When you’re already frustrated with a technical issue, the last thing you want to do is call a help line and get transferred through an endless loop of long call queues. But reaching out to your IT help desk doesn’t have to be stressful. Investing in a provider with good customer support can pay dividends by saving your team time and lost work.
How do you know if an IT company can provide the support you’re looking for? The most obvious clues are found in their online reviews. Companies with customers that rave about quick ticket resolution times and easy to contact support are more likely to have a professionally run help desk. Here are a few other ways to evaluate your help desk options and make the most of the support you are paying for.
Chose an IT Provider that Offers a Domestic, 24/7 IT Help Desk
We’ve all gotten the runaround after calling a company’s support line. Oftentimes, you’re transferred to a foreign call center or forced to navigate a poorly-designed, automated menu. You may never actually reach someone who is qualified to handle your issue, and you’ll be pointed to a largely irrelevant FAQ page.
No one wants this, but most large companies simply don’t invest in a qualified, domestic support staff. You want an IT provider that specifically advertises a help desk staffed by qualified technicians, ideally 24/7. At Digital Agent, we’ll never give you the runaround. Our calls go directly to our expert support staff. In the rare event that no one is available to take your call, we’ll take a detailed message and return your call rather than forcing you to stay on hold.
Look for Same-Day Ticket Resolution
A great number to request when vetting a new IT vendor is their average ticket resolution time. Most IT issues have a simple fix; a power issue, forgotten password, printer failure, and the like. While these issues are initially small, they can cost your business time and money if they turn into multi-day obstacles.
You want a technology provider who is upfront about the efficiency of their help desk. At Digital Agent, our average response time is less than 15 minutes, and our average ticket resolution time is under 24 hours. For comparison, a 2020 study by Jitbit found that the average customer support ticket response time was over 7 hours and the average resolution time was more than 3 days.
IT Help Desk Red Flags
Every relationship – even between businesses and their IT providers – has its red flags. For IT help desks, the biggest is the most obvious; a lack of clearly visible contact info for IT support. You want a vendor that has both email and phone options for support. It’s nice for a company to have an instant chat function on their website as well, but these are often operated by bots, not real people.
A few less obvious red flags include:
- “Instant” Response Times: it’s next to impossible to achieve an instant response from a support ticketing system unless it is set up to send a generic auto-response to every request. This means that their actual response time – the first response from a technician that can actually help you – might be much longer.
- Too Many “Yes Men”: you want an IT provider that can provide solutions customized to your unique business needs. But if you’re asking a lot of questions and not getting any in response, that’s a red flag. You want an IT provider who is proactive and knowledgeable about your company’s options and can make recommendations you may not already know about. If they only provide the solutions you explicitly ask for, you could be missing out on technology that would improve your company’s efficiency and cybersecurity.
- Lack of Cybersecurity: the people managing your IT need to be knowledgeable about cybersecurity. A good number of technical issues can lead to or be the result of a cybersecurity breach. Digital Agent always recommends a standard suite of cybersecurity solutions to its IT clients, including:
- Managed Endpoint Detection and Response: includes anti-malware and protects workstations and other endpoints on your network
- Security Awareness Training: gives employees the tools they need to spot phishing attacks and scams
- Dark Web Monitoring: lets you know if and when you or your company’s information has been compromised
Vetting an IT provider can be difficult. But looking out for these red flags and asking important questions about their help desk efficiency and availability will make the process a lot easier.
Not Satisfied With Your Current IT Help Desk?
Digital Agent prides itself on timely, professional customer support for all of its clients. Our IT help desk is based entirely in the U.S. and staffed by qualified technicians, available 24/7. We treat our clients as partners, working with them to create customized solutions and provide insights into current industry trends and standards. Contact your Digital Agent to learn more.
Kate Lewis
Technical Writer & Content Strategist
Digital Agent
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