According to a recent survey conducted by the Help Desk Institute (HDI), 86 percent of IT departments said they felt pressure to show value to the business. With that kind of pressure, IT needs to think bigger about their direct impact on the business. Meaning IT must get out of the weeds – no more […]
According to a recent survey conducted by the Help Desk Institute (HDI), 86 percent of IT departments said they felt pressure to show value to the business. With that kind of pressure, IT needs to think bigger about their direct impact on the business. Meaning IT must get out of the weeds – no more changing toner or addressing the same questions time and time again.
Self-service is the single most effective way for IT departments to elevate the level of support and help they provide. Moreover, self-service oriented companies save funds by helping consumers and employees help themselves when it comes to high-volume, low-risk requests. And, there is little downside. Consumers get an efficient, convenient experience by having smart, time saving integrations at their fingertips, without relying on a traditional high-touch model.
In this slideshow, Atlassian provides six ways to alter IT support by harnessing what’s trending in technology right now. By implementing industry best practices and focusing on tips that enable your team to work smarter, instead of harder, readers will leave with actionable insights they can integrate into their daily routines.
Click through for six tips to create an impressive self-service IT experience, as identified by Atlassian.
Make asking for help easy.
Asking for help should not be complicated. Provide a user-friendly option for customers, consumers and internal constituents. HTML forms are outdated. Consider Amazon or iTunes; the transactions are simple and the results are instant. An IT solution shouldn’t be any harder. Today’s best environments are filled with one-click buying, hashtags and @mentions. Self-service should be just that straightforward. Keep menus simple, requests instant, and dialogue clear.
Centralize answers so they can be found quickly.
Ninety-one percent of users prefer reading a quick how-to or browsing articles for answers instead of sitting on hold or waiting for an email reply. Empower users by creating a self-service library they can easily search through on your website. Take a page from the elite brands – what are they doing right? Searchability: easy to find answers in a knowledge-base and surfacing relevant suggestions.
When IT solves a problem, immediately publish the solution to the forums and database – because it’s easy to find in two places – you’re cutting out guesswork, while the community is informed and aware on updates, or changes.
Disseminate information automatically – don’t wait for them to come to you.
Instead of hoping users come looking for updates, provide consumers with notifications through email or social media. For instance, if the newest update has a fix for a bug that’s generated a lot of tickets, getting this information out is imperative. Keep in mind that some consumers love push notifications, while others like their updates in app via a banner upon launch. Offer both. Easily letting constituents know there’s an update is crucial to the success of your IT efforts.
Optimize your service desk for all devices.
Consumers are migrating to smartphones at an ever-more rapid pace. Fifty percent of smartphone users prefer using an app to solve issues before making a call. Your team should provide consistent multi-channel support, letting consumers solve their problems on the go. Optimizing your site for mobile phones is not only important, it is a necessity.
Automate today for happy consumers tomorrow.
Utilize self-service and bring value back to the business. Automate the tasks that come across the desk daily: If you can find a way to take self-service and automate it, that’s a win-win. For everything from password resets, to prompting the community answers – streamline the process with vigor. By seeking out low hanging fruit and automating it, your team begins to think in terms of self-service. More and more opportunities to automate will emerge with the right discipline.
Be a role model. Watch service desks proliferate.
There’s a secret about service desks a lot of folks haven’t thought of: they don’t have to be just for IT. If your business has a legal, HR, finance or whatever team that gets a lot of inquiries, help them by setting up self-service options. Fifty-one percent of organizations have adopted or are planning to adopt IT service management outside of IT. Cut out the small questions, and offer employees a place to seek answers – you’ll change how your company runs, and earn some well-deserved praise for it.
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