Entry Software Corporation

Entry

Help Desk Software

Which Help Desk Suits Your Business Best?

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With the technological direction, modern business have been moving towards, a push for organization and customer service solutions through software has been made. The most common form of connecting the business to customers and business to itself is through help desk software. The main goal of a help desk is to connect everyone to one central point for various purposes: customer communication, voicing questions comments or concerns etc. Depending on the business, a certain type of help desk is required. Not all software offer the display of information suited for the business such as banks wanting to keep their online access safe for each individual and merchandisers will have forums for frequently asked questions to be answered.

Web Helpdesk Software

Web helpdesk software is the most commonly viewed form of helpdesk. It allows customers to connect with the business or the business to connect with the customer to be able to contact them for inquiry. Customers can discuss their questions or concerns through the designated “customer feedback” section. The business receives and categorizes the question from the customer and is sent to the business’ customer service team to be addressed. Businesses can contact the customer to inquire feedback about their experience with their product or service. An interaction between the two entities can come through email, text message, social media etc.

On-Premises Helpdesk Software

On-premises help desk software is an enclosed system for connecting the business to the customers. By having an enclosed system, the customer and the business have web pages that can only be seen by the parties involved. This is done by having business host internally so the information remains safely within the business. This system is safe but expensive as a computerized system needs to be installed within the business to function. This can be seen in financial-management businesses such as PayPal or various online banking applications. When viewing your account with pin numbers, balances and other account information, you and the business are the only ones with access to this information, thanks to on-premises help desk software!

Enterprise Helpdesk Software

Enterprise help desk software is programs instated to connect all aspects of the business to an easily traversable map. Each employee is also a user of the software; the data they generate or collect is automatically categorized and displayed to other users. This way, the business is able to see the progress of projects, workloads of users and generation analytics and reports, among much more. A software of this type is essential for a large business that needs to smooth communications between their numerous employees. Finally, enterprise help desk software allows the business to scale to any size!

Open-Source Helpdesk Software

These have been around since the beginning of the online connection. Often referenced as “forums”, open-source helpdesk software is an avenue of answering customer questions or concerns through community channel. This means anyone, whether they are connected to the company or a regular Joe, can offer assistance to the customer about their comment. This is an easy and financially efficient way of offering customer support, the tradeoff being suggestions by other customers may be false. However, with the implementation of a rating system, reoccurring concerns will be addressed correctly.

Cloud-Based Helpdesk Software

Cloud-based help desk software allows any user connect anywhere in the world. Whereas in an on-premises help desk software is in-house and is maintained by the business, cloud-based help desks software allow the business to build and run their help desk without maintaining the servers. It is also open for anyone from anywhere to connect and use the help desk as the servers are international.

With all of these different types of help desks, it is important to understand the market your business is in and understand which type will best suit your business best.

Does Web-Based Help Desk Make You More Competitive?

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Today, more than ever, it’s vital for your organization to provide the best quality customer service available and to deliver it in record time. Web-based help desk applications can contribute to making that happen. There are many reasons why web-based help desk software gives your business that competitive edge.

Ability to Access Tickets from Anywhere

With a web-based help desk, there’s no need for you to be at the office. If there is an emergency request, you can respond wherever you are. The companies who fail to respond to issues promptly are the ones who don’t meet customer expectations and receive bad reviews because of it.

The ability to access tickets anywhere and at any time can make all the difference in your business’s success.

Hiring Remote Support Representatives

In today’s world of work-at-home employees and digital nomads, it’s clear that companies are changing their ways and allowing more of their people to work from virtually anywhere.

Companies have done this by either allowing their existing employees the option to work from home or the cost-effective option of outsourcing support specialists who already have a complete set-up to work from anywhere. And because those businesses have web-based help desk software, their people can log in and answer tickets from anywhere in the world.

Respond to Support Requests Faster

Issues that don’t get responded to quickly often escalate. To avoid this, you need a solution that will give you the ability to reply promptly. Web-based help desk software aims to do that by connecting everyone on your team no matter where they are and at any time.

Recognize Your Top Performers

If you want your employees to feel empowered to continue doing their jobs and delivering quality service, you should be rewarding their efforts. With web-based help desk software such as, your team and customers benefit from limitless ticketing, problem management, file management, and integrated scheduling and time tracking. This means that you’ll have the ability to track the performance of your team members and identify who your top performers are then commending them as they deserve. Recognizing employees for their efforts motivates them to continue doing well. Having a highly-motivated team means a better quality of service.

No Need to Buy and Maintain Servers

Businesses have enough to worry about; an on-premise help desk involves the need to buy and maintain servers, installing the software, and concern yourself with the maintenance and upgrades. All that takes you away from bigger business interests.

With web-based help desk software, your resources are better utilized, thus increasing productivity and sales.

Today, more than ever, it’s vital for your organization to provide the best quality customer service available and to deliver it in record time. Web-based help desk applications can contribute to making that happen. There are many reasons why web-based help desk software gives your business that competitive edge. Ability to Access Tickets from Anywhere With a web-based help desk, there’s no need for you to be at the office. If there is an emergency request, you can respond wherever you are. The companies who fail to respond to issues promptly are the ones who don’t meet customer expectations and receive bad reviews because of it.

The ability to access tickets anywhere and at any time can make all the difference in your business’s success. manage projects like a promising Remote Support Representatives In today’s world of work-at-home employees and digital nomads, it’s clear that companies are changing their ways and allowing more of their people to work from virtually anywhere. Companies have done this by either allowing their existing employees the option to work from home or the cost-effective option of outsourcing support specialists who already have a complete set-up to work from anywhere. And because those businesses have web-based help desk software, their people can log in and answer tickets from anywhere in the world.

Respond to Support Requests Faster

Issues that don’t get responded to quickly often escalate. To avoid this, you need a solution that will give you the ability to reply promptly. Web-based help desk software aims to do that by connecting everyone on your team no matter where they are and at any time.

For your free demo of TeamHeadquarters, click here.

How to Achieve Team Buy-in For Your New IT Support Software

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When a company transitions into anything new, a common challenge they face is the lack of team buy-in.

Key people in the organization such as IT technicians are often the nay-sayers for new support systems because it means having to let go of a practice that they’ve used for years and have already “mastered.” They may question if a new system is necessary and worry about the amount of time it will take them to learn it.

To remain relevant and ahead of the competition, change is needed. Many managers look forward to change as it often means progress. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for employees to fear it and fight it. And for any company to be successful, it’s important to value everyone’s opinions and to work towards a middle ground when there is conflict.

How do you achieve buy-in from those you lead? Here are three tips to help ensure that the transition to your new IT support software goes smoothly:

1.    Have One-on-One Meetings

If you suspect resistance, nip it in the bud. And involve HR if required. It may seem like a small problem now, but one rebellious employee can poison the others who have already bought-in.

Ask the employee in the presence of HR why they are countering the change. Are there opinions more personal than they are technical? Remember that their feedback is valuable and while their views may not put a halt on the transition that is already underway, it’s important that they know that their voice matters.

2.    Assign Rotating Key Roles to the Team

Give everyone on the IT team the opportunity to test out the new software by assigning them rotating roles. Let an IT tech be the Problem Manager and give them tough problems to solve and let them get the work done. In this way, they’ll see how the new software will benefit them in the future.

Related Content:
Hiring a Help Desk Technician

3.    Start Early

To ensure buy-in, you should involve your team in the planning process. You can’t just deploy a new solution and expect everyone to jump on board naturally. When you involve them from the start, from discovery to planning, they feel invested.

A good time to introduce your team to new IT support software is on the first day of a demo. Unified project management and service desk software, TeamHeadquarters, offers a personalized demo for your team to test. Your team can explore their tools such as project management, service and help desk, asset management and time management.

By involving your team during the demonstration phase, you can put their fears of change to rest by allowing them the opportunity to express their concerns. And once they are more accepting of change, they can contribute their ideas towards the successful transition of the application.

[Read more…] about How to Achieve Team Buy-in For Your New IT Support Software

How Using Help Desk Tools Will Give You a Competitive Edge

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A factor in beating the competition is improving your ability to service clients, quickly and with high levels of success with superb help desk tools.

If you’re using a help desk internally, then the supported team experiences better service. Professional helpdesk systems enable staff to get work done on schedule and on-budget. And if you’re using help desk for external support, you’ll have access to comprehensive metrics, see ticket loads, to engage in a continual improvement process.

To break it down, we’ve listed the ways that help desk tools can help streamline workflows so that you are producing better results:

Centralized Location

Centralized issue tracking systems promote quicker service and reduce duplication of effort; the system tells you who is working on what.

Product and development teams have access to customer service issues and a clear picture of problems to be solved.  This improves software development and helps create better products.

Improve Workflow by Analyzing Trends

Because help desk software tracks metrics such as the average time it takes to resolve tickets, IT managers can analyze detailed reports and identify trends that can prompt you to make adjustments to the workflow and achieve maximum efficiency.

Categorization of Issues

Too often, IT techs get similar issues. Instead of wasting time and effort looking for solutions, they can search for similar resolved tickets in the same category. For example, help desk software such as TeamHeadquarters has problem/incident management function which helps you manage large volumes of tickets relating to a common problem – saving you a lot of time.

Prioritize Issues

Help desk systems allow IT technicians to filter and prioritize issues and address business-critical problems quickly.

Obviously, high severity tickets like a failed server need to be addressed immediately while low priority tickets like a broken keyboard can wait. A help desk system helps technicians simply sort tickets according to priority so that nothing falls through the cracks.

Customer Self-Service Portal

If you want to maintain a tight line of communication between your clients and service staff, an integrated user portal provides a centralized place for customers to create tickets, view the status of their open issues, and close tickets once resolved. A portal reduces frustration on both ends as statuses are accessible, and unnecessary tickets are all but eliminated.

Performance Reports

To remain competitive, your company needs to be on top of things; especially the health of your systems and hardware. Because help desk tools can generate detailed reports, you’ll be able to recognize if your systems or hardware are experiencing issues continually. This provides you with the opportunity to take preventive measures.

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TeamHeadquarters, help desk, and project management software provides your IT services team with a secure, role-managed ticketing system that includes an easy-to-use, responsive interface. Your team and customers benefit from limitless ticketing, problem management, file management, and integrated scheduling and time tracking.

Selecting the Proper Help Desk System for Information Technology IT Departments

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Many organizations struggle with IT support and have difficulty deciding which help desk to select when looking for the software to manage the help desk for their IT department. Organizations have found that they need to improve such things as:

The Essentials of ITIL® Service Desk

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What are the essentials of an ITIL® implementation project? You could use the ITIL® five-part process as your guide:

  1. Service Strategy
  2. Incident Management
  3. Problem Management
  4. Feedback Management
  5. Change Management

Or, I suggest that you limit your starting project to ITIL® Service Strategy, ITIL® Incident Management, and ITIL® Problem Management.

You can’t get far without an ITIL® Service Strategy. It will provide the team with a framework for decision-making and a foundation for excellent, continually improving service. Read more about this in my ebook – 4 Steps IT Awesome

ITIL® Incident Management. You really must have incident management. It’s a core function of ITIL® and the best way to go about it is to leverage the service book that you put together while developing your ITIL® strategy. I’ve developed some simple steps for this and you can read more on it with my ebook An IT Managers Guide to Implementing ITIL®

ITIL® Problem Management will help you mature. ITIL® talks about problem management as the practice of resolving the root causes of incidents. These c

an be understood through an examination of incidents, feedback from customers and change requests. This whole process is referred to as Problem Management. It’s critical to ITIL® and will really help your organization mature and grow.

ITIL® Feedback Management is great once you’ve got 1, 2 and 3 in place. I’ve worked through surveying and have developed some very sound strategies, questions, and reports that you can download. Here’s a link to my blog post Help Desk Customer Satisfaction Survey Best Practice where you can download the survey questions and reports.

See how TeamHeadquarters can help with your ITIL® strategy

What are the essentials of a good ITIL® project? Well, it all is really essential but unless you have a sound ITIL® Strategy, with effective and usable ITIL® Incident Management and Problem Management processes then all the feedback and change management in the world won’t help you. Focus on items 1 through 3 above, master them and then you can spend your time on 4 and 5.

Good luck – contact us to discuss ITIL® or tell me what you think.