Tech Talk

The framework to Approach Outsourced Technical Support Services

Outsourcing technical support services is a big decision that a company has to take. There are various thoughts and challenges that need to be addressed. It is a complex task that has many variables involved which can increase the risk a company must undertake. Let us try to diffuse a few of those variables to make the shift a relatively easy process.

A company generally deals with technical support in one of the following ways:

In-House Technical Support Services

Quite often companies are reticent to make the shift to outsource technical support. They have their own reasons to do so which may be external or internal. They are as follows:

1. Ease of Control: It is easier to control and manage the functioning of an in-house technical support team. While outsourcing technical support, there is always a fear of losing control.
2. Consistent Costing: The company is paying its employees a fixed amount of cash and this will increase annually/bi-annually. There are no changes to the costs incurred depending on the tasks undertaken. This lends a measure of consistency to costing and can help budgeting decisions. However, depending on the rate of obsolescence of technology may be a double-edged sword.
3. Feedback: In-house technical support can keep track of all feedback received by customers and act on it promptly. This ensures the feedback is relevant and issues can be resolved on the go.
4. Knowledge: An in-house technical support team always has a better understanding of the ground realities of the company and may have an edge over outsourced technical support in terms of knowledge.

Out-Tasking

Companies may often make a shift into the outsourcing space by first partially outsourcing their technical support. They may have a range of internal and external reasons to do so:

Internal:

1. Reduce Stress on Current Employees: Overworked employees are always much less productive and out-tasking can ensure that productivity is improved.
2. Minimize Risk: Outsourcing technical support in one go can often be a very risky venture. By partial outsourcing the task, the shift is phased out and therefore the risk is minimized by ensuring that there is a check in every stage.
3. Cheaper Than Fully Outsourcing: Completely outsourcing technical support is a costly venture and doing so in parts will be cheaper especially when weighed against the risk of outsourcing entirely.

External:

1. Access to Skilled Employees: The biggest advantage of outsourcing will always be the fact that a company will have access to employees who might be more skilled than their in-house employees, in specific skills.
2. Keeping up With Competitors: In the dynamic world that we live in, companies must go the extra mile to ensure that they are better than their competitors. Outsourcing technical support partially can be a differentiating factor and ensure that they are more technologically advanced than other players in the market.
3. Better Productivity: As stated above, outsourcing a technical support task to someone who is specialized in it will always ensure better productivity and therefore give a company a competitive edge. Also, by freeing up the time of their in-house employees the company is likely to increase its overall productivity.

Completely Outsourced Technical Support Services

If you’re considering a complete outsourced technical support services option, you may consider the following reasons:

External:

1. Better Customer Service: An outsourced technical support service gives you an opportunity to explore better customer services, as you are not limited by the expertise of your in-house resources. Outsourced technical support services team is a bunch of trained and expert individuals, who are solving similar problems multiple times. Thus, developing skills to deal with customers in a way that is not only pleasing but more efficient as well.
2. 24 x 7 Support Services: Providing 24 x 7 support services becomes a tedious task for a company, as the support is limited to monitoring systems and alert notifications. An outsourced technical support team keeps your server stable and secure. Since, most of them offer services 24X7 support services, either through phone or remote tech support, one need not worry about pending cases, as chances of the same would be minimal.

Internal:

1. Scalability: For every technical support company, hundreds of tickets are raised every hour, which becomes difficult to manage with only in-house support. Outsourced technical support services bring you the liberty of expanding the support team as per your need. This not only helps you to scale up by closing the cases quickly but also move the focus of your in-house support team to more valuable research and development work.

Cost Effectiveness: Moving to outsourced technical support, can cut down costs in a number of ways. An in-house support team requires a considerable recruiting time of hiring authorities and hefty salary packages. Add to that, the physical infrastructure and equipment costs required for the resources. When outsourcing your technical support, you get to choose the support package you require and pay accordingly.