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Service Desk Best Practices

Date: March 14, 2013 Author: admin Category: IT Support Services Tags:

The Service Desk of a business plays an integral role in managing the service delivery process. The secret to maintaining client satisfaction, efficiency, and profitability is an effectively run Service Desk. It is essentially a service point of contact for end-user issues and focuses on minimizing impact to the customer while restoring normal service operation in a timely manner, while adhering to service level agreements (SLA’s). An effective Service Desk aims to increase client satisfaction through standardized processes and reporting, in addition to improving net profits through efficient, remote operations, and incident management.

Though customer interaction is a major key in the role of the Service Desk, there are also many other duties involved. A Service Desk must:

• Receive all incident notification (whether through email, phone call, or portal)

• Record all incidents in ticketing or PSA solution (What is the nature of the incident? Is this a recurring problem?)

• Classify all incidents while documenting all relevant information (systems, hardware, services, affected users)

• Prioritize all incidents for effective escalation and escalates as necessary to maintain SLA’s

• Troubleshoots according to Best Practices

• Maintains consistent communication with affected parties

• Performs all scheduled maintenance

In addition to the required duties, the Service Desk has a multitude of responsibilities to uphold:

• Incident Management

• Problem Management

• Configuration Management

• Change Management

• Release Management

• Service Level Management

• Service Financial Management

• Capacity Management

• Service Continuity Management

• Availability Management

• Security Management

A Best-In-Class Service Desk aims to:

• Answer all calls within one minute

• Close 80% of all requests within 45 minutes

• Close 90% of all requests within Tier 1 resolution

• Adhere to established SLA’s

A key ingredient of customer satisfaction weighs on the frequency of communication between all involved parties, whether it be the end-user client, a third party vendor, or the client’s own vendor). Keep in mind that a Service Desk differs from a NOC in that it deals with clients directly, and a NOC deals with hardware, software application problems and direct contact with the end-user is seldom required. Since the majority of service issues (90%) are issues of the Tier 1 variety, it makes the most sense to staff more technicians who are well-versed in Tier 1 problems, so as to not load mundane tasks onto more highly skilled Tier 2 and 3 workers. Tier 1 technicians should be able to manage upwards of 350 desktop PC’s monthly, with approximately 60-65 of those managed by a single resource.

When staffing a Service Desk, a few factors need to be taken into account. An estimate of the amount of servers are being managed, the state of the equipment used (older requires more maintenance) and the familiarity levels of clients. Are they savvy when it comes to technology? A well-trained Service Desk technician should close around 30 requests per day. A highly skilled technician closes a high number of tickets, requiring less staff to be utilized daily.

There are three main deliverables to focus on in managing end-user clients:

  1. A fully monitored network.
  2. Bundle services. This may include on-site support, remote support, rates for issues after-hours, server disaster recovery, etc.
  3. Vendor management.

Improve Efficiency

Service Level Agreements

A good way to improve the efficiency of a Service Desk is to create good SLA’s. The SLA will govern response time, the ability to fix many issues, how quickly and how many resources are required, and the length of time taken before escalation to a higher tier. The majority of service requests belong in Tier 1, but those who cannot be resolved in Tier 1 escalate to Tier 2. If Tier 2 is unable to remedy the situation, it is escalated to Tier 3. It is fantastic to consistently exceed the guidelines set in the SLA, but ensure there is always a little space to accommodate the time needed if necessary.

The escalation process is a simple step-by-step (17, to be exact) process used to evaluate the incident and determine whether it can be resolved within a specific tier. The escalation process needs to be documented and the workers must adhere to the process. Standardization is key as the client needs to feel that his issue will be handled in the same manner, no matter which technician he interacts with.

Enforce Minimum Certified Network Requirements

Essentially, it is beneficial to the company to standardize environments so the staff can maintain and manage them easily. For example, perhaps include your preferred antivirus software as part of your bundle to offer to end-users.

Enforce Client Requirements

As a thought, try not to waste valuable time with clients who don’t get it. A problem client may text, email, or answer phone calls while you are attempting an important conversation with them. They do not value your time, and ideally you would like to maintain fewer clients who pay for more services.

The Clients You Do Want to Have

The Strategic Client- This ideal client has a budget for technology and is open to having you manipulate that budget in phases as you see fit. They will allow you to work with them, in identifying issues and trust you to be their helpful adviser.

The Technology-Dependent Client- This client may not see the cost of their technology like the strategic, but their business is so dependent on technology that they are forced to maintain it, and are hopefully open to creating a working budget and plan with you.

Outsource When Applicable

Outsourcing the service desk can be an extremely efficient, cost-effective method of running business. By outsourcing the service desk, others can communicate with to end-user clients, allowing you to scale services wider and leverage the skill set of employees. You may want to keep internal connection to the outsource management, and keep the high-visibility problems at the Service Desk. Since most end-user requests are resolved within Tiers 1 and 2, perhaps outsource those and keep Tier 3 technicians to save time. You may want to begin the outsourcing process slowly, by still maintaining the service board and tickets until you are confident in the third party’s abilities. The time it will save will enable you to meet with clients on a consistent basis, improve service delivery, and improve client satisfaction.

Kevin Hart is avid writer of help desk tips. He especially likes working with GMS which is a hosted help desk provider for managed service providers.