An IT help desk can find themselves with a variety of different tasks left up to them that might not necessarily be in their job description. With resources becoming limited within many organisations as things advance and people needing more help also being counteracted by the demand for efficiency and cut backs on staff it is essential to focus on the essential tasks of a help desk. In order to grow your help desk it is imperative that you first get a firm grip on the standards required before the size is increased. It is essential that you deliver value to your customers, gain some feedback and grow incrementally, rather than trying to start everything at once.
So what are the essential tasks of a help desk you now ask? Below is a list of the elements that are essential to providing a good service in this industry.
Log and Manage Calls from IT Users
Probably the most Important of all the aspects of an IT help desk. Without good interaction with your users it is difficult to solve their problems and retain their custom. Things should be user friendly and easily accessible to these users when they need your support. Typically, users contact the help desk by telephone, but if you can provide other channels such as a web portal to help users contact you, then that’s even better.
It is important to keep a log of every call, the request made by the user and the response they received. You never know when that information may be needed again and if it is not logged then and there it will be gone and forgotten. Even if it is the smallest of queries that can be answered straight away over the phone, it should be logged.
But the help desk’s fundamental responsibilities don’t end when you put the phone down after a call. A great help desk must also take responsibility for making sure that every call is properly managed. So, you must make sure the customer’s issue gets resolved. You must also keep the customer updated. And, later, check that the customer is happy with how the call was resolved.
Resolve Incidents
A help desk that just logs incidents and passes them on to other groups to resolve doesn’t add very much value. There are some help desks that work like this, but they are very unpopular with users. And what help desk wants its users to see them as nothing but an obstruction that slows down their access to the people who can really help them?
Support providers should have the access to knowledge that gives them so much more value in being able to resolve minor incidents at the time of call with the user. People who work on the help desk should be trained to a level where they can add real value to your organisation. By having their issue resolved straight away it can really improve the workload on others and leave users with an impressed experience.
Generate Useful Reports
Help desk reporting should most certainly not be an optional extra. You need reports to see the value that your help desk is providing, what areas need improving and whether or not your users are satisfied with the service that you are providing.
It can also be used to ensure that the service is being kept up to a certain standard. Some key things that should be reported on are, how efficient is your help desk at solving customer issues? if your help desk communicates well with users, keeping them informed and meeting their expectations? Do your customers find it easy to contact the help desk when they need to?
Looking for ways to improve
Improvement is always needed in every line of work, if you do not improve your service as time goes on someone else will improve theirs, which in turn will leave you falling behind and irrelevant. It is important to think about what your customers want from you and what they would likle to improve. Some combinations to consider are:
- Improved communication with users
- Increased numbers of channels that you can be reached on i.e live chat, email etc.
- Cost reduction
- More efficient in resolving issues
Conclusion
Now we know what the essential components for every help desk. If you are already doing all these then you probably run a pretty good help desk, congratulations. If not, it may be time to start reviewing some aspects of your help desk.
