IT service desk technology has made tremendous strides over the past decade. Despite this fact, however, a recent survey by Gatepoint Research revealed that 74% of today’s on-site workforce still relies on phone calls to get the support they need. Remarkably, this number is even higher (80%) amongst remote workers.
This is placing a heavy burden on support teams that are already stretched too thin. According to Gartner, “Key metrics data show that, each year, IT service desks are dealing with increased numbers of interactions but provided with fewer resources, making it difficult to keep pace with the requirements of digital business.”
At a time when digital transformation is fundamental for sustainable success, skilled IT staff cannot afford to waste another second on manual, repetitive, and time-intensive tasks.
Fortunately, there is a beacon of hope on the not-so-distant horizon. Self-service IT support, powered by artificial intelligence and coupled with intuitive automation technology, can deliver much-needed relief to overworked service desk agents while empowering employees to resolve IT issues autonomously.
Let’s explore five of the many benefits of self-service IT support and, more importantly, how you can start harnessing them for your organization right away.
Maximize Efficiency & Productivity
According to Gartner, password resets make up 40% of a service desk’s call volume. Is this really how you want your highly skilled employees spending their days?
When these, along with countless other menial tasks, are shifted from human worker to virtual support agent, not only does the end-user receive instantaneous support, but IT staff is able to apply their talent and expertise to more strategic work.
The aforementioned Gatepoint survey showed a 57% improvement in employee productivity as a result of automated self-help.
Reduce Turnover
The average turnover for tech support is just over 40%. Given the time, money, and other resources required to hire and onboard new employees, this rate is alarming to say the least. A major contributing factor to this turnover rate is burnout, which is caused in large part by the overwhelming demand and heavy workload that is being placed on the support desk.
Self-service automation can dramatically reduce the volume of incoming support tickets for your service desk. This decrease in ticket volume – particularly in terms of lower-tiered requests – can alleviate much of the burden your IT team is experiencing, thereby improving their satisfaction levels.
Furthermore, when experienced tech workers are freed up to focus their skills on more meaningful work, they’ll be more engaged, and subsequently far less likely to jump ship.
Deliver Round-the-Clock Support
Providing 24/7 human IT support is incredibly costly. For smaller organizations or those with limited budgets, offering support outside of normal business hours simply isn’t feasible. Yet, with the proliferation of remote work arrangements, an increasing number of end-users are clocking in during off-hours
Incorporating virtual agents, along with automation, businesses of any size and budget can deliver round-the-clock availability without the need to increase headcount, exceed expenditure, or overwhelm existing IT staff.
Stellar Employee Experiences
With the so-called “Great Resignation” impacting just about every industry and driving tens of millions of people to quit their jobs, maximizing employee experience has never been more critical. One area where this can be accomplished is in end-user IT service and support.
According to the previously referenced Gatepoint survey, 57% of respondents say that it takes too long to get resolution for their IT support issues. With the service desk already overwhelmed and overburdened, response time for human agents will naturally suffer. This leaves end-users in the lurch and inevitably frustrated.
With automated self-help, on the other hand, end-users have the ability to quickly and efficiently find the answers they need, and resolve their IT problems autonomously. And because end-users no longer have to rely on human intervention for most of their support needs, they’ll enjoy greater productivity, which benefits the organization as a whole.
Enable Innovation
In another Gatepoint Research study, 74% of IT executives surveyed said they plan on implementing automation technology within the next 18 months, with nearly half of them preparing to do so over the next year. This makes it abundantly clear that in order to remain competitive in today’s rapidly changing digital world, automation is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.
This is another key area where self-service IT support can help. When skilled technologists are no longer required to spend the majority of their time putting out fires, they are able to focus their skills and abilities on proactive business initiatives that drive innovation and accelerate digital transformation.
Getting Started with Self-Service IT Support
Successful self-service IT support requires a combination of virtual agents and intuitive automation. Espressive’s AI-powered chat bot software, integrated with Resolve’s intelligent IT automation technology, can enable end-to-end self-help capabilities.
End-users simply engage virtual agents at any time, and their service requests can then be automatically carried out and resolved with zero need for human intervention.
To learn more about this powerful one-two punch and how you can quickly and easily implement it within your organization to take advantage of all of the above benefits, watch the replay of Gatepoint Research Reveals Why Automating Employee Self-Help Is Required in a Hybrid World.
