Cases

University of Groningen improves service with TriniCo

With approximately 34,000 students, 9,400 of whom are international, and around 6,000 employees, the University of Groningen (RUG) is one of the largest universities in the Netherlands. It is an open academic community with an atmosphere that invites meeting, connecting, and being involved. Accessibility and connection with students are core values for the RUG.

Sector

University

Location

Groningen (NL)

Organization size

6.000 employees

Messages

12.500 per month

The large number of students leads to many questions, especially at the beginning of the academic year. To answer these professionally and avoid long waiting times at the desk, the RUG has chosen TriniCo (formerly known as Trinicom, KANA Express, and later Verint Express). Various faculties and services of the RUG are already using TriniCo, and the software is being more widely implemented within the organization.

Connection

The RUG initially started using the software at the central student administration desk. Later, student desks from various faculties were added. Additionally, various knowledge bases are available on the website for student questions. Most student desks experience a predictable peak period, coinciding with new enrollments at the beginning of the academic year, from mid-June to mid-September.

A quick and adequate handling of incoming messages, whether they come via the website, email, or phone, is crucial and contributes to the connection and involvement between (potential) students, teachers, and staff. Nevertheless, there were queues at the desks during this peak period.

“We wanted to approach students more professionally and also prevent them from waiting long for an answer.”

Filtering simple questions

This had to change, and a system was sought to achieve two things. “We wanted to approach students more professionally and also prevent them from waiting long for an answer.” Previously, available information was ‘hidden’ on various web pages, making it difficult for students to find a specific answer. They would visit or call with these questions. Often, these were very simple questions like ‘what should I do if I don’t have a student card yet’ or ‘how do I pay the tuition fee’. The answer to these questions is now simply in the TriniCo knowledge base.

Students can ask more targeted questions online 24/7 and receive more targeted answers. This prevents simple questions from ending up at one of the desks, leaving much more time for complex questions.

“The first implementation was done with guidance. After that, two employees were trained to do implementations themselves.”

Own implementation

The implementation of the software went very well. The collaboration with Harbers is very pleasant and accessible. The first implementation was done entirely with guidance from the software developers. After that, two of our people within the organization were trained so that they could largely do the next implementations themselves.

We started centrally, and then more desks and departments were added. The software has now been implemented in various faculties. Additionally, TriniCo is used by the HR Services department, mainly for (internal) employee questions. Within the University Library, TriniCo was used for their front office, and since early 2024, many other support departments within the University Library have been added.
There are more requests to work with TriniCo from other departments also focused on (internal) services. For example, our financial department recently requested to introduce TriniCo, and now two of the seven teams are already working with TriniCo.

In total, more than 300 employees within the RUG work with TriniCo.

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen RUG studenten

Key Points & Results

The University of Groningen (RUG) has implemented TriniCo to improve services and reduce waiting times.
Thanks to the knowledge base, the RUG has more time for complex questions.
Students are approached more professionally via the Self-Service Portal, with consistent and quick answers.
After initial guidance from software developers, internal employees were trained to independently carry out further implementations.