Progent's Shared Service Desk
Progent's Shared Service Desk permits your IT group to divide activity for Help Desk services transparently between your internal support team and Progent's nationwide roster of IT support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's Shared Help Desk service is a collaborative IT service solution based on ConnectWise Manage, the leading Professional Services Automation platform for managing IT support requests, issuing tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. The price for Level 1 IT support for Progent's Co-managed Help Desk service is typically under $18 per user per month.
Progent's Co-managed Help Desk Service provides a seamless extension of your in-house support organization. Client interaction with the Service Desk, provision of support services, issue escalation, ticket generation and tracking, efficiency metrics, and maintenance of the support database are consistent whether issues are resolved by your in-house network support group, by Progent, or by a combination. All end-user support requests are ranked as Level 1, 2 or 3 issues. Progent focuses on the support levels you specify (typically Levels 1 and 3). Original support requests are assigned either to your internal network support organization or to Progent's Technical Response Center, based on your requirements. Level 2 or 3 tickets can be escalated to Progent's Experts Team of subject matter experts (SMEs). The assignment process is seamless for your end users. Your business has complete versatility to extend or reduce your share of technical support activity as needed. Progent takes care of initial deployment and provisioning of the professional services automation software plus workflow documentation, validation and training.
A collaborative ticketing system tracks issues through the complete ticket lifecycle
Progent's Technical Response Center (TRC)
Progent's Technical Response Center has been delivering online IT help for more than two decades and has active clients in each state in the U.S. (see Progent's client testimonials.) The Technical Response Center provides the team of seasoned desktop technicians who can resolve Level 1 tickets, which represent the bulk of Help Desk service calls. The Technical Response Center, like Progent's Experts Team, uses the ConnectWise Manage professional services automation (PSA) software platform to automate ticketing, tracking progress, ownership assignment, problem escalation and management reporting. This system prevents issues from being ignored and offers clients clear understanding about all services delivered. Progent's Technical Response Center is committed to 90% in-person answer performance and enables Progent's Co-managed Help Desk Services to include a 60-minute service-level agreement (SLA). Support hours are 5am to 7pm PST on standard work days. Extended support hours and onsite service are available at extra cost. For more details about Progent's Technical Response Center, see Progent's Technical Response Center Customer Commitment.
Definition of Service Levels
Progent provides three levels of online technical support, which correspond to industry-standard Tier 1 to Tier 3 service. You can choose which service levels will be provided exclusively or shared by Progent and your internal service group. The depth and knowledge of Progent's roster of subject matter experts (SMEs) allows fast and efficient escalation and makes it possible to rely on Progent as a single source for the majority of support problems at any service level. In addition, Progent's provision of knowledge transfer permits key service issues to migrate from higher to lower levels as resolution workflows become recorded and normalized so they can be handled by less skilled and less expensive service staff.
Support levels are defined as:
- Level 1 Support: Categorizes Service Desk calls and provides basic IT help and debugging, such as password issues, printer configurations, break/fix instructions, ticket routing and escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support. A Level 1 tech gathers and analyzes information about the user's issue and determines the best way to resolve the problem. Level 1 support may also include support for familiar Level 2 and 3 problems where solutions have previously been documented.
- Level 2 Support: Primarily handles break/fix, configuration problems, troubleshooting, software deployment, and hardware fixes such as onsite repair or orchestrating depot services. This Level involves escalated problems that Level 1 support is not equipped to resolve. Level 2 can sometimes evolve to Level 3, depending on the issue and the manner the Service Desk is structured.
- Level 3 Support: Troubleshooting, setup, DBA, and repair for server, hybrid networks, messaging, collaboration, and common infrastructure issues. In addition to possessing the ability to deploy solutions to new issues, a Level 3 consultant typically has the most real-world experience.
Example of a Ticket Lifecycle
A typical sample of a trouble ticket lifecycle is the situation where you want Progent's Technical Response Center to triage all support requests. In this case, Progent may be tasked with dealing directly with all the Level 1 issues your users report. Progent can escalate other support requests to your internal network support team. Your in-house network support personnel would address the Level 2 problems they have the skills and bandwidth to handle and promote any remaining issues to Progent's Experts Team.
Sample Trouble Ticket Lifecycle
A ticket can move transparently through Progent's Technical Response Center, your internal network support team, and Progent's Experts Team
This sample implementation of Progent's Shared Help Desk Service has a four-stage trouble ticket lifecycle:
- Your employees enter service requests via the browser-based support, a dedicated phone number, or by sending an email to a dedicated email address. This automatically becomes an open request in the ticket system.
- Progent's Technical Response Center receives the trouble ticket request and decides if it will be serviced or escalated to your in-house Help Desk.
- Your Help Desk receives the escalated ticket request and determines the appropriate way to resolve the problem. If needed, your Service Desk can in turn send the open request back to Progent for assignment to Progent's Experts Team.
- Progent receives the revised ticket request, identifies the most appropriate SME from the Experts Team, and assigns the chosen SME to work with your support group until the problem is solved or closed.
Note that all groups that service the trouble ticket can review and update the information, and the trouble ticket system automatically alerts your end users about updates to the status of a ticket. Because of the thorough, collaborative documentation workflows enforced by the ticketing platform, common technical issues that at first call for an expert can eventually move to a lower Tier for faster and less expensive repair.
Key Features of Progent's Help Desk Service
Important features of Progent's Co-managed Call Desk offerings are:
- Pooled Level 1 support from Progent's Technical Response Center staff
- Level 1 online support available 5 days a week, 5am-7pm Pacific Time, One-hour SLA
- Special per-hour support rate with one-minute granularity for Tier 1 support for end users
- Typical cost of Level 1 service is approximately $18 montly per user
- Level 2 and Level 3 help from Progent SME available on request at Progent's standard consulting rates
- De-escalation permits issues that initially require Level 2 or 3 support to drop to a lower, less expensive Tier after solutions are documented
- StreamlineIT provides a complete version of ConnectWise Manage with multi-tenant security
Details of Progent's Shared Help Desk Offering
Progent's Shared Help Desk support program is designed to provide a flexible, collaborative call center system for mid-size organizations. Details of this service offering, with Progent providing Level 1 support, include:
- Available only in USA and US territories
- One-time startup fee dependent on complexity of the deployment
- Beginning day one, you are assigned by Progent a Technical Resource Center (TRC) Coordinator and a TRC Service Lead to resource, appoint and communicate with your team and your clients. Progent's TRC Service Lead will work with you to create a What Goes Where document to help transparently escalate issues to your team or de-escalate back to Progent's support engineers.
- Live Answer of incoming service calls to Progent Technical Response Center with a goal of 90% Live Answer of all calls
- After determining if server or networking assistance is needed, some calls will be passed to Level 2 or Level 3 support
- All support that needs Level 2 or Level 3 expertise will be worked on by a Progent consultant after receiving client authorization
- 1 hour SLA for Level 1 desktop support in most cases
- Level 1 Service is for users and covers Windows-powered systems and Apple devices
- Progent Level 2 or 3 services will be charged at regular hourly consulting prices
- Progent will provide personnel - Technical Response Center desktop engineers during standard hours, Level 2 and 3 as required
- Progent will provide a toll-free phone number and email mailbox for inbound service calls
- Free Remote Control app with screen sharing for efficient technical troubleshooting
- Free ProSight IT Asset Management services for network documentation management
- All Level 1 remote service is billed at a special hourly rate with per-minute granularity
- All Level 1 support will be done remotely, no onsite work included
- All onsite work is invoiced at regular consulting rates
- All onsite support will have an added fixed charge as well as any documented travel costs
- All travel cost projections will be disclosed and need client approval before support services or travel will be undertaken
- Contracted projects and separate Statements of Work will have their own estimates and fees stipulated and will be undertaken only after authorization by client
Graduated Deployment
Progent's phased onboarding procedure permits your business to move transparently to a shared Service Desk and a modern trouble ticket and reporting system. Key phases of the deployment process for Progent's Co-managed Help Desk Service include:
Initial Steps
- Build your custom Help Desk environment, including your in-house support group, service locations, and user information
- Progent's consultants will work with your support group to analyze current incoming support calls
- Set up your incoming support request system to include email, software agents, and a dedicated phone number
Next Phases
- Progent provides ticket management training for your service team
- Work together to establish basic workflow and ticket escalation procedures
- Add all your staff and resources that will deliver support
- Create the roll-out message and promotion of the new Service Desk solution
- Pick a defined location or small clusters of users to onboard initially
- Bring additional users into the solution at a workable pace
Refinement
- Review reports and system configuration for efficient data and processes
- Add any reports or fields needed to improve the detection or tracking of frequently seen issues
- Surface pivotal information that might enable a better success percentage for Level 1 support calls
Go Live
- All users have been exposed to the service desk and can access it
- All required user and hardware information is entered into the support system
- You are able to exchange and manage trouble tickets transparently between your in-house support group and Progent
- You are able to track support performance and trends
Benefits of Progent's Shared Help Desk Services
Progent's Co-managed Help Desk service delivers a range of benefits that allow you to provide users fast and effective IT support while simultaneously trimming costs and relieving administrative hassle. Advantages of Progent's Co-managed Help Desk services include:
- Keep complete control over your IT support requests: you decide what tickets are forwarded to Progent's service group or handled by your internal support team.
- Fast access to additional IT service professionals when and if you require them: Progent's professional services PSA software automatically routes internal tickets or allows you manually forward to Progent's Technical Response Center.
- Productivity: Progent's consultants will review your current incoming support requests and identify missing data that would allow a higher success rate for common desktop requests. Progent's Call Desk experts can also assist you with tag management to expedite problem resolution.
- Transparency: Progent's Shared Help Desk acts as a virtual supplement to your in-house Service Desk with centralized ticketing and reporting so no request falls through the seams.
- Contented workers: End users can track the status of their IT support calls quickly and conveniently.
- Management analytics: You benefit from the metrics, responsibility assignments, and performance monitoring of an advanced PSA platform to assist your organization to create a custom Service Desk environment that delivers top business value.
- Focus on your core business initiatives, not IT support requests and disgruntled end-users: Your network managers avoid being bogged down handling day-to-day service calls.
Download Progent's White Paper: Is Co-managed IT a Good Idea?
Although maintaining a fully-staffed internal IT team can be a burden from the budgetary standpoint, a lot of organizations prefer that approach because it gives them greater control over their information system management. But did you realize that your organization can still leverage the benefits of a managed IT services firm within the co-managed IT service strategy. This shared model permits you to keep in command over your system infrastructure while supplementing your internal IT services group simply and economically.
To learn more, check out our white paper: Is co-managed IT a good idea? (PDF - 632 KB).
Download Progent's Shared Service Desk Datasheet
To download a single-page datasheet in PDF format describing Progent's Co-managed Help Desk, see:
Progent's Co-managed Service Desk Datasheet. (PDF - 108 KB)
Progent's ProSight Family of Managed Services
Progent has developed the ProSight suite of remote monitoring and management (RMM) services to streamline vital activities related to network administration, cybersecurity and upkeep. These services can be integrated with Progent's Co-managed Help Desk service by deploying agent software on computers to be tracked and managed. Notifications sent by these agents can be routed automatically to Progent's Technical Response Center, managed via the trouble ticket and monitoring platform, and categorized for Level 1, 2 or 3 treatment.
Examples of ProSight RMM packages include:
- ProSight LAN Watch: Network, Server, and Endpoint Remote Monitoring
ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's network, server, and endpoint remote monitoring managed service that incorporates advanced remote monitoring and management (RMM) technology to keep your network operating efficiently by tracking the health of critical computers that drive your information system. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers a problem, an alarm is sent automatically to your designated IT management personnel and your Progent engineering consultant so any potential problems can be addressed before they can disrupt your network. ProSight LAN Watch is National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) compliant. Find out more about ProSight LAN Watch network, server, and endpoint monitoring consulting.
- ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Centralized RMM for Networks, Servers, and Desktops
ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software offers a unified, cloud-based platform for managing your network, server, and desktop devices by providing tools for performing common tedious tasks. These can include health checking, update management, automated repairs, endpoint deployment, backup and restore, anti-virus defense, secure remote access, built-in and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint status reports, and debugging help. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM spots a serious incident, it transmits an alert to your designated IT personnel and your Progent technical consultant so emerging problems can be taken care of before they interfere with productivity. Find out more details about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop remote monitoring services.
- ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Management
Progent's ProSight WAN Watch is a network infrastructure monitoring and management service that makes it simple and affordable for smaller organizations to map, monitor, optimize and troubleshoot their connectivity hardware like switches, firewalls, and access points as well as servers, printers, client computers and other networked devices. Using cutting-edge Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) technology, WAN Watch ensures that network diagrams are kept updated, captures and manages the configuration information of almost all devices connected to your network, tracks performance, and generates notices when potential issues are detected. By automating complex management activities, ProSight WAN Watch can cut hours off common tasks like network mapping, reconfiguring your network, locating devices that need critical updates, or isolating performance bottlenecks. Find out more about ProSight WAN Watch network infrastructure monitoring and management services.
- ProSight Reporting: In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
ProSight Reporting is a growing line of in-depth management reporting plug-ins created to work with the top ticketing and remote network monitoring programs including ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting uses Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to surface and contextualize critical issues like spotty support follow-through or machines with missing patches. By exposing ticketing or network health concerns concisely and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves network value, reduces management hassle, and saves money. For more information, visit ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring platforms.
- ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS): Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery
Progent has worked with advanced backup/restore product vendors to create ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a portfolio of management offerings that deliver backup-as-a-service (BaaS). ProSight DPS services automate and track your backup operations and allow non-disruptive backup and fast recovery of critical files/folders, applications, system images, and VMs. ProSight DPS lets your business protect against data loss resulting from hardware failures, natural calamities, fire, cyber attacks such as ransomware, human mistakes, malicious employees, or application glitches. Managed backup services available in the ProSight DPS product line include ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro Office 365 Backup, ProSight DPS ECHO Backup using Barracuda purpose-built storage, and ProSight MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent expert can help you to identify which of these managed services are best suited for your IT environment.
- ProSight Email Guard: Inbound and Outbound Spam Filtering and Data Leakage Protection
ProSight Email Guard is Progent's spam filtering and email encryption service that uses the technology of top information security companies to deliver web-based management and comprehensive security for all your email traffic. The hybrid architecture of Progent's Email Guard combines cloud-based filtering with an on-premises security gateway device to provide complete protection against spam, viruses, Dos Attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks, and other email-based malware. Email Guard's Cloud Protection Layer acts as a first line of defense and keeps most unwanted email from making it to your network firewall. This decreases your vulnerability to inbound attacks and saves system bandwidth and storage space. Email Guard's onsite gateway appliance adds a further level of analysis for incoming email. For outgoing email, the local gateway offers AV and anti-spam filtering, policy-based Data Loss Prevention, and email encryption. The onsite gateway can also assist Exchange Server to track and safeguard internal email that originates and ends inside your corporate firewall. For more details, see ProSight Email Guard spam filtering and data leakage protection.
- ProSight MFA with Duo: ID Confirmation, Endpoint Policy Enforcement, and Protected Single Sign-on (SSO)
Progent's Duo MFA managed services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity confirmation on iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, when you log into a secured application and enter your password you are requested to verify who you are via a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide selection of devices can be used as this added form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may register several verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for access security.
- ProSight Co-Managed Help Desk: Outsourced and Co-managed Help Desk Services
Progent's Shared Service Desk offers a smooth extension of your corporate IT support organization. User interaction with the Help Desk, provision of support services, escalation, trouble ticket creation and updates, efficiency metrics, and maintenance of the service database are consistent regardless of whether incidents are taken care of by your core IT support organization, by Progent, or a mix of the two. You have unrestricted flexibility to extend or reduce your share of support activity as needed. Progent takes care of startup deployment and provisioning of the professional services automation software plus workflow documentation, testing and training. To learn more about ProSight Shared Call Desk, go to ProSight Co-Managed Support.
- ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Behavior-based Threat Analysis and Ransomware Protection:
Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) is an endpoint protection (EPP) service that utilizes cutting edge behavior-based machine learning technology from SentinelOne to defend physical and virtual endpoint devices against modern malware attacks like ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily escape traditional signature-matching anti-virus products. ProSight ASM protects local and cloud-based resources and provides a unified platform to automate the complete malware attack progression including blocking, identification, mitigation, remediation, and forensics. Key capabilities include one-click rollback with Windows VSS and real-time system-wide immunization against new threats. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Find out more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring endpoint protection and ransomware recovery with SentinelOne technology.
- Progent's Patch Management: Software/Firmware Update Management Services:
Progent's support services for patch management provide organizations of any size a versatile and affordable alternative for assessing, validating, scheduling, applying, and tracking updates to your dynamic IT system. Besides optimizing the security and functionality of your computer environment, Progent's patch management services free up time for your in-house IT team to concentrate on more strategic initiatives and tasks that deliver the highest business value from your network. Learn more about Progent's software/firmware update management services.
Why Pick Progent?
As a Microsoft Gold-Certified Partner, Progent offers your users quick and convenient access to a seasoned Service Desk group able to deliver IT assistance. Progent offers decades of background providing phone support for IT systems that incorporate Microsoft technology. Progent's focus is on giving the Service Desk a positive image as a major contributor to your company's success. Progent tries to resolve rather than merely monitor problems, and Progent's target for established clients is to fix at least 80% of Help Desk support issues on the initial call. First-call success is an important driver in controlling Call Desk expenses, improving the reputation of the IT group in general and the Help Desk in particular, and increasing end-user productivity and satisfaction.
Get Started with Progent's Shared Network Helpdesk Services
To find out additional information about Progent's Shared Network Help Desk Call Center Support, phone 800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.