A help desk is a response center for diagnosing and routing technical problems. Help desk employees provide support for all technical equipment within a company. A help desk is constantly busy due to the issues with the large variety of equipment they support, from printers to computers and phones. These problems vary from minor employee training issues to major machine problems. Running a help desk requires efficiency and attention to detail. This article describes run a help desk.
Instructions
1. Designate support levels. Assign individuals with less training and expertise to the lower levels, and those with more training to higher levels. The employees in higher levels should have more technical skills and expertise. A problem should go through the lower levels first. If they are unable to resolve the issue, it then goes up a level. This process ensures efficiency and allows for higher-level employees to focus on high-level jobs.
2. Decide on flow. The first issue is how the problem comes into the help desk. Most of the time, the technician taking the call enters the data into help desk software. The lowest level of support gets the assignment. Determine who is responsible for ensuring the user's problem is resolved to her satisfaction. This is the most important aspect of flow.
3. Track all issues, even if fixed quickly. Mark the time and date on each newly opened issue. Staying clear on times and dates helps technicians take care of issues in a timely manner. Other important items to track include the machine number or identification and employee information. Using this data, the help desk program can identify machines that frequently break and locate employees who need training. It also helps less-experienced technicians see how others resolved the problem.
4. Provide constant training and support for help desk staff. Train every new help desk employee on the help desk software. New machines, equipment and software all require training for help desk employees so that they are able to fix user issues. Meetings with all staff ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the help desk software operates properly.
