The Legal Service Desk: Innovating Best Practices

Few industries have avoided the strain of budget cuts, hiring freezes and common economic troubles brought on by the current recession. The legal industry is no exception, having been hit harder than at any time in recent memory, and certainly since the early 80s. Unlike previous downturns, every timekeeper and administrative department has been subjected to close scrutiny and the necessity to defend the value they provide their firms. This includes IT departments and those in user-facing roles, like service desk personnel.

Headaches caused by staffing problems, insufficient infrastructure and lack of tracking and reporting capabilities have led to some profound innovations and newly adopted best practices. Doing “more with less” is no longer a moniker, but a way of life for many of these firms. Designed out of pure necessity, five distinct best practices have emerged ' strategic investment in service desk analysts, expanded service availability, comparative reporting, team ownership development and reporting.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (“ITIL”) is a set of the most widely accepted best practices and concepts for the service desk. While some legal IT departments have found ITIL to be a significant cause of their success, others have found the adoption of such a highly structured and detailed system to be impractical. By and large, the greatest thing derived from ITIL is not the processes within, but rather some of the desired results achieved by realizing the aforementioned best practices.

Strategic Investment In Analysts

Speaking with capable service desk analysts is a primary desire of all law firm end-users. As the saying goes, time is money, and nowhere is that more prevalent than in today's law firm. Providing users with the assurance that issues are being resolved quickly by a competent support specialist is critical to maintaining high levels of satisfaction and perceived business value. Hiring friendly and empathetic problem solvers is the first step. In order to build a strong service desk, interviewing and hiring employees that are a good fit is imperative.

Another commonly disregarded area of investment in analysts is broad scope technology and skills training. Too often, training is focused on creating experts in one particular application or set of legal applications. With over 200 applications used in the typical firm, there simply aren't enough experts to cover everything. Training analysts on the similarities between all applications on the general concepts behind why and how types of technologies are created and on advanced research skills enables natural problem solvers to then use their troubleshooting resources ' knowledge bases, the Internet, and experimentation to quickly identify and resolve end-user problems. Leveraging a legal-specific knowledgebase for consistency of disseminated information and quick uptime in new recruits is more critical than ever. Service desk managers who have used this approach have experienced higher first-contact resolution rates, greater total e-mails and/or calls resolved by analysts, and happier end-users ' the more quickly and readily analysts are able to solve problems, the more available analysts become to handle the next request, and the more efficient the desk becomes.

Expanded Service Availability

Spikes in demand for service desk support occur frequently due to the higher workload each timekeeper has been asked to handle, in addition to everyday outages and new software rollouts. Because of high overhead, high turnover, loss of cost efficiency during down time and an increased number of end-user complaints during periods of increased call volume, many legal IT departments have benefited by outsourcing overflow. Providing end-users with 24/7 support and having an adequate Unified Contact Center Infrastructure (“UCCI”) are completely necessary to maintain productivity in any legal organization. Being able to turn overflow support on and off has allowed many service desks to gracefully handle outages, provide adequate support during rollouts, optimize cost, and ' most importantly ' maintain high levels of end-user satisfaction.

Comparative Reporting

Predicting call and e-mail volume in preparation for projects can be exceedingly difficult. The fact that volume will spike during outages and new software rollouts is obvious, but knowing how great the spikes will be and how long they will last requires “insider” knowledge. Some service desks have used third-party reporting to compare with other service desks within firms of similar size and structure. For example, looking at the volume increases that similar firms have experienced while rolling out Microsoft Office 2007/2010 has allowed some firms to accurately judge volume increases and prepare by providing amounts and types of overflow support to match the prediction. Finding third-party reporting can be difficult, but outsourced overflow service desk organizations with a large number of clients can provide this sort of data. Ultimately, the time between an end-user waiting for service and receiving it directly can impact the billings of the firm and its bottom line.

Team Ownership Development

The “us and them” divide that exists between many service desks and IT departments has stifled end-user satisfaction and productivity for many law firms. Low accountability, incorrect prioritization of incidents and category confusion are a few telltale signs that improvements must be made within the service desk-IT relationship.

A straightforward, cost-effective three-step strategy to strengthen synergy between service desk and the other parts of IT is to “sell, create and select”: sell the team concept, create a revised set of escalation procedures and select the software necessary to support the new team strategy. Sell the need for team ownership by highlighting that both the service desk and other segments of IT share the same objective ' return the end-user to production and ensure he or she is satisfied.

To begin managing expectations, sell the concept of shared problem resolution to end-users by explaining the reasons and benefits behind it. Next, involve both the service desk manager and other IT managers in the creation of a revised system of prioritization, categorization and escalation. For example, define primary roles and responsibilities by assigning all software related responsibilities to the service desk and all non-software related issues to other support teams. Finally, select the appropriate ticketing, workflow and knowledge management system that can be customized to support the needs of the new escalation procedures in place. Tracking the results with the “ticketing” system and presenting the percentage of software-related issues resolved by the service desk will not only motivate the service desk to achieve but will also instill confidence in the other segments of the IT department and upper management.

Reporting and Service Desk Technology

In order to have a thriving service desk that reliably, efficiently and effectively supports end-users, investment in a solid UCCI with solid tracking and reporting features is necessary. Improving the quality of the Automated Call Distribution (“ACD”) system and the ticketing software can make the greatest difference. The ACD should ideally be located offsite and preferably in “the cloud” for disaster recovery and business continuity reasons. It should be able to evenly distribute the workload between analysts, route calls and/or e-mails to overflow teams in correct order, and be in constant communication with the ticketing system.

Reporting features that work in sync with the ACD, such as auto-population of tickets and lightning-fast notification of who is calling, provide immediate efficiency boosts. Built-in knowledge management features also allow analysts and desk-side support to quickly gain the information they need to get the end-user back to work and provide a means for searchable documentation to be created for future use. Last, the necessary metrics involved in quality reporting ' customer surveys, total outages, top categories, total tickets, resolution rates, knowledge created and knowledge read ' are built in to comprehensive, legal ticketing systems.

Outsourcing v. Internal Development

Increasing the size and capability of an internal service desk versus outsourcing can be a difficult decision to make. When the resources are available, there are numerous benefits to building up an internal service desk and maintaining 100% of the service desk infrastructure, but many firms have found that outsourcing to third parties for ACD, ticketing, overflow or fulltime services works best. Disaster recovery, 24/7 availability, overflow capability, robust reporting, adequate UCCI, sufficient staffing and training are all points that should be considered when making a decision to outsource or develop internally.

Using ITIL as a comprehensive checklist and innovating existing best practices has allowed many IT managers to create a single point of contact that the entire firm depends on and appreciates. Though finding efficient solutions does require research, planning and resources, having a service desk that does exactly what it was designed to do pays dividends to everyone in the firm.

Few industries have avoided the strain of budget cuts, hiring freezes and common economic troubles brought on by the current recession. The legal industry is no exception, having been hit harder than at any time in recent memory, and certainly since the early 80s. Unlike previous downturns, every timekeeper and administrative department has been subjected to close scrutiny and the necessity to defend the value they provide their firms. This includes IT departments and those in user-facing roles, like service desk personnel.

Headaches caused by staffing problems, insufficient infrastructure and lack of tracking and reporting capabilities have led to some profound innovations and newly adopted best practices. Doing “more with less” is no longer a moniker, but a way of life for many of these firms. Designed out of pure necessity, five distinct best practices have emerged ' strategic investment in service desk analysts, expanded service availability, comparative reporting, team ownership development and reporting.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (“ITIL”) is a set of the most widely accepted best practices and concepts for the service desk. While some legal IT departments have found ITIL to be a significant cause of their success, others have found the adoption of such a highly structured and detailed system to be impractical. By and large, the greatest thing derived from ITIL is not the processes within, but rather some of the desired results achieved by realizing the aforementioned best practices.

Strategic Investment In Analysts

Speaking with capable service desk analysts is a primary desire of all law firm end-users. As the saying goes, time is money, and nowhere is that more prevalent than in today's law firm. Providing users with the assurance that issues are being resolved quickly by a competent support specialist is critical to maintaining high levels of satisfaction and perceived business value. Hiring friendly and empathetic problem solvers is the first step. In order to build a strong service desk, interviewing and hiring employees that are a good fit is imperative.

Another commonly disregarded area of investment in analysts is broad scope technology and skills training. Too often, training is focused on creating experts in one particular application or set of legal applications. With over 200 applications used in the typical firm, there simply aren't enough experts to cover everything. Training analysts on the similarities between all applications on the general concepts behind why and how types of technologies are created and on advanced research skills enables natural problem solvers to then use their troubleshooting resources ' knowledge bases, the Internet, and experimentation to quickly identify and resolve end-user problems. Leveraging a legal-specific knowledgebase for consistency of disseminated information and quick uptime in new recruits is more critical than ever. Service desk managers who have used this approach have experienced higher first-contact resolution rates, greater total e-mails and/or calls resolved by analysts, and happier end-users ' the more quickly and readily analysts are able to solve problems, the more available analysts become to handle the next request, and the more efficient the desk becomes.

Expanded Service Availability

Spikes in demand for service desk support occur frequently due to the higher workload each timekeeper has been asked to handle, in addition to everyday outages and new software rollouts. Because of high overhead, high turnover, loss of cost efficiency during down time and an increased number of end-user complaints during periods of increased call volume, many legal IT departments have benefited by outsourcing overflow. Providing end-users with 24/7 support and having an adequate Unified Contact Center Infrastructure (“UCCI”) are completely necessary to maintain productivity in any legal organization. Being able to turn overflow support on and off has allowed many service desks to gracefully handle outages, provide adequate support during rollouts, optimize cost, and ' most importantly ' maintain high levels of end-user satisfaction.

Comparative Reporting

Predicting call and e-mail volume in preparation for projects can be exceedingly difficult. The fact that volume will spike during outages and new software rollouts is obvious, but knowing how great the spikes will be and how long they will last requires “insider” knowledge. Some service desks have used third-party reporting to compare with other service desks within firms of similar size and structure. For example, looking at the volume increases that similar firms have experienced while rolling out Microsoft Office 2007/2010 has allowed some firms to accurately judge volume increases and prepare by providing amounts and types of overflow support to match the prediction. Finding third-party reporting can be difficult, but outsourced overflow service desk organizations with a large number of clients can provide this sort of data. Ultimately, the time between an end-user waiting for service and receiving it directly can impact the billings of the firm and its bottom line.

Team Ownership Development

The “us and them” divide that exists between many service desks and IT departments has stifled end-user satisfaction and productivity for many law firms. Low accountability, incorrect prioritization of incidents and category confusion are a few telltale signs that improvements must be made within the service desk-IT relationship.

A straightforward, cost-effective three-step strategy to strengthen synergy between service desk and the other parts of IT is to “sell, create and select”: sell the team concept, create a revised set of escalation procedures and select the software necessary to support the new team strategy. Sell the need for team ownership by highlighting that both the service desk and other segments of IT share the same objective ' return the end-user to production and ensure he or she is satisfied.

To begin managing expectations, sell the concept of shared problem resolution to end-users by explaining the reasons and benefits behind it. Next, involve both the service desk manager and other IT managers in the creation of a revised system of prioritization, categorization and escalation. For example, define primary roles and responsibilities by assigning all software related responsibilities to the service desk and all non-software related issues to other support teams. Finally, select the appropriate ticketing, workflow and knowledge management system that can be customized to support the needs of the new escalation procedures in place. Tracking the results with the “ticketing” system and presenting the percentage of software-related issues resolved by the service desk will not only motivate the service desk to achieve but will also instill confidence in the other segments of the IT department and upper management.

Reporting and Service Desk Technology

In order to have a thriving service desk that reliably, efficiently and effectively supports end-users, investment in a solid UCCI with solid tracking and reporting features is necessary. Improving the quality of the Automated Call Distribution (“ACD”) system and the ticketing software can make the greatest difference. The ACD should ideally be located offsite and preferably in “the cloud” for disaster recovery and business continuity reasons. It should be able to evenly distribute the workload between analysts, route calls and/or e-mails to overflow teams in correct order, and be in constant communication with the ticketing system.

Reporting features that work in sync with the ACD, such as auto-population of tickets and lightning-fast notification of who is calling, provide immediate efficiency boosts. Built-in knowledge management features also allow analysts and desk-side support to quickly gain the information they need to get the end-user back to work and provide a means for searchable documentation to be created for future use. Last, the necessary metrics involved in quality reporting ' customer surveys, total outages, top categories, total tickets, resolution rates, knowledge created and knowledge read ' are built in to comprehensive, legal ticketing systems.

Outsourcing v. Internal Development

Increasing the size and capability of an internal service desk versus outsourcing can be a difficult decision to make. When the resources are available, there are numerous benefits to building up an internal service desk and maintaining 100% of the service desk infrastructure, but many firms have found that outsourcing to third parties for ACD, ticketing, overflow or fulltime services works best. Disaster recovery, 24/7 availability, overflow capability, robust reporting, adequate UCCI, sufficient staffing and training are all points that should be considered when making a decision to outsource or develop internally.

Using ITIL as a comprehensive checklist and innovating existing best practices has allowed many IT managers to create a single point of contact that the entire firm depends on and appreciates. Though finding efficient solutions does require research, planning and resources, having a service desk that does exactly what it was designed to do pays dividends to everyone in the firm.