What’s the difference between a Help Desk, a Call Center, and NOC?

We all have heard of a “help desk” or “call center”.  Many may think they are interchangeable...basically, a frustrating conversation trying to get a technical issue resolved which, often, you are never quite satisfied with the result. In this blog, we will be discussing what each of these support lines are and what may be best for you. Let’s start with some definitions. These definitions come from Merriam-Wenster.com and Techterms.com

It's no secret that any growing small-to-medium sized business must monitor and manage its business technology in the most cost-efficient way. The tricky part is figuring out how to do this without sacrificing the overall experience of the end-user. End-users can be clients and customers, or employees. Both rely on the efficiency of a firm's network, servers, and applications, and the availability of the company's data center.

Thanks to the evolution of managed services, it's actually possible these days to reduce costs, which strengthens IT support and infrastructure. It's a matter of utilizing and properly integrating all available resources that work best for your company’s needs.

SMBs and staffing needs

Many SMBs tend to be short-staffed, causing the employees to wear ‘multiple hats’. This isn't a reference to the many SMBs with little to no onsite tech support. While that's true and problematic, it's the rest of the operations that tend to be short-staffed.

Small yet growing companies and organizations aren't just short on tech support; it seems like even their administrative assistant needs an assistant to keep up. Customer support and sales teams are also overworked, and often hindered by having to understand and troubleshoot tech problems when they have no tech expertise whatsoever.

There is no, "Hold for a moment, Sir. I'm about to transfer you to our tech support team." There is no tech support team.

This is where managed service providers (MSPs) step in to save the day. MSPs help SMBs better manage their technology to achieve greater ROI (Return-on-Investment). One way they do this is by augmenting a SMBs existing on-site staff with the remote support of an MSP which utilizes both Help Desk and NOC. Infotect for instance has local, trained, customer service driven, Help Desk support as well as 24/7 NOC monitoring of our systems so if an issue occurs, even after normal business hours, Infotect can properly resolve the issue.

What's the Difference Between a NOC and Help Desk?

This question is asked a lot because it's not uncommon to see both referenced interchangeably, which leaves many to assume they are one in the same. They are not. Here is the easiest way to distinguish between the two.

NOC: Most of the work performed by a NOC focuses on the network and systems. The NOC can almost be viewed as a mission control center. They monitor and manage an IT network. A 24/7 NOC typically monitors the network and system security, performance, and backup processes.

Help Desk: The Help Desk is more customer-oriented. The Help Desk interacts with the end-user, or someone representing the end-user, to directly respond and resolve technical problems as they arise. Customers or employees can typically reach the Help Desk by clicking a support icon, emailing them, or dialing a toll-free number.

Having knowledge of your IT needs can seem overwhelming at times. Having technical support help in a co-managed model or having a full-time MSP on your side can help you be proactive in your technology environment. You don’t want to be reactive with your technology needs and end up with higher costs and having an overall stressful situation. If you would like to hear more of what Infotect offers please email sales@infotectdesign.com or call us at (813)-630-2400.


Have a technologically Savvy Day!