Help Desk Operation

1. Help Desk Operation Introduction by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

2. Objectives In this introduction you will learn: • About help desks and typical help desk organisation • The incident management process • How hardware and software tools are used to manage incidents • Help desk trends by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

3. Introduction to Help Desk Operation Organisations can choose to provide support to employees and customers in several ways • Informal peer Support • Formal structure • Support Group • Information Center • Information Technology Department by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

4. Help Desk • Single point of contact for end user supportComponents of a Successful Help Desk • The four components of a successful help desk are tightly integrated and each must be given attention.·         People ·         Processes ·         Technology ·         Information Customer Service – The Bottom Line • Strategies and tools by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

5. Supplying Support • Single point • Concentration of expertise • Multi level support model by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

6. Multilevel Support Model by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

7. The Incident Management Process • Incident Management is a well-defined, formal procedure that help desk staff follow to handle problem incidents, get the information users need or solve their problems, and close the incident • Call Management describes the steps in handling primarily telephone contacts between end users and support staff by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

8. Call Management / Incident Process • Receive call • Pre-screen call (user) • Authenticate call • Log call • Screen call • Prioritise call(1-Urgent, 2-High,3-Medium,4-Low) Assign call Track call Escalate call Resolve call Close call Archive call by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

9. Help Desk Tools and Technologies • Help desk software • Computer telephony systems • Web Site support • Physical layout of help desk work areas by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

10. Introduction to Help Desk Tools Technology and Techniques by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

11. Objectives Here you will learn: • The role automation tools play in support • How processes and procedures are used in support • The primary types of support tools available • How support tools evolve • The reasons why tools don’t work in a particular environment • How constant change affects support and support technology by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

12. Help Desk Tools, Technology, and Techniques • Technologyincludes the development of new materials, equipment, and processes to improve goods and services production • Companies established information centers, places within companies where employees could receive training and help in using personal computers • A help desk is a single point of contact within a company for managing customer problems and requests, and providing solution-oriented support service by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

13. Understanding the Role Technology Plays in Support Technology affects support in several ways: • The increase in the amount of technical support available • The complexity and interconnection among technology components has increased the needs for support • Businesses depend on technology to collect and manage information, which enables them to react to trends more quickly • Better and more complex electronics are used both at home and in business, including computers, telecommunication systems, network devices, and software by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

14. Resource Challenges • Support resources are the company employees who provide support services • Technical skills refers to basic computer literacy and experience with specific hardware or software • Support staff also need good problem-solving skills by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

15. Resource Challenges • In addition to technical skills, the entire support staff needs good communication skills • Communication skills are those skills that enable a person to interact effectively with others by speaking, listening, and writing by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

16. Importance of Goals, Processes, and Procedures • The support group depends on its resources to deliver services and accomplish its goals • Every company uses a mission statement, which is a broad, general, written guideline that defines the company’s vision and specific goals • Goals are further refined into different processes and procedures so that the support staff knows how to accomplish the goals by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

17. Sample Support GroupMission Statement by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

18. Importance of Goals, Processes, and Procedures • A process is a list of the input, the interrelated work activities (or tasks), and the desired output needed to accomplish a goal • A procedure is a detailed, step-by-step set of instructions that describes who will perform the tasks in a process, along with how and when those tasks will be performed by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

19. Importance of Goals, Processes, and Procedures • To better understand the relationship between a goal, process, and procedures, consider a teenager who wants to drive a car • Consistent delivery means that the output of a process is the same no matter who completes the procedures by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

20. Types of Support Tools • Support tools are specific to the processes and challenges of a particular group • Some tools are designed for support staff • Computer users can use some support tools to address their own support needs by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

21. Support Staff Tools • The correct technology can help support staff work more efficiently • Tools are the equipment, processes, or software that are necessary to perform a task or that assist someone in practicing a profession • Support staff use tools to organize, troubleshoot, and deliver services by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

22. Support Staff Tools • Logging tools track all questions that the support group receives • Organizing tools help support staff manage their daily work • Troubleshooting tools help equalize the skills of the support staff by providing reference materials the staff can use to quickly and easily find information about a particular problem or topic • Other tools are designed to deliver a particular service by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

23. Management Tools • Management-oriented tools enable managers to review all work for the support group and to supervise their resources • Most important tools support managers use is reporting software • Managers also regularly run monitoring reports to show how support staff performance improves over time by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

24. Sample Database Records by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

25. Driver’s License Workflow by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

26. Chapter Summary • Automation tools can be used to address resource and service challenges • Support groups have common goals, which are defined by processes and procedures • Support staff, managers, and computer users employ different types of tools • A small support group may start out with very simple support tools • Automation does not guarantee a support group will meet its goals • Technology continues to change rapidly by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

27. Introduction Support Environment and Processes by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

28. Objectives Here you will learn: • Basic help desk concepts • Internal support processes • External support processes • What core activities support staff complete in different environments • Special challenges unique to some support organisations by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

29. Support Environments and Processes • Support staff complete different tasks as they follow procedures, based upon the company’s business and the tasks its customers are trying to complete • Most business tasks are completed using technology that has grown very complex • The support environment is the collection of customers that a support group assists, the tasks customers need or want to complete, the technologies those customers and staff use to complete tasks and the experience and skill of the support staff by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

30. Multilevel Support Model by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

31. Basic Help Desk Concepts • A multilevel support model defines the role a support person plays in different support processes and the amount of interaction they have with a customer • Front-line support, or level one support, is the point of first contact with the customer • Level one support staff answer the telephone, record problem details, and attempt to resolve the problem or answer the question • A dispatcheris a front-line support person who answers the telephone but forwards the problem to someone else to solve by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

32. Basic Help Desk Concepts • Dispatchers pick up overflow calls if all level one support staff are busy or when the problem requires someone to visit a remote location to repair hardware • Subject matter experts (SME) are usually members of level two or three support, with a greater amount of experience or knowledge about a particular subject than level one support • They have more detailed knowledge about specific products or more experience troubleshooting by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

33. Basic Help Desk Concepts • Level three support also may include network specialists, database administrators, or programmers • To escalate an issue is to raise the issue to the next level of support or to notify managers • First, the lower level support staff may already know that a particular problem requires more knowledge or experience to resolve • Second, customers may think that the problem is taking too long to solve and ask that more resources or more experienced staff work on the problem by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

34. Internal and External Support Environments • Support environments are divided into two types—internal and external • An internal support group, or help desk, is a department within a company that responds to questions, problems, or requests from company employees • In a small company, employees may be able to rely upon a guru, a coworker who learns to use new tools quickly and who helps other employees unofficially by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

35. Internal and External Support Environments As the internal support group delivers service, it may also: • Answer questions about software that is purchased or developed within the company • Troubleshoot software problems and identify hardware problems • Take requests for network or administrative services • Refer callers to other support centers or corporate resources • Distribute information to employees about system availability • Identify employees who need more attention or training in specific areas • Install or upgrade new versions of software or hardware by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

36. Internal and External Support Environments • The use of a guru is practical only as long as that can still complete his or her own work • Frequently, companies set up a help desk as a necessary evil at first, because computer users need a centralized point of contact • An external support group addresses questions, problems, or requests from customers who buy their company’s products and services • External support groups may be called “customer support”, to differentiate them from internal support groups by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

37. Internal and External Support Environments • Large companies that sell products usually have both internal and external support groups • There are two good reasons that a company will set up an external support group • First, if most of a company’s competitors provide customer support, then it also must provide some level of support to remain competitive • Second, a company may find it profitable to sell maintenance or repair services for its products by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

38. Internal and External Support Environments External support groups often: • Troubleshoot computer hardware or software problems with other electronic equipment • Explain installation or instruction manuals that are difficult to understand • Decide when broken equipment needs to be returned for repair or replacement • Start or stop services from utility providers, such as water or power companies • Provide additional informationabout a product or service • As the support group provides good service, customers renew their annual maintenance contracts, providing a source of revenue for the company and funding for the support group by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

39. Processes Common to All Help Desks by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

40. Call Logging • Call logging is the process of creating records that capture details about problems, requests, and questions as they are reported to the support group • A problem is an event that prevents someone from completing a task • Some problems take longer to solve than others, requiring support staff to collect additional information • A request is a customer order for new hardware, software, or services, or for an enhancement to a product or service a customer already uses by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

41. Call Logging • Customers make inquiries about small tasks or subjects they don’t under-stand, which are logged by support staff as questions • Questions usually begin with standard phrases, such as: • How do I…? - Where is the…? • When will…? - Who do I call if I need…? • Some questions take only a few minutes to answer • However, questions can become either problems or requests, depending upon the answer by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department

42. Problem Management • Problem management is the process of tracking and resolving problems that are reported to a support group • The problem management process defines procedures to ensure that staff members collect problem details, work on outstanding problems regularly, assign additional support staff when needed, and provide status updates to the customer • Finding the cause of a problem, removing or preventing the cause, and correcting the disruption that the problem caused is part of problem resolution by Rodger Burgess Information Technology Department