Real-Life Help Desk Tales, Part 3: The No-Help Desk
In previous posts, I examined why corporate workers hesitate to call their help desks when stuck with a software quandary. I referred to the so-called stupidity factor, or fear of looking stupid, as one of the top reasons.
In an e-mail response, a reader pointed out an even greater obstacle, something he called the infuriation factor.
“The reason I don’t call our help desk is because it is outsourced to desks outside the U.S.,” he wrote. “The ‘Help’ can’t speak English adequately enough to understand or communicate effectively. A problem which should only take five or 10 minutes to resolve sometimes takes as long as an hour and a half.”
He has a point, and it’s a biggie, for sure.
“Desktop application support is often treated as an afterthought, or a small piece of a gargantuan, all-in-one outsourcing deal.”
Most of us have had a frustrating help desk experience or two, where we were placed on hold, forced to listen to tinny ’80s Lite rock, only to be “helped” – eventually – by someone whose English was so-so, and who was proficient only in gatekeeping.
I’m not by any means xenophobic, and I’m not offended if an ATM asks if I’d like to bank in Spanish, Hindi or English, but the point of desktop application support – or any support – is to clear up conundrums. That’s hard to accomplish if the people involved cannot communicate with each other. It’s even more difficult if the help desk employs a tiered structure and bounces callers around until they get a technician who can actually help.
The language issue is a symptom of a larger outsourcing problem. That is, that because the need for desktop application support isn’t easily quantifiable, and because it’s difficult to prove return on investment with such services, it’s is often treated as an afterthought, or a small piece of a gargantuan, all-in-one outsourcing deal. This not only sullies the help desk’s image, it also tarnishes the IT department’s reputation overall.
Recent industry publications have suggested that multimillion dollar outsourcing deals are the stuff of history, and that companies have begun opting for nimbler, best-of-breed help desk outsourcers. Still, the challenges remain: how to change the help desk’s reputation, how to prove its value, and how to keep an eye on the budget. (Jen Darr)
Is your IT department all-in-one or best-of-breed? Tell us in comments or send us an e-mail.
MORE INFO IN: 5 Lessons to Learn Before Outsourcing | Hidden Demand | Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps
As a financial worker, I’ve often joked with IT staff that financial people & IT people already speak two different languages- neither of which is English!
Throw in a situation where the guy on the other end of the call speaks English as a second language, and you have a recipe for an unsatisfactory result.