Increasing Productivity With Atomic Data's Service Desk
The Service Desk is a loud, caffeine-fueled office. The phones ring often. Large monitors cover the walls, detailing open tickets and systems being monitored. Technicians share information back and forth. The clicking of keyboards and mice is constant. These rows of desks comprise the first line of defense for our client’s information technology needs.
Creating an IT team or department or hiring IT staff in-house is a large undertaking. And for smaller companies, it’s hard to justify budgeting for a full-time IT staff. First, you need to recruit talent. A business needs to advertise they’re looking for help, and more importantly the hiring staff needs to know how to identify the adequate skills needed in potential employees. In a non-IT related company it may be difficult to know what to look for—what are the IT needs of the company, what skills does the prospect have related to the software and hardware the company uses, does the prospect have customer service experience, etc.
When a company finds a suitable new hire for their IT team that person then needs to be setup with equipment and trained. And the capital expenditure (CAPEX) of getting a new IT staff off the ground can be significant. Training takes time. Even an experienced level 1 technician needs time to get up to speed at a new company. All the while the company is hurting for tech support. Yet another option is to move one or more current employees into an IT role. That is a difficult transition. And who makes that transition? That move potentially puts someone well out of their element. It is a recipe for multiple unhappy employees.
The Atomic Data Service Desk Technicians are men and women that live and breathe technology. They work in the Service Desk because they love technology and learning. They go home from their shift and work on building their PC’s, or study programming to better themselves and become Engineers. These are dedicated, never give up people with common customer service driven mindsets that Atomic Data has assembled to provide white-glove service to our clients.
Atomic Data has the recruiting and onboarding process down pat. A lot of our recruits come from recommendations by current Service Desk Technicians. It’s great. The Technicians know the job, they know the person being recommended, and that way the new hire is prepared for the rigors of the Service Desk prior to being hired. We set new hires up for success—laptop, monitors, headset, and surround them with the most experienced Technicians to help them get situated.
The Service Desk is a loud, caffeine-fueled space. The phones ring often. Large monitors cover the walls, detailing open tickets and systems being monitored.
There’s a lot of Technicians on the team. During business hours there’s more than enough to fill an NBA roster. So, at any given time, there’s a few handfuls of Tech minds to chime in on a situation. If any tough issue arises, which is often, there’s more than likely someone who’s dealt with it before and is able to provide insight on how to mitigate the issue. If a Client calls the Atomic Data Service Desk, they’re not really just speaking to one person, they’re getting the expertise of a team. Not only that, but there is always a Service Desk Technician available to help. Unlike a small in-house IT team, our Service Desk doesn’t leave clients waiting (and not working) while they assist others.
Using the team as a resource is invaluable. But, a business with only a few or one technician can’t really do that. When there is only one tech it’s impossible to ask for help. There is no hive mind to go to for suggestions or advice. And not only does size (of the team) matter, but availability matters too. Many of Atomic Data’s clients work around the clock. So, unless a company is willing to pay an in-house IT technician overtime to be on call 24/7, there’s a good chance support isn’t going to be there outside of business hours. However, the Atomic Data Service Desk is. No matter what time of day or day of the week, the Service Desk phones do not go unanswered.
Another advantage of the Atomic Data Service Desk is the availability of knowledge. After many years of supporting clients, the Service Desk has developed a large Knowledge Base full of articles that detail what to do in specific situations based on the client and their common issues. The Service Desk tries to eliminate what is referred to as “tribal knowledge.” Tribal Knowledge happens when there is a small group of technicians retaining knowledge in their minds and passing info word of mouth, rather than documenting processes for future use or future technicians. At Atomic Data we try to have documentation available to Service Desk Technicians prior to implementing a new client, ensuring the smoothest possible transition.
What all of this means for our clients is increased productivity. Atomic Data can relieve the pressure of level 1 support for any company and allow the company to focus on what is most important to the business, whatever that may be. Even if the business retains an IT team, that team can remain focused on business priorities and development instead of being inundated with virus removal requests or ensuring Outlook is working correctly. For an Atomic Data client, our efficiency becomes the client’s efficiency. Our team becomes the client’s team. So, not only will the Service Desk always be there, they will swiftly resolve your issue. Over the course of last month 85% of our Service Desk tickets were completed within 24 hours. Service Desk Technicians are skilled at getting our client’s back to work quickly. The Atomic Data Service Desk can save a company on labor costs as well as productivity—and the large, experienced Service Desk team will keep your company from getting bogged down with user issues and keep your business on track.