The future of technical support outsourcing

The internet and the connectivity it affords have led to the popularity of flexible hours, working remotely, and technical support outsourcing; thus, no longer do people have to be physically present in a company, especially for tasks like developing and maintaining apps or payroll processing.

These fall under technical support services and they can be easily outsourced to save a company money, time, and resources. While call centre outsourcing is perhaps one of the most common types of outsourced functions of a company, technical support also includes data security, automation, cloud services, and app development and maintenance.

The scope of IT support services are expanding, indicating to developments in technical support outsourcing. From call centre services to cloud services, outsourcing has come a long way and industry growth will continue to increase. So what does its future hold?

Chatbots

Contact centre outsourcing, for the most part, is still seen as a roomful of people in a foreign country answering questions about products they have no idea about. This image, often depicted in movies for comedic value, downplays the developments in call centre outsourcing. The area now includes a myriad of services and will continue to offer businesses customer services that go beyond answering customer questions and filing complaints.

Chatbots and virtual assistance are already gaining popularity but will continue to see growth as a part of IT support services. IBM predicts that by 2020, 85% of all customer interactions will be handled without a human agent. Not only do chatbots reduce the manpower required for customer service, but also provide a quick and efficient service.

Augmented reality

There are many emerging markets to which technical support is outsourced to. These remote service centres will not be limited to call centre outsourcing, however, as augmented reality allows teams located remotely to lend more support, especially when it comes to technology. For instance, a team from Malaysia can use augmented reality to help on-site mechanics in a UK-based company.

Emerging tech

The future of technical support outsourcing is very much dependant on its ability and willingness to adopt emerging technologies. Artificial intelligence, Robotic Process Automation (RBA), and customer identity and access management are some of the tech IT support services will have to adapt to in order to meet the demands of its growing market.

Brand image

Call centre services aren’t limited to introducing a product to customers or answering customer questions. Marketing and customer service have come a long way from such services and now include SEO, PR, social media and digital marketing, and brand loyalty all via the technical support outsourcing services.

Contact centre outsourcing services are round-the clock services that don’t take into account time-zones or public holidays and are always accessible by customers or potential customers.

Data and security

Cloud services are used by SMEs as well as large corporate entities. The reason for this is that migrating to cloud computing results in optimized business processes, increased productivity, and reduced hardware costs. While the future of technical support outsourcing includes an increase in cloud services, network security is another service on the rise.

According to the Enterprise IT Services Survey of 2017, 47% of the enterprises surveyed said they outsource data security more often than any other IT service. This trend will only continue to grow as data breaches in the recent past are forcing companies to tighten network and data security.

Customer complaints

The future of IT support services also sees a reversal of roles in terms of customer service outsourcing. Contact centre outsourcing allows businesses to maintain relationships with their customers without having to directly deal with their complaints and questions. This is cost-effective and convenient to businesses. Customers, on the other hand, dread calling a customer service hotline as it requires being put on hold for long periods and being transferred from one person to another.

This has led to customers outsourcing their own customer service issues. While there are a handful of apps and websites that already cater to this, a growth in this service will be very much part of the future of technical support outsourcing.

In short, customers will direct their complaints and queries to a third party that will then direct the complaints and queries to the company.

The future of technical support outsourcing includes continuous growth of the industry and call centres, data security, and other services will have to adopt emerging tech in order to meet the demands and requirements of their clients.