1. Chapter 6 Help Desk Operations
IFS410 End User Support
Chapter 6
Help Desk Operations

2. Porter’s Value Chains
Porter argued that firm’s opportunities to create competitive advantage occur at different steps in the value chain
The Margin is the value of the firm’s products and services less their costs, as perceived by the firm’s customers
The value chain is made of the primary and support activities that contribute to a firm’s margin value. Increasing that marginal value is the objective of the chain model
Firms can create value by performing activities, which Porter calls value activities

4. What Is a Help Desk?
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

5. Multi-level Support Model
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

6. Multi-Level Support Characteristics
Level 1 – Incident Screening
Creates ticket (logs incident)
General triage
Work From Scripts
Level 2 – Product Specialist
More experienced helpdesk representative
Typically hands-on
Generalist (small depth, large breadth)

7. Multi-Level Support Characteristics
Level 3 – Technical Specialist
MSCE
CCSE
Designers / Developers / Analysts
Level 4 – Supervisor / Manager

8. The Incident Management Process
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

9. Steps in the Incident Management Process
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

10. 1. Receive the Incident Sources of incidents: Goals:
Establish a relationship with end user
Get basic information from user
Who 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
message
Web-based contact

11. 2. Prescreen 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

12. 3. Authenticate 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

13. 4. Log 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

14. 5. Screen 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

15. 6. Prioritize 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 7. Assign the Incident
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

19. 8. Track the Incident as an incident is processed
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 occur
A history of how the incident was handled
Provides data:
Measure the quality of incident handling
Evaluate support agent performance
Identify support staff training needs

20. 9. Escalate 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

21. 10. Resolve 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

22. 11. Close the Incident Incident closing may include: Goal:
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

23. 12. Archive 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

24. Physical Layout of Help Desk Work Areas
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

25. Help Desk Technology and Tools
Impact of automation on help desk industry
Help desk software packages
Computer telephony systems
Web-based support

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. Web-based Support Product information Order entry Rebate status
Automated responses to information requests
Online documents
Software downloads
Troubleshooting wizards
Knowledge bases
Search engine
Chat rooms
links to staff
Submit problem reports
Contact information
Customer satisfaction surveys
Links to related sites

31. 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

32. E-mail Support Advantages
is asynchronous
user and support staff do not have to be available online at exactly the same time
responses make more flexible use of support agent’s time
responses to frequent questions can be composed in advance and then pasted into messages

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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