3 Reasons Why You Need After-Hours Support
When your end-users are calling you with support requests, they are already frustrated. If your help desk staff isn’t available when they are looking for immediate resolution of their issues, it adds to their ire and unhappy end-users haven’t ever done any organization any good. Moreover, emergencies can occur anytime. A student’s laptop might stop working. They might be unable to log in to the LMS. There might be a network outage. So, if your support requests aren’t limited to working hours, why let your support be?
Besides ensuring that your end-users have access to help desk support at all hours, after-hours help desk support ensures that they feel cared for and your institution comes across as concerned about their challenges. Having round-the-clock support makes your end-users feel that they aren’t alone in their academic journey. Furthermore, the quality of customer experience you deliver has become the quintessential deciding factor for your end-users to choose one institution over the other. So, it becomes imperative for you to be able to give them a customer-centric support experience.
Show Your Students That You Care:
With after-hours support, you are essentially telling your end users that their problems matter. As a higher education institution, when your students have access to help desk assistance at all the hours, you are telling them that you care about the challenges they face and are there to help them whenever they require it. Moreover, the use of technology by your students isn’t a nine-to-five activity. Some of them work part-time or full-time jobs to pay for their education. In such a case, after-hours help desk support for your institution becomes indispensable.
Ensure an Increase in Customer Satisfaction Rates:
With the rising customer expectations, institutions are trying their best to deliver a great experience for their end-users. The primary aim of adopting after-hours help desk support is customer satisfaction. Round-the-clock support helps you build credibility. Your end-users start having faith in your institution when they know that you care about them. Customers getting support whenever they need it will be able to have a timely resolution of their queries. Customers who have immediate support at all hours are bound to be more satisfied than the ones who don’t. That’s why after-hours support helps an institution experience high student satisfaction rates.
Increase Student Engagement:
There might be low service utilization during after-hours but that doesn’t reduce the value of the service. Round-the-clock assistance is imperative to retain and engage your students. Additionally, happy students mean better engagement which translates into better success rates for your institution. Students who have access to support at all the hours are bound to have a positive academic experience. Your response time to the technical issues faced by your students and faculty can have a significant impact on their learning and teaching experiences. Make sure they don’t feel abandoned by providing after-hours support.
After all, when your help desk requests aren’t limited to business hours, why should your help desk support be?
Anthony Banford is an esteemed executive with 19 years of experience in technology, consulting, and education. He begins his latest chapter as Chief Revenue Officer at BlackBeltHelp, aiming to innovate in the higher education support industry. His move follows a successful stint as Head of Revenue at StudentBridge since March 2023, where he significantly contributed to the company’s merger with Full Measure Education, enhancing its service offerings.
Todd Hollrah joins BlackBeltHelp bringing 25+ years of experience managing service delivery operations for several Fortune 500 clients around the globe. After a distinguished career as an executive in the BPO industry, Todd will provide critical insight into building an exceptional customer experience combining both live voice and automated solutions.
Inspired by a family computer that always needed fixing, Chris Uthe has submerged himself in business and technology for the last 20 years. His first company, a PC repair and networking business, was started at just 16 and successfully fueled a deep interest in solving problems as he helped business customers throughout his hometown adopt technology into their business. He would go on to successfully run a media & managed IT company before joining the Ed Tech industry with a successful 13-year tenure within an ERP/SIS company leading the Student Portal & Learning Management division. His last startup, EdSolio, helped to fuel the winds of competency-based education by providing a comprehensive view of a student’s work and achievements. Chris is now focused on creating successful learners by ensuring the highest quality help and support through the use of AI backed toolsets spending the last 3 years in the student engagement and support markets.
Quaiser Absar is the Chief Technology Officer and Director of Institutional Computing at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
Bringing in over 2 decades of experience with him, Manish has ensured seamless operations in terms of client delivery, reporting & analytics, quality, training, and transitions with a special focus on technical integrations to help reduce costs and improve the bottom-line.
Anthony has served higher education in diverse, leadership roles for over 30 years and has helped organizations thrive through his expertise in developing, analyzing, and executing growth strategies. Prior to joining BlackBeltHelp, he served in College Administration as well as in leadership roles within Blackboard Student Services and Ellucian, Inc.
Accomplished IT Specialist and Manager with extensive experience in a higher education setting and demonstrated abilities to effectively manage both student and professional staff. Self-motivated problem solver, who is skilled in managing many issues and prioritizing their importance to find resolutions in a timely and effective manner. Possesses strong abilities to adapt to new technologies by extrapolating from existing experience. Possess first-rate communication and collaboration skills to work with diverse groups effectively.
Lila Buytendorp has been serving as the Director of User Services at Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC) since 2000. In this role she is responsible for staff & lab desktop computing and end user support. She guides and supports technology based on the curriculum needs and ensures technology is implemented to support the emerging needs of the college. She builds and supports integrated systems to improve efficiencies and uses technologies to support data-driven decision making. Lila is a member of the Capital Projects Planning and Design Committee to ensure new or remodeled facilities have appropriate technology.