A lot has changed in the last two years.

Knowledge workers were sent home to work and now nearly two-thirds (64%) of customer care agents, on average, have remote or hybrid work situations, according to a commissioned study conducted by IDG on behalf of Rescue.

Fifty-one percent of respondents from that same study are dealing with an increase in the volume of support requests they are managing versus 2 years ago and noted that 57% of customer tech support requests are handled remotely today, up from 35% of requests prior to the pandemic. The biggest change in their day-to-day experience: 56% cite a heavier use of collaboration tools to help solve support issues.

This shift adds greater complexity and risk into how customers are supported. It’s also preventing Managers from seeing how support teams are performing. Across remote and in-facility support teams, respondents are challenged with how to consistently simplify the support experience (50%), provide agents with secure, reliable tools (49%), and gain visibility into agent performance (49%).

So, what’s needed now?

Forget about the past. Here are 4 trends informing the must-have requirements for the remote support tools you need now.

Trend 1: Supply chain disruptions will linger.

Supply chain disruptions have impacted everything from toilet paper to electronics. With fewer “parts” or wholesale replacements available for consumers, troubleshooting and break/fix scenarios will become the first line of defense due to limited inventory to replace faulty hardware and equipment.

Flexibility is key.

Choose a fast and reliable remote support tool that is easy to use and lets you access and support everything from PCs, Macs, mobile devices, and even visually inspect equipment like broadband setup, HVAC systems, and motorcycles.

Trend 2: Digital experiences will matter more.

Two years ago, consumers were forced online and adopted digital habits they are unlikely to give up. According to Appnovation’s report on the Digital Consumer, over half (53%) of consumers believe that online experiences will be more important than in-person ones. Expect your customers to continue to seek support over digital vs in person. How can you make these experiences as easy as possible and secure? Let’s break it down:

Look for multiple connection methods.

Choose a support tool that offers a variety of ways to remotely connect with a customer to make accessing support simple and secure – whether that’s a custom PIN page that reflects your brand or direct support from within your mobile app.

Restrict access.

Remote support tools can be pretty powerful. Make sure agents have access to only what’s needed to get the job done. Choose a tool that allows Admins to set the permissions for each agent and agent group.

Block bad actors.

Cyber criminals are crafty and working hard to gain access to remote support tools. Ask your remote support provider what functionality is in place to prevent malicious actors from tricking customers into a support session.

Rescue has 40+ permissions, which allow admins to have 100% control over what their agents can and cannot do during Rescue sessions.

Trend 3: Relationships (still) matter.

Building trusted relationships with your customers is key to growing loyalty and customer value. When it comes to remote support tools, it should always be clear to the customer about the type of access they are granting to the technician—and what this means.

Clear permission prompts.

These tell the customer what the technician can do—and confirms that they really want to grant the technician access to their machine.

Ongoing chat communication.

Messaging with technicians throughout the remote session keeps the end-user up to speed.

Branding & customization.

Take control of how your customers experience remote support with your company. Your tool should allow you to represent your brand during remote sessions, giving customers the peace of mind that they are in the right place.

Work with a trusted vendor.

Make sure you partner with a remote support vendor that is reliable, trustworthy, easy to do business with.

Rescue Voted Best Relationship and Best Feature Set, Awarded by TrustRadius in the Remote Desktop Software Category

Trend 4: Flex work will reshape tech support.

Supervisor drop ins and swiveling over to your senior technician to help with a sticky situation are a thing of the past for distributed teams. Getting access to senior solvers and expert advice in a flash will be key to hitting your customer support goals.

Seamless agent collaboration.

Make sure your remote support tool allows you to transfer a session to another agent or invite an agent into a session to collaborate (and maybe teach a thing or two). This is super important if your machines are serviced by manufacturer or another third party.

Technician monitoring.

If you’re the contact center supervisor, you can no longer see what your remote agents are doing all day. You can’t just walk around and listen in on calls or help out as needed. Your tool should offer real-time supervisor monitoring features, so you get visibility into agent performance; you can monitor their chats, provide coaching on their calls, etc.

Reporting.

Senior leadership wants to see KPIs. A robust remote support tool will provide a detailed dashboard of metrics such as total sessions each agent has held in a day, average handle time for each agent, and the current status of each live session. These stats provide management with insights into the productivity of all their support agents and can help paint a great picture of how efficient agents are.

Providing simple and secure customer support with today's distributed workforce is a top priority. These are just a few key capabilities to look for in a simple, secure remote support tool.