How to Get the Most Out of Self-Service and Reduce Calls to the Service Desk

More and more companies are looking to save money by using self-service solutions to help their employees help themselves. Self-service is a great way to reduce calls to your company’s service desk by helping employees through common problems and requests. However, many companies are also discovering that just providing a self-service solution isn’t enough on its own – you need your employees to know about it, to be able to easily use it, and to access it from anywhere.

For example, password resets are still a common call to the help desk even when a self-service option is available. As reported by Computer World, an HDI survey of over 300 support centers showed that in many cases, 30% of a center’s calls are related to password resets – even though 69% of these centers had self-service options. So how can your company improve employee use of self-service software and reduce calls to the service desk?

1. Make sure your employees know there is a self-service option.

If you’ve recently implemented self-service software, your employees may not know about it. Use your internal communications to get the word out, and make sure everyone in the company has an account if the system requires one. Many employees may simply be calling the help desk because that is how they are used to doing things, so they may need some encouragement.

One great way to get the word out is to use the service desk itself. Whenever employees call in with requests that can be done using your self-service software, politely remind them that using the software is the better option. You can include this reminder in a script or set up an automated voice system to walk them through the self-service option.

2. Make sure the software is easy to use.

Employees go for the path of least resistance – if your self-service software is clunky, slow, or otherwise difficult to use, then they will resist using it. Waiting 10 minutes for someone else to solve their problem is considerably easier than fighting with uncooperative software for 5 minutes. Ask your employees how easy they find using the software – if it’s too difficult to use, consider switching to a new one.

3. Make sure the software is mobile friendly.

Employees are on the go more than ever, and they need software that goes with them. If your self-service software can only be used inside the office or through a VPN, don’t be surprised if your service desk still gets calls from employees on the road. Ideally, your software should be accessible from anywhere on any device, including mobile devices.

With these tips, you should be able to help your employees use your self-service software instead of calling your service desk for common problems. If you’re interested in more information about using self-service software to reduce your service desk’s workload, please contact us.