Tag Archives: #ITSupport

IT Help Desk: Facing Your Customer Support Challenges (Part 1)

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Two collegues diceussing customer support challenges in a IT help desk meeting

An MSP has tools to provide analytical data back to the help desk in real-time

In your mind, you already have an excellent customer support team that has the level of commitment you need to provide all of your customers with a high level of support they need at all times. While you will always have the best intentions to be one of the leaders in customer service, sometimes you are not always able to properly execute your strategy.

If you have a support team that is filled with determined individuals, you will likely run into several challenges along the way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being determined and ambitious, but it generally means you will face more obstacles along the way as you attempt to achieve your goals.

Every business today is distinctive, but businesses that are continuously growing will generally place a high priority tag on customer service and the customer experience you provide. Unfortunately, these businesses will generally have some of the same customer service problems.

Customer Support Problem #1: Lack of Proper Data

Today, businesses in all industries are discussing the importance of data and analytics. Businesses are learning what it means to be data-driven due to the influx of data. However, using that data and making it work for you is often one of the biggest challenges that today’s businesses are facing. If your business does not have the proper tools in place, how will you be able to collect data and organize the data you have accumulated about each of your customers?

Will you have the data you need to learn about who your customers are and what type of experience they have had with your business in the past? We understand how difficult a task this can seem to be, especially for businesses that have more data than they can handle. The more data a business has, the more difficult it can be to pay more attention to the data that is the most important to the goals you are trying to reach.

Over 50 percent of businesses will struggle to make wise data-driven decisions. If your business does not have the ability to make decisions based on data, you will be making wild guesses when it comes to your customer service strategy. One of the things you can do to solve this is by using the proper customer analytics strategy.

Solution #1: Generate The Reports You Need

We encourage you to set aside some time to list all of your goals. Once you have established your list of goals, you will be able to make a wise decision about the data that can help you meet those goals. The only indicators or metrics you should heavily focus on are the ones that will help you meet your goals. While there are other indicators and metrics you may want to focus on, they may lead to a long list of challenges and distractions.

For many customer service teams, the indicators or metrics you will need to pay close attention to will be related to the feedback you receive from customers and the feedback about your customer service agents. After you have determined the metrics you want to use, we encourage you to find a solution that will make it less challenging for you to collect all the data you need to have. When you have a comprehensive dashboard that consists of everything you need to have, you will be able to generate the relevant reports you need.

When everyone on your customer support team has access to the proper indicators and metrics, your business will be able to make better decisions using the data you have obtained. You will no longer have to make guesses as it relates to your decisions because you will now have the tools and resources you need to determine how your customer support is being viewed by your customers.

Contact us today for more information on how an effective IT help desk can help solve some of your biggest customer support challenges.

This concludes the first part of a two-part series. Come back for the second part of this blog where we share more customer support challenges and solutions.

How Many Channels Should Your IT Help Desk Have?

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IT help desk customer support agents using email, phone, screen sharing, and live chat

What is your preferred method for working with your managed service provider?

Running the IT help desk for your business is about more than just churning tickets and resolving problems. Communication is one of the biggest concerns of a help desk because each person who needs help will seek it in a different way. From the people you’re dealing with to the nature of the problems you’re solving, it’s important to include a variety of communication channels in your IT help desk infrastructure.

The more channels through which employees or customers can reach out for IT help when they need it and benefit from your assistance. More problems will be solved and the reputation of your IT help desk will skyrocket as users are delighted to find that you will connect in the ways that work best for them.

But which channels should you incorporate? Where should you start? Let’s take a look at the four leading channels that your IT help desk should incorporate.

Email

Email is the leading channel for IT help desks. Even if you connect over the phone, email is an essential element because so much more can be done through email than most other channels. Email is asynchronous communication, meaning that you and your users don’t have to be online at the same time to exchange information and work toward a solution. Email also allows for the trading of files and to carefully put together your responses with all the information, even if that takes some time per message.

In the business world, many people are most comfortable communicating through email. If your IT help desk makes email outreach available and responds promptly, this is essential for many of your users.

Phone

Phone is the other half of classic help desk communication. There are still people who are most comfortable getting in touch over the phone and will have the easiest time solving their problems by explaining over voice. The phone allows users to reach out with 100% certainty that they are dealing with a real human being ready to help with their problem. Those who don’t type confidently or who don’t know how to explain their situation will have an easier time over the phone, as well as older generation’s habitual preference for phone calls over text conversations.

Live Chat

The latest in help desk communication is live chat. Live chat comes in many forms and can be extremely versatile when implemented correctly. Live chat works through web browsers, mobile apps, and any other interface with a keyboard and internet access. The most appealing thing about live chat is that it is right in the middle between email and phone support.

Like phone support, live chat is real-time which means users get the answers they need immediately instead of waiting for a return email. But at the same time, it’s text communication where each message can be carefully put together and files can be shared as part of the problem-solving process. Live chat is quick, convenient, and you can easily send a transcript of your conversation over to a client so they can refer back to your help in the future.

Screen Sharing

Finally, no matter what conversational communication you choose, make sure that screen sharing is possible for your IT help desk. Screen sharing is most often paired with live chat or video calls. Most importantly, screen sharing allows technicians to take a look at user desktops to more deeply understand what is going wrong.

Often, clients don’t actually know how to explain what’s wrong with their computers or programs. They don’t have the industry vocabulary or understanding to accurately describe the problem. Screen sharing makes it possible for your team to get the info they need from the primary source without having to guess based on the words chosen from a customer. Reverse screen sharing can also give your technicians the ability to show clients exactly what to do by sharing their own desktops and demonstrating the fix step-by-step.

Does your IT help desk need an upgrade? Contact us today to find out more about how to improve the performance and versatility of your IT help desk.

10 Instances When Should You Call Your Managed IT Team?

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Mature business man at an office desk looking at a laptop while calling his managed IT team for help

Your managed service provider is here to handle all of these issues plus many more, let us handle it and you can get back to what you do best!

Working with a Managed IT service comes with a surprising number of perks. It’s like having an on-staff IT team, only instead of you taking care of them, they take care of you. A managed IT team makes it their business to keep an eye on your system and make sure your business tech performs exactly the way you want it to. They’ll help you build the perfect tech stack, select and setup the right hardware, and make sure all your software services work together. But they’re also there for the tough times when your team needs tech support.

So today, we’re featuring ten times when you should absolutely call your Managed IT team for assistance, guidance, or to make your other services shape up and act right.

When Your Computers Malfunction

If your computers stop functioning properly, in any way, then you can call your managed IT team for help. Sometimes, it’s as easy as turning the device or app off and back on again, but often technical problems are beyond the skills of your service teams. After all, there’s a big difference between being able to use software that’s working correctly and fix something that is not working the way it ought.

When Your Internet Stops working

One of the most common calls we get is when the internet for your office building goes out. Internet service providers are not always reliable, and worse, they don’t often put a rush on getting your service back online even when your entire business depends on availability to your customers and partners. A managed IT team will get on the phone and get to the bottom of your ISP outage.

When Your Software Won’t Work Together

Every modern business has a tech stack that is supposed to work synergistically. Each piece of software supplies data or infrastructure for the next. And when they stop working together, everything can come to a crashing halt. When your system stops working together, it’s time to call your managed IT team who will get your software all neatly stacked once more.

When It’s Time to Upgrade Your Software

Upgrades are a delicate part of any business’ lifecycle. When one piece of software in your tech stack is about to change its code, you need the rest of the stack to stay put and to ensure that the changes won’t wreck your current system. Your managed IT team can handle that for you.

When You Want to Rebuild Your Tech Stack

Likewise, you need to add new software to the stack or replace an older piece of the stack with the latest best variation, call your managed IT team to make sure everything integrates just the way you need it to.

When You Need Your Current Software to Do Something New

Interestingly, your managed IT team can also help when you’re not changing a thing, except how you use the software you have. When your business evolves, expands, or adopts a new practice, it can be necessary to find new ways to use your current technology. You can trust your team’s expertise to know how to put the features of your business software to new and creative use.

When You’re Worried That a Hacker Might Have Infiltrated

If everything is going well except that you’ve seen signs that perhaps a hacker or malware has infiltrated the system, your managed IT team is where you turn to for advice. They can help check for defense breaches and get rid of any lingering scripts or malicious software that may have taken root. As well as knowing what to do when there’s risk of a data breach.

When You Have New Regulations to Meet

Speaking of data breaches, the latest wave of data security regulations is ever-more strict and your managed IT team can help you get compliant. When there are new regulations released or your business starts doing something that requires new regulations, we can help make sure your standard operating procedure is within the new parameters.

When You’ve Lost Data to a Common Data Disaster

When fire, flood, or human error causes your business to lose a chunk of important data or access to data-handling devices, your managed IT team can help you restore everything from backups and sometimes even recover the latest data from a damaged source.

When You Need to Set Up a New Location

Finally, if your business is moving or expanding into a new location, your managed IT team can help you get everything set up in the new place exactly the way you need it, from the hardware and workstations to integration with your cloud services.

Contact us today to find out more about what managed IT can do for your business and how to get the most from your managed IT services!

5 Reasons to Outsource Your Business’ IT Work

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High angle shot of a group of outsourced IT agents working in an office

Outsourcing your IT department is cost effective, provides peace of mind that everything is getting done correctly, and allows you to concentrate on what you do best.

In the last twenty years, IT support has become absolutely mandatory for any business, no matter how small or niche. Your team uses computers, mobile devices, and a full stack of cloud-based software to streamline the work. Your website and server need to be secure and maintained. Your workplace internal network needs to be kept safe from hackers so that employee computers and client files are protected.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that every business under the sun needs an on-staff IT team, or even just one IT employee. In an environment where IT is required for every type of business, it only makes sense that IT outsourcing has become incredibly popular. From network security to website management, many companies are bringing in IT when and where they are needed without worrying about hiring in-house.

Let’s take a closer look at five of the leading reasons why businesses choose to outsource their IT.

1) You Don’t Have Enough IT Work for a Full-Time Staff Member

A large number of small businesses, simply don’t have enough ongoing IT work to keep a single full-time IT professional busy. Once your tech stack is set up and your network is secure, you only need to be checked in on a few times a year and have someone to call in case of emergency. The vast majority of outsourced IT comes from small businesses who partner with contractable IT teams. This partnership works well because you only purchase as much IT support as your business needs. At the same time, the IT professionals get to stay busy by helping dozens of companies with their setup and troubleshooting tasks.

2) You Are a Startup Without a Plan for On-Staff IT Yet

Many a startup also choose to outsource their initial IT and may continue to outsource for a long time. Even highly technical startups who may eventually staff their own team of IT will outsource at the beginning in order to get that launching momentum. An independent IT team can help a startup set up their initial computers, software, and security so that they can start selling and worry about hiring a larger team in-house later when the revenue is right.

3) IT Hiring Competition is Fierce

You may also have noticed that IT professionals are in incredibly high demand, pushing up the hiring price and employment packages that are standard for each job title. Larger companies that are big enough for their own IT teams are clamoring to hire the technicians and admins available, but there just aren’t enough to go around.

So why worry about competing to hire your own IT professional when you can outsource from the independents who have opted out of the dedicated corporate support lifestyle? In fact, by offering outsourced IT, these teams are making sure there is enough IT support to go around even with a limited pool of technicians and admins.

4) In-House IT is Covered, But You Need Website Management

Another interesting variation are businesses that do already have an in-house IT professional or an entire team, but with needs beyond in-house IT tasks. On-staff IT may have your network security, backups, and software stack maintenance down-pat but the most common outsourced task is related to the website. In fact, any IT professional will tell you that website security and maintenance is a somewhat separate skillset from server, network, and internal software maintenance. So it makes sense to outsource for specific website needs or projects that are outside the ken of your on-staff team.

5) You Temporarily Need IT Specialists to Rebuild Your Software Stack or a Big Project

Finally, there are instances when you need outside IT support temporarily for some big technical undertaking. Rebuilding your software tech-stack, for example, is a huge task that your company or even on-staff It may not be comfortable tackling on your own. Large projects that are extremely time-consuming like data transfer or a super-sized backup recovery project can also lead businesses to temporarily hire outsourced IT support. This allows your regular IT maintenance team to keep providing their everyday support while the outsourced team handles the huge load of technical work that is only needed for a short time.

Is your company considering IT outsourcing for the long-term, for a special purpose, or to tackle an oversized technical project? We can help! Contact us today to find out more about how outsourced IT teams can enhance your business functionality, security, and efficiency based on your unique company needs.