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5 Things You Need to Look For in an Outsourced IT Help Desk

14
Jun

When you call an IT help desk, you are calling to get an issue resolved. Something has likely occurred while you were performing your daily work and you need it to be fixed…and quick. Of course, there may be other reasons to call a help desk. Perhaps you are interested in a new application and you would like some information, or a new user is starting and you need to get their account setup. Most of the time, though, your workflow has been interrupted.

Of course, issues seem to come up at the most inopportune times. You would just like to get a live person, tell them what you are experiencing, and hope that there is a quick fix.

When you outsource your IT Services and a member of your team calls them, their experience may reflect on the person who chose that service in the first place. If that’s your responsibility, you want to be sure to get it right. How do you choose the right vendor, the one with a knowledgeable staff who can handle your requests quickly and efficiently?

  1. Check with their existing clients. Checking references just as you would for a new hire is important.
  2. Ask about wait times and the capabilities of the person(s) that will be assisting you and your team.
  3. Inquire about staff turnover and training process.
  4. Understand if the firm has made the proper investment in the tools and resources required to organize an efficient help desk (contact us for more on what those tools and resources are).
  5. Ask about their process for knowing and learning your systems. Information should be readily available on everything from how much memory is installed on your machine, to which operating system and anti-virus you use. When the help desk technician has all of this information at his or her fingertips, the solution to your problem is found more quickly and accurately.

Most IT service providers who offer a managed service plan, include a help desk component. Take the time to perform your due diligence. The quality of their help desk could impact every user in your organization. For more tips on how to select an IT service provider, check out our previous blogs and watch out for our next post for a more in-depth look at each MSP offering with tips on how to evaluate them.

 

Authored by Donald Nokes