RMS Services June Archive
SDI 360 -
Service Desk secure despite cut-backs
“More than half of service desk managers in the public sector believe that their role will not change under the government’s proposition to cut spending by 20 per cent, according to a survey carried out by RMS Services....”
To read the full article: Service Desk secure despite cut-backs
Service Management Magazine June/July Issue -
The Art of Persuasion
Having gone to great lengths to provide helpdesk facilities, how do you persuade customers to use them? Dennis Flower of Service Management Magazine put this question to the industry’s providers.
“Christine Headford, CTO at RMS Services said: ‘The question of charging callers is always a sensitive one. If the helpdesk is servicing its own organisation, then charging may be minimal, but if the helpdesk is providing a service externally, then charging is very much determined by the contract. However it is not just about the money - organisations can be more innovative in their approach in order to encourage users to use self-service.‘
One potential tactic is to have a league table, Headford continued, assigning points based on different criteria for users, such as solving a call themselves, logging the call and adding their own updates. These figures are then published in a league table, showing ratings by department, encouraging users to participate as they can see others doing the same and want to get involved. For this to happen, the helpdesk solution will need to have a mechanism to automatically publish league tables.
‘Obviously, this approach would not be appropriate when dealing with external customers rater than internal employees,’ said Headford, ‘Instead, monetary incentives are normally the most effective option. Reducing the ‘per call’ charge can significantly encourage customers to log their calls, while increasing the hours that support is available.’
If the helpdesk is not progressing calls in a timely fashion, call volumes may increase as users enquire about lack of action. Call tracking should be included and capable of handling the volume of requests.
‘individuals will be likely to flag any IT problems, large or small, when given the opportunity and it’s up to the organisation to make sure they can handle this.’ said Headford.
