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General Information
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November 9, 2007
• Vol.29 Issue 45
Page(s) 26 in print issue
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Improve Your Help Desk’s Efficiency
SMEs Can Focus On Automation, Service & Common Sense
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The help desk is an integral part of any organization, regardless of size. But for small to medium-sized enterprises that lack the financial and personnel resources of larger enterprises, the help desk is often little more than an afterthought for the IT department. Despite the lack of revenue generation, an efficiently operated help desk can result in productive employees and satisfied customers—always a positive addition to the bottom line.
“When we look at small to medium-sized businesses, generally there are two to five analysts who will be supporting the users, or it might be outsourced externally,” says Rajeev Shrivastava, senior director of product marketing at SupportSoft (www.supportsoft.com), a global provider of help desk software and services for the automation of technology problem resolution.
However, you can take some simple steps to optimize help desk efficiency.
 Self Service & Assisted Service
Lacking a big budget means that SMEs don’t generally install a lot of self-service or proactive IT support solutions, but according to Shrivastava, there are two areas where smaller organizations can make a huge impact on the quality of their help desk efficiency: self-service and assisted service.
Shrivastava sees the greatest opportunities to hasten help desk operations through improvements to assisted services. For example, most help desk calls begin through telephone contact, which means the user contacts a help desk analyst who must not only discuss the issue but also ask numerous questions regarding the user’s system, application, operating system, the service pack installed, the machine’s configuration, and anything else required to walk the user through the steps to resolve the problem. If the analyst cannot resolve the problem via the telephone, he may then have to physically access the user’s system.
But if the help desk had the tools to automatically capture the requisite information, the time spent verbally collecting specifics could be better spent troubleshooting the problem. “If you think about those calls, they are typically 10 to 15 minutes’ duration. If you can knock off three to five minutes off each call, then suddenly you can handle 60% more volume and can be more productive in a small organization,” notes Shrivastava.
Saving even more time are applications, such as SupportSoft’s Accelerator, which offers self-service tools that allow users to resolve their own problems without the involvement of help desk personnel. It’s important to keep in mind that any self-service solution is only as good as the content. “If you only have a few pieces of content, it’s unlikely that you are going to be solving lots of problems,” says Shrivastava, who points out that for a self-service solution to be productive, there needs to be sufficient content and functionality for users to help themselves. “At a smaller company, if you don’t have a lot of time and resources, then you are better off trying to improve your phone support or assisted support experience and then gradually deploying self-service,” he says.
Numara Software’s Track-It! (www.numarasoftware.com), BMC Remedy Service Desk (www.bmc.com), and HelpSTAR (www.helpstar.com) also provide help desk solutions for organizations ranging in size from 100 to 100,000 users.
Still worried about spending money on a commercial help desk solution? Open-source options, such as Trouble Ticket Express (www.troubleticketexpress.com), are another alternative. This freely available software for the open-source trouble ticket system implements Web-based CGI scripts for a variety of features, including bug tracking, customer support, project management, and to-do lists.
Common Sense
An intelligent approach toward help desk operations increases effectiveness. Smaller organizations can recognize when processes are being duplicated, but for larger enterprises, especially with multiple locations, duplicative help desk operations can quickly generate additional costs. Centralizing help desk functions will improve consistency and efficiency and lower costs.
Listening day after day to users complain that their systems aren't working can wear down even the steeliest of help desk analysts. Help desk turnover has the potential to be an incredible drain on both the budget and efficiency. According to Help Desk Software, a clearinghouse for help desk resources, "The cost of recruitment (which includes management time to review resumes and engage in an interview process), training, lost productivity while a new employee is learning the ropes, coupled with the cost of temporary personnel to fill the gap between old and new employees, can cost between 75 and 150% of a help desk professional’s salary.” Companies can bank on savings from long-term help desk employees through investments in extra training, professional certifications, and flexible hours. 
by Sandra Kay Miller
Strategies For A Successful Help Desk
• Start with a goal. Define what the help desk will ultimately provide.
• Take small steps. Don’t try to implement everything at once.
• Define your customer. Understand what types of users and applications will require support.
• Hire skilled people. No one wants to call the help desk when it is staffed with less-than-knowledgeable people.
• Have a good attitude. Similarly, no one wants to deal with help desk staff who are rude or arrogant.
• Automate. Streamlining repetitive processes will increase efficiency.
• Limit turnover. Constantly hiring and training new staff is not only expensive, but it also reduces effectiveness.
• Eliminate redundancy. Defining a standard process for how users request help can eliminate needless duplication of services. |
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