Unfortunately, as the IT department expands, you may lose this advantage. When you have several different IT people handling users' problems, they may not coordinate these efforts with one another. A user who calls with a new problem this week may not get help from the same person who helped her with a different problem two weeks ago and thus won't recognise if the two problems are related or the second problem stems from the solution to the first.
However, this won't happen if you created a scalable, well-thought-out in-house tech support solution from the beginning.
Professionalising tech support
A good in-house tech support program will dedicate one or
more people to manning the "help desk," and more importantly, will use
technology to track problems and document solutions, keeping all tech support
personnel "in the loop" on all of the problems as the tech support staff grows.
Luckily, there are software solutions designed for this purpose. These systems allow for continuity when you have different help desk people working with a user at different times, and make it much easier to spot trends and address them early. Help requests are logged and assigned to a support rep, then tracked through the resolution and follow-up stages. You can read more about various HelpDesk software solutions at http://www.help-desk-world.com/.
Good support systems will also include self-help databases, so that users can search for solutions that they can implement themselves prior to submitting a service request.
A good in-house tech support system will be designed to handle reports of problems through different formats, such as phone, e-mail, and web interface. One of the biggest challenges for tech support is the difficulty of diagnosing software and hardware problems based on users' descriptions. However, it may be difficult or impossible for support personnel to visit the desk of every user who has a problem. New operating system functionality, however, means the support person can "be there" without leaving the helpdesk. You can incorporate Windows XP's remote assistance feature into your in-house support program so that the support person can view exactly what's happening on the user's computer desktop instead of relying on vague descriptions. Even better, the support person can take control of the user's computer remotely and walk the user through the steps as the support person fixes the problem.
Outsourcing tech support
At the enterprise level, help desk services may consume a
large proportion of IT resources and personnel costs can rise
as it becomes necessary to recruit and train operators and managers and, in
some cases, maintain round-the-clock coverage. Some companies turn to
outsourcing their support services. This can reduce operational costs and may
improve user satisfaction if handled properly. There are many companies that
can provide help desk services on a local, national or international basis. Here
is a list of such
services.
Making it scalable
There is no "one size fits all" technical support solution,
but if you plan ahead, you can design a strategy that will help you handle the
tech support problem on any scale and make the necessary transitions with as
little disruption to your business process as possible.
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