Help Desks are at the nerve centre of
many organisations customer service focus. A help desk is an information and
assistance resource that troubleshoots problems with computers or similar products. Corporations often provide help desk support to their
customers via a toll-free
number, website and e-mail. There are also in-house help desks geared toward providing the same
kind of help for employees only.
Functions: A
typical help desk has many/several functions. It provides the users a single point
of contact, to receive help on various
computer issues. The help desk typically manages its requests via help desk software, such as an issue tracking system, that allows them to track user requests with a unique number. This can also be
called a "Local Bug Tracker" or LBT. There are many software
applications to support the help desk function. Some are targeting enterprise level help desk (rather large) and some are targeting
departmental needs.
In
the mid 1990s, Middleton at Robert Gordon University found through his research that many
organizations had begun to recognize that the real value of their help desk(s)
derives not solely from their reactive response to users' issues but from the
help desk's unique position where it communicates daily with numerous customers
or employees. This gives the help desk the ability to monitor the user
environment for issues from technical problems to user preferences and
satisfaction. Such information gathered at the help desk can be valuable for
use in planning and preparation for other units in information technology. It
changes company to company..
Level 1 is generally phone support, although some see it as
phone/desktop support.
Level 2 is generally desktop support (that is, your standing at the PC
helping), although some see it as an escalation from Level 1 if its not the
basics.
Level 3 is generally an escalation point from level 1/2, although some
companies have them as product support, each member in level 3 does support for
a specific application, generally they are industry or company specific custom
programs.
Organization: Large help desk have different levels to handle
different types of questions. The first-level help desk is prepared to answer
the most commonly asked questions, or provide resolutions that often belong in
an FAQ or
knowledge
base. Typically, an issue tracking system has been implemented that allows a logging
process to take place at the onset of a call. If the issue isn't resolved at the first level, the issue is
escalated to a second, higher level that has the necessary resources to handle
more difficult calls. Organizations may have a third, higher level, line of
support which often deals with software-specific needs, such as updates and bug
fixes that affect the client directly.
Larger
help desks have a person or team responsible for managing the issues and are
commonly called queue managers or queue supervisors. The queue manager is
responsible for the issue queues, which can be set up in various ways depending on the help desk size or
structure. Typically, larger help desks have several teams that are experienced
in working on different issues. The queue manager will assign an issue to one
of the specialized teams based on the type of issue. Some help desks may have
phone systems with ACD splits that ensure that calls about specific topics
are put through to analysts with experience or knowledge on that topic.
Many
help desks are also strictly rostered. Time is set aside for analysts to
perform tasks such as following up problems, returning phone calls, and
answering questions via e-mail. The roster system ensures that all analysts get
time to follow up on calls, and also ensures that analysts are always available
to take incoming phone calls. As the incoming phone calls are random in nature,
help desk agent schedules are often maintained using an Erlang
C calculation.
Desktop
support/Desk side team: The deskside team (sometimes known as "desktop support") is
responsible for the desktops, laptops, and peripherals, such as PDAs. The help desk will assign the desktop team the
second-level deskside issues that the first level was not able to solve. They
set up and configure computers for new users and are typically
responsible for any physical work relating to the computers such as repairing
software or computer
hardware issues and moving workstations to another location.
Network team:The network team is responsible for the network software,
hardware and infrastructure such as servers, switches, backup systems and firewalls. They are responsible for the network services
such as email, file, and security. The help desk will assign the network team
issues that are in their field of responsibility.
Server Team/
Network Team:The server team is responsible for most, if not all, of
the servers within the organization. This includes, but is not limited to, DNS
or Domain Name System Servers, Network Authentication, Network Shares, Network
Resources, Email accounts, and all aspects of server software. It also includes more
advanced services such as databases, Storage or Content Management Systems,
specialized proprietary services, and other industry-specific server-based
applications.
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