Supporting Mobile Professionals in Global Banking: The Role of Global ICT-Support Call-Centres

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to address the role of ICT-support call-centres in supporting mobile professionals in global organizations requiring constant and continuous access to information services. We in particular consider modern global banking firms where ICTs are intensively utilised for electronic transactional processing and in supporting banking professionals in accomplishing their global tasks across geographical locations and time zones. The use of ICTs by global mobile bankers is crucial to access real-time information. Mobile banking professionals experiencing technology failure or difficulties in accessing information services may lead to serious financial or operational consequences for the organization. ICT-support call-centres therefore play an important role in supporting the mobile bank professionals. This paper discusses how a global help desk unit accomplishes this role in a global banking organization. This is achieved through analysis of the call tickets from the global helpdesk tracking system. We conclude from the analysis of the empirical data that it is important to understand the support for mobile professionals in terms of the three phases of pre-mobility, in-mobility, and post-mobility. Each phase offers distinct challenges for the ICT support team.