3 Reasons to Integrate Help Desk Software With an IWMS

by Glenn Hicks on April 12, 2017
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Workplace leaders often find themselves challenged by simultaneously meeting the wants of the executive — i.e., completing projects quickly — and satisfying the needs of the general workforce.It’s a balancing act that would make even the most veteran tightrope walker nervous. 

Workplace leaders much communication with every employeeWhile the workplace leader may officially only have one supervisor, in reality, they must answer to each employee in the enterprise. The most effective way to accomplish this is by making sure all workplace technology — for example, help desk software and an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) — is working together.

Read on to learn three reasons to integrate help desk software with an IWMS.

Improved interdepartmental communication

The coordination between the IT department and facilities team is essential for the success of the enterprise. Integrating help desk software with an IWMS opens up the flow of information between the two departments, giving the facilities team visibility into the operations of the IT team.

For many enterprises, the standard onboarding process requires the department manager to enter a help desk service ticket requesting the setup of specific equipment in a specific area for the new employee(s). The facilities team can review these tickets and determine the best way to adjust the workspace, without having to schedule a meeting with the IT department every time a new employee is hired.

Workplace leaders need to understand the needs of multiple departmentsBetter budgeting and space utilization

Because different members of the workforce have different space and technology requirements, it’s crucial for the workplace leader and facilities team to have a thorough understanding of the various unique needs of multiple departments.

When help desk software is integrated with an IWMS, the workplace leader can leverage the information from both technologies to ensure the workspace and budget are optimized appropriately. Here are two examples:

  • Say the software development team has only five to six employees who trade off the days they work remotely. Thus, the team only needs access to three desks at any time. However, their hardware specifications are considerably more complex than those of the other departments. In other words, they need a relatively small workspace but more powerful computers.
  • Conversely, the customer service team could be comprised of 20-25 people who all work on-site. Due to the nature of their role, customer service reps need comparatively less complex computer capabilities. However, because of the size of the department and the fact none of team members work remotely, their space requirements are much greater than the software development team.

Using help desk software and an IWMS, the facilities team can make smart, data-driven decisions about resource allocation.

Increase the efficiency of the entire workforce

Most likely, certain recurrent issues pop up throughout the workplace — multiple employees will periodically encounter the same error message or have difficulty accessing certain parts of a database or be unable configure software properly. Help desk software can be an on-demand hub for tech support information for all employees, not just members of the IT team. As a result, employees can find resolutions to these problems without having to submit a ticket.

As long as the IT team is entering detailed notes for each ticket and using the same kinds of terminology, the rest of the workforce can search the ticket database and resolve their common issues on their own. Not only does this mean less downtime for the employee since they’ll be able to fix the problem without having to wait on the usually-overloaded IT team but it also means the IT team can focus on other more complex issues. Using help desk software as a knowledge transfer tool can improve the productivity of departments across the enterprise.

Innovative workplace leaders know they must take advantage of every resource available to them. The more insight they have into the enterprise, the more confident they can be about their decisions. And as legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi said, “Confidence is contagious.”

Want to leave your competition in the dust? Invest in the right workplace technology. Download our free guide, The Workplace Leader’s Playbook for New Technology, and see how to get started integrating new technology into your workplace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Glenn Hicks

A member of the Business Development team, Glenn has years of experience with business process improvement on the Commercial Real Estate and Facilities Management sides.

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