If you work in IT support, you likely receive many service requests that are remarkably similar and often concern minor computer problems, such as resetting a password.
While these problems need to be addressed, too many service requests can slow technicians down and prevent them from responding quickly to more urgent requests.
In this article, SEI Team offers three tips that will help you optimize your IT service request management by reducing the number of service requests.
Analyze your existing tickets to determine the most frequent IT service requests
Analyze your existing tickets to determine your most frequent service requests so that you can reduce your call volume and avoid clogging your lines with minor problems. This will help you develop a more efficient knowledge base and enable users to find a solution on their own. This saves both you and the customer valuable time.
Develop an IT knowledge base that is easily accessible to users
An IT knowledge base is an online solution that your customers and users can access to get answers to their questions. This database may contain technical information on certain tools, an FAQ section and user guides.
If you develop a good knowledge base around the main requests you receive, it will help you keep your lines open for more important issues. Make sure it is designed to be easy for users to navigate and understand. Otherwise, they will be reluctant to use it and your volume of IT service requests will stay the same.
Set up a self-service portal for your customers
A good way to make this knowledge base available is through a customer self-service portal. For example, the web-based user portal for the iTop ITSM solution is the main communication and information tool for customers. Its design is easily adaptable and allows you to create a user-friendly interface.
Good communication with your customers will reduce your volume of requests
As with all business sectors, good communication with your customers is always important for efficient IT service management.
Clearly explaining the important changes that will be made to your IT business will help you avoid receiving a ton of calls from confused customers. Speak directly with your customers and explain how they can adapt to the various changes ahead.
In addition, in the event that you have to manage a major incident, you should set up different communication methods that can quickly notify your users of the problem in question. For example, you could record an automatic message detailing the situation to customers who call.
As a result, you’ll receive fewer calls from panicked customers and have more time to focus on solving the problem.
The iTop ITSM solution improves your IT Service Management
If you want to prevent your IT services from being overwhelmed and unable to meet your customers’ expectations, consider creating a knowledge base that can be accessed by users based on the most common queries you receive. This will help your customers easily find the answer to their question.
You should also always keep regular and transparent communication with your customers to keep them informed of upcoming updates.
The iTop Professional ITSM solution is a complete IT management tool that will allow you to implement all the tips listed in this article. At SEI Team, we help you implement the iTop solution and customize it to your business. Want to see iTop in action? Contact us today for a demo!