"Round-the-clock service calls for round-the-clock IT support" The Help Desk's Dan Smith advises

NOTTINGHAM, U.K. - Nov. 19, 2014 - PRLog -- Whilst we tend to associate 24/7 trading with retail operations, an increasing crossover between food retail and food services - especially in leisure and travel environments such as cinemas, arenas, railway stations and motorway services for example - means greater focus needs to be put on technology support from the early hours of the morning till late into the night, if not right through the night.

These days, pubs open for coffee and trade until late, cinemas start multi-screenings and serve food & beverages from mid-morning through till midnight, and bars and nightclubs stay open later and later.  So, when it comes to keeping staff supported and systems at peak performance, a '9-6' Help Desk is simply not adequate; it risks leaving staff stranded with a till malfunction or a late-evening cashing-up problem.

A good Help Desk should match its support service to its customer's trading hours.  To make this possible, many hospitality operators supplement in-house teams with outsourced resources.  By outsourcing this function, they gain not just more hours of support but also a breadth of skills that comes from using a shared service.  And this is frequently a more cost-effective option too; many find out-of-hours support in particular is provided at a fraction of the cost they would pay individually.

To eliminate the risks of till downtime or other systems-related problems that negatively impact service during busy periods such as weekends or Bank Holidays, or to cope with seasonal peaks such as the run-up to Christmas, hospitality and leisure operators gain reassurance from a third-party Help Desk's ability to flex and scale with little prior notice.

Whilst playing a 'behind the scenes' role, a well-run Help Desk can nevertheless make a business more profitable by delivering greater systems up-time at the point-of-service.  A good Help Desk not only prevents revenue loss but also saves money by analysing where costs are being incurred.

Improved systems availability, reduced overall service cost and greater accountability for problem resolution are all benefits to be expected from a well-resourced Help Desk.  Staff are likely to suffer less systems-related stress and be more productive.  Recurring problems that waste time and frustrate both staff and customers and are a drain on the business are likely to be eliminated too.  All these factors suggest that an 'open all hours' Help Desk is a good asset for any hospitality business.