We recently gathered senior IT service desk managers and remote support professionals for a series of roundtable discussions to share experiences in secure remote access and best-in-class customer support. We debated how helpdesk teams can better support customers and employees in 2023 and beyond.

As working practices continue to evolve, organisations are undergoing rapid technological change, which has major implications for the delivery of IT support. In this article, I’d like to pick out some of the insights that emerged from our discussions and highlight the four key challenges facing remote support professionals as they strive to enhance service levels, reduce costs and boost efficiency.

1. Security concerns

Remote support technology needs to be able to connect securely to devices on any network, in any location. Security is a major concern for many users when IT technicians need to remotely access their devices. Helpdesks need to use software that ensures data and communications are well protected during any remote-access session. Such security guarantees are vital not only to protect data, but also to give reassurance to employees or customers requesting remote support.  

2. User expectations

Participants agreed that employee expectations put a great deal of pressure on IT helpdesks. Everyone wants their IT problems fixed immediately. People expect to have easy access to IT support and an instant response. There’s nothing more frustrating for individuals than having their IT systems fail, meaning they can’t get on with their work. To deliver the expected level of support remotely, helpdesks are crying out for easy-access tools that enable them to quickly connect with users and diagnose and fix their problems promptly.

3. IT literacy

The wide range of IT users requiring support – whether employees or customers – means IT professionals must provide services to people with varying degrees of IT literacy. People also use different hardware of varying standards, and may have limited broadband speeds, which can make remote support even trickier to deliver. Helpdesks want to provide an efficient, professional service, but that can be challenging when you’re trying to connect to outdated devices with poor connectivity, for users with little IT knowledge.

4. Changing behaviours

The pandemic accelerated change in the workplace and the reliance on digital tools in everyday work. It also precipitated a change in IT support, and the need for IT teams to adjust to new modes of service delivery. Such behavioural change takes time to embed and can lag behind the availability of technologies to support new ways of working. IT support technicians now need to focus on delivering their support via the most effective route for different service users – whether that’s via self-service bots, remote access software, camera-sharing tools or more traditional telephone support. As one participant commented:

“We must never lose sight of the people we are serving when implementing new technologies.”

Cloud solutions for remote IT support

To provide the multi-faceted capabilities that IT support professionals need today, GoTo is proud to offer Rescue remote support software. Rescue enables IT technicians to deliver rapid and reliable remote support, with advanced security protection, on any device no matter what size your business is, how many customers you have, or how complex the problems are.

Using a tool like Rescue enables IT professionals to connect in seconds to any device, access relevant data and assume remote control over user devices, as well as completing remote device configurations and updates. It flexes to meet your needs, is fully customizable, and works with tools you already rely on. Unattended access capabilities enable technicians to identify and solve problems even on inactive devices, without having to interrupt employees in their work.

To support users with more challenging problems, outdated hardware or limited IT experience, GoTo offers Rescue Live Lens remote camera-sharing technology. This enables technicians to view problems via the camera on users’ mobile devices. Seeing the issue in real time empowers technicians to solve problems immediately and helps them to guide users through the steps to resolution.

To see for yourself how Rescue can address the key challenges facing IT support teams today, try Rescue free.