It’s happened to everyone at some point. You sit down at your desk, turn on your computer or open an application and… nothing happens. Or even worse, something bad happens, like a blue screen of death.
Whenever something does go awry, do you have a help desk that can help you recover? Do you trust the person or team you rely on to solve your problem? If not, you have a serious problem.
Tech troubles are common, but can be catastrophic if handled incorrectly. Every business needs a help desk partner that can step in at a moment’s notice and mitigate or even head off failures. In the event of a disaster, a help desk should be able to recover lost data and restore your systems. Here’s what you need to consider when choosing you help desk support team.
ARE THEY A LOCAL PARTNER?
Thanks to technology, help desk teams can be located anywhere. Networking tools and remote support software make it possible for someone across the globe to solve a computer crisis. However, we believe there are certain benefits a local support staff can provide. The ability to become part of an organization as their IT team (or department) is another differentiator between onshore and offshore. Many companies want a single point of contact for all their IT requests.
At Elevity, we’re big enough to offer world-class service yet small enough to provide individualized support, thanks to a dedicated, local team of experts who will handle your account. When you contact your assigned Client Success Specialist, engineers or our 24/7/365 Midwest-based Service Desk to address any issues, you’ll hear a friendly and familiar voice who knows you and knows how to get things done. That’s not just marketing speak, we have a Service Desk Customer Satisfaction of 4.93 out of 5 and a first call resolution rate better than 84%.
IS YOUR HELP DESK PARTNER A FAST STARTER?
Do you know how fast your help desk partner will respond? If your Help Desk partner is legitimate and trustworthy, they will put this standard in writing and make it part of their Service Level Agreement (SLA).
SLAs need to document the scope and level of service provided. SLAs are generally made up of a combination of these elements:
- Service description: A detailed summary of the agreement, parties involved, and services provided
- Quality of the service: Details of the standard of the service
- Responsiveness of the service: Details of how quickly the service will be delivered
- Performance measuring: List of metrics that need to be measured, including how they are measured
- Conditions of cancellation: Details of conditions under which the terms of the agreement are waived
SLAs can be a powerful aid in setting expectations for your IT help desk partner and helping prioritize tickets to resolve issues on time. SLAs define service delivery standards and help you manage requesters' expectations better. It is vital to have an SLA in place for any help desk support relationships.
CAN YOUR HELP DESK KEEP YOU SECURE?
The biggest risk to any organization might not be security. You need a help desk that understands your security systems, your people and can stop security risks before they become security holes.
For example, at Elevity, we’ve deployed QuickPass to make sure out help desk can block social engineering attacks. The technology quickly verifies identities of all end-users that contact your help desk with verification codes sent by SMS, email or mobile push notifications. It will log identity verification requests and help unlock accounts without opening backdoor opportunities for cybercriminals.
A HELP DESK MUST BE A TEAM
A help desk needs to be a team of people, with technology as well as depth of experience so that you can have experts in several areas. Leaning on one or two individuals for IT help desk support will never suffice. We find that help desk support needs to be able to respond to an incident and perform triage to recover quickly.
For example, some help desk teams are moving towards working as dedicated pods, ensuring a customer always connects to the same small group of people. The pod will know your environment and will probably know you personally, so you don’t need to waste time on introductions. They can dive right into whatever issue or question you may have.
The Elevity Service Desk is just part of a fully managed technology solution from Elevity. We layer service desk support with our technology strategy, security and solutions to give organizations peace of mind and a strategic advantage in the market. To learn more, reach out to our team of technology experts and see if engaging a managed technology and help desk service is right for your business.
