Top 9 Help Desk and Service Desk Best Practices
The help desk or service desk is the central point of contact between an organization and its customers. It is responsible for handling customer inquiries and providing support for products and services.
To be effective, help desks must follow best practices – practices that will improve efficiency and reduce hourly spend. At the same time, many organizations find that they struggle to optimize and improve their help desk and service desk best practices because they simply don’t have the time.
What is a help desk vs. a service desk?
A help desk is typically used by organizations that have a limited number of products or services. They use the help desk to provide support for these products and services. Because they have a limited number of products or services, they can manage the help desk with a smaller team.
A service desk, on the other hand, is used by organizations that have a larger number of products or services. They use the service desk to provide support for all of their products and services. Because they have a larger number of products or services, they need a larger team to manage the service desk.
9 help desk and service desk best practices
Best practices are general rules of thumb that you can use to gauge your organization’s maturity. If you’re not following most of these best practices, it’s likely that there is room for growth.
1. Define the scope of services.
The first step is clearly defining the scope of services offered by the help desk. This will ensure that customers know what to expect and help the desk staff to prioritize and focus on the most important tasks. Understand whether the help desk is used for the most advanced trouble tickets or to triage simple service requests.
2. Set up a knowledge base.
A knowledge base is a collection of information that can be used to help customers solve their problems. This can include FAQs, how-to guides and troubleshooting tips. Maintaining a knowledge base on your internal network will reduce the lift for the help desk system, streamline ticket management and ensure that tasks can be dealt with promptly.
3. Train staff on products, services and user management.
Help desk staff need to be properly trained to be able to effectively handle employee inquiries. This includes more than general technician skills. They should be familiar with the organization’s products and services and the procedures for handling internal IT inquiries. A help desk system isn’t just any IT system; they need to use ticketing platforms and processes.
4. Use automation when you can.
Automation can help to improve the efficiency of the help desk by reducing the need for manual tasks. This can include using autoresponders to answer common questions or setting up a ticketing system that automatically assigns tickets to the appropriate staff member. Not every system is built for automation – but the more you can automate, the better.
5. Use multiple channels.
Help desks should be as accessible as possible to improve their operations. This can include using live chat software to communicate with employees or using remote desktop software to provide support remotely. The more channels employees have for assistance, the more likely they are to get the assistance they need to get their jobs done.
6. Monitor performance.
Help desks need to monitor their performance to identify areas for improvement. This can be done by tracking employee satisfaction levels, analyzing call logs and monitoring staff performance.
7. Provide feedback.
Help desk staff need to be provided with feedback on their performance to help them improve. This can be done through regular evaluations or by using a feedback survey. Take a look at how quickly tickets are being resolved – if they are lagging behind, then there may be issues with the quality of the service. Conversely, if tickets are being solved faster than ever, your ticketing service is working well.
8. Be proactive.
Help desks should take a proactive approach to problem-solving and should aim to prevent problems before they occur. This can be done by monitoring user activity, analyzing trends and implementing preventive measures. Before a big project, the help desk should be looped in and made aware that there may be unusual volumes of activity. They should be prepared for issues such as “password change requests” when a new system is implemented.
9. Review policies and procedures.
Help desks should periodically review their policies and procedures to ensure they are up-to-date and effective. This can help to prevent problems and improve the efficiency of the help desk. It should always be very clear what service level agreements a help desk falls under– exactly what they are offering your organization and what your organization must handle.
Conclusion: How to improve your service desk best practices
Sometimes, the best solution is to outsource. By outsourcing your help desk, you free your internal IT team to concentrate on other essential tasks – such as revenue-generating projects and digital transformation. You also avoid help desk burnout.
An outsourced help desk team will take control of your trouble tickets and your triage, escalating issues as desired. You can still manage the services and tickets that your organization desires without having to get into the weeds regarding smaller and simple requests. Frequently, outsourcing help desk services is a cost-effective method to get the services that you need without sacrificing your internal IT talent.
It’s time to learn more about help desk best practices – and the solutions that can help you manage your organization’s IT and security posture. Connect with Red River to find out more about the benefits of outsourcing your help desk solutions.
FAQs
What makes a successful help desk?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the success of a help desk depends on the specific needs of the organization. However, there are some general best practices that can help to improve the effectiveness of a help desk, such as clearly defining the scope of services offered, setting up a knowledge base and training employees proactively.
