If you staff a help desk, you’ve probably had a conversation or two with your mom (I know we have) about what you do. At the end of these conversations, my mom will say something like, “so you talk on the phone all day” or “so you listen to other people’s problems and try to fix them.” I usually end up agreeing. Recently, I was trying to explain to my mom what our help desk solution does. If you’ve found yourself trying to explain what a help desk solution does, maybe this part of the conversation with my mom will help.
Me: Mom, we’ve been really busy at work because a lot of schools are trying to support distance learning and hospitals whose doctors are talking with patients via the computer and they’ve been overwhelmed with support questions. So they’re looking at help desk solutions like ours.
Mom: What’s a help desk again?
Me: Help desks are the people who answer the phones or emails when you need something fixed or need help. You know like when you call the Geeks because you can’t make your printer connect to your computer. The Geeks are on a help desk.
Mom: I love the Geeks, especially when they come onto my computer remotely to help.
Me: Exactly. And you know when you first call in and go through the process of getting help they tell you they’ll have an expert who knows how to solve your problem contact and then they give you a ticket number?
Mom: Yes.
Me: Well, that ticket number was generated by a help desk solution, like ours.
Mom: That’s nice honey. I don’t do anything with those ticket numbers.
Me: I know you don’t Mom, but the help desk does. The ticket number is what helps the people that staff the help desk keep track of who is assigned to do what and when. The people on the help desk receive calls from people like you all of the time. And they need a way to prioritize the tasks and divvy them up. Rather than using email, phone or scratch paper, the help desk can use a ticket management system to make sure the right person knows there is someone who needs help and can organize their work to make sure they get the task completed. This way they can get more tasks done faster and usually more correctly. This is how the Geeks know what you need and when they finish they close the ticket.
Mom: I like it when things are organized and finished correctly and on time.
Me: Yes, I know you do.
And that’s how I explained a help desk solution to my mom. It helps the help desk staff automate the assignment of tasks and facilitate solving problems faster. So there you have it. Help desk solutions are utilized by customer service and IT teams to ensure the team delivers on the promise of fast, reliable, quality service. In our experience, adopting these eleven functions will create an exceptional customer and user experience. Check out this free guide to help you to make sure your help desk delivers the customer service you want to offer to your customers.