Service desks warned: ignoring social media akin to ignoring the phone

Service desks treating social media users as second class citizens risk alienating staff and customers, with Gartner believing that social communications will be as crucial to businesses as phone and email contacts by 2014.



The rapid growth of social media is seeing customers, both internal and external, expecting new channels to receive the same treatment as a phone call.  However, Gartner found that only half of organisations even monitor social media, with only 23 per cent collecting and analysing data.

The main problem facing organisations is how to manage the plethora of comments and questions posted, and making sure that relevant service desks and support staff are made aware of trending issues.  Addressing these concerns requires the development of a framework dedicated to sifting through the data according to Gartner, work that must integrate with analytical systems already in place, ensuring that relevant responses are given through social channels.

“It’s crucial that organisations implement approaches to handling social media now.  The effort involved in addressing social media commentary is not good cause to ignore relevant comments or solvable issues,” says Gartner vice president Carol Rozwell.