{"id":5566,"date":"2020-08-10T10:05:16","date_gmt":"2020-08-10T17:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=5566"},"modified":"2023-06-11T13:40:17","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T20:40:17","slug":"how-microsofts-helpdesk-is-propelling-the-company-forward-during-remote-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/how-microsofts-helpdesk-is-propelling-the-company-forward-during-remote-working\/","title":{"rendered":"How Microsoft\u2019s Helpdesk is propelling the company forward during remote working"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This content has been archived, and while it was correct at time of publication, it may no longer be accurate or reflect the current situation at Microsoft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
With everyone working from home, sometimes you just need to talk to someone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to talk to people,\u201d says Andrea Arce, an agent on the Microsoft Helpdesk charged with keeping Microsoft running one phone call and chat at a time. \u201cI like to have a conversation with them while I solve their problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like everyone at Microsoft, the Helpdesk technicians who troubleshoot the technical challenges of the company\u2019s 156,000 employees were also asked to work from home to help the company respond to the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n
Microsoft employees used to be too busy to chat with Arce, who typically worked out of a large contact center in Costa Rica. \u201cThey were always on the go, multitasking while they waited for me to help them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Not anymore.<\/p>\n
Everything changed when remote working started. Like people everywhere, suddenly isolated employees needed someone to talk to, even if it was simply to make sure the person on the other end of the line was OK.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been travelling around the world just by talking to people,\u201d Arce says. \u201cI\u2019ve heard about supply chain challenges in China. I\u2019ve heard how beautiful Slovakia is. I was told that I just have to visit Denmark. People are telling me stories about their countries and it\u2019s making me feel as if I\u2019m not as stuck as I am working from home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same goes for David Rodriguez-Jenkins, who went from helping Microsoft employees solve technology challenges at a walk-in Tech Link center at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, to helping employees overcome challenges with their technology over the phone and via chat from his newly assembled home office.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt now means so much more when you do something right, when you fix their problem,\u201d Rodriguez-Jenkins says. “If someone\u2019s computer isn\u2019t working, they literally can\u2019t do their jobs. Their PC is their lifeline to their job and to Microsoft\u2014it\u2019s their connection to the outside world.\u201d<\/p>\n