This article examines the many benefits of outsourced help desk support for businesses. Learn about the direct and indirect fiscal benefits of this service and how it can help companies achieve their goals.
Understanding Outsourced Help Desk Support
Before jumping into the financial benefits, let’s take a look at what outsourced help desk support is:
Definition of Outsourced Help Desk Support
Outsourced help desk support refers to contracting an external company for help desk services instead of handling IT in house. The outsourced provider manages the help desk and provides IT support for the client’s customers and employees.
Essential Features of Help Desk Support
A practical help desk has knowledgeable agents, uses ticketing systems to track issues, offers omnichannel access like phone, email, chat, and self-service portals, maintains SLAs (service-level agreements), and uses help desk software. This provides streamlined support services for technical issues, customer service, and other needs.
How a Help Desk Supports Workflows
In a typical workflow, issues are submitted to the help desk via email, portal, phone, etc., to create a ticket. Tickets go into queues where agents can claim them. Agents troubleshoot, escalate if needed, and close tickets. Customers get status updates and satisfaction surveys. Managers use help desk metrics like resolution time, CSAT, backlogs, and trends to improve operations.
The Direct Financial Benefits of Outsourcing Help Desk Support
Cost Savings
You shift from fixed to variable costs when you outsource your help desk support. This means you only pay for the services you use. The alternative, operating an in-house help desk, comes with a laundry list of expenses: hiring and training staff, managing payroll, supplying equipment, and maintaining the infrastructure. All of these costs can add up significantly. Outsourcing helps you reign in these expenses, making your budget more manageable.
Predictable Expenses
One of the most appealing financial aspects of outsourcing help desk support is predictability. Instead of dealing with the significant upfront costs of in-house operations, outsourcing turns your help desk into a predictable operating expense. Your costs are determined by contracted service levels, making budgeting a breeze.
Scalability
In-house help desks often face the challenge of continuously hiring and training new staff to meet growing support needs. With outsourcing, scaling levels of support is a whole lot simpler. Outsourced service providers can effortlessly add resources to match your evolving requirements. Whether your support needs increase or decrease, you can adapt without the hassle of recruitment and training.
Reduced Overhead
Running an in-house help desk involves a barrage of overhead costs, from IT infrastructure and real estate to HR management and assets. You offload all of these overhead responsibilities to your service provider when you outsource. They take care of the nitty gritty, leaving you with a leaner and more cost-effective operation.
Specialized Expertise
Outsourced providers bring a wealth of specialized expertise to the table. They’ve supported diverse clients, so their agents receive ongoing training on various technologies, systems, and processes. This results in a team that can handle a broad spectrum of issues efficiently. You benefit from their collective knowledge without investing heavily in training your staff.
24/7 Availability
Customer issues don’t adhere to a 9-to-5 schedule. High-quality outsourced help desks understand thi, often using “follow-the-sun” models. This means support agents are distributed across different time zones, ensuring customers get assistance 24/7. It’s all about being there for your customers whenever they need you with fast response times.
Streamlined Issue Resolution
Outsourced help desks have honed their processes through experience and best practices like ITIL frameworks. They also rely on knowledge bases and collaboration tools to resolve support tickets quickly and accurately. This streamlined approach to issue resolution minimizes downtime, keeping your operations running smoothly.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
With the expertise, scalability, and around-the-clock availability of outsourced support, your customers experience faster resolutions and a better support experience. Happy customers lead to higher Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores, boosting your reputation and repeat business.
Access to the Latest Technology
Outsourced providers stay on the cutting edge of help desk technology. They often adopt the latest software, artificial intelligence, and automation tools to enhance their service offerings. By outsourcing, you gain access to these advancements without the need to purchase and implement them yourself, saving you both time and money.
Focus on Core Competencies
Outsourcing your help desk support frees up valuable resources to focus on your core business competencies and IT project initiatives. Instead of getting bogged down in running a help desk, your company can channel its energy and investments into areas like product development and service enhancement.
Could a hybrid onsite and remote outsourced service desk be beneficial for your business? This article explores the benefits of each to help you decide.
Indirect Financial Benefits of Outsourcing Help Desk Support
When it comes to outsourcing help desk support, the financial benefits go beyond the obvious cost savings. Let’s explore how this strategic move can positively impact your bottom line in ways you might not have considered.
Improving Efficiency with Outsourced Help Desk Support
One of the biggest indirect financial benefits of outsourcing help desk support is the boost in efficiency. Third-party service providers are specialists in support services. They harness advanced technologies and streamlined processes to optimize operations.
This optimization translates to robust self-service options and a higher rate of resolving customer issues on the first call. As a result, your internal teams spend less time dealing with fundamental problems and can channel their efforts toward more valuable tasks that drive tangible business results.
Additionally, outsourced help desks closely monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) like first-call resolution, speed to answer, and customer satisfaction. This data provides valuable insights into performance and identifies opportunities for improvement.
Leveraging Outsourced IT Services for Business Growth
Many companies view outsourced services as a cost-cutting tactic, but strategic outsourcing can also support business growth.
Service providers offer on-demand scalability to support fluctuating business needs. For example, they can quickly add agents during seasonal peaks or new product launches. This allows you to ramp up operations without extensive hiring and training costs.
Providers also possess specialized automation, analytics, security, and cloud migration expertise. Access to these resources can accelerate speed to market with new capabilities and innovations.
Implementing and Training Your Team on the New System
Once you’ve selected a provider, it’s time to implement the new phone system. Your vendor should guide the equipment needed, network readiness, timelines, and training. Give yourself one to two months from purchase to full rollout for a smooth transition. Inform staff of the timeline and what to expect at each stage.
Gradual onboarding by the department prevents productivity disruptions. Start with admin users to work out any kinks before broader deployment. Your provider can assist with porting numbers, configuring call flows, and assigning features per user or group.
Ongoing training ensures staff utilize their full capabilities. Schedule virtual or on-site sessions to review features and address questions. Make quick reference guides available and have IT provide extra assistance post-launch. Monitor usage data to see what tools are moving the needle for your teams.
The right cloud phone system removes business communication frustrations and delivers powerful capabilities not feasible with outdated on-premise systems. Following best practices for evaluating, selecting, and implementing a new platform sets you up for long-term success and keeps your business connected.
NIC’s Outsourced Help Desk Support Team Is Here to Handle Your IT Needs
With over two decades of experience providing outsourced help desk support, NIC is ready to handle all of your IT needs. Our tailored solutions and stellar customer service have made us the top choice for businesses in California and beyond. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation—let’s discuss your unique requirements and how we can optimize your IT operations.
