Lee ChadwickOpinion
If during a normal working day the MD walked into the support
office and said that ringing telephones were a thing of the past
there would be a cascade of different looks and hushed
comments.
About 30% of a helpdesk's time is spent on low productivity work
such as taking 'chase' calls, rather than high productivity work
such as call resolution, hence the need to look at alternative
"entry points" for users to log calls.
The telephone as a call logging device is already losing points
in the popularity polls. As communications and technology have
advanced, alternative portals into the helpdesk have become more
available. The phone call is simply "dead money".
So let's turn to the question of replacement. The modern
helpdesk should offer a range of entry points that provide easy
access and even self-help functionality, thus providing the user
with easier access to solutions, freeing up agents to focus on more
important issues.
Organisations can now offer e-mail and Internet-based access to
the helpdesk. Both of which provide users with an ability to
explain in detail the facts about their particular problem and both
of which allow users to log calls, track outstanding issues or even
resolve their own issues.
The fact that these other points of entry will allow the user to
get a better support service without leaving their desk, or when a
phone call is inconvenient, should ease the impact of the
change.
And so to the other end of the call management process - call
resolution. Remote control functionality has reduced the distance
between user and agent. Agents can also stay at their desks, no
longer needing to visit the desktop to resolve every issue. By
remotely controlling the user's PC the agent can not only discover
the problem more quickly and in more detail, they can also resolve
the problem in many cases.
Remote control also enables the agent to get a greater
understanding of the problem. IT calls on the telephone are based
on the user's perception of the problem - often unreliable.
The helpdesk is no longer a reactive problem-management
department. With the correct IT infrastructure to manage, the
helpdesk is a proactive problem-avoidance department, able to
predict where issues are developing and instigate a resolution to
minimise impact to the organisation. It is at this point that the
change management aspects of today's helpdesks come into play. Let
us imagine that the best resolution to this problem is to upgrade a
router. That's no easy job, and without careful management it could
bring the business to a halt.
Viewed from a process point of view, with each individual
element of the job identified, assigned and planned, the task is
far easier to complete. And, once the changes are made, it is the
inventory management functionality of the helpdesk that comes into
play. Every piece of kit and every piece of software, and its
associated configuration information, is stored in the helpdesk.
The helpdesk recognises the desired state of the organisation and
can identify where changes are made. This monitoring of assets has
a major impact on software usage too.
The work of organisations such as the Federation Against
Software Theft in reducing the use of illegally licensed software
has lead more conscientious companies to overspend on software.
Such wasted money can easily be avoided if companies only invest in
the software they need.
The vision for the helpdesk takes call avoidance, remote
control, inventory management, change management and so on and
packages it all up into a complete IT Service Management (ITSM)
solution that runs the IT organisation based on a 'known good
state'. Using user preferences and individual requirements, this is
the perfect configuration for the organisation. The ITSM solution
continually ensures this state is retained.
Technology of this nature can often be cumbersome and borne from
multiple products that have been combined under a single marketing
slogan. This can lead to considerable time and implementation
issues in the pursuit of the perfect ITSM solution. Royalblue has
built a product with wide ranging functionality. This ensures
solutions can be implemented far quicker and a return on investment
realised in the shortest possible timescales.
Lee Chadwick is UK sales director at royalblue