What is an IT helpdesk? An IT helpdesk is a virtual resource designed to offer support and information to the client or end user regarding a particular company’s or organization’s products and solutions. There are companies that specialize in the provision of IT helpdesks, and they can be called in to handle any issues or problems that may come up in a general basis. Some help desk service providers also allow the clients to have a choice to outsource their assistance to another company.

One of the main tasks that an IT helpdesk performs is to keep track of the customer’s calls.

In fact, this is one of the major reasons for having a helpdesk in the first place. With the help of the service desk, the IT helpdesk is tasked with maintaining a database to track the calls coming in, the status of each call, the priority level, and the time it was placed on hold. The help desk will also keep track of the problem resolutions, the quality of calls and the amount of time they were on hold during peak hours. This information allows the service desk to allocate resources in order to solve problems that may arise.

An IT helpdesk is not limited to just answering telephones. It also has the task of generating reports. These reports may include data on the number of calls answered, the average call length, the number of minutes taken to resolve the problem, the number of problems handled during the call, etc. IT helpdesk software will also give the IT helpdesk the ability to generate reports on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Data acquired from these reports will be used to determine what resources are needed in order to best serve the customer.

Another duty of the IT helpdesk is to answer frequently asked questions. Often, customers have a need for more information before moving forward with a solution. IT helpdesks must be skilled at navigating through the FAQs and determining which answers are the most helpful.

Help desk software should also have the ability to get assistance for customers in the form of tickets. Tickets allow IT helpdesks to create tickets related to commonly encountered issues and then get assistance for them. For example, if a customer needs help with a programming problem, the ticket can be created asking for assistance with a programming solution. If the customer needs help troubleshooting a slow computer, the ticket will ask for assistance with troubleshooting hardware issues.

IT helpdesks should be able to track the resolution time of technical queries.

Many problems occur at resolution time. If IT helpdesk cannot accurately determine the resolution time, the help desk will waste valuable time processing unrelated questions. A good IT helpdesk will have tools that track resolution time.

• Knowledge Base Technology is an important aspect of any IT helpdesk environment.

• A knowledge base allows IT team members to store frequently asked questions, access commonly occurring questions, and assign answers to them.

• This knowledge base may be accessed by individual team members, or it may be stored in a central database for all team members to access.

Having a centralized database that allows all team members to go directly to the section that requires their knowledge allows IT helpdesks to spend their time responding to real-life questions from end-users.

All these aspects of IT helpdesk help provide a service desk that can successfully handle technical queries of all kinds. However, to be very effective, an IT helpdesk must also have excellent customer service skills. Good customer service skills depend on a person’s ability to understand what the customer is asking, comprehending the question, answering it, and explaining the help needed. If an IT helpdesk is unable to do these three things, the customers will find another IT helpdesk provider. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that an IT helpdesk service provider has good customer service skills.