Service Desk, Help Desk, Self-Service portal, or Embedded Application Support, you probably know the different user support available. But do you know what makes them different?
In the era of digital transformation, user support is an essential key to the sustainability of companies. From optimizing support costs to improving digital skills, support is at the heart of digital user experience, having a direct impact on software adoption. So which support should you choose to help your users on their software journey?
Discover the variety of support available and their characteristics to set up the best support suited to the needs of your users.
Embedded application support: on-demand, in-app support integrated with tools
What if we told you that there was a type of support that combined all the support services (Service Desk, HelpDesk, Self-Service portal) you know into a single embedded system?
Say hello to embedded application support: a support 2.0 specific to digital transformation. But how does it work?
Embedded application support is support directly integrated into software! Thanks to a system of interactive embedded guides, users learn to master their software independently, depending on their needs.
Whether you’re managing bookmarks in the Oracle CRM, updating contracts in Workday HRIS, closing a file in Dynamics 365 ERP, or evaluating purchases in Ivalua Purchasing IS, support is there alongside your users. But what are its advantages?
The Benefits of Embedded Application Support
Embedded Application Support is so well suited to digital transition because it has a lot to offer.
Among its many advantages, embedded application support:
- Can be accessed directly from the software
- Improves the user experience and reduces software and digital frustrations
- Reduces Level 1 and Level 2 support requests dramatically
- Reduces software support and training costs
- Promotes greater team productivity
- Saves time for all teams to focus on high-value tasks
All of these advantages allow you to optimize your support and your costs while improving the user experience on your digital tools!
🋠Discover Lemon Learning embedded application support
With Lemon Learning Embedded Application Support, there’s no need to separate your support from your software. Your users can access support from any internal application, including your in-house tools and online support services!
The real advantage? There’s no need to have technical skills to support your users on their software. From software integration to ROI measurement, to the creation of interactive guides: the implementation of support is accessible to all! Thanks to the scalable nature of the support, your teams save time updating content. No more creating content from scratch: you can use off-the-shelf guides, create, modify and update your interactive guides in a few clicks. But what other types of support are there? And how can you take advantage of Embedded Application Support if you already have one in place?
Service Desk: the entire support team
Jira, Zendesk, or FreshService, there are no better Service Desk solutions available on the market. And it’s understandable, the Service Desk is the IT support service par excellence!
Made up of specialized technicians, the purpose is to manage all the IT needs of companies. From resolving service interruptions to managing security, including the continuous improvement of IT services: nothing escapes them! But the Service Desk above all is a point of contact. If it’s known to be the point of contact between the IT department and users, it can also be the point of contact between the information systems and the business. What are its advantages and limitations?
The advantages of the Service Desk
Full-service support, the Service Desk has many advantages:
- Management of all of the company’s IT services from A to Z;
- Improved IT and business processes;
- A specialized team of technicians dedicated to user issues;
- Improved user satisfaction by being centered on the customer relationship;
- Can be a single point of contact (SPOC: Single Point Of Contact).
The limitations of the Service Desk
However, the Service Desk also has its limitations.
Its effectiveness depends mainly on the solution you choose and its features. The Service Desk can therefore be an obstacle if it:
- does not integrate directly with your software;
- does not automate tasks;
- is complex to install and difficult for users to adopt;
- does not allow users independent access to service;
- does not allow functionalities to be personalized according to user profiles;
- does not allow you to manage services remotely and in real-time.
As you’ve seen, a good Service Desk requires the capabilities to provide specific levels of support to your users. Without these capabilities, your Service Desk will cost time, money, and above all the commitment of your users! But don’t panic, there’s still more support to choose from.
🋠The Lemon Learning trick: the Service Desk coupled with Embedded Application Support
With Embedded Application Support, you can continue to manage all of your IT services with your Service Desk while supporting your users directly from their software.
While you take care of IT services in their entirety, Embedded Application Support will relieve you of level 1 and 2 support requests. The result? Reduced low level support requests and costs, and more time for complex and core tasks. If you’ve just set up a Service Desk like Jira or Zendesk, Lemon Learning can guide your users past the starting line!
Help Desk: the IT help desk
After the Service Desk comes the Help Desk. Sometimes a part of the Service Desk, the Help Desk is an IT help desk. Its goal? To provide quick and efficient solutions to its users when they have a problem. While it can provide quick support to lower level requests, it also connects users with technicians for more complex ones. What are its characteristics?
The advantages of the Help Desk
The Help Desk has a lot to offer:
- It relieves IT departments of low-level support requests.
- It enables rapid assistance to users and improves satisfaction.
- It is accessible from different channels (Hotline, mail, portal).
The limits of the Help Desk
Although it generally provides rapid assistance, the Help Desk also has its limits:
- It does not necessarily integrate with software.
- It does not allow users to take control of their software independently.
- It cannot resolve the most complex support requests directly.
- It can be costly.
- It is not always available outside of traditional office hours.
In short, although the Help Desk can be helpful, it’s not necessarily the most adapted support for your software according to your needs.
🋠The Lemon Learning tip: use the Help Desk with Embedded Application Support
Do you want to continue using your Help Desk and provide more tailored support to your users on your software? With Lemon Learning Embedded Application Support, it’s possible! All you need to do is integrate our solution into your software, including your Help Desk. The result? Real-time support for users, fewer level 1 and 2 support requests, and greater digital adoption!
Self-Service Portal: autonomous support
Self-Service, also known as Self Help is autonomous support. The objective? To give users the power to find solutions to their low-level issues from a resource center and in turn reduce strain on Support teams. Intended for employees (internal portal) or customers (external portal), it can take the form of a Knowledge Base or service catalog. What are its characteristics?
The advantages of Self-Service
Among other things, Self-Service makes it possible to:
- automate tasks and requests;
- reduce suport costs;
- reduce the workload of support teams;
- improve user satisfaction;
Self-Service relieves support teams of simple requests so that they can focus on more complex issues at hand. Its disadvantages?
The limits of Self-Service
While it can be an asset for your teams, the Self-Service portal also has its limits.
Among others limits:
- It isn’t directly in reach of your users when they need to visit an external portal to have their questions answered.
- It requires specific follow-up to regularly update contents or else it becomes obsolete.
- It does not represent a complete IT service.
- It isn’t necessarily customizable to suit your users.
Service Support: what to remember
Embedded application support, Service Desk, Help Desk, Self-Service portal: Let’s take stock.
While not all support solutions can provide the same level of user support, the support 2.0 service must include a few essentials.
- Automation: Essential to reduce level 1 and 2 support requests and relieve your support teams of the least complex requests. With automation, you reduce your support costs, your teams can focus on their high-value tasks, and your users are satisfied.
- Accessibility: With more and more software to master, accessibility is a twofold issue. First, now more than ever, users need support at their fingertips to master their software. Second, different teams must now learn to provide self-support with the digitization of functions. The support must therefore be accessible in terms of tools and skills. The good news? The Lemon Learning solution does not require any technical skill and can be directly integrated into your software, accessible in real-time.
- Scalability: With the rapid advancement of technologies and their intrinsically changing nature, it’s essential to have a support system that allows you to update your content with ease. Being in sync with the evolution of your tools means more effective support to tackle user issues. At Lemon Learning, we chose to make scalability a pillar of our solution, so our users are just a click away from content modification!
If you made it this far, you know Embedded Application Support, Self-Service, Service Desk, and Help Desk each have their advantages. But faced with the digitalization of functions and businesses, additional digital tools, and new work standards, (such as telecommuting) support must promote agility. And because automation, accessibility, and scalability are essential characteristics of 2.0 support, Embedded Application Support remains the best choice for a successful transition to digital.
Want to know more? Discover how our clients use Lemon Learning Embedded Application Support to support their users with software. Or get in touch!
