What Exactly Is It Support?
IT support is any technical support offered by individuals or business days to support hardware and software projects. The focus is usually on helping the user solve a particular problem. A tech support agent may need to access the network of the organization or user in order to provide this kind of support.
It is, therefore, vital that you have in place adequate security measures, including privileged access control, password management, and remote access security. They will allow tech support staff to do their jobs securely and productively without creating security vulnerabilities or increasing threat vectors.
IT support is also called tech support or technical assistance. It can be referred to as help desk, service desk, customer support, or other names. Each of these IT support aliases comes with a different certification. The support aliases are divided into three categories:
In-House Tech Support
Tech support in-house involves having your dedicated team of tech experts assist with any technical problems arising from the regular business operation. It can be as simple as helping your employees with technical issues, maintaining security and backup infrastructures, or connecting a remote workforce. Most organizations have their in-house technology team that supports creating products, implementing and maintaining customized systems, or handling sensitive data.
Tech Support Outsourced
Hiring a third-party company to provide tech support is called outsourcing. Managed services providers can fulfill your company's tech support needs. It can be achieved at different levels:
- Outsourced companies can provide break-fix support to fix issues on your computer or network.
- Outsourced IT teams can provide proactive support by monitoring hardware and software to avoid system failures.
- Fully managed service, which includes all your IT maintenance and support needs being outsourced by your provider
Outsourcing tech support is often done to reduce costs, take advantage of third-party IT certifications, free resources up to concentrate on business objectives or provide 24-7 assistance.
Customer Service/Professional Services
Customer service is also known as professional services. It is the service an organization provides to its clients to support its technological products and services. The customer support offered by this type is a mix of technical and customer service.
The primary purpose of pro services is to ensure that clients have a good experience when dealing with your company. Customer service is often a key component of professional services. Organizations typically offer professional services when providing products and services that need to be maintained or specialized technically. Support-as-a-service is also an essential driver of competitiveness.
How Does It Support The Modern World Look?
IT services can be handled by either an in-house IT team or a contract or outsourced service with the appropriate level of IT certification. A small company may not need a large IT department but only a single IT specialist. Small companies increasingly depend on outside support, whether for their cloud or application services.
Tech Support-as-a-Service or larger organizations may require multiple IT departments and many workers to meet their needs. You can get tech support via phone, email or live chat, as well as through chatbots and online tutorials.
What Types Of Support Do Its Services Provide?
The IT support provided is tailored according to the company's needs. This is a list of different Tech Support Levels and the types of assistance you will receive.
Level 0. Self-Help
This level allows users to retrieve information independently, with minimal help from IT professionals. Search queries pull data from FAQs and technical manuals: blog posts, App pages, Service Catalogs, Knowledge Base Articles, or even chatbots.
Level 1. Service Desk
You can contact your tech support team directly by calling the number above. First-Line Network Support Engineers and Helpdesk operators are also included. The user interacts with the IT professional via phone, web, or chat (sometimes only). They receive assistance for common issues, problems, and service requests.
You should expect your first-line provider to have broad general knowledge. They will be able to resolve the most common user issues quickly, allowing them to get users back on track with little downtime. At this point, the service desk technician might use remote support to control your computer remotely.
Session sharing is common for Levels 1-4, even with technicians from outside. We've experienced that in some form, usually when the technician on call puts us on hold. Modern support tools allow other technicians to be consulted (up or down in the support hierarchy) in real-time. It can improve customer satisfaction and positively impact service desk metrics such as the time to resolution.
Level 2. Technical Support
The level-two IT technical support team will possess a more extensive, specialized understanding and experience of the products or services relevant to the incident. Most likely, they are Second-Line Support Engineers or Customer Support Technicians. This level is usually where incidents are addressed that require more expertise.
In this situation, IT certifications are a necessity. Your technical support staff will evaluate the problem and offer a possible solution. The specialized support technician may have to speak with the client several times during this process. It may be necessary for IT to use remote control access to solve the issue.
Level 3. The Expert Level Of Product And Services Support
Here, the most advanced technical resources for resolving incidents are available. They are highly-skilled product and service specialists. These include Network Specialists and Server Engineers. The support staff will try to replicate the issue to determine the cause of the problem and then provide a fix. The fix will then be recorded for use in the future by customer service technicians at Levels 1 and 2.
Level 4. Outside Support
Preferred vendors provide the fourth level of IT support or business partners contracted outside the company to support items not serviced directly by them. It could include printer support, software vendor support, maintenance of machines, or depot support.
Access Support For Unattended Access And Access With Attended Staff
These levels of service apply to both unattended and attended support situations. To resolve an issue quickly and with minimum downtime, customer support technicians will often take control remotely of the device experiencing the problem. Most remote support technology will give the agent secure access to the gadget. The attended key is used when a service desk offers remote support for an employee's or a customer's issue.
Support is often required for devices, systems, or applications without the presence of a person. A certified IT expert can gain remote access, without being present, to the equipment, machinery or device, perform troubleshooting and resolve issues. That is done without needing a technician or end-user on the machine. Unattended support is what this process is called.
Sole support can be used to do anything, from updating endpoints in bulk to troubleshooting a server that is not being monitored to solving a problem with machinery located at a distant location. Unattended access is often privileged, allowing access to sensitive assets. PAM security controls must include the enforcement of the least privilege. In addition, adding session monitoring provides a clear audit trail for everything that happened during a customer support session.
What Is The Typical Service Desk?
Two common IT infrastructures are swarm support and tiered support:
- As an organizational model, tiered support is based on the IT Support Levels mentioned above. The tech problem is first brought up at a lower level and then escalated to higher support levels as needed. If the problem cannot be solved quickly by the Level-1 provider, it will be escalated.
- The swarming approach allows a single service desk tech to handle a situation. Instead of escalating to higher levels of support, the tech will find the resources necessary to solve the problem. The technician will "swarm" peers to gather enough resources and information to solve the problem.
IT Support Can Resolve A Variety Of Problems
Users of tech products and services can get help from Help Desks. Support is usually required when software or technical problems occur, but software and technical issues are a wide range of topics. Here are some of the most common problems IT support can handle.
Problem-Solving Hardware, Software, And Server Issues
In most offices, employees are required to use multiple hardware and software devices in their daily operations. The tech support team will ensure that servers are properly maintained and operational. The tech support team will ensure that all endpoints, applications, and networks are working correctly to prevent disruptions or downtime.
Support can be provided to resolve issues such as computers that shut down without reason, overheating or slowing, problems with printers and other devices, network connections and the internet, and software errors. These technicians may maintain desktop hardware, install security patches and updates on modems and wireless routers, and update the software.
Security Breaches, Viruses, And Malware
The IT support team is the first line of defense in implementing cybersecurity measures that prevent cyberattacks and reduce the risks when they do occur. These activities can include:
- Network monitoring and security includes a variety of tasks, including granting and revoking authorizations as necessary, installing firewalls, antivirus software, VPNs, updating patches and running regular network checks.
- Education of the workforce by implementing policies for emailing and downloading, educating the staff about these new protocols and introducing tests to check compliance.
Backups Of Data
The IT service desk can manage information backups that will protect your company in case of an attack, a power failure, or a system malfunction. The service desk can run backups of files, servers, or desktops manually, and automatically, according to their needs. The backup sets will be tested to ensure the data can be completely recovered. It protects information and data from loss. In the case of a data breach, for example, a secure backup can be used to jumpstart your operations. You can manage data backups:
- Cloud Computing
- On-premises servers
- Off-premises servers
- Hybrid/Combination
Problems With Password Recovery And Access
They can affect IT clients who are internal or external. Everyone has many passwords they need to remember. When an employee cannot log into his PC or email, a help desk technician may be able to help. If the issue is as simple as forgetting your password, they can reset it for you or restore user rights. They can also investigate and offer a solution for a more complicated problem.
Your IT team could also be responsible for authorizing access for the time period required if you need to grant access to any third-party organization (e.g. for repairs) or an employee who needs temporary access to restricted data to complete a project. Access to remote vendors should adhere to the just-in-time access model. The entrance should be limited and terminated as soon as the job is done or after an agreed period.
Remote And Hybrid Capability
It is essential to the continued operation of remote, hybrid, and on-premise workspaces. As well as supporting operations, IT departments are crucial in maintaining the security of communication channels and connectivity. An organization's attack surface remains in check as the network and infrastructure grow to include remote components.
Monitor, Check Health, And Report Information
It is also essential to monitor your network. This includes performing health checks and keeping track of the people who have access to information. Reports can be generated to aid in auditing and decision-making.
Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our consultants!
What Is The Difference Between Help Desks, Service Desks, And Technical Support?
Although the terms help desk, service desk and technical support are often used interchangeably, they have essential differences. Each will come with its own certifications for help desks, service desks or Technical Support to differentiate them.
What Is A Help Desk?
Help desks are set up to provide quick assistance and correction to even the most fundamental technical issues. Tier 1 support is the best place to start for these questions and requests. Support agents will focus on creating an excellent user experience by providing quick responses, flexible options for contact, and rapid resolutions. A help desk can assist with password problems, application and software support, and server backups. These issues are usually resolved by phone or remotely connecting to the user's device.
What Is The Service Desk?
The service desk is a more evolved version of a help desk. The service desk has its roots in IT management as a service. A service desk has a more strategic approach than a help desk that is primarily tactical. The service desk manages IT issues and requests for services directly with users.
What Is Tech Support?
The technical support team offers more outstanding expertise than the help desk and service desk. The tech support center takes on problems that the helpdesk cannot solve, the issues that are upgraded to higher levels of IT Support. Agents in tech support need to be highly trained and have a wide range of technical skills.
What Are Some Of The Most Frequent Help Desk Issues?
Help desks, and IT teams face challenges in today's world, where people can work from anywhere.
Process Inefficiencies
Your IT team faces challenges from redundancies, poor processes, inefficiency, lack of visibility, bad IT security hygiene and inadequate documentation. The IT support team can be slowed down by these issues, which interfere with their ability to run and oversee health checks and report on important problems.
Tools That Are Not Adequate
This was especially evident during the pandemic lockdown. Employees and organizations adopted dozens of new technologies to quickly adapt to a sudden requirement to create a remote-friendly infrastructure. With minimal planning beforehand, this major shift introduced numerous security threats that attackers exploited over the last couple of years. The rapid growth of digital transformation and its new norm overwhelmed IT departments, which were now required to connect and integrate new technologies.
Training Is Not Enough
The challenge is two-fold. There needs to be more end-user education, which increases the demand for IT professionals. More tickets are filed as a result of user errors or misuse. There is also a need for more IT training for IT specialists. Helpdesks require continuous training to maintain their certifications and skills. There needs to be more IT professionals. Therefore, it is more common for non-traditional IT workers to enter IT support positions. This non-traditional workforce may require intensive training and a lengthy learning curve to become proficient.
Change In Rate
The digital transformation, adoption of cloud and on-premise technologies, remote working and the requirement for workplaces that are remotely accessible and allow employees to work from anywhere, as well as more traditional change, such as company mergers etc., all contribute to the rapid pace at which changes occur. They are happening at an accelerated rate. Therefore, IT teams must work fast to implement new technologies and make documents and data available via these technologies. They must also secure access while maintaining transparency and operability.
The Parameterless Network
Physical and cyber security is required to match the sprawling technology and workers in multi cloud environments.
What Are The Advantages Of Its Support?
There are many advantages to outsourcing technical support. Outsourcing IT services has five significant benefits.
Core Business Priority
Outsourcing back-office tasks allows employees in-house to eliminate time-consuming and tedious duties. Data entry, accounting, and bookkeeping, as well as technical support, are all back-end tasks essential to a business's daily operation. They take time from your company and team to focus on what you do best: generating revenue and sales.
The organization can focus more of its resources on its core activities by outsourcing technical support. You can direct company resources toward primary projects or commercial ventures. You can use your skills, time, money, and effort to increase income.
Third-party vendors manage IT support. You can then focus on high-value, business-critical tasks. You can expand your reach in the market, launch and develop new products, or implement marketing and sales strategies. Outsourcing can sharpen your edge in the market.
Every business wants to gain a competitive edge. This advantage sets you apart from other players in the market. Business is dynamic and aggressive in the current environment. New companies, regulations, policies, products, and trends can affect your business.
In general, outsourcing can strengthen your competitive edge by:
- Bigger market share
- Better product or service quality
- More product or service differentiation
- Sales margins are higher
- Profits Increase
- Improved industry and consumer image
- Stronger market position
- Customer loyalty is a critical factor in retaining customers.
Advanced Technologies With High-Access
You can access the latest platforms, tools, and technologies using back-office services like technical support. BPO companies use these technologies to improve their business processes. Next-generation software can help deliver high-quality services, organize workflows, and conduct business accurately.
Many BPO firms use help desk software to assist IT teams with handling requests and concerns, recording and monitoring performance and providing self-service. It also assists the daily work of support teams. The software helps to manage significant customer calls, which reduces human error while increasing accuracy.
Help desks or service desks are used by IT agents, supervisors, engineers and other professionals to resolve and direct customer support tickets. Cloud-based software is the new trend. These software packages have collaboration and omnichannel features to ensure seamless communication between coworkers and customers.
Highly Qualified And Experienced
Outsourcing data entry, technical support, and other back-end activities can help minimize issues and operational problems. You can address these issues more efficiently than allowing your team to handle them. BPOs have experience, expertise, and knowledge in these fields.
A typical outsourced IT group comprises support agents, software engineers, consultants, and developers. The team is adept at resolving critical issues in the tech world before they become significant problems. They have the collective knowledge to solve a problem with a service or product. Likely, such specialists are not available in your company.
Hiring technology experts can be beneficial for the internal resources tech team because they can transfer their knowledge and skills. Sharing information, abilities and ideas can increase productivity and promote creativity. It will also reduce long-term costs. Your IT team can learn to keep up with industry regulations and practices and technical knowledge.
Other benefits of using an expert:
- They were preventing employee turnover. Employee turnover can be reduced when workers in small businesses are asked to do multiple roles. They can focus their efforts on specific tasks by hiring an IT consultant.
- The success rate is high. BPO firms have a high success rate in implementing IT plans and projects.
- Cost-effectiveness and time-saving. You can save money and time by having service providers handle your IT issues within a specified period.
High Scalability
Another advantage of outsourcing is scalability. You can manage resources more efficiently. Vendors can adjust the scale of the operations they outsource according to current business requirements. Hiring more staff is unnecessary if your IT department needs extra human resources to handle the high call volume. The provider can provide them.
Scalability is a way to make the most of your time, effort, and money. The right amount of agents or tech support specialists is hired, reducing the waste in human resources. To optimize productivity and lower costs, you need to determine the size of your tech support team based on specific workloads.
The expensive and lengthy recruitment process can also be eliminated. Outsourcing firms take care of screening applicants, tests, interviews, onboarding, and training for newly hired employees. You don't have to pay for hiring fees if you use a service provider. In-house IT services can help when business activity is low for whatever reason.
Revenues dip, but costs are constant. A prolonged income decline can lead to downsizing and layoffs. BPO providers can provide outsourced technical assistance to reduce or increase staffing levels depending on the season.
Save Big On Your Purchase
Cost reduction is a significant advantage of outsourcing. The money saved can be used to fund new business opportunities, investments, expansion, and improvements in human resources. Here are three costs you can reduce when using a BPO service provider.
- Recruitment Costs: The service provider will hire and train qualified technical support staff and handle all the screening, testing, and interviewing. Hiring in-house staff is expensive, including online and printed ads, assistants, and recruiters, among other costs.
- Infrastructure Costs: Additional tech personnel means extra office space and more hardware, software, and networking devices. Small businesses may need help to meet these requirements. Third-party vendors will cover maintenance costs, upgrades to hardware, and migration of platforms. Only the fee charged by providers is payable.
- Costs of Labor: The cost of regular employees increases. Employment taxes increase part-time employees' payroll costs. Pensions, holidays, sick leave, and other non-monetary benefits are also included. BPO firms reduce your labor costs. BPO firms are located in places with English-speaking, highly skilled and affordable workers.
High Coverage
BPO providers can provide 24/7 IT support and services omnichannel. It can help your company expand and support global customers. You can get help from an outsourced provider anytime, even on holidays or weekends. Multichannel service is always available so that customers can contact you by live chat, telephone, email, social media and online communities anytime.
Customer loyalty is increased by continuous and seamless interaction with customers to resolve their tech issues. They can reach the company at any time. Customers will order more products and services or buy new ones. Accessibility can increase customer retention.
Especially globally, extended service coverage allows for additional revenue streams. You can gain new customers and markets. Globalization has many benefits, including:
- Access to diverse technical talent is easy. Global operations give a company access to an extensive pool of highly skilled personnel, such as IT and technical professionals. Diverse talent leads to cost savings. The organization may be able to relocate its offices or operations to save money.
- Greater income opportunities. Globalization opens up new income opportunities. Globalization can help firms that are experiencing limited growth in their home markets. A domestic business can make millions of dollars in income each year. A global company can earn billions of dollars in revenue every year.
The Bottom Line
Outsourcing can be effectively used when you understand the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing technical support. Outsourced technical support allows your company to save money, expand internationally, gain access to the latest technologies, and have the expertise. Outsourcing IT services, on the other hand, can be costly and counterproductive when mismanaged.
Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our consultants!
Consider the issues of less control, reduced security, faster response times, and low morale. Check out the article and decide if technical support outsourcing suits you. This article can be used as a guide to making an informed choice.
