Running an Effective Help Desk
Czegel, Barbara (1998). Running an effective help
desk (2nd Ed.). New York: Wiley.
NOTE:
I'm not abstracting the entire book, just the parts on
Tracking, Help Desk Tools, and The Internet.
TRACKING
Build and maintain a problem/solution knowledge base
If
you keep track of how you solve problems, you will be
able to use that information if other people experience
similar problems. ideally this will be stored in a
database so when a customer calls you can scan the
database for information on similar past problems. Such
databases range from simple relational databases to
complex expert systems.
Identify recurring problems
US
debt that communication between help desk staff.
otherwise, each person might be getting similar calls
but be unaware that others are receiving the same types
of calls. it wastes time if each person invests time to
fix the problem independently.
Identify major problems before they occur
Early detection and correction of problems tends to
lessen their severity. Monitoring the network can help
you notice degradations in performance, enabling you to
fix the systems before they generate additional help
calls.
Identify candidate processes for automation
You'll get the most "bang for the buck" by automating
the problems that generate the largest numbers of help
calls. automating routine calls frees up your staff to
focus on more complex calls and to make improvements to
help desk service.
Measure help desk performance
Tracking held you measure the performance of your help
desk. How many calls you answer, the number of users
you are supporting, your rate of successful resolution,
etc. remember that an important part help desk service
is customer satisfaction. sometimes it appears as
though you're successful because you are getting fewer
calls, but this may because customers are going to
places other than your help desk for support!
Provide information necessary for chargeback
Tracking your data can give you leverage--- knowing
which persons and/or departments are benefiting from
your service helps you in dealing with the
administration of those departments.
Identify opportunities for training
Help
desk workers commonly complain that customers don't know
the technology they are using. Such customers ask the
same questions over and over again, ask very simple
questions or ask questions that make it clear that they
do not understand the basics of the software. Tracking
these kinds of calls will help you identify groups of
customers that need training. For every one of these
callers that you successfully get into training, you are
decreasing your help desk load.
Keep
customers informed
Notify your customers into the impending problems,
maintenance, or shutdowns---in advance. This prevents
help calls.
Integrate tracking data
"The
information you track is most valuable when you can
integrate it." That is, the more systems know about
each other and can talk to each other, the more powerful
they become---the less you have to type, the less chance
there is of error, and the faster your house can be
resolved.
TOOLS
Components of a basic help desk management system
Network management tools
Tools for customer training and self-help
THE
INTERNET: CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY
The
Internet allows easy, quick, and (virtually) free access
to a huge knowledge base of product and support
information. Vendor sites offer help for specific
products, FAQs, etc. It allows us to transmit new
software, updates, and fixes electronically. It allows
us to gather information from customers. It gives us the
ability to access help desk software from anywhere.
Customers can use FAQs and knowledge bases to solve
their own problems, or check on call status via the
Internet.
All
this transfers into reduced calls to the Help Desk,
improved service for the calls that go through, and more
room for improvements (plus it's cheap!).
Challenges of Using the Internet for Help Desk Functions
