Delivering IT services that support your company’s user technology is expensive. Moreover, it’s difficult for many business owners to keep up with the latest IT developments and trends when juggling dozens of other tasks. Managed help desk services are among the most effective tools for relieving the several common headaches and costs associated with delivering reliable IT support.
Businesses today count on efficient help desk services to drive their productive operations. The growth and expansion of new technological solutions have contributed to increasingly complex digital environments. Many companies have consequently turned to managed service providers to boost operational efficiency and reduce their IT overhead. One key area of support that helps business owners in this area the most is discoverable in managed help desk services.
What are managed help desk services?
Managed help desk services are provided by an IT outsourcer. The platform supplements your existing IT department by offering support in several key areas that tend to bog growing businesses down. When you hire out your help desk functions, you give your IT and business teams the additional time they need to drive more revenue-generating business objectives. In-house IT departments have become less maintenance-focused, taking on more strategic planning roles. Outsourcing your routine and often menial help desk tasks lets you dedicate more of your internal technology resources to developing a successful digital transformation initiative.
What are the differences between a managed help desk and a service desk?
While business owners and managers frequently conflate managed help desk services with service desks, they represent two distinct concepts. A help desk is almost exactly as described: it’s where your internal and external customers go for solutions to their general IT issues. A managed help desk indicates that the service is delivered by an IT outsourcer.
A service desk, on the other hand, is where users go if they’re experiencing a problem with a product or digital system. Another way to tell the difference between a managed help desk and a desk service is that one fields and documents the initial problem while the other resolves it. It’s possible the two departments could officially converge at some future time, but they each handle distinct aspects of IT support and, thusly, address a different set of problems.
Your help desk is primarily responsible for handling incoming queries through phone, email, and chat about how to use a product or resolve any problems that may arise during the user experience. In comparison, your service desk is chiefly dedicated to issues raised after the sale of an item, such as shipping, billing, or product installation errors. Larger companies with multiple offices usually manage their help desk at their headquarters, while service desks often find themselves dispersed across various satellite branches.
Choosing the right managed help desk software is vital for any company that depends on fast and efficient customer support. If you don’t establish the right solution at the outset, you risk losing time and valuable business that is required to wait unnecessarily long to access the services you provide. The main features and qualities you should look for in a managed help desk solution are ease of use, affordability, and a generous range of functionalities.
What does a managed help desk service do and how will it benefit me?
The help desk serves as the primary point of contact for both your external customers and internal users. This aspect of support deals with anyone who comes into contact with the company regarding a service you offer. Under the help desk as a service platform, managed IT providers typically include a firm knowledge base about your industry, full technical support, and other routine software maintenance and upgrade tasks.
Managed help desk services benefit small businesses in several key areas. Foremost, the service provider gives you a scalable solution that allows you to pivot quickly and make adjustments according to your current IT needs. As your business expands, you can seamlessly bring on more help desk support or reduce your staff back without letting in-house team members go.
High-quality help desk services like those offered by PCH Technologies are, likewise, available at a low cost. After hiring a reputable help desk service provider, you can expect to cut your IT overhead while considerably increasing your customer service levels. Help desk services are more effective at meeting deadlines and can handle all the tedious paperwork that goes into documenting service calls and product malfunctions. This added level of support means you can focus more on leading your business and less on a potentially endless string of IT responsibilities.
You’ll also gain access to reliable, around-the-clock support after contracting a third-party help desk service provider. If your offices are subject to geographical disparities or you run multiple shifts throughout the day, a managed help desk service ensures you deliver support no matter where your employees are and when they’re scheduled to report. This kind of 24-hour service is difficult to justify building in-house when a managed service provider can deliver better results at a fraction of the cost.
Finally, cybersecurity requirements have only gotten more complex. The increased reliance on expensive technology means small businesses have much more to lose to a natural disaster. Your in-house help desk support may be of limited assistance after a severe weather event because they are unable to get to the worksite. Times like this are when your customers and users need the most support. A remotely managed help desk solution will continue to deliver optimal support during a disaster, as if it never occurred, making the service an invaluable asset for business continuity planning purposes.
Managed help desk support from PCH Technologies
The decision to move forward with a reliable managed help desk solution from an outside firm can be a pivotal one that sets your company on a firm path to positive growth as you lower your overall IT expenditures.
For more on how your company can leverage help desk services from PCH Technologies and regain focus on the strategic aspects of IT, book your free discovery call online now or dial us at (856) 754-7500.