9 Things to Look for When Hiring Help Desk Support Services

You’re thinking about hiring help desk support services. But there are a lot of questions at the top of your mind. Will they be more affordable than hiring internal staff? Will they cause you to lose valuable members of your IT department?

Will they really make a difference?

It depends on the help desk support services you invest in. Invariably, some are better than others. Here are the top nine things to look for when hiring help desk support services.

1. Service Level Agreements

Every help desk support service will provide a Service Level Agreement (SLA), but these shouldn’t be treated like Terms of Service for an app you use (that is, something you click through without reading). Read it. You need an SLA that provides you with everything that your organization needs. SLAs are key to ensuring that you’re getting the level of service you expect and deserve.

The best help desk support services should offer SLAs that guarantee a certain number of hours of service, response time and resolution time. SLAs should include measurable metrics and functional guarantees. Ask the hard questions. If they don’t meet their SLA, what is the procedure? Are they going to fight you on it, or will they reimburse you? How are they tracking their metrics? Will they be visible to you?

An SLA that cannot be enforced is more or less useless. You need an SLA that the company really stands behind.

2. Support for Multiple Channels

Your business is unique, and so are your support needs. The best help desk support services will offer support across multiple channels, including phone, email, chat and social media. Having multiple channels is even more important if you have remote workers. Remote workers must be able to get help from wherever they are.

Also, consider whether you need your help desk support team to be local to you. It’s possible this doesn’t matter; you might not even have offices. But if you have offices that require a lot of troubleshooting, it may be essential that your help desk support team be able to provide remote support in the physical office.

3. Expertise in Your Industry

When you’re looking for help desk support services, make sure they have expertise in your industry. This way, you can be sure they understand the unique challenges you face and can offer tailored solutions.

The best help desk support services will have experience supporting businesses in your industry and will be able to provide you with the specific support you need. The more unique your technology is, the more important this becomes. Those within the fields of health, finance and education will find themselves with additional technological requirements.

4. Flexibility

The best help desk support services are flexible and can scale to meet your needs. As your business grows, your support needs will change. The best help desk support services will be able to grow with you, offering the level of support you need when you need it.

Ask help desk support companies how you can scale their support services upward or downward. Some companies simply have tiers that you can freely move through. Others may lock you into a contract for six months to a year.

A contract isn’t necessarily bad; with a contract, your pricing is guaranteed, too. But you should ask whether the support company will be able to maintain your level of care should your organization continue to grow.

5. Data and Analysis

How much data will your help desk support be able to provide you? Can they provide you with essential data regarding which tickets have been opened and whether the volume is increasing? Will you know when tickets are being escalated between Tier 1 and Tier 2 support? The more data you have, the better visibility you have into your system.

Help desk support is a front-line support system that also involves metrics such as satisfaction. Are those who open tickets happy with the resolution? Would you ever know?

6. Training and Certification

Training and certification prove skills. When comparing help desk support services, ask about training and certification. Is their staff up to date on the current technologies you use? Can they provide you with the best possible service?

If you have, for instance, a Microsoft ecosystem, you should know that your help desk support staff is certified in Microsoft. If they aren’t, while they may be Microsoft experts, they may not be current on their Microsoft option.

7. Proactive Support

The best help desk support services are proactive and not reactive. This means they’re always looking for ways to improve your support experience and prevent problems before they happen. Ask them what they will do to anticipate help desk needs within your organization and manage them. For instance, do they have special processes that they use before major technology rollouts?

8. Affordable Pricing

Affordable pricing is something, but not everything. Plan for your budget and look for a help desk support team that’s within your budget. But that doesn’t mean you should choose the cheapest one. The cheapest help desk support team may be cutting corners in ways that you might not know–and you might not know until it’s too late.

9. Reviews and Testimonials

Public reviews, testimonials and even complaints through things like the Better Business Bureau will all provide you with key insights into the performance of a company. A company can say anything in their sales materials and even their SLAs, but if you don’t check reviews and testimonials, you’ll never know.

That’s not to say that every company with a bad review is a bad one, nor that a company that lacks testimonials in your industry isn’t suited to you. But do consider asking questions about the reviews and testimonials you see and give the company the chance to address any issues. You may learn more about them than you would have from the original review.

The best help desk support companies will offer all of these things and more. Choose a provider that can offer you the level of service you need at a price you can afford. Take the time to get to know their services, read their reviews and explore their customer testimonials. You aren’t buying a service; you’re building a relationship.

Need Help Desk Support Services? Contact Red River

At Red River, we provide help desk support expertise and specialization right out of the box. Our team of brilliant technicians and support personnel will give your organization everything that it needs to keep running.

It’s an unpredictable world, but you don’t need to worry about your IT infrastructure. Contact Red River to find out more about our innovative team.