Enterprise Mobile Support: Real Service or SOS?

IT support, by nature, makes the promise that the entire farm won’t burn down on their watch. Avoiding a full scale technology meltdown is of course pivotal to the daily functionality of business but settling for disaster-avoidance/clean-up sets too low a bar of success for today’s mobile enterprise technology.

With no universal model to follow, mobile support is often foisted upon desktop support teams without management fully understanding the implications of trying to fit such a square peg in a round hole. When inbound support requests for mobile devices becomes excessive, IT often uses the logic that they only need to hire more desktop support personal to ease the burden. It should be clear that there is a fundamental disconnect happening in this reasoning: desktop computers and mobile devices are apples and oranges.

“Let’s Go Off-Script”

The hallmark of a well run help-desk is its “off-script” nature. Conversational tact is the opposite of  “fill-in-the-blank” style used by IT-warehouses. When troubleshooting goes off the beaten path end-users will invariably be put on hold and transferred to another department that has those specific instructions. This means resolution is rarely made in a timely way. There is power to calm and knowledgeable conversation with a support team member. A help-desk personifies this human-to-human style of support.

When cell service or device issues cause a mobile device to effect an employee’s efficiency, it can also negatively effect an employees general emotional state. When both are being effected adversely, negative reactions are common, even logical: employees should want to get back to work. In these tough moments, think of how important (and calming) an easy call to an educated and assistive help-desk could be.

“Just Google It”

If you know the right alleyways to shine your flashlight down, the practice of “Just Google It” can sometimes result in a workable solution for minor troubleshooting. Remember though, the internet is still a jungle of horrible, even malicious, advice, not to mention zero-accountability. If employees feel confident to wade into that environment, that’s fine, but it’s probably best to not suggest it as viable.

Issues that necessitate interfacing with mobile carriers will never be a Google-able solution. Account management is the crux of any TEM method. In a Google-only scenario employees will not be able to access secured carrier accounts without help of a gatekeeper help-desk. As long as carriers control voice and data lines this interfacing is not only a practical management issue, frankly, it is a great service to your employees. Let your help-desk deal with the hulking behemoths that are today’s carriers.

“Mayday!”

Amazon, a company known for staking is reputation on great customer service, recently unveiled ‘Mayday‘ support for its newest Kindle Fire tablet. Mayday is cutting-edge, device-specific support, promising 24/7 hour video chat with a real person! Amazon representatives can operate inside of the specific device in question, showing users where to go and teaching them how to use it in the way it was designed.

The example of Amazon’s rising service standards begs the question: Why shouldn’t mobile-using employees, like consumers, expect positively-evolving, personable and informed help desk support? Employees want to be able to say “Hey, beyond my current issue, I have a random question about ‘x’ technology, what do you think?”

Bare minimum expectations of IT-support, in an age where a majority of the work force uses mobile devices, could be costing companies dearly. Is it too radical a notion that technical support should increase the productivity and working knowledge of employees?

 If any of these examples have piqued your interest and you would like to continue this conversation please do not hesitate to contact mindWireless. We are the subject-matter-experts in the field of mobile help desk support. With decades of mobile experience and a large staff of educated help desk support, mindWireless would love to be of service to your enterprise if you are tired of playing games with carriers and IT-warehouses.

http://mindwireless.com/contact/

Phone: 512-615-7600