Help desk outsourcing for customer service or technical support is an option for many businesses, including internet businesses, which have a limited staff or wish to provide service and support twenty-four hours a day.

Small businesses or home-based businesses that have a limited number of employees or no employees at all have special challenges when it comes to meeting their customers' needs and expectations.

The complications are compounded when the nature of the business is one in which customers expect immediate service and sometimes even twenty-four hour service including weekends and holidays.

A small business operator can literally run him or herself ragged trying to meet the demand with limited resources. For businesses such as these, help desk outsourcing can be a lifesaver.

Large businesses can also benefit from help desk outsourcing by outsourcing sales, service and technical support.

Outsourcing such functions to call centers is a growing trend among big businesses.

The main advantage for them is significantly reduced overhead expenses since they pay the outsourcing company a contracted amount and are not responsible for personnel expenses such as payroll taxes, workers' compensation insurance and employee benefits for the employees of the call center that provide their sales, service and support functions.

Businesses also save on the cost of equipment, software and ongoing maintenance expenses associated with help desk services.

As the call center industry grows there is increasing competition which is good for both large and small businesses because competition drives costs down for the consumer of the standardized services offered through call centers.

Advanced technologies have also improved the quality of service that can be realized through help desk outsourcing.

As with any up and coming service option that has great benefits for small and large companies, there are some disadvantages to outsourcing sales, service and support activities.

For instance, when a company out sources their service functions, the service that is provided is out of their hands; they entrust the service provider with their sales, service and support functions which directly impact their customers' level of satisfaction and relatively, the company's reputation.

As a result, the quality of service can diminish making outsourcing more of a burden than a benefit.

When contracting for outsourced services, executives should be certain that there are clauses in the contract that enable them to terminate the contract is the service provided to their customers is substandard.

Consideration should also be given to the policies and procedures concerning the training of help desk staff.

The company that is outsourcing their service functions should take care to ensure that representatives for the outsource service provider are properly trained to meet service expectations and that the training provided to those representatives is effectively passed on to the help desk staff that is actually providing the outsourced sales, service and support to customers.

Before making the critical decision regarding whether or not to outsource help desk activities, an upfront analysis of help desk support processes, expected service levels, customer expectations and costs of outsourcing should be conducted.

Training systems should be developed to ensure that your company's expectations in regard to service quality, policies and procedures are clearly conveyed to the outsource provider.

Ongoing monitoring of customer satisfaction is also necessary so that you can determine whether or not the outsource provider you have selected is meeting the needs of your customers in line with their expectations and your quality service standards.

With adequate attention given to these variables, you are likely to find that help desk outsourcing is a viable option for your business. Truly, the decision to outsource can be either the best or the worst decision you ever make.