A well managed help desk is critical to a company’s success — don’t cut corners!

A well-managed help desk is critical for your company’s success. Regardless of whether your business is large or small, your help desk can improve efficiency and boost profits by handling various tech problems that come up in the course of your business activities.

Why does a software program keep quitting unexpectedly? What’s the password for a certain device? Why did the device crash, and where are the data back-ups? These are just a few of issues your help desk might need to address.

What’s the worst advise we’ve ever heard about creating your own help desk?

You might have gotten advice about setting up your own help desk. The people giving you this advice might understand the purpose of a help desk; however, their suggestions will likely lead to wasted money and time, both in the short-term and long-term.

Here are several examples of terrible tips for creating your own help desk:

• Hire newbies. The idea is to cut costs by hiring people who are relatively inexperienced; furthermore, companies might not want to spend much on training them. But the costs of working with inexperienced and poorly trained employees will likely exceed any money you managed to initially save.
• Your help desk must do everything. Why else do you have a help desk, if not to handle every problem personally? Companies might have unrealistic expectations about how much work their help desk can handle without the staff cracking under the stress. It’s critical to find ways to help employees help themselves sometimes, especially with more minor computing problems, while the help desk staff handles more complex issues.
• Your help desk needs complete self-sufficiency. This is another unrealistic expectation – that your help desk staff must tackle every problem entirely on its own. There are times when consulting with outside experts is necessary.
• Email and phone are enough. Setting up a help desk might seem simple; all the staff needs to do is field emails and phone calls, right? Not at all. You need to have a system in place that prioritizes and organizes help desk interactions. This way, you can keep track of patterns of problems and respond to issues that demand the greatest urgency.
• Don’t waste time on feedback. In some companies, the help desk doesn’t bother soliciting or reviewing feedback. It’s considered a waste of time or a token gesture towards employees. However, feedback is essential. Complaints are worth listening to. Your help desk must respond to your company and its changing needs. Otherwise, it will  remain out of touch from your employees, who will also avoid making use of it.

Don’t hesitate to contact us about managing your help desk well. The most cost-effective decision you can make regarding your help desk is to outsource it or at least call on outside IT professionals to give you further support.