How can I help you.exe? On paper it sounds perfect, a Servicedesk employee who can answer your questions 24/7, at any time of the day, within the blink of an eye. In addition, this employee is never sick or on leave. Sounds great, but what about the human touch? What value does the physical Servicedesk employee still have for your organization? You can read it in the blog below.
Chatbot: the employee who is never ill
Roughly speaking, about 67% of the dutch population had to deal with a digital conversation partner last year - there is no denying that the business chatbot is on the rise. Especially at the front line of a webshop, the added value is quickly visible; with the help of a chatbot you can find what you are looking for at lightning speed, whether it is a new insurance policy or a new car. IT services are a little more complex than that, but they are perfectly suited to targeted questions, such as "is there a technical failure" or "what is the status of my incident?" Where you would normally spend many minutes calling or emailing a Servicedesk employee, the chatbot can provide you with answers right away.
Chatbot as a gateway
Chatbots are getting smarter. Developing chatbots is a daily process of optimization, and a good chatbot can save a helpdesk many FTEs. In addition to benefits for the user, such a virtual employee can also provide vital support to the helpdesk. For example, by first asking specific questions and providing the helpdesk employee with information such as: where the incident is occurring, what the error message is, which service it belongs to and of course what the contact details and availability of the customer. A chatbot as a front gate can add unique value.
Chatbots are fast, but impersonal
Does the chatbot replace humans? Short answer: no. Research shows that 88% of Dutch consumers experience problems with chatbots, the greatest frustration being the pre-programmed and impersonal answers not helping them any further. Moreover, people still prefer to communicate via phone or e-mail. Anyone who has ever spent a day at a Servicedesk knows how difficult it can be to describe the problem correctly, and this is exactly where the human factor adds value.
Empathy can prevent further frustration
An IT Servicedesk serves many purposes in a business. It is the first point of contact should you - run into an IT problem, such as a jammed session or a lost file. In addition, you can go there for all your IT-related questions. Finally, if you have just spent half an hour worrying about a deadlocked mailbox and you are about to decorate your monitor with a fanatically thrown keyboard, it is the friendly voice that makes the difference when venting your feelings.. A frustrated user usually just wants to feel heard in the first place. That simply can't be done with a chatbot, which causes the user to stay with the frustration, or maybe even increase it.
On top of that, a chatbot needs very targeted input, and in the world of IT services, that is often precisely what is most difficult and exactly where the intelligence and creativity of people is required. The IT problem can be a hardware, software or user issue. A person can discover this by asking specific fact-finding questions based on their own experience and logical thinking. The added value will only increase with issues of greater technical complexity.
Automation & empathy - best of both worlds
With the use of chatbots and self-service portals as a gateway to the helpdesk, users with simple questions can happily resume their work in a matter of seconds, while the chatbot has already extracted valuable information from users with more in-depth questions for the helpdesk employee.
The best part is when the end users can choose the channels themselves. After all, not everyone needs personal attention all the time. For example, a password reset or requesting the status of an incident does not necessarily need personal attention. With the offer of chatbots and personal attention you can meet everyone's needs. Where there is no immediate need for human contact, chatbots can answer the simple questions. In this way you can free up employees for users who do want to be helped directly and personally. At the same time, chatbots can collect important data, which ensures efficiency.
Do you want to ensure the best end-user experience? Cegeka has years of experience in the Digital Workplace domain. Contact us without obligation and we are happy to work with you to set up the support at your workplace as efficiently and user-friendly as you wish. Also read our e-book full of tips to help you implement a suitable solution that users will use effectively.
