Before we can delve deeper into what service desk outsourcing companies are all about, we must understand what service desks are.
What Are Service Desks?
A service desk can be broadly termed as a center of communication in a company that accomplishes a wide array of tasks. It is a point of contact between the business, its staff, the clients, and even business partners. Service desk outsourcing companies seek to ensure that all the parties associated with the business get prompt assistance whenever they need it.
To make it even clearer about the work of service desks, you can categorize the tasks into requests and incidents.
Service requests aim to assist with routine tasks, for instance, helping employees to change or update their passwords or get oriented into a new work station.
Incidents, on the other hand, cater to situations that have disrupted services or the quality of services.
Why Outsource?
When you are ready to venture into desk service solutions, you have to be well informed on the options available. You have to know that it will involve a substantial investment on your part in terms of tools, resources and the actual process if you decide to set up your service desk.
But should you decide to outsource this service to a seasoned service desk provider, you should do your best to choose well. Settle for a service provider who will bring to the table a broad array of skills and experience in procedures and toolsets.
To be on the safe side and ensure that you find a service desk partner who will take your company to new heights, you need to consider the following points.
Access to Reporting and Central Metrics
Service desks worth their salt should have well-developed reporting capabilities, in addition to tracking abilities. In some cases, there might be a need for some tasks to be repeated. So the service desk contractor should be well-versed and able to institute user training and incorporate knowledge-based instructions into the self-service entrance (portal).
Furthermore, in case there are repeating scenarios or issues, the service desk service provider should be able to note the patterns and help the business to address them.
Find Out if the Contractors Offer Flexible Hours
The majority of service desk companies indeed offer around the clock services which is impressive. But what if you need to outsource service desk services for a specific period, nights, or weekends?
Will the service desk contractor provide for those special circumstances? You must choose a partner who is flexible enough to match your business needs.
Frequent SLA Review
There should be a service-level agreement (SLA) between you and the service provider. This involves a commitment touching on certain aspects of the working agreement including responsibilities, availability, quality, just to mention but a few.
By constantly reviewing the SLA's, the client will be able to identify any developments, for instance, if there are changes in client call volumes, they should be able to tell you the frequency of the spikes in call activity.
Is There a Provision for a Dedicated Staff to Handle Each Account?
The reason why service desks are so cost-effective is that they make use of shared resources. They have lots of support staff who are always on call to handle calls for the sake of the contractor's customer.
Despite this, it is still possible to implement both the common resource pool and a dedicated support workforce.
Does the Contractor Provide a Single Contact Point?
A service desk worth boasting about should have a single contact point that all inbound customer queries regarding the organization will pass. Note that this should be the case even if the questions from the clients are not related to technology.
By having one centralized source for all incoming calls from customers, it will be more professional and efficient to direct all the calls that do not touch on IT issues to the relevant departments.
Understand How the Service Desk Contractor Price Model Looks
Always remember to ask the contractor offering service desk outsourcing if their levels of service are tiered. In most cases, level 1 service representatives deal with common troubleshooting queries while Level 2 agents handle more complicated questions at a higher cost per incident.
Conclusion
To sum it all, note that a business without service desk capabilities will have challenges and problems that a simple outsourcing move could have solved without breaking a sweat.
Outsourcing a service desk will lend a holistic approach to the requirements of all parties affiliated to the business and deal with virtually every situation, task, or incident, whether positive or negative.
Every business must embrace technology to not only stay afloat but also flourish. To do that, there must be a liaison or contact point between the technology and its users. This is where a service desk comes in to align all the aspects of the business to the aims and targets.
