If you’ve ever faced a frustrating technology problem at work—be it with your computer, software, or printer—and didn’t know how to resolve it, you know how frustrating it can be. Having a reliable expert to guide you or even solve the issue for you is invaluable. As a leading provider of managed IT services, we deliver comprehensive help desk support for businesses. Our front line team members have helped countless users with a variety of technological challenges. We’re here today to answer some of the most common questions we hear and and pass on some nuggets of wisdom for those that need it. Let’s start with some fundamental that can help you understand the role of the help desk. Then we will dive into practical ways you can problem solve on your own.
What is an IT help desk?
IT help desks are often the first point of contact between a business and its employees struggling with their devices. They provide support either in person, over the phone, via email, or by connecting remotely into a device to help. These teams of tech experts are available to troubleshoot issues related to computers, software, and hardware. Their main job is to quickly fix problems or answer tech questions that people have so employees can work most efficiently. Some businesses have an internal IT help desk, and some completely outsource this service. Still, others work out a hybrid solution with both internal employees and external resources to support the internal team.
Measuring help desk success
An effective help desk is one that can listen and resolve IT problems quickly so that employees can spend less time troubleshooting, and more time helping grow the business. There are several key performance indicators (KPI’s) that can be used to evaluate a help desk. Quantifying these key metrics consistently and accurately allows help desk managers to determine if overall issues are due to staffing or training. Some of the most common are:
- First Response Time (FRT)Time: How long does it take for the team to initially respond to an open request?
- Average Resolution Time (ART): What is the average time it takes for the tech team to solve a help desk request?
- Ticket Volume Total: How many tickets are they getting during a specific period of time.
- Tickets Opened vs Tickets Resolved: Of the tickets they receive, how many of them are resolved?
- First Contact Resolution Rate: How many tickets are fixed on the first request?
- Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Score: How satisfied are customers with their experience?
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) Compliance Rate: How often are tickets resolved within their expected resolution time frame? Ex. a non-emergent ticket may be assigned a longer time frame, while emergent tickets are assigned a shorter time frame.
Armed with these metrics, a strong help desk manager can focus their efforts on healthy growth for the overall organization. If there is a long FTR, and large Ticket Volume Total and ticket resolutions are constantly missing their SLA compliance rate, then the overall issue is likely staffing. If there are 1 or 2 individuals that are struggling with meeting these goals, the manager can dive in and figure out how to better train the employee.
Common questions we hear
I’m going on vacation, how can I change my voicemail recording?
The easiest way to do this is to go to your office desk phone and push the voicemail button on the front of the device. This will take you into the voicemail portal where you can enter your voicemail pin and then listen and pick the option to change your voicemail greeting message.
How can I add or remove users from a shared OneDrive folder?
For adding or removing users from a shared OneDrive folder, navigate to the OneDrive website or shared folder on your device. Once there, right-click on the shared folder and select ‘Manage Access’. From there, you can add or remove people as needed.
How do I connect to a Wi-Fi network on my Windows device?
To connect to a Wi-Fi network on your Windows device, click on the Network icon located in the bottom right-hand corner of your taskbar. This will open a list of available networks. Simply select the network you wish to connect to and enter the password.
My printer is offline, can you help me get it working again?
Sure, a quick fix could be simply restarting your printer or checking the connection between your printer and computer. If that doesn’t help, it may be an issue with the printer driver which you can update via your device’s system settings.
IT outsourcing accounts for more than 70% of the global outsourcing market, and that number is expected to continue to increase. A recent study by Computer Economics showed that 49.6% of companies surveyed plan to increase their IT outsourcing in 2024.
So why are so many businesses ready to utilize third parties to manage their IT, including help desk functions? The answer is simple. Contracting out these operations can provide numerous organizational benefits.
- Cost savings: Organizations get teams of experts at a fraction of the cost of in house expertise.
- Scalability, outsourcing provides flexibility, letting businesses easily adjust to changing demand without the challenges of hiring and training new staff.
- Increased efficiency: Rapid troubleshooting ensures peak productivity for both users and executives.
- Expertise: IT professionals keep the technology running smoothly so users can focus on priorities.
- Stress relief: It alleviates burdens from in-house staff by reducing their workload.
Outsourcing help desk support is not just a cost-saving measure, it’s a strategic move that allows businesses to focus more on their core functions. With a dedicated team, you get specialized knowledge and experience which can result in superior service quality.
If technology is at the core of your business, investing in help desk support is not just beneficial but essential for maintaining productivity, security, and competitive edge in the digital age. IT Enabled provides managed IT support for businesses that includes help desk services. These services are designed to quickly respond to technical issues, ensuring your systems stay up and running. In turn, your business can stay focused on growth, while leaving tech issues to the experts. Ready to make a change? Contact us to find out more.