More businesses are beginning to recognize the impact that providing a positive customer and digital employee experience (CX and DEX) can have on their profitability. The quality of service delivered by a company’s help desk can have a significant effect on their reputation with both customers and staff. Implementing automated help desk software can help to improve both CX and DEX, as well as increasing efficiency.
When compared to traditional methods, automated customer service is often more efficient and accurate. Customers can initiate the process by providing their details, which can be used to pre-populate system forms. This article looks into the concept of help desk automation and provides advice on how to incorporate automation into service desk tasks.
Is There a Negative Effect of Automation on IT Service Desk Procedures?
The following are only some of the numerous help desk procedures that may be automated.
Processing of tickets. Enabling automatic ticket routing reduces the manual load on analysts, allowing them to provide a quicker response to customers. Not only does this improve service desk performance, but also provides customers with a sense of resolution.
Improvements to the customer database. Customers are all too familiar with the frustration of having to repeat themselves to multiple customer service representatives. Help desk automation helps to address this issue by enabling data to be entered only once, and for callers to be identified through their phone number.
Compliance with service level agreements (SLAs). When service level agreement (SLA) deadlines pass, an automated system may automatically advance the process to the next level.
Dull, routine work. Automating mundane, low-priority tasks such as password resetting, folder creation, multi-factor authentication and user provisioning can enable staff to focus their efforts on more strategic and meaningful tasks for the company.
Software for Automating the Help Desk
In the past, support agents manually managed tickets and used Microsoft Excel and Outlook as the primary tools for help desk operations. Automation has since been adopted to improve these processes, in the form of knowledge management, web-based service desk features, mobile service desk apps, and client knowledge bases. These products are designed to help address common issues seen in the IT industry, such as high prices, low customer satisfaction and inadequate user productivity.
The following video provides suggestions for features that end users will find most useful.
Suggestions for Automating the Help Desk
A well-considered IT help desk automation deployment is essential for successful digital acceleration projects. We recommend taking these suggestions into consideration when planning for implementation.
Focus on what you can get out of it. It is all too easy to get carried away with the excitement of new software and the latest hardware when implementing new systems. However, technology should be seen as a means to an end, not an end in itself. To ensure the best decisions are made, it is important to remember the long-term objectives; such as improving customer experience, reducing costs, increasing revenue and improving security.
Refine procedures both in advance of and after integrating new software. A poorly designed user interface can have negative impacts on an otherwise well-developed service. It is therefore essential to assess existing processes to determine which issues can be resolved through the introduction of new software, and which would be more beneficial to address by altering underlying business processes. Care should be taken not to rush into utilising new software without first making the necessary alterations to the workflow.
Think of your help desk’s tools as a system. Make sure the new programme will work well with the current setup.
Create something new while you can. You may utilise help desk software to either automate your current workflow or to try something altogether new.
Automation of the Help Desk that Resolves Its Own Problems
Self-healing automation provides IT departments with the opportunity to adopt a proactive approach to system faults, allowing them to foresee potential issues and rectify them before clients are impacted. This results in reduced downtime and increased efficiency, enabling organisations to meet and exceed customer expectations on a consistent basis.
IT staff can offer additional services which add value to the business, such as developing and optimising processes, when they are not occupied with urgent matters.
Which Fully Automated Help Desk Solution Should I Use for My Company?
An automated helpdesk system should have the capability to be tailored to the individual requirements of each business. Here are a few examples that should cater to the majority of scenarios.
Scalability. Any useful piece of software need to be able to expand with your business.
Functionality that’s a breeze to utilise. Try to choose interfaces that don’t need a lot of time to become used to. To learn more, schedule a demonstration and come prepared with questions.
Data collection and analysis. One advantage of automation is that it may be fine-tuned via the analysis of data (such as caller reasons and average response times).
Join forces and accomplish more. Agents that are able to collaborate with one another provide better service in less time.
Having support staff that is quick to respond is essential. Make sure that agents are always accessible in case of an emergency.
Advantages of Modern Customer Service
Any business that places a high priority on IT support should seriously consider the suggestions mentioned above. The benefits of utilising an automated help desk system could include:
Scaling.
When considering the expansion of service operations, automated help desk software could be a beneficial alternative to increasing personnel to manage customer enquiries.Speed.
The demands of end users may frequently be met more swiftly by automated help desk software than by a human counterpart.Errors are reduced.
When compared to human workers, automated systems often perform better, reducing the likelihood of expensive mistakes.Staff utilisation rates have increased.
By delegating help desk responsibilities to computers, employees may spend their time on more important activities.Customer Satisfaction Is Greatly Enhanced.
An enhanced user experience is the result of increased speed, efficiency, and accuracy, as well as self-service options.Governance, risk, and compliance enhancements (GRC).
Electronic records, which are often used in automated systems, may be helpful in conforming to different regulatory bodies’ requirements.Save money.
Help desk expenses are decreased for several of the reasons mentioned above.
It is evident that utilising automation solutions for help desk operations can offer a range of benefits to your company in terms of service, efficiency and performance. Therefore, it is an obvious decision to make in order to enhance interactions with both customers and staff.
