Providing help desk and NOC support to MSPs

The goal at B.C.-based Live Virtual Help Desk is to provide help desk and network operations centre (NOC) support to clients of managed service providers (MSPs) around the world.

Neil Jones, president of Live Virtual Help Desk, said the company originally started out as an MSP nine years ago. However, as time went on, the company was getting so many requests from fellow MSPs about its service it got to a point where GensCorp IT wasn’t able to take any more customers.

At this point, Jones, who also serves as the president and CEO at GensCorp IT, said he saw an opportunity for a standalone company that would be able to support MSPs around the world. Thus, Live Virtual Help Desk was formed in 2008.

“I hadn’t realized there was such a big need for (help desk services),” Jones said. “All we do is help desk. We can become an extension of your company to let you go on with your own business and not have to worry about getting the end-users taken care of.”

Through Live Virtual Help Desk, Jones said the company offers “level two” technicians so when end-user customers call in, they’re speaking with someone who has server-level literacy and doesn’t think the desktop is a step below them.

“Our goal is to have someone on the phone that’s familiar with what you’re requesting and they’re technically adept,” Jones said. “That way you’re not put on hold and your call won’t be escalated to someone else. We try to get everything done on the first call and we have close to 90 per cent fist call resolution rates.”

Live Virtual Help Desk can also act as an extension of an MSP, using its white-labeled solution, Jones said. Once a ticket request is received, it can be responded to without even giving out the Live Virtual Help Desk name, he added.

The company offers a fixed cost pricing model starting at $15 per endpoint, per month so MSPs can outsource help desk services for their end-user customers. Furthermore, Live Virtual Help Desk can also integrate with the MSP’s own ticketing system, such as Autotask, Jones said.

Although it’s based in Canada, Jones said the majority of Live Virtual Help Desk’s business comes from the U.S. (60 per cent), while 25 per cent comes from overseas. In Canada, only about 10-15 per cent of the company’s business actually comes from here.

“When we started Live Virtual Help Desk, we had a view for Canada and we thought it would take off in a huge way, but for some reason, the US took it and ran with it first,” Jones said. “We’d like to focus more on the Canadian market moving forward.”

Follow Maxine Cheung on Twitter: @MaxineCheungCDN.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Maxine Cheung
Maxine Cheung
Staff Writer, Computer Dealer News

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