Category Archives: Manage Service

The Benefits of 24 x 7 x 365 Proactive Monitoring of Network Infrastructure

IT professional in an IT company using a tablet device performing proactive monitoring of networks.

Increase your company’s productivity through proactive network monitoring.

In IT, proactive network infrastructure monitoring is critical in order to ensure that systems are operating properly. Proactive monitoring allows IT teams to understand how systems are performing 24/7, which could help to prevent potentially costly network failures and server downtime. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on a proactive approach to infrastructure maintenance, many IT departments spend the majority of their time responding to unexpected problems. However, continuous monitoring can play a critical role in preventing problems and saving money, as this can allow solutions to be implemented before system failures occur, enhancing productivity. If your IT department currently takes a reactionary approach to network infrastructure maintenance, here is a look at just a few of the reasons why it is critical that you make the switch to proactive network infrastructure monitoring.

Proactive Monitoring Gives You More Control

As a modern business, your IT network is critical in ensuring that your company is productive, secure, and relevant. Proactive network infrastructure monitoring can then prove beneficial by helping you to ensure the health of your network. Monitoring allows you to keep track of the performance of hardware, ensuring that you are always aware of your server capacities and the health of your network. Continuous monitoring will provide you with resources to ensure that you have full control over your network at all times.

Prevent Potential Disasters

One of the biggest benefits of proactive network infrastructure monitoring is that it ensures that you always know how your network is operating. This helps to ensure that you are not caught off guard by unexpected problems. The last thing you want is to receive a phone call that your systems are down, as this can bring business to a halt. Proactive monitoring ensures that your network is always being observed for prospective problems or patterns indicating that a problem may soon arise, giving you time to make adjustments before there is a catastrophic system failure.

Increased Productivity

Of course, proactive network infrastructure monitoring can also be critical in helping to maximize productivity. Not only will proactive monitoring prevent downtime, which can severely dampen productivity, but it will also allow you to monitor your network for potential performance problems. As your network utilization grows, you will want to ensure that you are planning ahead for the additional bandwidth this will require. The last thing you want to have happen is to lose out on precious productivity because your network is being slowed down by too many users attempting to access your network at the same time. Fortunately, proactive monitoring allows you to check what is being used at any given time. Tracking usage patterns will allow you to ensure continuous service availability, preventing costly delays that a slow network can cause.

Proactive Monitoring Saves Money

A big reason to get ahead of the game with proactive monitoring of network infrastructure is that this can help you to reduce expenses and increase profits. The fact is that prevention through monitoring costs less in the long run. Instead of continuously reacting to problems as they arise, and struggling with the consequences of network downtime, proactive monitoring helps you to implement cost-effective solutions that will prevent these problems while saving you money. Additionally, ensuring that your employees have access to a fast, reliable network will boost productivity, potentially leading to increased profits.

In the long run, taking a reactionary approach to maintaining your network infrastructure will likely cost you time and money, putting you at a disadvantage over the competition. Feel free to contact us to learn more about proactive network monitoring and the benefits it can provide to your business.

5 Easy Steps to Improve Your IT Help Desk

Diverse group of employees with headsets working at computers in an office.

The IT help desk is a fast paced area that is constantly evolving.

The customer assistance center, also known as the IT help desk, is one of the key points in your business; It is through this that many reassuring or traumatic experiences transit for your clients. Call centers play a vital role in business efficiency. At the end of the day, your level 2 help desk technician team is often the face of your factory, and customer experiences will often be defined by the skills and quality of support they receive. The following will therefore help you better understand what needs to be done to improve the quality of your customer care center.

1. Reorganize the hiring and training process

One of the best methods to improve the quality of your IT help desk is to improve their service levels. Effective training and coaching practices can make your agents highly competent and help them move closer to their individual goals.

This is only possible if you hire a level 2 help desk technician with the right skills from the start and offer them personalized training to give them the opportunity to excel in their role.

A dynamic, motivated, and competent team of technicians will undoubtedly develop a sense of excellence and reduce the operational costs of the call center.

2. Revitalize and motivate agents

One of the keys to having a team of effective IT help desk technicians on hand is motivation.

To have motivated teams, team managers must design different strategies and activities that will strengthen team spirit. Establishing a valuation of each agent and a good corporate culture is one of the best ways to keep the morale of the troops at its highest level.

You can set up a reward-based motivation system like bonuses. Managers can also develop self-assessment programs for your level 1 help desk technician group and identify relevant actions to improve KPIs.

3. Solicit customer feedback

No matter how proactive you are, you will never be able to address every problem every customer has. To make sure you learn more about the good and unpleasant experience of your customers, create an easily accessible way for them to provide feedback.

You can opt for a telephone survey at the end of a service call or an electronic survey sent directly from your CRM tool and even a form on the “Contact Us” page of your website. It also helps dissatisfied customers to express their dissatisfaction.

Whichever option you choose, remember the importance of customer satisfaction feedback. Not only will you notice touchpoints and resolutions that need improvement, but your subscribers will see that you have a top-notch proactive IT help desk for them.

4. Take negative reviews into account

No one likes to receive negative reviews and yet everyone gets criticized at one time or another. Instead of being hurt, take them as a great opportunity to turn your customer’s experience into something satisfying. No one runs a perfect business with the perfect clients.

Receiving any kind of feedback can help you learn and grow as you go (as long as the criticism is constructive …). Dealing with a complaint or a bad experience shows customers that their voice is heard and that each and every one of them is important to every Level 1 help desk technician in your business. This engagement can thus increase the loyalty of your customers.

5. Invest in monitoring services

There are several software formats for help desk monitoring. Investing in an eye like this can turn out to be a good investment. SystemsNet can provide managed IT services that offer full tracking of the user experience from the first call to the outcome satisfaction survey after product delivery. Choosing a reliable IT Help Desk solution is undoubtedly a good way to improve the quality of call tracking. Contact us to learn more!

4 Benefits of a Live Answer Help Desk

Woman working in a call center live help desk using a headset and computer to attend to calls.

Live Answer help desk provides fast tech support to customers

A new breed of consumers has forced businesses to make changes to their methods of communication. One of the most challenging aspects of making these adjustments is the fact that buyers want to communicate with a member of your help desk in real-time. One of the most effective ways to connect with current customers and potential customers to meet them in a channel they are comfortable with. Today, this is digitally and on your website via a live help desk.

Responding better and faster to a lead or a potential customer will leave a better first impression than making customers wait for someone to address their needs. Not only will this make them happier, but it can have a major impact on your ability to convert. A live answer help desk is one of the quickest methods of customer service, but it used to be frustrating.

Customers would sit there waiting for twenty minutes waiting for someone to connect only to be disconnected or directed to contact someone by phone. Customers would sit there wondering why the live answer help desk even existed if it was not going to work. So, why exactly do customers prefer to use a Live Answer Help Desk? Let’s find out:

Live Answer Saves Time

When it comes to your customers and potential customers, they will expect the same quick response they receive when they use their favorite electronic devices and equipment. One of the best ways to improve your business is by maximizing efficiency and productivity in the same amount of time. Live Answer can help.

One of the first things you can do is to analyze response times and how long it takes to resolve an issue. After these actions, you will be able to discover that Live Answer can help you reduce these times significantly. By using Live Answer, your customers can receive answers to their questions in 2 minutes. With Live Answer, there are no automated hoops to go through; customers will get their opportunity to speak to a trained and knowledgeable technician.

Live Answer Increases Sales

If you are looking for new and fresh ways to grow your business, then Live Answer could be your answer. When you have a live answer option on your website, it can have a significant impact on sales. Many customers prefer buying from websites with a live chat option. Customers can get instant answers to their queries, and live support options during the checkout process can increase conversation rates.

Many customers also need to speak to a real person before making a purchase online. Without a live help desk option, you can be missing out on sales. With live help desk options, you can be on your way to increasing sales and helping your buyers in the process.

Live Answer Provides Tech Support

Live Answer agents are trained to follow protocols and provide information to customers and clients to ensure their technical and IT problems are properly addressed. Live Answer agents can troubleshoot or offer suggestions and resolve problems without any interference. Some clients may need tech support and IT support urgently.

When a client, employee, customer, etc. is faced with an urgent need, they will want their issue to be quickly responded to and fixed before the issue turns into a major catastrophe. Live Answer agents will be on alert at all times, providing an immediate response to chats, phone calls, and emails.

Gain A Competitive Advantage

While it is true that many companies have implemented Live Answer options on their website, but not so many that it has become ordinary in every industry. This presents a great opportunity for your company. You can step out and quickly gain a competitive advantage over your competition by offering this option.

A Live Answer help desk will allow you to get ahead of your competition. You have the opportunity to put your offering in place before your competitors. Make Live Answer help desk an option and improve the level of customer service you offer. Once you gain an understanding of how the Live Answer Help Desk will work, you will be able to arm yourself with the tools you need to create leads and convert them into long-lasting and loyal customers.

If you are ready to get a head start on your competition, contact us today.

6 Essential Functions of an IT Help Desk

Female IT help desk provider speaking with a customer.

Providing real-time assistance to customers is the goal

Every IT help desk serves a dedicated purpose, supporting some software or platform for the people who use it. Some IT help desks are internal, helping employees of one or more companies keep their technology on-track for productive work days. Other IT help desks are customer-facing and help smooth the interface between customers and the technology product.

No matter what type of IT help desk you manage, the platform and tools used to provide IT help desk services are essential. Your tools define how well you can help clients, customers, and colleagues. With the right tools, the help-desk work done today can be used to improve service quality in the future both for the current client and your entire service population.

Let’s dive into six of the most essential features for an IT help desk to implement.

1. Ticket Managing System

First and foremost, no help desk is complete without software that provides ticket management. A ticket is a single service request from one of your clients or customers. The ticket usually connects to their customer account, email address, phone number, and a short summary of the problem. From there, IT help desk teams can take the tickets as assigned or claim tickets that their skills are best suited to solve.

The ticket system is essential to ensure that all clients’ problems are addressed quickly from beginning to end until the solution process. Tickets avoid the mistakes of lost requests and calls dropped during transfers because the ticket is not closed until the issue is resolved.

2. Customer Account Service Log

A basic help desk system handles one call at a time. But troubleshooting sometimes takes several calls to find the problem and patterns are essential in diagnosing technical malfunctions. This means that account tracking and service logs are an essential part of a good IT help desk system. When a customer calls, emails, or instant-messages, the ticket they create should be attached to their existing customer or client account. The next time that customer calls in, their previous service and solution should be visible to the rep who takes the ticket.

Tracking past service history can allow IT techs to see if the same problem recurs, if a cluster of problems might have the same root, or if one client just needs clockwork reminding on how to access and change their settings. In addition, it provides a continuity of service, so that reps are aware and can knowledgeably interact based on a customer’s full service experience.

3. Edit and Notate Customer Accounts for Future Services

Beyond creating service continuity with a simple log, an IT help desk also benefits from the ability to edit a customer’s account and leave notes for future service reps who find themselves handling an individual account. Techs can help each other and, as a result, the customer by leaving helpful notes in the right files.

For example, a tech might note that a customer’s home internet is slow, that they are running a legacy operating system, or that they prefer first names to formal address. These little notes serve as guideposts for techs in the future.

4. Email Alerts and Confirmations with Customers

Every IT help desk platform should also include email automation. Clients should get their first email when the ticket is creating, acknowledging their customer service request and letting them know that the solution is underway. If necessary, procedural emails may be used to trade information or share documents between the customer and their IT rep. Finally, customers should receive one confirmation email after their ticket has been resolved. This final email may include a link to provide service feedback.

5. Active Ticket Transfers to Specialist Reps

If a ticket cannot be completed by the rep who first accepts the call or chat, then a transfer may be necessary. A call may be transferred to the floor manager or to a specialist who has experience helping customers with specific needs. Transfers are also the most common error point in a customer service and IT help desk system. It is essential that customers not be lost or dropped during a transfer.

An active ticket system is put in place to keep track of tickets, even when they are handled by someone new. With notation, the new specialist on the case can even quickly skim the past conversation, notes left by the first rep, and jump right into helping the customer with accurate advice.

6. Ticket Resolution

Last but not least is appropriate ticket resolution. IT help desk tickets should never be lost or set aside without resolution. The finality of a ticket should be an email of success to the client. If a ticket is not closed, it will still need to be solved unless an admin formally closes the ticket and contacts the client to further address their concerns.

Looking to boost your IT help desk performance or find a remote help desk solution? We are ready to make it happen. Contact us today to consult on your company’s help desk needs.