Having reliable help desk services can reduce IT downtime so you can optimize every technology-related service. Help desk services are designed to provide quick support of technical issues and incidents that end-users experience every so often.
For a help desk to function effectively, they must have enough technical support and expertise to ensure an end-user can get back to their normal operations. Thus, managed help desk services often utilize relevant technologies to record, monitor, and manage any issue. Further, it helps to optimize productivity when incidents are resolved in record time.
What are the advantages of managed help desk services?
Vendors who offer managed help desk services provide a reliable point of contact for businesses that need help with complex technical issues and may not have enough IT staff in-house. A help desk professional will collect data about the issue and provide a road map for mitigating the current problem and similar problems in the future. Managed helpdesk services can also be valuable for a remote working environment where employees need access to helpdesk support from anywhere. Other significant advantages, include:
Access to IT experts
One of the primary benefits of help desk services is access to highly experienced IT experts. They can cater to any organization size and sector while offering quick and efficient incident resolution. Typically, they are certified in a large range of competencies and technologies to ensure relevant support for any technical issue.
Mitigate risks
It’s important to mitigate technical business risks before they overwhelm your teams and systems. Managed help desk services can help with anything from human error to hardware failures to malware and viruses. It’s nice to know you can always count on an expert team to offer support and quick recovery time.
Decrease operational costs
Help desk services may include device and server maintenance. It may also include downtime prevention and IT problem resolution 24/7. Your organization does not have to wait until normal business hours to solve an issue, so there is less downtime, and more uptime.
Resolve problems more quickly
Whether you need to call a help desk agent or send a support ticket, you will always get support from a certified IT professional within minutes via the communication medium of your choice. They will either walk you through the problem or manage it remotely. Responding quickly will help your organization save both time and money.
Install the latest technologies
It’s always nice to install the latest technologies. The problem is figuring out which ones to choose. However, new technologies help your organization to remain competitive. Help desk services can ensure your employees and your customers use any new technology how it was intended to be used. They can install and configure your technical equipment so that they are integrated and work as designed without causing preventable disruptions.
Improve process efficiency
Your processes are the heart of your organization, and they define how your business operates. But, bad technology can drive bad processes. On the other hand, managed help desk services can figure out the technical aspects of every job so your employees can spend more time focusing on what they were hired to do.
Have a team on standby
In the always-on world, it’s vital to have help desk services on standby 24/7 to answer any questions and address any issues. Managing a 24/7 business can become overwhelming quickly. To scale your business rapidly requires consistent help desk services support to assist with any technical issues.
It would be nice if most businesses could afford a full-time dedicated IT team, but the costs would be tremendous. It’s nice to know you can access managed help desk services teams who are always on top of the latest technological advancements. In addition, their job is to ensure your systems are managed and maintained. You can also turn to them for advice on any technical product or service.
Be proactive
Isn’t it time to become proactive rather than reactive? Do you have enough team members who have the capacity to work on administrative issues, fixes, or bugs? Instead, when an end-user experiences a glitch, you can receive immediate support from your help desk services team.
Not only will this enhance productivity, but it also ensures your teams can work collaboratively without service or communication disruption.
Address rare issues
Every now and then, there are rare technical issues that come up and can baffle even the most experienced in-house team. If your company is expanding, then you’re probably also installing more systems and applications. The good news is managed help desk services teams are experienced and have a wide range of skills and knowledge. They developed these skills by working in multiple industries and on a diverse set of issues.
What happens if there’s an issue you’ve never encountered? Still, even if the glitch is new to your in-house team, it’s probable another organization has already dealt with it. Typically, your managed help desk services team has the experience to figure it out and resolve the issue.
Improve backup and disaster recovery
Even if technology is not the core of your business, if you have a digital footprint, then your organization would be hampered if an issue comes about. The risks may vary from small to significant. If you don’t understand the risk potential of data loss, then you would certainly benefit from added support in this area.
Be part of the solution
When disaster strikes, it helps to have a help desk services team on standby to ensure your systems are running as they should be and your customers can still access your services. It’s crucial to have access to experts with wide-ranging technical expertise including backup and disaster recovery.
Remove hiring obstacles
These days, with the IT professional shortage, it’s a challenge to hire a full-time in-house team. To overcome this challenge, you can partner with a managed help desk services vendor.
Stay on top of current trends
Technologies are always evolving, and it’s difficult to keep up with their sophistication. You’re probably already overwhelmed with your daily activities, who has time to read up on every new technology to hit the market. On the other hand, outsourcing help desk services gives you access so you don’t have to keep up but someone will do it for you.
How much does it cost to outsource help desk services?
Concerning outsourcing help desk services, different vendors have varying pricing models. It’s not always easy to pick the best option for your organization. Some providers offer services per call. Others may do so at flat-rate pricing. It’s critical to understand how the pricing models work. Some questions to ask:
- How do they charge for overages?
- What if your call volumes increase?
- Can you switch pricing models easily?
Instant access
To start, consider these vital metrics:
- Average talk time
- Industry averages for help desk services
- Inbound to outbound ratio
Answers to these metrics can help determine the best pricing model for your business. Below are the most common help desk services pricing models:
- Pay per ticket
- Pay per call
- Pay per minute
- Pay per agent
- Pay per user
Pay per ticket
This model incurs a cost for every incident or ticket that your end-users create by contacting the help desk. Once the vendor completes the ticket or resolves it to the best of their ability, you make a payment. The average cost per ticket is around $20. With this model you only pay for what you need and use. However, you must stay on top of how many tickets are generated to manage your overall costs.
Pay per call
Like the pay per ticket, you pay for every inbound and outbound call your help desk services team manages. It’s a straightforward pricing model that makes sense for many organizations. On the other hand, it’s not as efficient as it seems. Some issues take multiple calls to resolve, and the costs can add up quickly. For instance, some tickets may take four calls before the issue is resolved.
Pay per minute
This pricing model is one that pays each agent for how much they talk and work. Even if the agent is on hold, the pricing is still ongoing. It seems simple, but works best if there is a low average talk time. Also, this pricing model can become costly if a help desk technician has to follow a lengthy script before working on any issues. And it means that agents are encouraged to speed up their calls, which means they could miss vital issues or seem too short with end-users.
Pay per agent
This is a pricing model where you pay a flat rate per help desk technician. The technician would either dedicate their time to your organization, or you could operate on a shared model. The benefits are your dedicated agents will fully understand your systems so you get better support.
Pay per user
When you pay for all end-users or per-seat you start by estimating how many tickets you expect to generate each month. So, it helps to monitor your help desk tickets to determine how much you need. You don’t want to pay for users who never need to access help desk services.
In Conclusion
SSI offers managed help desk services to organizations in a wide variety of industries. We are based in the United States, and our help desk agents focus primarily on these types of services. If you need help desk support, contact us today.
