IT support staff trapped by un-logged calls and under-used time

84% stopped by unexpected requests more than once a day

Unexpected IT issues stop 84% of IT support staff in their tracks more than once a day, according to recent research. The findings highlight the concerns of service desk managers, who are suffering from IT calls that are not logged properly and inadequate management tools, according to SupportDesk, which conducted the research.

Furthermore, nearly a third of IT support staff spend more than an hour a day travelling between jobs, and 57% spend more than 10 per cent of their day working on the move. IT staff are being forced into inefficient working practices as they travel back and forth to the office between jobs to log their work.

The research also showed that of the 84% that are regularly stopped unexpectedly to answer people’s IT problems, 12% face these issues over ten times daily. These issues are wasting IT support staff’s time unnecessarily, according to Eric Wright, managing director at SupportDesk.

Wright commented:“If you spend your whole day answering ad-hoc queries and travelling back and forth from the office between jobs, you might find you never get round to your original tasks. There’s clearly nothing wrong with being available, but to make the most of limited time and resources, IT teams need to regain control of their day, so they can focus on strategic tasks.”

“There are tools available to manage the IT Support workload better and enable them to access information about tasks on the move. They can be automatically updated about the status of jobs, so there’s no need to waste time going back to the office. Helpdesk solutions can also provide self-service information for staff with basic queries – so there really is no need for IT to suffer from stolen time,” he concluded.