Talk Works was established in 2014 by two psychologists. From their experience they recognised the need to enable employers to provide evidence-based support to their employees.
Their clinics are in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Newton Aycliffe, Darlington, and Stockton servicing the entire North East and further afield too when required. Talk Works offers psychological therapy services, working directly with businesses to support employees. With their team of counsellors, CBT therapists and psychologists providing one-to-one talking therapies to individuals.
“Recently, we have experienced an increase in demand for our services, with Covid taking its toll on many people, from front line workers, to those facing the stress of furlough or general anxiety, current circumstances are having an impact on many employee’s mental wellbeing. Talk Works offer therapy, training and expert advice to employees and staff who are struggling with mental health difficulties.”
Kathy Bevan, Managing Director, Talk Works
The learning and development team work directly with employers and staff to improve employee wellbeing, mental health, reduce absenteeism and enhance productivity via lunchtime seminars and training workshops too.
Challenge
A challenge that Talk Works faced was to strengthen their internal infrastructure, it was already a robust solution and worked well for the organisation’s original need. However, the leadership team recognised the requirement to invest in the future of the organisation.
Currently employing 12 staff, Talk Works have ambitious growth plans and that number is set to increase again in the months to come as new clients come on board.
“Our IT infrastructure needed to reflect the growth and future expansion plans of Talk Works. As our operation has scaled up and is set to continue, the need to scale up and future proof our IT support become more apparent too.”
Kathy Bevan, Managing Director, Talk Works
With more users on the system, this impacted on the amount of support queries that were arising and resolution time.
Solution
Talk Works began the task of researching an IT Support provider, with a clear vision of what they were looking for.
“We knew we wanted to work with a locally based IT company that could be on site quickly, if required. They had to be approachable, competent, and experienced whilst also able to demonstrate a real commitment to helping our business grow. Our IT infrastructure is a major component of the organisation and is something that the business cannot function without.”
Kathy Bevan, Managing Director, Talk Works
Smart IT listened to their requirements and created a bespoke solution that would allow Talk Works the IT support required to grow and adapt to the business needs.
“We recognise that all of our clients are different. Talk Works offer a unique, and valuable service, with this in mind, we ensured we had a clear understanding of their goals and objectives. Our IT support systems and practices are flexible enough to meet our client’s individual requirements.”
Simon Thomas, Sales Manager, Smart IT
As a result of Talk Works growth they have multiple staff members logging IT support issues, therefore a dedicated helpdesk was the obvious solution. This would allow tickets to be logged and tracked with SLA’s by a responsive and efficient support service.
Results
Talk Works now enjoy a fully managed IT service with Smart IT, including telephone, email, remote and onsite support. In addition to this, Smart IT now manage their Microsoft 365 services,
networking equipment, websites, and security software. Since coming on board with Smart IT, they now utilise Smart IT’s secure web portal. The client portal provides real time communications to customers directly with the Smart IT helpdesk.
“The portal allows us to monitor tickets, update tasks and then check status’s in real time. Users can now log tickets directly on the Smart IT portal themselves, which greatly reduces internal resources. It provides a central place to review all outstanding IT issues and a real time update too, which gives useful insights to the organisation as we continue with our growth “
Kathy Bevan, Managing Director, Talk Works
“The Helpdesk has been committed to solving problems and which makes our users happy”
Talk Work’s main motivation for investing in their IT support was to futureproof the organisation moving forward.
“I believe we have put the right foundations in place for our future plans. From day one I felt confident in Smart IT’s ability. Smart IT has given us peace of mind, knowing our IT is taken care of, allows the leadership team to focus on our roles and also developing the business further”
Kathy Bevan, Managing Director, Talk Works
For information how Smart IT can help with your IT Systems contact us today.
