Hello from the other side

Hilde, why do you like working in the DNS Belgium support department?   

We are a small team of 3 people, and we all get along very well. Good colleagues are very important to me, and I enjoy working with them. Besides, I'm someone who really likes to help people. This can be about small or bigger problems. A sales person who is no longer reachable online, loses business. As a result, she/he also loses income. When that happens, it is our task to find a solution for their issues.   

The work in the support department is very varied. Every day is different, although some issues come up regularly. We have a wide range of tasks. In addition to answering emails or phone calls, we also check new domain name registrations. In doing so, we try to find fake online stores, phishing sites or hackers as quickly as possible.

What qualities do you need to do this job?  

To be a good listener, to ask the right questions to better understand the situation, and to be able to explain in a clear and concise way what is going on. These are the important qualities that are necessary to be able to do our job well. We often help people who don't know the technology very well.   

Are you active in any specific workgroup?  

I am in the "fiesta committee". Before Covid, we used to organize fun activities, like the annual barbecue, a team day, the St. Nicholas party and many other things. Over the last year it sadly didn't work out that way. All activities were reduced to a few packages delivered to our colleagues’ houses and a weekly quiz every Monday. Our co-workers appreciate our initiatives very much. It's a very good thing that our organization finds these kinds of side events very important.   

I am also a member of the telework/office work Thinktank. That's where we do everything we can to make sure that everyone can telecommute as best as possible. We also help when possible. Right now, our focus is on the future: what form of work is going to take over after the Corona crisis. Will it be a hybrid form? When will colleagues want to return to the office? One thing is for sure, it will never be like it was before Covid.

What are you most proud of in your career at DNS?  

I'm glad that my work at DNS has helped me understand how the internet world works, and what goes on behind the screens. Together with my colleagues, we are playing a role in the digital age, and I am very proud of that.

What makes you proud in your support role?    

I'm proud of the autonomy we have in the support department, we work very independently. Setting up a programme where we manage customer data (our 'CRM') was my responsibility, for example. I was recently able to optimize the system to be more in line with the expectations of our department.

At this point, you have been working in the DNS Belgium support department for almost 7 years, how has your department evolved?   

Our department has been through a lot of changes. At the beginning of my career, we had a lot of paperwork to do. Over time, we have found more efficient and eco-responsible ways to manage it; today everything is digital.   

We're also investing more in security. We have improved the system for checking false or erroneous information when registering a domain name. I have created a tool that makes the search process more efficient, and therefore more easily shows false or erroneous data. In the meantime, the notification of domain name holders - if their data is not correct - has been automated. In November 2020 we introduced an additional security step to the registration of a domain name, called ' Registrant Verification'. With this new step we can immediately block suspicious .be domain names, as long as the holder has not confirmed his identity and filled in all the necessary data. This process is followed up by the support department.   

You are also the sports coach of DNS Belgium, what does that mean?  

As a sports coach, I try to motivate my colleagues to move more. I regularly challenge my colleagues to walk more, or to run. I organize step challenges, in which two teams compete against each other. During the lunch break I go for a run. Often, we go with a group of colleagues, which is an extra motivation to work on our physical fitness. During the summer months I regularly organize outdoor activities for DNS Belgium, such as KUBB, or a Frisbee game.   

What do you like about working at DNS Belgium?  

We have the flexibility and autonomy that we need to care of our tasks. The colleagues are very helpful, and I get along very well with the support team. At DNS Belgium we have the space to develop ourselves: we can choose our own training courses, based on our needs and desires.

What are the biggest challenges for the support team?     

Answering the questions that people may have as best we can. Not all the questions we receive are so clear. That's when we must dig deep to find out what our customers' needs are. We also have to verify that the data a domain name holder sends us is complete and correct, this is one of our priorities. If there are cases of phishing or hacking with a .be domain name, we must be able to reach the domain name holder as quickly as possible. We try to keep the .be zone as safe as possible for all internet users. For this, we have different security projects that are ongoing and that we try to improve every day.   

What is the most common question you get?   

Most of the questions are about transfer codes: how to get them or use them. What to do if your data is not correct anymore? How do you update them? What to do if someone registered your domain on his own name, for example a webmaster? These are the most common questions, which you can find answers to in our FAQ :)

What word or phrase best explains what you do?  

Communication and empathy and a broad knowledge of the Internet and domain names specifically. You have to try as much as possible to put yourself in the customer's shoes. It's a sine qua non to help our clients the best we can.   

Learning throughout your life and enriching your knowledge: is there room for that in a job that requires a lot of availability?  

Yes, of course, there is room for that with us. It's true that in the support department you need to be very available. But that doesn't mean that we can't plan everything with our team of 3. There is a wide range of training courses, and you can choose the course you want to follow based on your own interests and ambitions. The idea is that you can define your own path. If you want to continue to learn and grow, DNS Belgium is the place for you.   

I have been working at DNS Belgium for 1.5 years now. During this period, I followed a course on Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). Next to that I followed a training to become a “person of trust”. Language training ('Wablieft'), training on how to communicate better, and a lot of workshops on health and communication.   

Do you take any specific initiatives at DNS, outside of your job?  

For the past six months I have been the “person of trust” at DNS Belgium, together with my colleague Hilde. A “person of trust” is someone you can always come to for a chat or to vent. No matter how big your company is, this is something your colleagues need. Besides this, there are several workgroups at DNS for which I could apply in the future.