EMERYVILLE, Calif. February 3, 2021 – Innovative, a ProQuest company and leading global provider of library software, celebrated a year of increased communications and improved connections with our library customers. During a very challenging year globally for libraries, universities, and government institutions, Innovative sped up many initiatives and added new ones to make our customer experience better than ever:
- User documentation for Sierra and Polaris can be accessed online without a login
- Monthly video webinars provided learning opportunities for library staff
- Online product roadmaps offered clarity on product development
- Redesigned support.iii.com with links to resources for support, product, training, events, forums, listservs and more
- A new Training and Learning Center for centralized, free online training materials including 226 how-to guides and checklists, and 60 training videos
- Quarterly Idea Lab challenges invited libraries to influence product development
“Increasing the transparency of our product development process and regularly receiving library input is part of the company we strive to be: a technology leader that enables libraries to better connect with and serve their communities” said Toni Minick, Vice President of Product Management. “We want our customers to know that we are listening and collaborating with them on a shared vision for the future, and that we are focused on making it easy and enjoyable to do business with Innovative.”
As Innovative staff moved to work-from-home environments, many teams that typically travel to customer locations, such as Account Management, Customer Success, Support, Services, and Education had to rethink how to connect with our customers virtually.
“Travel restrictions meant we had to get creative in maintaining close relationships with our library partners, and we’re pleased that in 2020 we engaged with over 5,000 individuals through our 59 webinars. Through this webinar series, we provided customers with training to accommodate library closures and reopenings, product updates, and a virtual platform for regional meetings of the Innovative Users Group,” said Raena Morrison, Vice President of Sales, North America. “Making our webinars available via recording also means that libraries can learn on their schedule. We look forward to continue connecting with libraries online, and hopefully in person, in 2021.”
For libraries, the Training and Learning Center is a centralized collection of materials that are easy to access, browse, download, and share so libraries can incorporate this collection into their own staff training. The collection includes introductory videos to Polaris Leap and Sierra Web to help librarians working remotely.
“When it comes to serving libraries, we have to be there when they need us. In 2020, we instituted video meetings for face-to-face interactions with customers when we couldn’t visit in person, whether that was discussing a tricky problem or providing training on a new feature,” said Hilary Newman, Senior Vice President of Library Services. “Libraries have shared with us that the free online resources have made a difference in their daily work and they’re feeling more connected and in sync with Innovative.”
Innovative libraries can find these resources on https://support.iii.com
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ABOUT INNOVATIVE INTERFACES INC.
Innovative, a ProQuest company, provides leading technology solutions and services that empower libraries and enrich their users worldwide. Innovative offers one of the most comprehensive portfolios of library automation products on the market today, serving academic, public, national, consortia, and corporate and special libraries. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, Innovative has a global presence—serving thousands of libraries in 66 countries and offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.iii.com.