Closing the Critical Gap Between Web and Mobile Support

Pic: Will McCurdy <willm@rlyl.com>

Mon 7/2/2018 11:19 AM

 But despite this decisive move towards a mobile dominated world, it’s disappointing that these mobile users aren’t enjoying all the same privileges that traditional web users have when it comes to IT support. According to recent research conducted in conjunction with IDG, just 37 per cent of companies are providing employees with mobile support. With many professionals leaving their laptops behind and going fully mobile, support has been mostly limited to email or chat for far too long. It’s now vital to ensure that support teams can give mobile based users access to the same support that desktop users have enjoyed for years. Whether this means capturing diagnostic data automatically, so you can access it when you need it, or feeding both mobile and desktop users into the same queue to get issues actioned sooner, steps must be taken to keep in sync with emerging consumer needs.

But how can you create an IT support strategy that puts mobile first?

Integrate Web and Mobile

Today’s consumers expect the same quality of service regardless of the channel, whether that be web or mobile. Companies now run a definite risk of alienating their consumers if they fail to step up and provide the pickiest generation on record with type of support they have become accustomed to on other channels. Times have changed, and with some teams relying almost entirely on mobile, remote mobile support has become a necessity rather than a bonus.

Research by IHS Markit indicates that smartphones and tablets as a percentage of all connected devices has skyrocketed from 17 per cent in 2008 up to over 60 per cent in 2017. With number of installed smartphones predicted to hit 6 billion by 2020, the reluctance to provide mobile users with the support that they need simply doesn’t make sense. Businesses should wake up to the fact that providing email and calls as the only mobile support options may lead to frustrating the very customers that they are trying to keep.

Collect data instantly

When users come to you for support a profile of their information them should already have been built up, including information like device type, operating system, and network. This can then be leveraged to provide better service across the board, enabling customers to get what they want faster, with having to waste the customers or the support teams valuable time collecting the data the manually or questioning the user.

As today’s customers expect nothing less than a seamless customer experience, it’s important that customer data is to be stored efficiently so that it can be accessed at a moment’s notice. This will mean less frustration when it’s not on hand when it’s needed and will help to keep support sessions as effective and enjoyable as they can possibly be. Separate records should be kept for web or mobile, with a distinct profile depending on the platform the customer needs support on.

Give support teams the right tools for mobile

If support agents are going to be successful in creating a unified support experience for customers across the board, they are going to need the right tools to help them along the way. This means implementing purpose-built solutions that were designed to diagnose and repair with mobile issues in mind. LogMeIn Rescue is an example of a lightweight solution that can improve the support experience of mobile and web users alike, and that doesn’t discriminate based on platform. With research indicating that 87 per cent of companies believe that they need to expand the scope of their mobile support – it’s not a niche issue. IT support teams must recognise mobile first users are not going away any time soon and are certain to represent a growing demographic. As a result, the proper care and consideration should be provided for them in the same way that it would be for any other demographic -  a compelling case for the C-suite buy-in.