Coleman Technologies Blog

For many smaller businesses the IT administrator’s position is not one held by a certified IT professional. It is held by whomever is most knowledgeable about computers; or, even worse, the person who most uses a particular machine. This can lead to complete catastrophe.

A help desk, either as a standalone service, or as a part of a larger managed services platform, can provide the kind of comprehensive IT support every organization is looking for. It doesn’t just battle broken technology, either. It also reduces downtime that comes from human error, whether it be from IT related issues or situational incompetence. If your staff can’t do their jobs efficiently because they encounter technology-induced roadblocks, having IT experts available around-the-clock to look into and fix most of the problems your staff could have is a huge benefit. 

Additionally, if you do have a dedicated IT administrator or outsource your IT management to a firm that doesn’t offer help desk, having remote technicians at the ready can help an IT department that is stretched thin. Augmenting your IT staff by instituting a help desk can keep their attention on the projects that will help the organization move forward more successfully. 

If your business finds itself falling short in terms of help desk support, look no further. Coleman Technologies can help your business get the support it needs to maintain operational efficiency. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

So why not make sure they have the technical support they need?

We’ve seen this all too many times. An end user is constantly running into an issue on their computer that interrupts their day and prevents them from accomplishing a task in a timely manner. Maybe they are trying to get a proposal or presentation finished, or push out a marketing campaign.

Either way, perhaps your employee feels that his/her performance on a certain project will help them achieve a bonus or raise or commission. Maybe they just want to perform well. You can’t knock that kind of attitude, right?

Unfortunately, there’s this computer issue. It’s getting in their way. They aren’t running on all cylinders because they are always having to reboot or they can’t open the software they need, or something just isn’t working right. Whatever it is, they need help.

In some cases, they might go to a coworker and seek help. They might contact a manager. They might go directly to you. Everyone has their own work to do, and even if this person’s tasks are important, solving their computer issue might not be a top priority.

Depending on how you handle your IT, you might know that in order to get their issue looked at, you need to call your IT provider, get walked through the issue, approve a remote session or on-site visit, authorize a quote, etc. That’s a lot to distract you from what YOU were working on.

What we end up with is an employee who’s frustrated because they can’t perform well. It reduces morale and it could belittle their position within the company. They can’t work effectively and their project or task can take longer than it normally would. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Grant Your Staff Access to the Helpdesk

Now imagine the scenario like this: the user runs into an issue. They know that they don’t need to go to you for IT issues. They know that they can just pick up the phone or email in a ticket describing their problem and it gets handled.

In many cases, they could put in a ticket mid-morning and have it resolved by the time they are back from lunch. For more severe issues with a greater impact on operations, it could be solved even faster.

If your employees are empowered to report issues and get help, they feel more appreciated and more in control over their own work. If they need to get approval or be told that the issue is too minor to pay for a support call, it demeans their perception of their position.

That’s why we encourage our clients to let their staff access our help desk. For many common issues, it can fall under your managed agreement, and the business owner can be hands-off for the minor issues and support questions that would normally bog you down.

It’s time to give your staff the freedom to get support. It will save you time, and increase their productivity. Want to learn how we do it? Give us a call at (604) 513-9428.

Businesses usually have either an in-house IT department that can handle everyday maintenance and support, or they forego updates and support for only when operations cannot continue as they had previously been. While it might seem like a solid strategy, not paying for something that’s not needed until it is needed, the fact of the matter is that reaction-based IT maintenance and management is both risky and expensive. Furthermore, some companies rely on untrained employees to make sure maintenance and management occur as needed, but this is also a dangerous practice, as there is too much potential to botch necessary maintenance and ruin more than a little bit of infrastructure.

Events like hardware failures, hacking attacks, and software crashes are infinitely more common with organizations that take advantage of break-fix IT management. Furthermore, the facade of saving money is overshadowed by the crippling budgetary concerns that stem from downtime.

Even businesses that have an in-house IT department don’t have the luxury of providing organizations with IT support. They might be too busy implementing new solutions to bother answering questions. On the other hand, perhaps they are too weighed down by answering daily queries to worry about innovating and implementing new solutions at all.

Long story short, a help desk solution is designed to help your organization fill in the gaps that are left in the absence of a qualified IT technician. It can be used to supplement your current IT resources or act as a fully outsourced IT department that can perform all the roles traditionally allocated to this position. To learn more about how you can take advantage of a help desk solution, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

Of course, not all businesses have the luxury of hiring in-house technicians to function as a help desk. In cases like these, outsourced solutions are viable alternatives, if they aren’t outright better overall. Here are some of the best reasons why your organization should implement an outsourced help desk solution.

Help Desk Support Minimizes Downtime
You may have heard the excuse, “I would have done the work, but I didn’t know how,” or “My computer wasn’t working properly.” If you don’t have anyone available to help your staff with their issues, chances are they are being ignored and piling up, resulting in a situation where your staff simply can’t do their jobs--not because they don’t want to, but because they literally can’t. If you have someone your staff can reach out to for assistance with the technical side of their job, they’ll be more likely to get assistance and improve their productivity. Most importantly, you’re keeping downtime to a minimum, as it is a huge blow to your bottom line if left unchecked.

Help Desk Support Provides a Single Point of Contact
Even more confusing for some employees is who to actually contact in the event they need help with their technology. Sometimes the organization will have several numbers compiled in a location for all to see, but this isn’t helpful, as the employee might wind up having to reach out to several vendors just to resolve a basic issue. By using a help desk solution, there is only a single phone extension or email address to inform, making this kind of assistance much more accessible.

Help Desk Support Can Augment In-House Assistance
Let’s say that your internal IT department is responsible for helping your employees out with their technology troubles. This is fine and all, but chances are that they don’t have enough time to implement new solutions, keep your hardware and software updated, monitor your network for inconsistencies, and manage all of your organization’s devices, let alone take a call from Susan down the hall because she can’t access her email. You can help your business’ IT department out by taking this one responsibility off their shoulders and handing it to an outsourced, remote help desk.

If your business finds itself falling short in terms of help desk support, look no further. Coleman Technologies can help your business get the support it needs to maintain operational efficiency. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.