For businesses in Tampa and other parts of the United States, providing their remote teams with reliable IT support can be challenging. This is because remote workers typically have different needs from their office-based counterparts. In this blog, we take a look at some of the ways in which your company can back your remote teams with great tech support.
Provide 24/7 IT support
IT problems can happen at any time, so it’s essential that someone is ready to accept inquiries and provide troubleshooting steps when someone in your team needs it. This is especially critical if you have remote workers with open or shifting work schedules.
Take full advantage of the cloud
Maximizing the cloud can resolve or alleviate some problems remote workers are at risk of facing. Take data loss, for instance. Cyberattacks or sudden hardware malfunctions can result in remote workers losing access to business data. If you implement cloud-based backups, your employees will always have copies of their files.
Issue work devices
Providing your employees with work devices, such as laptops and smartphones, can be pricey indeed, but the benefits are worth looking into. For one, you know the devices and their characteristics, including their make and model. That said, your IT support team can provide troubleshooting recommendations that are specific to those traits.
What’s more, you can have greater control over the security of company-issued devices. For example, you can register mobile devices to mobile device management (MDM) solutions. MDM lets you remotely manage and monitor the status of all the devices in your workforce. You can also enforce security policies, such as password protection and screen lock, remotely.
Be strict with security
Some tech issues arise because of cyberthreats. Malware infection, for one, can result in dips in a device’s performance. For this reason, you have to implement stringent security policies, such as which types of websites your staff can access using their work devices and never downloading attachments on suspicious emails.
Use a VPN
A virtual private network (VPN) secures and encrypts users’ connection as they browse the internet. Because of this, it’s a great tool for remote workers who may not have access to the enterprise-grade security solutions in your office. It simplifies tech support by further lowering the risk of cyberthreat exposure that may lead to tech issues.
Open multiple communication channels
Encourage your remote team to report tech issues they encounter by making it easy for them to do so. You can do this by providing various ways to reach out to your IT support team. Some methods you can use are SMS, instant messaging, communication platforms like Teams and Slack, voice calls, or chat.
Partner with an MSP
Managed IT services providers (MSP) usually offer an IT help desk support service that functions just like an internal IT support team. The difference is that they are not your employees, so you don’t have to spend on salaries and benefits. Instead, MSPs typically charge an affordable monthly fee that depends on the services you sign up for.
Providing outstanding IT support to your remote team can be challenging, but it’s not impossible at all. If you don’t have the resources to build an in-house IT support team, then you can outsource this to an MSP instead. Partner with an MSP now.
