Information technology keeps modern workplaces running. It’s necessary for all sorts of tasks, and is crucial for productivity and profitability. However, there are always things that can go wrong, or scheduled maintenance and upgrades that need to take place.
Your organization’s IT department needs to be able to communicate quickly and effectively with employees in the company to minimize disruptions and downtime and keep things ticking along.
Why IT communication is crucial
The IT department is tasked with not only having to keep IT systems and hardware up and running, but they also have to provide customer support. A lack of proper communication between the IT department and the rest of the organization can often lead to frustrations, poor interdepartmental relationships, misunderstandings and more.
IT communication is important so that:
- Employees are aware of any planned maintenance so they can factor it into their workflows.
- Employees are aware of any current outages or other issues so they don’t overload the help desk.
- Employees are made aware of any cybersecurity threats that could affect the organization.
- Employees know how to access tools that can solve common problems, such as password resets.
- Employees know about new initiatives and projects that are forthcoming, such as a change of software platforms or introduction of new ones.
- Employees may not understand that a major IT issue affecting another part of the organization may need to be given priority by the IT department.
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How pop-up alerts can help solve IT communication challenges
Many IT departments in large organizations around the world are clients of DeskAlerts – an internal communications software solution. They use one of the key features of the system, the ability to send pop-up notifications to employees’ desktop screens, to solve a myriad of IT-related communication challenges.
This includes:
1. Informing employees about planned maintenance
Employees often ignore emails or information on the intranet about planned maintenance, no matter how far in advance they are warned about it. Pop-up alerts allow the IT department to share the information when it is timely. Messages can be scheduled in advance so that they appear at times that give appropriate advanced warning, and then again shortly before the maintenance or upgrades are about to take place and systems will be unavailable.
2. Taking the pressure off the IT helpdesk
When there’s a widespread, unexpected outage or a software bug wreaking havoc within the organization, the IT help desk quickly becomes overwhelmed by hundreds or even thousands of calls from affected users.
Sending pop-up notifications to staff when there is a known issue will reassure them that the IT department knows about the issue and is working to find a solution – this will keep them off the phones so the IT team can get on with the job of solving the problem. You can send more pop-up alerts as the situation changes, such as providing an estimated time of resolution.
Another way to take the pressure off the help desk is to send prompts and reminders periodically about what employees can do to solve common IT issues.
3. Improving cybersecurity awareness
Pop-up alerts can be sent to employees quickly when there is a known threat and you can provide instructions about what they must do. In extreme cases, the pop-ups can even block the entire screen so that employees can’t proceed.
You can also send pop-up reminders about best-practice cyber security protocols they need to follow in order to keep the company’s systems and data safe. Users can also be kept accountable by sending pop-up notifications about policies and procedures with an acknowledgment receipt so that you have a record of them being told about what they need to do.
4. Reducing email overload
Many employees struggle with receiving too many emails at work every day, and this phenomenon known as email overload can mean that important information goes unnoticed and is missed. For the IT department, this can cause more issues and confusion because people don’t see their communications.
Pop-up alerts bypass the email system entirely and have a 100% read rate. The analytics module of DeskAlerts will let you know exactly who has seen your alerts, when they saw them and even what device they were using at the time.
5. Improving the IT department’s reputation within the organization
The IT department often gets a bad rap for not communicating effectively, which can lead to tensions with other departments. Sending pop-up notifications that are timely (and written in easy-to-understand language) will help improve those relationships and misconceptions.
6. To help deliver communications campaigns
There are many times you may need to launch an IT-related communications campaign, particularly as part of a change management process when new systems are being implemented. Pop-up alerts can play an important role in these communications, particularly around milestones and setting expectations.
Other DeskAlerts features such as scrolling desktop tickers, screensavers and wallpapers can round out your campaign to help with information recall.
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Pop-up notifications are simple, cost-effective yet extremely powerful way to improve IT communications within a company. Get in touch with our team of experts today to find out how DeskAlerts can solve your communication challenges.
