Bringing Relief To Swamped Help Desk Staff
For the standard help desk department, some processes are so common that the fix becomes muscle memory. Entry-level technicians and skilled engineers alike can be pulled aside to reset a password or bring a user profile back to default, but there are better ways to get the job done. As you analyze your business’ help desk activities, consider the most common tasks and ways that an automated, self-service portal could help.
Password Resets
A forgotten password is something that most computer users go through in the modern world, and it’s a big problem for help desk and general tech support departments that don’t have an automated way of handling resets.
When users forget their passwords, two productivity leaks are caused. The user is unable to perform their business tasks, and the technician handling the request has to waste time that could be spent on more complex issues or training.
It’s important for the new technicians to learn the basics of help desk in case of major, unplanned problems, but you may as well have an automated plan in place when most technicians can reset accounts as easily as they put on a pair of pants.
A SysAid self-service portal can solve the problem by giving a simple account reset function. When a user is locked from an account for any reason, they can check the reason without making a trek to the Information Technology (IT) department.
On the end user’s side, self-service portal asks for the username or some personally-identifiable information. A user can enter an employee ID number or some information that the IT department uses for verification, and the portal can send the proper reset information.
This can be done by sending the information to a secure mobile device or allowing a technician to reset the password while calling the user if some measure in-person of confirmation is necessary.
On the technical side, many requirements can be placed. The IT department can choose the information needed for verification, such as name, employee number, phone number, email address, or any combination of these values and many more.
The system can be configured to send the password reset information to a specific destination, or instructed to display a warning message if the system is locked and shouldn’t be unlocked.
System Cleanup
When computers are running slow, why send a technician to perform a standard cleanup? In most business, the process is just going to the disk cleanup function in the operating system or using a third-party cleanup suite.
Instead of sending technicians are virtual sweepers, a self-service portal can be used to request a cleanup. When the system is running slow, a user can visit the portal and select the cleanup option for your business’ tasks to take place.
The help desk team can specify the programs that should run when a cleanup request is run. If the speed problem is from something bigger than junk files and registry problems–such as a virus, appropriate reports can be generated.
It’s understandable that reports and evidence should be saved if a virus is detected. If you want your team to be notified of virus activity instead of cleaning up the problem and destroying relevant information, a log of the actions taken can help you figure out what happened.
A Wealth Of Service Options
Self-service portals can be configured to perform many other options, just as a technician’s script toolkit can launch certain tasks automatically. The key is putting everything in a package that the standard user can understand.
If there are specific tasks that don’t seem to be a part of the service portal’s features, simply reach out to the design team to discuss the issue. It could be a minor change to allow different tasks to run, or there may be some security concerns that should be discussed before exposing average users–and your business network–to vulnerabilities.
Contact a self-service portal professional to discuss different features, UI design, and accessibility options.
Author: Pankaj Deb