Last updated: January 27, 2020.
Helpdesk: Anything but Single Point of Contact (SPOC vs MPOC)
Better Helpdesk comes from a well structured customer support
When you want to resolve an IT issue, you don’t want to be bounced around by the helpdesk. You want to deal with one person and explain your problem one time. For this part of the problem, you want a single point of contact (SPOC). But, if the SPOC is not there, you don’t want to be left in the dark about the status of the issue. You don’t want to have to explain the problem to the back up Point of Contact (POC), and you don’t want to find out nothing has been done because your SPOC is out sick…or on vacation…or quit. At that point, you want anything but a single point of contact. But the only way that is going to happen is if you have a well-structured customer support organization.
The importance of having many points of contact in an organization
Avoiding the traps inherent with many helpdesks, it is advisable to develop many points of contact, or more accurately, many methods for getting the information back to the customer without the customer having to explain everything again. In this sense, you should diffuse the idea of a single point of contact. As a problem is addressed, it could be that Max is no longer your primary contact. But the helpdesk system should adjust so that vacations, illness, and other interruptions will not result in a lack of action on the part of the helpdesk or the need for the customer to explain the problem all over again.
Offering many means of getting information and feedback and many more means of answering to it
An effective helpdesk system should enable its users, including the customers, to take advantage of the technology and capabilities that are out there. By making use of integrated e-mail, the helpdesk can ensure the customer knows when a new technician has been assigned the case. It would even be possible for the customer to know why the case was moved. It could have been an escalation or the unavailability of the original helpdesk technician. There is even the possibility of supporting a customer centered helpdesk portal where the information about a customer’s ticket is maintained and would include such things as the last action taken, the current point of contact, a log of discussions between the technician, the customer, and if need be, the developers and managers. Though the nature of the issue should always be considered, the information can even be distributed on various forms of social media.
OneDesk has many means of helping diffuse the single point of contact![]()
There are many means of diffusing the negative effects of a single point of contact system. And OneDesk provides all the capabilities you need to implement to diffuse the negative effects of a literal SPOC. Single Point Of Contact doesn’t imply the customer never gets information from anyone else. Rather, if the helpdesk is to be effective and keep the customer happy, the system must make sure the customer is always able to get to issue information such as status and progress. OneDesk provides e-mail and text messaging integration. It supports the creation of a customer portal and it provides the information with flexibility. Additionally, with features that allow internal teams to communicate with each other, it allows your users to get all the necessary information they need to help the customer with their inquiries. Furthermore, all information gets logged onto a customer’s ticket which avoids having to explain the situation at hand once more. Features like this help with ensuring customer satisfaction when they encounter any problems that require assistance.
Photo Credit: “Contacts” / Liz West / CC BY