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Help Desk Software is powerful management software that automates many features of a company's help desk environment. Typical functionality includes call management, call tracking, knowledge management, problem resolution, and self-help capabilities. The software is shared by all members of a support area, including the first point of contact for the helpdesk, and the staff that receive job requests for later resolution.
The place of the help desk software in a modern organization should not be under estimated. The smooth running of this function is of growing importance, not only because it projects the level of professionalism of the department or enterprise, but because problems can cause significant loss,
When selecting a product therefore, the quality of the help desk system itself should not be compromised. It should offer all the features you require, but equally, be flexible and easy to use.
It is also important that you have the opportunity to trial the system without obligation or pressure, to ensure that you are fully comfortable and that it does actually meet your needs.
Typical functionality includes call management, call tracking, knowledge management, problem resolution, and self-help capabilities, such as live chat support and searchable databases of past resolutions.
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Help Desk software is shared by all members of a support area, including the first point of contact for the helpdesk, and the staff that receive job requests for later resolution. Help Desk tools generally use or are integrated with a relational database system and are typically web-based, hence allowing for necessary management analysis and appropriate decision making in a quick and efficient manner.
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Here is how the help desk system works. When an employee has a problem, they (or someone next to them) connect to our help desk software, they type in a short description of their problem and the 'virtual call center' searches for a similar problem and presents a known solution. If one or more solutions have been found, they are presented to the user at which time they may select a solution, search the helpdesk database again or submit a trouble ticket.
A trouble ticket can be created by following a few basic guidelines that help to keep call center records clean and understandable - the last thing you want is a help desk database filled with unrecognizable trouble tickets!
Once the help desk software creates the trouble ticket, it performs two actions. First, a message is sent to the virtual call center which is composed of regular staff who are somewhat technically savvy. When you initially install the help desk software, you invite employees to periodically help others by responding to trouble tickets if they think they have a solution.
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It's becoming common practice to outsource the help desk and it's not cheap! Sure, these outsourced help desk service centers will talk about the price per call, that it's only cents per trouble ticket, but what they don't tell you is what you're missing and giving up.
A typical example would be a problem that seems to be spreading. The outsourced call center doesn't tell your organization that it's a common bug that simply needs a patch, but instead, they direct your employee to their site containing the update. This solve the trouble call for that one employee, but 20+ more calls will soon follow and your bill will steadily rise.
Help Desk Security is another problem with outsourced it support. They don't tell you until you have signed the helpdesk contract, that security services, remote administration (remote support - screen sharing) are extra and not included in the support contact.
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