Optimize your help desk

Help desk software is an application platform providing a centralized location for logging and managing tickets or incidents from end users or customers. Help desk software allows IT departments or customer service departments to keep track of all the issues, questions, requests, etc. from their users. Their users could be internal employees or external customers depending on the industry or company. The system usually provides features such as automated email to ticket conversion, automated categorization, routing, prioritization, escalation, notifications, service level management, end-user self service and knowledge management. Some help desk systems also integrate with end point management systems which enhances the ability of the IT team to troubleshoot technical issues on end user systems. 

Help desk software is a software application or system primarily used by Help Desks, IT Departments or Customer Service Departments to track issues and requests from users or customers. The requests are entered as tickets which can then be prioritized and routed to the appropriate person or department to address. The help desk system ensures everything is logged and nothing falls through the cracks which can happen with verbal requests or emails. 

The best help desk system differs by organization and there is not one solution that is best for everyone. Some systems are dedicated to help desk and ticketing while some offer additional capabilities like IT Asset Management, Change Management, Knowledge Management, Patch Management, and Purchase Management. Some help desk systems can become quite complicated and expensive as well but may be overkill for smaller businesses. It is generally a good idea to try out a few different solutions to determine the feature set and cost that fits best with your organization. 

Common features of a help desk ticketing system include automatic email to ticket conversion, automated categorization, routing, prioritization, escalation, notifications, service level management, an end-user self service portal, and knowledge management. Some help desk systems also integrate with endpoint management software systems which enhance the ability of the IT team to troubleshoot technical issues on end user systems. An endpoint management system adds features like patch management, software deployment, remote management, compliance management, OS deployment and more. 

The goal of any help desk is to troubleshoot problems and provide guidance on utilizing computers, software, or other hardware within an organization. Help desk support is usually deployed through phone, website portals, instant messaging and/or email.

There are often in-house help desks to provide immediate and responsive assistance to employees.

A typical help desk should be able to effectively perform multiple functions. It should be able to provide a point of contact for users and employees to offer assistance for troubleshooting, functional inquires, and to solve any issues that may arise.

Help desks generally employ an issue tracking system that allows support teams to manage incoming help desk tickets. Help desk ticket requests can then be categorized, tracked and sorted.

The help desk is also crucial in gaining information about technical issues, user preferences, and end-user satisfaction. This information is quite valuable for the future planning and development of the organization.

The structure of any help desk depends largely on the individual company, but they are often organized into different levels that handle various types of inquiries.

A typical first-level help desk may be organized to answer inquiries or relay information regarding common issues or questions about a product or service. If the issue is unable to be resolved at the first level, it is referred to as a second-level team that has more resources and handles more complex issues.

Depending on the organization, a third level help desk might be employed to deal with software-specific needs. These issues usually include bug fixes, updates, and special resource requests for specific clients.

Many people in the IT world disagree on the differences between a help desk and a service desk or in some cases if there even are any differences. This usually depends on who you are speaking with and the type of processes they have decided to implement. However, there are in fact very different roles for each one by design. The blurring of the lines between them are caused by differences in implementation depending on the industry, end users being served, complexity of issues, type of issues, funding and numerous other factors. In our blog post Help Desk vs. Service Desk, we take a look at some of the similarities and differences in more detail.

A help desk ticket refers to the interaction between an IT help desk or customer service representative and either internal or external to the organization. A help desk ticket allows a business to resolve issues an end-users may be experiencing or field questions about any hardware, software, services or products that may be available.

Tickets all take place within the company

As a company grows, it is important to maintain an appropriate level of help desk staff to provide front line support and solve any basic IT issues. A well-staffed support team is crucial to the day to day operations.

Generally, a good ratio of employees to hire when building a help desk support team is around 70:1. This ratio is ideal for a company using a single operating system and a reliable network. For enterprise networks or companies with multiple operating systems, a 45:1 ratio will better accommodate these more complex organizations.

Depending on how centralized the company is, the layout of support staff will change. Companies that have a small number of employees in one office are still more centralized than a company with many employees spread out over several offices. Also, if a company plans on introducing new computers or conducting enterprise actions over multiple networks and operating systems, the tickets that a help desk receives will be quite varied.

Help desk services often divide their support resources into multiple levels in order to better organize tickets and increase response time.

Level 1 help desk support is responsible for providing basic support and troubleshooting services. These tasks often include resetting passwords, configuring printers, break/fix instructions, routing tickets and discerning if a ticket needs to be escalated to level 2 support.

Support staff at level 1 may also decide to escalate a ticket to IT applications support or even notify outside vendor support if necessary.

HR help desk software also known as HR Management Software or HR Ticketing Software is a software platform that human resources departments can use to improve service, track users’ requests, and reduce costs by creating tickets for every request they receive. Just like IT help desks, HR departments can use help desk software to help automate time-consuming manual tasks and organize high quantities of information or requests, making the job of logging, prioritizing and processing HR requests much more efficient, making the job of HR professionals easier.