The goal of any help desk is to troubleshoot problems and provide guidance on utilizing computers, software, or other hardware within an organization. Help desk support is usually deployed through phone, website portals, instant messaging and/or email.
There are often in-house help desks to provide immediate and responsive assistance to employees.
A typical help desk should be able to effectively perform multiple functions. It should be able to provide a point of contact for users and employees to offer assistance for troubleshooting, functional inquires, and to solve any issues that may arise.
Help desks generally employ an issue tracking system that allows support teams to manage incoming help desk tickets. Help desk ticket requests can then be categorized, tracked and sorted.
The help desk is also crucial in gaining information about technical issues, user preferences, and end-user satisfaction. This information is quite valuable for the future planning and development of the organization.
The structure of any help desk depends largely on the individual company, but they are often organized into different levels that handle various types of inquiries.
A typical first-level help desk may be organized to answer inquiries or relay information regarding common issues or questions about a product or service. If the issue is unable to be resolved at the first level, it is referred to as a second-level team that has more resources and handles more complex issues.
Depending on the organization, a third level help desk might be employed to deal with software-specific needs. These issues usually include bug fixes, updates, and special resource requests for specific clients.
