Reduce Issue Overload
Time is money — that’s especially true when it comes to IT services. Without processes in place to effectively answer everyday questions or address minor issues, high-volume IT departments can easily spend hours answering phones or requests sent by multichannel support systems, leaving little time in their workday to address larger issues.One way to resolve this problem is to use ITSM platform and create an easy-to-use self-service portal with a rich knowledge base. An IT self-service portal is a place where users can first look up their own answers to try to resolve their issues, and if they can’t, then they can submit a ticket online. The best way to do this is to leverage a service catalog so that issues are properly organized and routed — also a big time saver.
Takeaway: IT self-service portals should have a knowledge base with a great search capacity and a proper service catalog. Have a look at some stellar portals here.
Reduce Long Resolution Times and Lost Issues
End-users want their issues to be resolved quickly and accurately. But without proper communication tools, IT departments may struggle to meet service-level commitments. In addition, it may be hard for IT leaders to gather data and have visibility around where there can be improvements and efficiency gains. One way to see if you have an issue here is to track SLAs — a technology package can do this for you — allowing you to flag tickets that are approaching deadlines to meet the SLA.Next, following a formal ITIL framework will help expedite resolution times. Incident and request management ensures that you keep track of the status, giving clear visibility into timelines and deliverables. Consequently, if any incident or request takes too long to resolve, the incident management solution will alert IT service staff right away.
Prevent Recurring Issues
Recurring issues are a common problem for IT service desk departments. These types of issues can take up a significant amount of time for IT staff, delaying progress on other initiatives. In many cases, users report the same kind of incidents — for example, several employees might complain about losing access to a database. If you are using only a basic ticketing system, you might find yourself replying the same solution over and over again. With a self-service portal and knowledge base, people can search for their issues and find their own solution without ever needing to submit a support ticket.In addition, a knowledge base can help IT service staff understand trends and popular topics/issues so they can proactively mitigate any issues that might arise with changes to systems or through the introduction of new software or tech.
To build a proper knowledge base you can follow the principals of Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS®) and resolve issues faster while optimizing IT resources. By promoting self-service as the primary method for customers in need of IT support you can save time and money.
