2023 is here, and if you don't have a new year resolution list in place for your company yet, we have a great idea you can add to your list that will positively change employee experience in your company!! If you run a corporate company, your New Year's resolution should be to make your employees' lives easier! Perhaps you might be wondering how to accomplish that. Minor updates to your IT service desk can help you accomplish that! And that is IT service desk automation!   

Because when IT service desks adopt cutting-edge technologies like conversational AI, machine learning (ML), self-service options, and other changes, they can speed up the resolution of every IT issue that employees might encounter, thus increasing productivity. According to Webinarcare, software errors and information security breaches affect the US economy to the tune of around $60 billion and $140 billion, respectively. As a result, many employers are preparing to invest in IT service desk automation in 2023. 

Keep reading to find out how you can revolutionize the way IT service desks can help your company.

What are IT Service Desks?

Service desks are characterized as "the single point of communication between the service provider and the customers and employees". A typical IT service desk handles communication with customers and employees and oversees incidents and service requests. The mission of an IT service desk is to provide customers and employees with high-quality service in a timely manner. IT service desks can be accessed through various channels, such as phone, email, and online chat, and may use various tools and technologies to track and resolve support requests.

What Makes IT Service Desks Beneficial for Corporate Companies?

IT service desks provide a central point of contact for employees to report IT issues and request support. This can help to improve communication and ensure that problems are addressed in a timely and effective manner. Having an IT service desk can also improve employees' productivity by ensuring they have access to the tools and resources they need to do their jobs effectively. By providing a single point of contact for IT support, employees can get the help they need quickly, rather than having to search for assistance or wait for problems to be resolved.   

In addition, an IT service desk can reduce the overall cost of IT support by centralizing the management of IT support requests and automating many routine tasks. This can reduce the workload of IT staff, freeing them up to focus on more complex tasks and projects.

How is AI Going to Revolutionize the IT Service Desk?

IT service desk automation refers to the use of technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to streamline IT –related tasks and processes within an IT service desk. This can include things like ticket routing, incident management, and problem resolution. The goal of automation is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the service desk, allowing it to handle a larger volume of employee queries, tickets and incidents with fewer resources.   

There are a few ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to revolutionize the service desk:   

• Automation of Routine Tasks
  
  AI can be used to automate routine tasks such as answering frequently asked questions, resetting passwords, and troubleshooting common issues. This can help reduce the workload of service desk staff, ticket volume and improve the service desk's efficiency.
  
  
• Improve Problem Resolution Speed
  
  AI or automation can be used to analyze data from past support requests to identify patterns and predict future issues. This can help service desk agents to resolve problems more quickly and effectively.
  
  
• Boost Customer and Employee Experience
  
  AI can be used to provide personalized support to customers and employees, using natural language processing to understand their needs and provide relevant solutions. This can improve the employee experience and customer satisfaction.
  
  
• Increase Work Efficiency
  
  By automating routine tasks and using data analysis to improve problem resolution, AI can help service desks to work more efficiently and effectively. This can reduce the overall IT support cost and improve the service desk's return on investment.  
  
  

Top New Year Resolutions for IT Service Desks

1. Increase Self-Service Adoption
   
   Self-service refers to the ability of customers and employees to resolve IT issues on their own, without the need for direct interaction with a service desk agent. Self-service options can include a knowledge base of common problems and solutions, a self-service portal for submitting support requests and tracking their status, and automated tools for tasks like resetting passwords, installing new software, configuring printers or laptops and troubleshooting common issues etc.
   
   The goal of self-service in IT service desks is to allow customers and employees to quickly and easily resolve their own IT issues, reducing the workload of the service desk and improving the efficiency of the IT support process. Self-service options can also improve the customer and employee experience by providing them with the ability to solve problems on their own, without having to wait for assistance from the service desk.
   
   Read More: Why Self-Service Portals Are Essential For The Corporate World?
   
   
2. Develop a Knowledge Management Strategy
   
   A knowledge management strategy is a plan for organizing, storing, and sharing information within an organization. It is particularly important for service desks, where employees often need to have quick access to a wide range of information in order to resolve customer issues.
   
   Here are some steps you can take to develop a knowledge management strategy for your service desk:
   
   Identify the types of information that your employees need: What information do they need to do their jobs effectively? This might include technical documentation, customer information, internal processes and procedures, and so on.
   
   Determine the best way to store and organize the information: Will you use a document management system, a Wiki, or some other tool? Consider how the information will be accessed and by whom.
   
   Develop guidelines for creating and updating content: Make sure that all employees understand how to create and update content in the knowledge management system, and encourage them to contribute new information as they learn it.
   
   Regularly review and update the knowledge management system: Make sure that the information in the system is accurate and up-to-date. Consider setting up a process for regularly reviewing and updating the content.
   
   Read More: Boost Your Employee Experience with Twitter-Age Knowledge Management
   
   
3. Decrease Service Desk Call Volume by Switching Towards Smart Ticketing
   
   IT service desk automation enables employees to use an automated ticketing platform that works within a collaborative tool. A smart ticketing platform allows employees to easily create support tickets by simply interacting with a bot that works within the collaborative channel.
   
   An AI-powered modern IT service desk delivers all the necessary details of each employee's cases to a dedicated service desk agent, so it would be easy for them to review the case and resolve them more quickly. As a result, employees do not need to make calls, allowing service desk agents to focus on high-value tasks.
   
   Read More: Everything You Need to Know About Invisible Ticketing System
   
   
4. Supercharge Internal Processes and Workflows
   
   IT service desk automation can significantly improve the performance of an average IT service desk by increasing efficiency, enhancing the employee support, experience, and helping service desk staff to resolve problems more quickly and effectively. Automating day-to-day service desk processes takes a lot of burden off IT service staff who can concentrate high priority tasks, thus improving employee productivity.
   
   Read More: Key Benefits of Automating Workflow Automation
   
   
5. Reduce Service Operations Costs
   
   There are several ways in which companies can reduce the costs of their service operations at the IT service desk:
   
   Use data analysis to improve problem resolution: Analyzing data from past support requests to identify patterns and predict future issues can help service desk staff to resolve problems more quickly and effectively, reducing the overall cost of IT support.
   
   Provide self-service options: By offering self-service options such as a knowledge base of common problems and solutions and a self-service portal for submitting support requests, companies can allow users to resolve their own IT issues without the need to contact the service desk. This can reduce the volume of calls to the service desk and improve efficiency.
   
   Streamline processes: Reviewing and streamlining processes at the service desk can help to identify and eliminate inefficiencies, reducing the overall cost of IT support.
   
   
6. Collecting Employee Feedback
   
   It's important to make sure that you are regularly collecting and reviewing employee feedback, and that you take action to address any issues or concerns that are raised. This will help to ensure that the service desk is meeting the needs of your employees and providing the best possible support.
   
   Read More: What Make Employee Surveys Important For Service Desks?  
   
   

Conclusion

There is no doubt that AI-powered IT service desks are here to stay! With its innovative features, it will definitely boost productivity in the workplace, and will take off the burden of dealing with monotonous everyday tasks from employees. Bringing changes to how your IT service desk works will definitely be a game changer for your organization!