Three ways your helpdesk can save money

With budgets constantly being squeezed, and the range of devices being used in schools and colleges ever increasing, technology support teams are facing a seemingly impossible task of controlling costs. Tapping into 20 years experience helping create efficient IT support in the education sector, Richmond Systems offers three methods for managing helpdesk costs without major outlay.


Knowledge and social support: the time has come
Online self-service, through FAQs and knowledge bases, was once lauded as the saviour of IT support - promising a cheap, accessible way of solving common problems without contacting the helpdesk.  However, very few IT support operations made a success of self-service, with knowledge requiring regular updates and users preferring to pick up the phone rather than searching through endless pages of often irrelevant information.

However, young people who have grown up using computers are demonstrating a different attitude.  Their expectations might be higher than the previous generation - they expect 24/7 support for example - but they are also more willing to search for data and FAQs in their quest for instant, hassle free solutions.  They will also ask their peers on Twitter and other social networks for advice, and search YouTube and Google for answers to their IT problems, before they ring the service desk.

Richmond Systems recommends you investigate what resources you have - an unloved self-service tool could bear significant fruit with some time spent updating its content and advertising its availability to staff and students.  It is also worth finding what online support tools are available - YouTube is a mine of useful tutorial info and troubleshooting advice - your helpdesk should make use of this by linking to it in your support portal or adding it to your website.  Social media may not at first appear to be worth your effort, but again, see what is there.  Your students may have already created support communities, or you could create a Facebook group for staff and students to share IT tips and fixes.  Such a facility takes minimum time to set up and maintain (it will obviously need a level of policing) but it could prove an invaluable resource to reduce the helpdesk burden.  It’s also a great opportunity to get the pulse of your school or college, and understand which services you should be investing in or removing.

20 minute problem management
Proper problem management as defined by ITIL, is a complex and difficult discipline to perfect.  However, there is an easier way to gain valuable root-cause data and make immediate fixes to stem the flow of calls to your helpdesk: speak to your front line staff.  

Service desk staff don’t need a report to tell them what the common reasons for calls are.  Sit them in a room and ask them to call out their three most frequently asked support questions.  You can then quickly draw up a list of top ten troublesome issues and work out a realistic plan for tackling them at the source, or alerting staff and students of unavoidable problems and fixes, possibly through your support portal, update email, Facebook page or any other communication medium you use.  If you can only address two or three of the key issues, you will reduce your call volumes, which in turn gives you more time to address commonly asked questions, further controlling your costs and improving your service.



May I check your licence and registration
?
We all know that unused software licences are a money drain, but what other business applications and equipment has your institution amassed that is no longer used?  It may not be an area that is under the direct jurisdiction of the service desk but, as the linking point between the users and the business, IT support understands better than anyone what equipment is in demand and what is being neglected.

Present any intelligence you have to IT buyers and licence buyers; not only could you save money by jettisoning unnecessary costs, you could also highlight where purchasing should focus to ensure students and tutors are armed with the technology they need to learn and teach respectively.

Visit our website to learn more ways your helpdesk can save money and deliver cost effective IT support with Richmond Systems.