Chapter 6 Help Desk Operation. Guide to Computer User Support, 3e 2 About help desks and a typical...

Chapter 6

Help Desk Operation

Guide to Computer User Support, 3e 2

• About help desks and a typical help desk organization

• The incident management process

• The physical layout of help desk work areas

• How hardware and software tools are used to manage incidents

• Help desk trends

Learning Objectives


• An organization that provides a single point of contact for users in need of technical support

• Goal: To enhance client satisfaction by effectively and efficiently resolving problems and questions

• Alternate titles: hotline, information center, lab assistance, tech support, client services

What Is a Help Desk?


• Multi-level Support Model is a help desk structure

• Organizes support staff and services into several levels (or tiers)

• Each level is staffed by a worker with different skills

• Also called the frontline/backline model

• Goal: to handle as many incidents as possible at the lowest level in the support hierarchy• Save scarce resources for incidents where more expertise is

necessary

Multi-level Support Model


Multi-level Support Model


• Incident Management is a well-defined, formal procedure that help desk staff use to:

• Handle problem incidents

• Get information to users

• Solve user problems

• Maintain records about the incident

• Call Management is primarily concerned with handling telephone contacts

The Incident Management Process


1. Receive

2. Prescreen

3. Authenticate

4. Log

5. Screen

6. Prioritize

7. Assign

8. Track

9. Escalate

10. Resolve

11. Close

12. Archive

The Incident Management Process (graphic view)


1. Receive the incident

2. Prescreen the incident

3. Authenticate the user

4. Log the incident

5. Screen the incident

6. Prioritize the incident

7. Assign the incident

8. Track the incident

9. Escalate the incident

10. Resolve the incident

11. Close the incident

12. Archive the incident

Steps in the Incident Management Process


• Sources of incidents:

• Goals:• Establish a relationship with end user

• Get basic information from userWho is the user?

What is the purpose of the contact?

• May use a specific greeting script

• Warn that the call may be monitored

• Apologize for any delay or wait time

– In person

– Phone call– E-mail message

– Web-based contact

1. Receive the Incident


• Prescreening is a filtering process to determine how the help desk staff will handle the incident

• Goal: Incident screener may be able to handle a simple request for information

• Product information

• How to order

• Where to purchase

2. Prescreen the Incident


• Authentication determines whether help desk staff are authorized to handle an incident

• Usually involves checking• a product registration database

• a product model or serial number

• a warranty database

• a support service database of authorized clients

• Goals• Determine the status of each client

• Establish a billing procedure (where appropriate)

• Filter out unauthorized clients

3. Authenticate the Incident


• Incident logging begins to document the incident and its related problem

• Basic information about the incident is recorded

• Trouble report form

• Incident tracking database

• Goal:

• Start a record of the incident

4. Log the Incident


• Incident screening categorizes and describes the incident

• Common Incident Categories:–Request for information (that could not be handled during prescreening)

–Question

–Problem

–Complaint

–Work order

• Goals:• Define the category of an incident

• Capture a brief description of the incident

5. Screen the Incident


• Priority code is assigned based on• How serious the problem is for users

• How many users are affected

• Consequence of not handling problem immediately

• Goals:• A priority code often determines the kind of attention an

incident will receive from staff

• Alternative to priority codes• handle incidents on first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis

6. Prioritize the Incident


Priority Codes and Incident Handling

• Example priority codes 1 – Urgent 2 – High priority 3 – Medium priority 4 – Low priority

• High priority incidents are usually serious problems that affect the productivity of a large number of users

• Priority codes may be used to determine response time of support staff

• Priority codes may change as an incident is handled


Priority Codes and Queue Management

• A queue is a waiting line into which incoming incidents are placed when they cannot be answered immediately

• Queues may be defined for • Priority codes

• Different products

• Types of customers

• Levels of support


• When a level 1 Incident Screener cannot respond to an incident directly, they assign it to another agent who

• has specific product knowledge

• has specialized expertise

• Goal:

• Move an incident to a queue where it will get appropriate attention

7. Assign the Incident


• Incident tracking updates information

• as an incident is processed

• as new information is added to the incident log

• Goals: • Provides a record:

When important events occurA history of how the incident was handled

• Provides data:Measure the quality of incident handlingEvaluate support agent performanceIdentify support staff training needs

8. Track the Incident


• Escalation is a normal process in which an incident is transferred to a higher level support agent who has• greater ability or expertise

• resources to handle more difficult problems

• Goal:• Resolve a difficult problem effectively and efficiently

• Escalation may be automatic if an incident is not resolved within a limited period of time

9. Escalate the Incident


• Resolution means that a user’s problem has been solved or information has been provided• A complaint may be referred to product designers as a suggestion for

the next product revision cycle

• Caveats:• Not all calls can be completely resolved by the Incident Management

Process

• Resolution doesn’t necessarily mean the client is completely satisfied

• Goal:• Minimize the percent of incidents that cannot be resolved satisfactorily

10. Resolve the Incident


• Incident closing may include:• Review the steps to solve the problem

• Seek mutual agreement (verification) that a solution has been reached

• Thank the user for contacting the help desk

• Invite the user to recontact if not satisfied

• Make final entries in incident log or database

• Goal:• Provide technical and interpersonal closure to the incident

11. Close the Incident


• Archive means to copy resolved incidents to a database of completed incidents• Incidents are retained in an active database as long as they

remain relevant

• Goal:• Reduce the size of the active database by removing less

relevant information

• The archives• can be searched if needed in future problem-solving situations

• can serve as a source of data for statistical analysis



• Desk in a cubicle

• Access to one or more computer systems

• Access to reference library

• Telephone headset permits freedom of motion

• Issues

• Job stress

• Diversions for staff

• Ergonomic work place

Physical Layout of Help Desk Work Areas


Help Desk Technology and Tools

• Impact of automation on help desk industry

• Help desk software packages

• Computer telephony systems

• Web-based support


Help Desk Software Features

• Log and track incidents

• Manage incident queues

• Interface with telephone system

• Set incident priorities

• Assign incidents to support staff

• Escalate incidents

• Contact information

• Store, edit, and recall contact and location information in a contact database

continued


Help Desk Software Features (continued)


• Product features

• Product limitations

• New versions

• Configuration constraints

• Known bugs

• Product availability



• Configuration information for client systems

• Hardware configuration

• Software licenses

• Network protocols

• Diagnostic utilities

• Diagnostic software is used to analyze performance of a remote system and look for potential problem areas



• Problem Solutions knowledge base

• Contains information about common problems and their solutions

• Sometimes called a “smart” database

•May use search strategies based on artificial intelligence

• Expert systems (sequences of IF-THEN rules)

• Neural networks (automated learning systems)

• Case-based reasoning (pattern-matching strategies)



• Product order entry• Order entry capability

• Can integrate with other business systems, such as shipping and invoicing

• Client feedback• Client feedback measures the level of satisfaction with

Products and services

Help desk support



• Asset management• Equipment inventory

• System installation information

• Service management• Warranty information

• Reminders of next preventive maintenance

• Service history



• Telephone system interface• Manages large number of incoming and outgoing calls

• Links to Communication and Information Resource

• E-mail

• Internet

• Online help

• Product documentation

• Problem archives



• Statistical reports

• Predefined reports• Abandonment rate (callers who hang up)

• Number of unresolved incidents

• Average length of time on hold

• Average time to resolve problems

• Productivity of agents

• Inventory control reports

• Frequently asked questions

• Customizable interface and reports• Augment built-in reports to address specific needs


Popular Help Desk Software Packages

• Large-scale Operations• Remedy Help Desk

• Peregrine ServiceCenter

• Magic Solutions Service Desk

• Clientele for Help Desks

• Small or Mid-scale• HelpTrac

• Track-It!

• Manage-IT!

• Soffront Customer Helpdesk

• BridgeTrak


HelpTrac Contact Information for user Kevin Barnes


HelpTrac Problem Ticket from Kevin Barnes


HelpTrac Solution Tree Database Record


HelpTrac Sample Management Report


Computer Telephony Systems• Computer telephony is the integration of computer and

telephone technology into a seamless help desk tool

• Automated Call Distributor (ACD) is a computer telephony system that automates the first steps in incident management• answer calls

• greet callers

• provide menus

• route the call to support agents


Computer Telephony Systems (continued)

• Goals

• Reduce amount of time and cost to respond to calls and route them to support agents

• Collect information about performance of help desk operation

• Monitor calls

• Problems• Reputation for poor customer service

• Poor design of menus

• Lengthy hold times

• Repetitious requests for information

• Dropped calls


Interactive Voice Response

• Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems let users interact with a database of information • User presses keys on telephone handset

• User speaks simple words into telephone

• IVRs can be programmed with decision-tree logic to• ask and answer questions

• without a human agent


Web-based Support


• Order entry

• Rebate status

• Automated responses to information requests

• Online documents

• Software downloads

• Troubleshooting wizards

• Knowledge bases

• Search engine

• Chat rooms

• E-mail links to staff

• Submit problem reports

• Contact information

• Customer satisfaction surveys

• Links to related sites


Web Support Advantages

• Lower cost to provide support than other methods

• Makes users more self-reliant

• Reduces errors due to misinformation and miscommunication

• Eliminates user time spent waiting on phone for help desk agent


E-mail Support Advantages

• E-mail is asynchronous

• user and support staff do not have to be available online at exactly the same time

• E-mail responses make more flexible use of support agent’s time

• E-mail responses to frequent questions can be composed in advance and then pasted into messages


Impact of Web and E-mail Use on Support Staff

• More efficient use of support staff resources

• Writing skills become more important for support staff than telephone skills

• Quick recall is less important than ability to locate information

• Ability to listen is less important than ability to read and understand

• Customer service skills remain important


Impact of Intranets on Support Staff

• An Intranet is a network modeled after the Internet with information organized into Web pages• Facilitates communication between an organization’s

employees and support staff

• Uses familiar technology• Web browser

• Search engine

• Provides better security for communication than the Internet


Trends in Help Desk Operations• Outsourcing

–will reduce need for telephone support agents who serve external clients in US

–will have less impact on support agents who serve internal clients

• Greater reliance on electronic mail and the Internet to provide support

• Increases in support staff productivity with remote diagnosis–Remote diagnosis is the use of a help desk computer to

connect to a remote user’s computer


Trends in Help Desk Operations (continued)

• Increased use of voice recognition and artificial intelligence in support products

• Help desk operations will become more proactive (anticipate user problems) and less reactive

• Help desks will play significant role in client relationship management (CRM)–Client relationship management (CRM) is a business

process that aims to meet the needs of clients by providing excellent client service


Trends in Help Desk Operations (continued)

• Certification of help desk professionals and their knowledge and skills will become more common and an expectation in the job market

• Future help desk managers will need better information for decision making


Chapter Summary• The goal of help desk operations is to provide clients with a

single point of contact for• Information requests

• Problem resolution

• The steps in the incident management process are designed to effectively and efficiently manage the process of handling an incident

1. Receive the incident

2. Prescreen the incident

3. Authenticate the user

4. Log the incident

5. Screen the incident

6. Prioritize the incident

7. Assign the incident

8. Track the incident

9. Escalate the incident

10. Resolve the incident

11. Close the incident



Chapter Summary (continued)

• Several hardware and software tools are used to manage incidents• Help Desk Software packages

• Computer telephony systems• Automated Call Distributor (ACD)

• Interactive Voice Response( IVR)

• Web-based support

• Future help desk trends will continue to impact the support industry

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