What is Zero Touch Support?
Zero Touch Support (ZTS) is a seamless way to provide technical support to remote users without the need to interact with the users themselves. The goal of this method is to eliminate any disruption and interruption occurring when technical support is troubleshooting an end-user’s complaint. ZTS is simply implemented by running a software client on end-user devices. These clients enable help desk agents to independently run diagnostics commands on the remote user’s system; all the data remotely captured is then displayed on a centralized dashboard where the help desk agent can identify and address the root cause of the complaint.
A New Model for an Old Problem
An IT team that is capable of delivering zero touch support has achieved operational excellence. The reason is simple: it maximizes efficiency of human capital both on the tech support side as well as on the receiving side, the supported users. In fact, thanks to this new support model, the tech support has available at their fingertips all the information they need to identify the root cause of an end-user complaint and formulate a remediation to such an issue. Before, tech support was provided via phone, email, or shared screen sessions. Of course, these methods are still valid and, unfortunately, widely used. In fact, the main problem of providing support via phone, email, and shared screen sessions is that it consumes a great deal of time for both parties. Not only that, but it’s also extremely difficult to support users and is a tiring process for even the most skilled help desk technicians. As a result, these legacy methods tend to degrade end-users’ productivity and cause help desk agents’ churn. Both these events will have dramatic consequences, especially at large companies with thousands of remote users. In fact, the law of large numbers applies as the more users you have, the more problems tech support has to deal with.
The Future of IT Support
Remote work has further exacerbated the tech support problem as more issues could arise when users work from their houses with outdated telco equipment, consumer grade wireless, and slow, degraded Internet connections. In this scenario, the legacy model of “hands on” tech support has to be swiftly replaced by zero touch support. By doing so, organizations will be able to reduce, or at least contain, tech support costs while increasing customer satisfaction, which in this case could be the employees themselves or the customers of the business (if you think about the case for contact centers).
NetBeez’s Take
At NetBeez, we have long preached the importance of zero touch support. This model is even more relevant as today’s workforces are heavily distributed as a result of hybrid work. Without ZTS, digital transformation and remote work initiatives are doomed to fail due to a lack of proper tools that can sustain such changes. Implementing this tech support model is pretty easy as the endpoint clients that provide diagnostic and remote support can be automatically rolled out via mobile device management tools such as InTune, SCCM, and others. The dashboard can be generally hosted on-premises or in the cloud, based on the company’s requirements. This is exactly the case of NetBeez.NetBeez provides an implementation of zero touch support thanks to its remote worker agent for Windows and macOS systems. The solution works by running continuous diagnostics tests that are necessary to troubleshoot the most common root cause of end-user complaints. Help desk agents can also run ad-hoc commands to verify specific endpoint functions, network connectivity, and application performance. If you wish to learn more, check out the recent post I wrote about troubleshooting the most common WFH issues. If you want to try NetBeez for free, just submit a demo request and someone from our team will get back to you.
