"HELP DESK OPERATIONS"

Tafawuq FM’s scrutinisers third session was halted following interesting and lively discussions delving into airport facilities management. The subjects included heavy machinery, introduced by Ray and several significant issues introduced by Mary. Subsequently the scrutiny team attended the fourth session armed with responses to Mary’s issues; thus:

Valentina, Tafawuq's lead marketer committed to media and customer interaction took the lead for this debate. Armed with various coloured markers she stood before a white board and encouraged debate. After, often heated, interactive discourse the following was agreed:

A. The performance of a help-desk is an indicator of the overall health of a facilities management company's service delivery. As well as being a key business function, the help desk enables FM companies to thrive.

B. Finding and delivering cost reductions are a necessity in today's economy and facilities management companies are a frequent cost reduction target. Therefore, an important responsibility of a help desk is to ensure that their services are clearly defined and aligned with customer's business needs. It must always be remembered that the help desk is a single point of contact (SPOC) for end users who need assistance/help. Further debate ensued until, eventually, the following three groups were defined:

Tafawuq's help desk definition:

AVIATION AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT THE AIRPORT

info@tafawuq.ae, www.tafawuq.ae

Help Desk Operations

A successful help desk achieves the following:

A benefits of a help desk:

Valentina, content with the output from her cajoling, re-seated ready for the next issue. Performance Monitoring of in-house staff / service providers. Sam was prepared and proposed his interpretation: Performance management includes activities which ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Further, he emphasized, it is also a process in which an FM company will align resources, systems, strategic objectives and priorities. Sam's interpretation was debated, until surprise, surprise the scrutinisers accepted and agreed his definition - a warm smile lit up his face.

1. Resolves 80% or more of incoming incidents and requests without any escalation2. Improves customer satisfaction significantly, when first level resolution is at 70% or more3. Reduces costs and time to fix incidents4. Keeps businesses running efficiently

1. Business needs are understood2. Customer requirements are understood3. Investment is made in training for help desk operators4. Service objectives, goals and deliverables are clearly defined5. Service levels are practical, agreed, and regularly reviewed

1. Improved customer service perception and satisfaction2. Increased accessibility to assistance/help through a single point of contact3. Better quality and quicker turnaround of customer/user requests4. Improved teamwork and communication5. Enhanced focus and a proactive approach to service provision6. Effective managed infrastructure and control7. Effective use of support resources and increased productivity of customer’s core business