How IT Help Desk Software Improves Employee Productivity
IT help desk software applications offer many significant advantages to today’s organizations. But, perhaps the most important benefit of an IT help desk software solution, and the primary reason companies choose to purchase and implement one, is a dramatic increase in employee efficiency across the enterprise – from IT teams and support personnel to end users in various departments and business units.
An IT help desk software package can boost staff productivity in the following ways:
Improved Coordination and Execution of Support Activities
In most companies, internal technical support procedures are undocumented, disjointed, and often completed “off the cuff”. This can lead to delays in response times and problem resolution, and can even cause some issues to be grossly mismanaged or “dropped” completely.
IT help desk software packages maximize the output of IT support staff. They eliminate the time-consuming, manual paper-based processes that hinder productivity, replacing them with fully-automated tasks and activities that can be planned and executed rapidly, accurately, and efficiently.
Enhanced Communication
End users must often rely on voice mail and email to reach busy IT staff members. As a result, job tickets do not get formally reported and opened until hours – or even days – after the problem first arises. Further magnifying this undesirable situation is the fact that the number of remote or off-site employees the average company maintains is growing at a constant pace – creating even greater delays in communication.
IT help desk software solutions offer a variety of features and capabilities that can accelerate communication between employees and support teams. Many available packages include instantaneous online job ticket opening, live chat, and dynamic alerts via pagers and PDAs, as well as support for other communications channels. Therefore, with IT help desk software in place, support teams can prevent communication bottlenecks and respond to employee issues as promptly as possible.
Employee Empowerment
In many cases, less intricate or more routine technical issues can easily be solved by the employees themselves. However, without IT help desk software, the mechanism for them to “self-serve” is virtually non-existent. IT help desk software empowers employees with online self-service capabilities, so they can immediately access a comprehensive Web-based repository that includes answers to frequently asked questions, troubleshooting tips, bug fix downloads, and much, much more. So, simple problems are resolved faster, and IT support staff members are free to address the more complex problems that require their attention and expertise.
Reduced System Downtime
Even an hour of system downtime can severely impact core business operations – halting mission-critical activities in their tracks while employees wait for IT support staff to respond to and correct their issues. IT help desk software dramatically shortens the time between problem occurrence and resolution, bringing the systems and applications employees rely on back into production, and helping them get back to work quickly.
Increased Employee Morale
Studies have proven that employees whose needs are responded to in a prompt and professional fashion are happier and more motivated, leading to greater efficiency and output. IT help desk software facilitates the fastest and most effective problem resolution possible, creating a sense of importance and value among end users. |
