You Deserve a Self-Serving Help Desk
If the thought of calling or emailing your IT support frustrates you, then you deserve better! Let’s face it, the days of calling your IT Consultant directly and them picking up on the first ring and fixing your problems instantaneously are over, if this ever really existed in the first place. Aberdeen Group recently reported 74% of all IT requests originate from an email. So as users, we are shifting away from phone calls and stuck now on using emails to initiate the help we need. If you are anything like me, you probably receive hundreds of emails a day, the majority of which are non-solicited and non-relevant. Sure email is less invasive than a phone call, but it is very easy to read an email and get pulled away before you respond, and then boom, 10 new emails come to your inbox and before too long, your IT help request is buried and long forgotten. I am not discounting that there are systems organizations can put in place to make calling or emailing their help desk successful. I am simply telling you not to settle if that is not happening for you.
What most users want and deserve is a self-service experience that is convenient and easy. One of the new trends in help desk being adopted by IT companies is a self-service portal as the single point of engagement for all users, enabling them to report issues, make requests, ask questions, and determine status. A client portal allows you to have a username and password to log-in and from there you are able to manage your account. Outside of the simple task of entering a ticket and checking its status, there are other benefits to keeping all of your service tickets in one location. When it comes time to renew your service with your IT company, wouldn’t it be helpful to go back and see if you actually utilized their services. Were your tickets closed in an acceptable time frame, are there any lingering issues or re-occurring issues? When you put a request in for IT help using phone or email, it takes a lot of time and effort to try to piece together a trail of service throughout the year.
There are other methods of self-service help available in addition to a client portal. Knowledge base portals are becoming popular, we see it a lot with our Epicor ERP clients. Automated knowledge sharing allows users to find answers on their own and reduces their need to rediscover or find stored information. It can be tailored to different personas, levels, departments, and roles so it’s easier for users to contribute and learn. In some cases, by being able to access answers to simple questions on your own, you don’t have to request Consultant help, saving you both time and money. In addition, does your IT Consultant offer regular newsletters, updates with quick tips, and how-to information tidbits? The goal with offering a knowledge portal is to prevent incidents before they occur.
Here are 3 reasons you need to demand a self-service help desk:
- Greater efficiency and productivity
- A lower cost of service using automation to replace manual efforts, thus saving the user money
- Increased user satisfaction as you get to help yourself, instead of waiting for IT to respond
If your current IT Consultant does not offer you options for self-service, you need to ask what’s their plan for improving the user experience and IT efficiency. 2W Technologies currently makes getting help EASY as 1-2-3. Help desk options available via phone, email, web. There is also a Client Portal available for all clients, complete with a integrated knowledge base area. If you are unhappy with your IT Consultant or are looking to find one for the first time, give us a call and see how we can offer you the complete self-service help desk experience you deserve.
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