Don’t Put the Fate of Your Business in the Hands of a Helpdesk

One of the biggest issues with cheap IT solutions is that they rely heavily on offsite support.

Most of the time, that’s okay.

An offsite approach is good – even great – for minor fixes and small problems. Help for these things is a quick phone call away. Does a user need help walking through account setup? A phone call could help. Is somebody locked out of the system? The helpdesk is there to save the day.

But when it matters most, an offsite-focused approach alone will fail you.

When the server goes down, or there’s a data breach, or the network is victimized by a ransomware attack – suddenly the helpdesk isn’t quite so helpful.

The bottom line is that offsite IT alone isn’t nearly enough to support your business in a crisis. And, just as importantly, offsite IT isn’t adequately positioned to prevent a crisis, either.

When real problems arise, you need IT you can depend on. And that means somebody you can see and talk to in person.

Here’s how Swift’s on-site IT engineers make a world of difference – and help to keep your business’ world together, both in preparation for and in the aftermath of crises.

1. Our On-Site Support Means Help from Someone You Can Trust

When it comes to IT support, trusting your provider is essential. Without trust, you’re plagued by constant worry and doubt: “Does this provider have my back? What will happen if my systems are attacked? Will they be able to support me if there’s a legitimate issue?”

Trust is essential to answering those questions – and, if you want to sleep easy at night knowing your systems are secure, you’ll need affirmative answers. After all, your IT systems are playing a big role in keeping you in business. You need to be able to trust that they’ll keep working the way you need them to.

The reality is that it’s hard to put your trust in someone you’ve never met.

That’s not to say helpdesk support isn’t helpful. It is. At Swift, we offer helpdesk support – and our customers love it. But there are things you can and can’t expect from our remote service.

What You Can Expect from Swift’s Helpdesk

A four-hour response time to all of our customers.
After-hours options for emergency support requests.
15-minute emergency response time for contract customers
Customized support for enterprise business needs detailing a critical escalation plan and specialist assignments.

What You Can’t Expect from Swift’s Helpdesk

For the phone to be answered by a Tier-II technician ready to remotely resolve a major issue
Proactive system maintenance and consulting capabilities

Helpdesks are great for quickly resolving minor issues. But they aren’t the best means of building trust.

Partly, that’s because when you call into the offsite support of many IT providers, you have no way of knowing who will pick up on the other end of the line. Will it be somebody competent and prepared to assist you? Or will it be a new hire without the technical expertise to help?

In the event of a major issue, the odds are uncomfortably high that you’ll be bounced through a phone tree, passed from tech to tech until you finally find somebody who can help you – if that person exists in the company at all.

In the event of a minor issues, the odds are good that your helpdesk consultant will walk you through to a quick fix. But the odds are less good that they’ll solve the real root issue, meaning that you’ll probably be calling them back soon. Because virtual tools only tell so much – sometimes you need a closer look.

On-site IT, on the other hand, is support you can comfortably place your trust in. On-site IT means a real person, at your business, speaking to you face-to-face about an issue they’ve examined personally. You’ll meet them; you’ll be able to establish a relationship in-person, not over long distance.

For major issues, they’ll be there to fight the fire by your side – with real, hands-on support. For minor issues, they’ll be more able to diagnose root causes on systems they’re seeing in person – as opposed to patching problems with duct tape solutions to reduce call time.

Simply put, on-site IT means IT you can trust.

2. Our Techs Can Solve Real Problems

On-site techs are an essential part of having dependable IT – but obviously, the capability of those techs matters, too.

After all, if you have on-site support from an entry-level, Tier-I engineer who’s unable to diagnose or fix an issue, you may as well go back to calling the help desk.

That’s why, at Swift, all of our on-site engineers are Tier-II or above. That means that they’re never entry-level IT novices. These engineers have proven knowledge, deep training, and real experience. They understand networking setup and issues, and they’re experienced in desktop support and peripherals. They’re able to dig past surface-level problems and address root causes. They’re able to solve bigger issues.

They have the capability to really help.

Other companies often send an on-site engineer who has to call back to the office to fix the problem. At Swift, we send the engineer who can fix the problem.

3. Our Onsite Techs Are Part of Your Team

Finally, on-site techs are more than just dependable problem solvers. They’re truly part of your organization’s team.

It’s harder to say that about a helpdesk.

At Swift, we treat your business like our own. Consequently, we ensure that our engineers work well with your team – that they have the technical capabilities and communication skills to earn confidence. Our engineers aren’t just book-smart. They’re street-smart, too; they’ve got the real hands on experience that enables them to walk the walk, not just talk tech.

We supplement that experience with consistent internal training, including weekly open tables to keep all of our engineers on the cutting-edge of the industry.

While working with us means that you’ll have a face-to-face relationship with a tech you’ll know by name, it also means you’ll have the full support of our entire team of engineers. Your team doesn’t grow by one IT tech; in terms of expertise, it grows by an entire IT department.

Choose IT You Can Count On

There’s no denying that helpdesks and offsite IT are helpful for some issues – our customers love our helpdesk services. But the reality is that there’s no substitute for on-site IT support, provided by a technician you can speak to face-to-face: a real person you can really trust.

That’s the best way to ensure that the systems your business needs will function the way you need them to.

Are you ready for IT you can count on? Get in touch with us. We’ll take the time to understand your business’ unique needs, and work with you to craft IT solutions that dependably meet them.

And, of course, you’ll have dedicated on-site IT support, from the same Tier-II-or-above tech, month after month.

If you’re ready for IT you can trust, you’re ready to switch to Swift.