Outsourcing Helpdesk Operations, Does It Actually Save Money?

Outsourcing IT can mean moving some or all of IT operations to an external company. This article will focus on outsourcing to a US based service provider.

Is Outsourcing worth it? Under very specific circumstances, yes. Under most others, no.

Outsourcing to a company within the US, with US based employees

Outsourcing to a US company can improve your helpdesk and IT operations IF the current support teams are not experienced with professional levels of support and service. Outsourcing companies do this for a living, and know how to do it correctly.

The problems with outsourcing to a US company is related to expense. Outsourcing companies typically get contracts signed by showing how money can be saved. They will be able to operate IT functions that are not 'core competencies' of your business. They can also save you money because they can leverage tools and employees that they already have in place and are sharing the expense of these tools and resources between multiple other 'customers' who are already outsourced. Sounds great, doesn't it! So where is the catch?

SLA's are typically the main mistake companies make when executing a contract with an outsourced helpdesk company. SLA's (or Service Level Agreements) are the agreed upon minimum requirements of service delivery that the business and the outsourcer agree on, which also sets the price of the contract. Some examples of SLA's you will want to review: how long can issues on average take to resolve, how long callers can remain on hold prior to getting a tech, how long can a caller expect to wait for a new P.C. setup if theirs breaks, etc. SLA's directly relate to the number of staff the outsourcer will need to hire to maintain their contractual commitments (which is part of their cost they will need to cover with their charge to you), and what service levels your business will receive. The problem is, what sounds good on paper may be horrible for your business. With your 'in-sourced' team, do you fix hardware issues the same day when possible? If you don't build this into the SLA with an outsourcer, don't count on it happening - they will staff to meet minimum requirements. If a company finds that the SLA's are not adequate for their business and adjusts them, guess what: They are now spending more than they did with their ‘in sourced’ solution. And have a year left on their contract.

Outsourcing within the US works well if you NEED someone else to organize your operations and absolutely cannot do it yourself. Perhaps a premium is worth it based on the improved productivity your company will receive with better organization (knowledge base creation, self help portals, ticket tracking systems all typically come with an outsourcer). On the other hand, if you train or hire the right people for your helpdesk operations, you may save yourself some (or a lot!) money.

Take a moment to visit my website, which focuses on Helpdesk and Customer Service best practices: http://www.helpdeskresource.com/

Steven White has been managing Help Desk operations for over 15 years. His experience includes managing nationwide and global helpdesk operations at a senior level in the technical and financial sectors. Visit his Helpdesk Resource Site at http://www.helpdeskresource.com/

Customer Support Software - What Is The Customer To Do In Such A Case?

It is quite prominent in many organizations to have a well-established customer support. A customer support is very essential for the smooth functioning of an organization, especially when it comes to handling customer queries. It is obvious that when a customer buys and uses your product or service, there is a possibility that he will be confused relating to some aspect of the product or the service. This confusion may arise due to some simple problem or some technical problem that a customer is not familiar with. What is the customer to do in such a case? It's simply not possible for him to go the store to get his problem sorted out, especially if the customer has ordered the product or the service from a different country itself. This is exactly where a customer support software comes to use for a company.

A customer support software acts as a link between the company and the prospective or the existing customers in order to provide solutions in a fast and effective manner. Due to the competitive nature of the business, business owners are vying to grab the attention of the customers and the only way to achieve this is working on improving the customer relationship. If the customers are satisfied with your company's services, it simply means that you can be a part of the rat race and aim to be in the big leagues among the major players of business. The customer support software can be really convenient for the company because it uses the web as a platform and the trouble ticket system as well as an online helpdesk to tend to the customer's queries and solve their problems.

It is sad when you still see some businesses using the traditional way of interacting with the customers with the help of phone lines and fact that is even more surprising is that most of these companies put their customers on hold when they're amassed with continuous calls. This often results in the company losing out its valuable customers thereby affecting the business considerably. A customer support software is probably given the first priority by most businesses because unlike the traditional times, customers have started interacting online, which makes it important for the companies to adhere to the customers' online demands. The software uses both, the trouble ticket system and the helpdesk, which provides both, a friendly interface that the customers can interact with and concept of trouble ticket, which prioritizes the service requests of the customers and makes sure that the problem is solved within the set time. The best thing about the customer support software is that it also gives priority to the customer feedback as well as their suggestions that can be used by the company to improve its functioning.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer Support Software for more info.

How to Assess a Web Hosting Company's Customer Support

One of the key characteristics of a good web hosting company is 24x7 technical support. This support shouldn't be limited to hardware and software issues but also things such as integration with payment gateways, installation of SSL certificates, help with extra features like autoresponders and RSS feeds, etc.

Unfortunately, the technical support at most web hosting companies is not up to the necessary standard. Many of them make big claims but they often don't invest enough in their support staff and systems.

Some hosts aren't even really hosting companies - they're resellers who are essentially a middleman between you and the company on whose servers your site is actually hosted. These resellers have to take your issues to the hosting company when something goes wrong - adding to the time it takes for a resolution.

Before you choose a web host, you should put in a little effort to assess the quality and competence of the host's technical support staff. If something goes wrong with your website, it's these people you'll be dealing with.

What You Should Be Checking

Call their customer support and inquire about the host's maintenance routines and availability, as well the support person's professional certification, years of experience, years working with the host, etc.

Even if you aren't very technical yourself, you'll get a good feel for the quality of the staff by asking a few questions. The way they answer your questions is as important as the actual answer they give.

Ask the person you're speaking with where they're located as well as the location of the web hosting company. The support staff are often in a different location than the host, and this can sometimes lead to additional time when there is a problem that needs to be resolved. They can't just walk down the hall and talk to a network admin.

You can also ask if the support staff are working for the host directly or if they're hired on a contract basis. If they are on contract, it can be a sign that the technical support is outsourced instead of handled in-house.

If you are put on hold a lot by the support person, it could be an indication that they either don't have enough support staff or the "first line" people are not well trained and have to look to a higher level for answers to difficult questions.

Make sure you do your research before deciding on a host. If your website goes down in the middle of an important event, you want to know that you can talk to someone who can get you back up and running sooner rather than later.

John Lenaghan writes about web page hosting for personal and business sites, and other website hosting topics on the Hosting Report website. Find out more at http://www.hostingreport.org.