, and citizens to establish a clear process for assigning responsibility for the outcomes of AI-based decisions. ## Why does Ethical AI matter? Experience with AI has demonstrated that following good AI Ethics is not just responsible behavior, it is required to get good human and business value out of AI. #### - Avoiding harm Ethical AI seeks to prevent harm to individuals, communities, and society. By addressing biases, protecting privacy, and considering potential risks, Ethical AI helps avoid unintended negative consequences and promotes responsible AI development. #### - Trust and acceptance Incorporating ethics into AI systems fosters trust among users, stakeholders, and society at large. Trust is vital for the widespread acceptance and adoption of AI technologies, enabling their potential benefits to be realized. #### - Safeguarding human rights Ethical AI protects fundamental human rights, including privacy, freedom from discrimination, and autonomy. [It puts humans at the center](https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000385082?posInSet=2&queryId=N-EXPLORE-1d951e54-ca71-45b5-b5ce-237d600cb959 ), prioritizing their well-being, rights, and values. It ensures that AI technologies serve humanity's best interests and contribute to social progress and inclusive growth. #### - Long-term sustainability Incorporating ethical considerations ensures the responsible development and deployment of AI, creating a sustainable future for all. ## Real-world examples of Ethical AI Below you can discover some real-world examples that highlight the impact of ethical AI implementation and better understand its significance. #### - Hiring and recruitment algorithms Biases in AI-powered hiring systems can perpetuate discrimination, underlining the importance of ethical guidelines to ensure fair and inclusive hiring practices. #### - Autonomous vehicles The ethical challenges surrounding decision-making in self-driving cars bring out the need to balance public safety, individual well-being, and legal liability. #### - Social Media Moderation How to apply Ethical AI in content moderation to combat misinformation, hate speech, and harmful content while respecting freedom of speech and avoiding undue censorship? ## Ethical AI is crucial in shaping the future of AI Ethical AI is an ongoing conversation that requires the active participation of researchers, policymakers and society as a whole. As AI continues to reshape our world, its importance cannot be overstated. By understanding the concept, acknowledging the challenges related to bias, privacy, transparency and unintended consequences, and embracing ethical principles, we can harness the power of AI responsibly. Embracing ethics in AI is not only essential for building trust and acceptance but also for ensuring that AI technologies contribute to a more equitable, just, and inclusive society. Remember, ethical considerations in AI are an ongoing and evolving journey. By staying informed, engaging in dialogue, and collaborating across disciplines, we can collectively shape a future where AI truly serves the betterment of humanity. Stay tuned to learn more about the evolving field of Ethical AI in the next few weeks!
Gaspar AI and ChatGPT integration
Tue May 23 2023
AI at its best: say hi to Gaspar AI and ChatGPT integration
In the last few years, your IT work has certainly gone crazy because of different locations, time zones, remote work, multiple projects that seem to always be urgent... Your company most probably implemented an ITSM platform (if one was not deployed before) to help your team better manage the ever-increasing employee requests. However, your team’s average ticket resolution time has gone up (to 9.72 hours on average, +57% when compared to pre-pandemic) and help desk ticket costs are soaring ($26.51, +30% when compared to pre-pandemic). ## Gaspar AI, your favorite AI partner! Thankfully, the introduction of [Gaspar AI’s cutting-edge platform](https://www.gaspar.ai/platform) into your workplace offered some light at the end of the IT tunnel! It greatly empowered your IT team to be more efficient and offered positive and effortless IT experiences to employees. Gaspar AI enables end users to auto-resolve 40% of their issues on Slack and Microsoft Teams in seconds, without needing your team’s intervention, thanks to our conversational AI chatbot. No more spending hours to reset passwords over and over again! Now Gaspar, our AI Virtual Agent automatically resets them without your team’s involvement. At the same time, your IT team can auto-fulfill repetitive processes such as employee onboarding and offboarding thanks to Gaspar AI’s workflow automation. And what’s best is that everything is on the same one platform which integrates seamlessly with your company’s apps and is deployed in 30 minutes with no manual work from your side! Thanks to Gaspar AI, your IT team has decreased their manual work by 80% and makes better decisions thanks to AI-based insights. This results in higher job satisfaction, increased employee and IT teams’ productivity, and improved profitability. ## ChatGPT, the game-changing innovation And then, more magic happened: the software industry was shaken up by the super-fast, amazing AI advancements! The introduction of [ChatGPT](https://chatgptonline.ai/) and its vast adoption was a game-changer. As we have been working with AI since the very first start of Gaspar AI, way before AI became mainstream, integrating with ChatGPT was non-negotiable. IT people are at the heart of everything we do, and our goal is to make their work life easier and more enjoyable. So if we could further improve our AI offering and provide even better support, why not do it? ## But first, what is ChatGPT? Well, you probably already use ChatGPT for various tasks at work, and you certainly feel what a time-saver it is! But just in case you are not so familiar with it, ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI, based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture. It is designed to understand and generate human-like responses to text-based prompts, such as questions or statements. ChatGPT is trained on vast amounts of text data from the internet, which allows it to generate coherent and contextually appropriate responses to a wide range of topics. The model uses advanced natural language processing techniques to analyze the input prompt, understand its meaning, and generate a response that is grammatically correct and semantically relevant. ## Gaspar AI and ChatGPT: a match made in heaven! When an employee has an issue, they go on Slack or MS Teams and ask Gaspar, our conversational AI chatbot, about it. Gaspar will immediately resolve it, and a ticket will be automatically opened and synced with your ITSM platform. Oftentimes Gaspar will deflect a ticket with a knowledge base article, e.g. when an employee asks how to connect to a VPN. In this case Gaspar will provide the related knowledge base articles and the employee can go through them and find what they are looking for. Although incredibly helpful, this can be further optimized! With our ChatGPT integration, instead of receiving articles, the user receives a direct answer to their question from ChatGPT. They no more have to go through the knowledge article, they have their answer right in front of them! And the best part is that it is not a generic answer, but a personalized answer! Since Gaspar AI integrates with multiple knowledge management systems (e.g. Helpjuice, Confluence, etc.), ChatGPT will form the answer from your company’s knowledge base. And will also provide the link to the article where the answer comes from in case the user wants to learn more. ## The advantages of Gaspar AI and ChatGPT integration Using Gaspar AI has many benefits for the employees, your IT team and your company. It significantly reduces the time needed for your IT team to resolve issues, which in turn increases their efficiency, decreases costs and enhances employee productivity and satisfaction. And this results in better company profitability and higher employee retention, as IT teams and employees alike are more productive and happier. With the ChatGPT integration, you can further enhance these benefits: ### 1. Increased time savings Now employees don’t even have to spend a few minutes reading through the knowledge base article to find what they are looking for. They have their answer instantly and can immediately get back to work, minimizing the impact of IT issues on their productivity. ### 2. Enhanced IT support quality ChatGPT's ability to understand context and generate human-like responses ensures that employees receive accurate and relevant information to their queries. The answers are focused exactly on what the employee is asking, leading to a higher quality of support ### 3. Improved user experience Oftentimes reading through knowledge base articles can be daunting, especially when employees don’t have time to do so, and they don’t know the terminology. Having the answer served right in front of them in a language they understand is an amazing user experience, which ultimately boosts employee satisfaction with IT support and their trust in your IT department. ## Glimpsing into what lies ahead Undoubtedly, Gaspar AI’s integration with ChatGPT will once more revolutionize employee IT support within Slack and Microsoft Teams. And this is just the beginning! Our plan is to further extend this integration to more of Gaspar AI’s features, such as the Proactive Insights and intent recognition. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come! If you want to see Gaspar AI in action, please [contact us](https://www.gaspar.ai/contact-us) or [schedule a demo](https://www.gaspar.ai/demo-request).
AI chatbot to augment service desk capabilities and do more in less time
Thu May 18 2023
Get more done faster with Gaspar AI's advanced capabilities
Sick and tired of the never-ending IT ticket backlogs and endless employee requests at work? Gaspar AI is coming to your rescue! Supercharge your productivity and accomplish more in less time with our cutting-edge AI chatbot, Workflows and Proactive Insights! From automating mundane tasks to uncovering valuable insights, Gaspar AI is your ultimate productivity ally. Say goodbye to limitations and unlock a new level of success thanks to more than 100+ automations and seamless integrations. Now employees solve their IT requests right where they are - on Slack, Microsoft Teams or self-service portal -, instantly and without human intervention, IT teams speed-up and run repetitive workflow processes like magic, and IT leaders optimize IT support thanks to data analytics and proactive insights. Get ready to reimagine IT support with Gaspar AI's groundbreaking capabilities. Are you ready to dive in and experience the transformative power of Gaspar AI? Read our informative [eBook](https://gaspar-www.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/007c2c3c1275f40b6d86f47fa957529c.pdf) to discover all of Gaspar AI’s applications and how you can have a high-performing AI service desk on Slack, MS Teams or Jira. If you are excited to remove the boring part of your job and offer higher-than-expected IT service, contact us to [schedule a demo](https://www.gaspar.ai/demo-request) or [discuss your needs](https://www.gaspar.ai/contact-us). Let's get started! ## [Get more done, faster, with Gaspar AI.pdf](https://gaspar-www.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/007c2c3c1275f40b6d86f47fa957529c.pdf)
ROI calculator for the IT helpdesk cost per ticket
Tue May 16 2023
The true cost of your IT helpdesk support
When was the last time you calculated your IT helpdesk cost per ticket? Do you know how much your IT support operations cost you? Have you factored in your cost all the elements that influence it? Even if you think you know your IT support cost, chances are there are metrics that you never thought you should include. And you would be surprised to know that there are things you are not tracking. And most probably, you are miscalculating the true cost of your IT helpdesk support. In the last 2 years, Service Desk Cost per Ticket has increased to an average of $26.51 (+30%), and the service levels have not improved: on the contrary, Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) has increased to 9.72 hours (+57%). It is about time IT helpdesk cost per ticket gets the attention it deserves! ## Why the IT helpdesk cost per ticket is so important to you Your IT service desk cost per ticket is the total monthly operating expense of your service desk divided by the number of tickets you had that month. You may be asking yourself, if cost per ticket is a simple average cost calculation, why is it such an important IT helpdesk metric? By knowing how much your IT helpdesk operations are really costing you, you can make informed decisions about your helpdesk management and optimization, and your IT projects prioritization. This will ultimately lead to increased efficiency, cost reduction and enhanced employee satisfaction. For example, your resolution time could be lower than the average, but your IT helpdesk ticket cost higher than expected: you may determine that you’re OK with that cost or that you want automate tasks to lower that cost. Or you might have both a higher-than-expected MTTR and a high ticket cost: this means that you need to examine why you spend so much money and end up having lower than expected service levels. The above examples illustrate that knowing your real cost per ticket will help you understand your team’s productivity: perhaps you need to adjust the roles within the team, hire additional staff, buy equipment or automate tasks. Most importantly, you can’t change something that you don’t know: not knowing your IT helpdesk cost per ticket means you can’t reduce it, boost your department’s efficiency and improve your company’s profitability. ## How much do your IT helpdesk tickets really cost? So let’s explore the various factors that contribute to the cost of helpdesk tickets, so that you can successfully calculate it. ### 1. Labor costs This includes the cost of salaries, benefits, and other expenses associated with your IT support team. Because IT support is so labor-intensive—you need enough staff to field the service requests—you’ll likely see a significant majority of your costs going to service desk personnel. Your department could easily see 60-70% of costs going to direct and indirect service desk employees. Labor costs are greatly influenced by wage rates. Depending on your geography and regional cost of living, a ticket that takes the same amount of time to be handled can cost very differently. Labor costs also depend on the complexity of the issue and the level of experience of the support staff. Therefore, it is essential to keep track of the time spent by your IT support team on each ticket to accurately calculate costs. Turnover and absenteeism also influence labor costs. The more short-staffed your IT service desk is, the more overtime you must pay, which increases labor cost. If service desk turnover is high, you are paying a lot more per person to train and re-staff the helpdesk. Finally, agent utilization and the IT agent/employee ratio influence labor costs. The more time every IT agent is spending on working on support-related issues, the higher their utilization and the better their cost. ### 2. Infrastructure costs All hardware, software, office space and supplies, utilities, and other tools required to run the helpdesk system are included here. Infrastructure costs can vary widely depending on the size and complexity of your company, the number of your support team, and the level of automation in your helpdesk system. ### 3. Training costs Training your IT team is essential to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to provide excellent employee support. However, training can be expensive, especially if you need to hire external trainers or invest in specialized training programs. Therefore, it is important to budget for training costs and optimize your training programs to ensure maximum efficiency. What is more, optimizing your investments in job training and coaching goes far in promoting your team's job satisfaction, which in turn decreases turnover and absenteeism and leads to lower labor costs. ### 4. Opportunity costs Opportunity costs refer to the potential company revenue lost as a result of inefficient employee time due to IT issues. It is the time an employee spends not being productive because they are waiting for their IT support problem to be resolved. This cost can vary greatly depending on the company function they belong to, and on how the IT issue is impacting their work. For example, if a salesperson can’t perform a customer meeting because they are locked out of their account, the opportunity cost will be rather high. ## Use AI-powered automation to reduce your IT helpdesk costs By now you probably understand how costly your IT support operations can be, and how many factors you need to track to accurately measure their expenses. One way to optimize your IT helpdesk operations that will dramatically reduce costs (while providing excellent employee support) is by implementing AI virtual agents and automations. When you start using more self-service and AI chatbot tools to address the common, repetitive issues, you can significantly impact the cost per ticket. If most employees are using self-service or chatbot options for low-level, routine issues, your IT service desk will experience a reduction in the volume of tickets they receive, which leads to better response times and lower labor costs per ticket. At the same time employees can instantly have their issues resolved, which dramatically reduces opportunity costs. For example, you can easily calculate the annual cost savings you would have by adopting Gaspar AI, which would offer you all these benefits – the above parameters have already been factored in our ROI calculator. You just need to submit the number of employees and the number of tickets you receive in our calculator [here](https://www.gaspar.ai/benefits), and then discover how much your costs will be reduced. And if you like what you see, you can [contact us for a demo](https://www.gaspar.ai/demo-request) and discussion!