Does your IT team spend too much time supporting employees’ mobile devices?
Once you’ve procured and provisioned your fleet of mobile devices, you’ll enter the “user support” stage. This involves providing the support and resources that end users need to ensure that their devices work the way they should. Many companies decide to take an in-house approach by putting this responsibility on their IT team. However, providing end user support can be extremely time consuming, and can limit the amount of time your IT team can spend on other important issues.
Challenges of an in-house approach
Companies that take an in-house approach to end user support often ignore the hidden costs that come with managing a fleet of mobile devices. There are a number of time sinks and monetary costs that could drag your IT team down, such as:
Slow service. Carriers are notoriously frustrating to deal with due to complicated menus, long hold times, and little communication between customer support staff. Many IT teams spend countless hours on hold to get support for employee mobile devices.
Downtime. Mobile devices increase employee productivity and empower them to do their jobs more efficiently. But when a phone goes down, that productivity is paused. And for every minute of downtime, there is a cost. If the issue can’t be dealt with quickly (whether due to long hold times, a long list of other devices to manage, or other factors) your company loses money.
Wasted time. Many device support issues don’t even require a customer support call, but unless your team has a way to efficiently diagnose problems on the fly, those support calls are unavoidable, which means more time spent on the phone and less time tending to other tasks.
Subpar support. Many carriers rush their customer support to cover as many calls as possible, and the quality of service can suffer. The “solutions” that are offered are often not solutions at all; due to a lack of troubleshooting experience or knowledge, they’re usually temporary fixes that come from a script.
Overburdened workloads. Dealing with troubleshooting a single mobile device can take hours. But for companies who have hundreds, or even thousands of devices, providing end-user support can require a dedicated team, which does not come cheap.
Benefits of client services from a managed service provider
Instead of handling mobile device support in house, consider outsourcing tasks to a managed service provider that specializes in maintaining your mobile solution. They can help optimize the workload of your service desk and streamline the functionality of your organization.
Integration. When people hear the term “outsourcing,” they often think about losing jobs and lower quality service. But not with the right managed service provider. The client services team can act as an extension of your team to optimize their workload. Alternatively, they can handle all the mobile support directly to take the entire burden off your IT team.
Relationships. The best managed cellular services providers have great relationships with carriers, which can help streamline account needs and quickly resolve billing issues.
Experience. An experienced managed service provider knows when a problem can be fixed without going to the carrier, and when it’s absolutely necessary to get the carrier involved. This can prevent your team from wasting time on tasks that could easily be solved in house.
Expertise. Good managed service providers have plenty of expertise dealing with device troubleshooting and end user support. They may be able to provide a quick answer without escalation, for faster resolution times that would likely take in-house staff much longer.
Dedicated support desk. Mobile device support isn’t the primary task of your IT team, nor should it be. A managed service provider can offer a dedicated support desk that deals with end users directly, so that your IT team can focus on more important issues.
Questions to ask potential managed service providers
Not all managed service providers are created equally. Here are a few questions to ask potential providers in order to ensure your needs are met:
- How and when is customer support available? Is it 24/7 or after hours/emergency support options?
- How do you reach support? Phone, email? Is there a portal access?
- How long does it take to receive support? What is your average call resolution time?
- Can you integrate with our existing ticketing system?
- What is the process for escalation resolution?
- What are expected resolution times for support and delivery of devices?
- Is support available to all end users?
- Will my employees contact you directly, or will one person in my organization be the point person to escalate user support requests?
- What’s the cost or hidden costs for service?
And most importantly, “Will you create a plan for account support that is customized specifically to our needs and business?”
Customization plays a crucial role in the handling of end user support going forward. When evaluating offerings from managed service providers, ensure they are able to provide customizable features such as:
- Dedicated support team with personalized phone and/or email
- Order approval process
- Account security for order and device replacements
- Client approved devices, accessories
- Account management check-ins
- Service reports
- Custom data usage and text alerts to end users
Is technical support a time trap for your business?
It doesn’t have to be. A managed service provider’s client services team can take the burden of troubleshooting off your IT team by acting as an extension of your existing organization or providing a standalone solution. At LINQ, we can help you maintain your mobile solution and ensure that it is simpler and more cost effective than managing it in-house, whether we integrate with your existing solution or take over support entirely.
LINQ Tech Team