Difference between revisions of "Help Desk"
From Danton's Real Life Userguide
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The Help Desk is a staffed resource, generally a telephone service, that answers customers' questions about the use of a product or service. | The Help Desk is a staffed resource, generally a telephone service, that answers customers' questions about the use of a product or service. | ||
| − | We will use the term "Help Desk" to refer to telephone services, as opposed to | + | We will use the term "Help Desk" to refer to telephone services, as opposed to Web Help which is help provided by a website. |
==Help Desk Definition== | ==Help Desk Definition== | ||
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:Help desk is a broadly applied term referring to a staffed resource - often, an actual desk, or a telephone service - that can help persons answer questions or to use resources such as audio-visual or computer resources. | :Help desk is a broadly applied term referring to a staffed resource - often, an actual desk, or a telephone service - that can help persons answer questions or to use resources such as audio-visual or computer resources. | ||
| − | According to the above definitions, a Help Desk may be either a telephone service or a website. However, one might reserve the term Help Desk to refer to technical assistance provided by telephone, and use the term | + | According to the above definitions, a Help Desk may be either a telephone service or a website. However, one might reserve the term Help Desk to refer to technical assistance provided by telephone, and use the term Web Help for technical assistance provided via a website. |
The telephone Help Desk is closely related to other telephone service centres, such as the Call Centre and the Helpline. A Service Desk differs from both the help desk and the call centre in that it combines digital communications with telephone communications, and may offer its service to a wide range of "users" including at the same time both in-house employees and out-of-house customers. | The telephone Help Desk is closely related to other telephone service centres, such as the Call Centre and the Helpline. A Service Desk differs from both the help desk and the call centre in that it combines digital communications with telephone communications, and may offer its service to a wide range of "users" including at the same time both in-house employees and out-of-house customers. | ||
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Often the users calling a customer help desk will first encounter either an Automatic Call Distributor or an Interactive Voice Response. An Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) plays greetings or announcements while the caller is waiting to be put through, then typically routes a caller without prompting for input. An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) will generally request an input from the callers, with a computerised voice recording inviting them to make selections by pressing buttons on their telephone. Interactive Voice Response may be used to answer simple questions without operator intervention, to obtain information from the caller such as account numbers, or to identify the needs of the caller so that the call can be automatically routed to a particular skillset, which is a group of agents with a particular skill. | Often the users calling a customer help desk will first encounter either an Automatic Call Distributor or an Interactive Voice Response. An Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) plays greetings or announcements while the caller is waiting to be put through, then typically routes a caller without prompting for input. An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) will generally request an input from the callers, with a computerised voice recording inviting them to make selections by pressing buttons on their telephone. Interactive Voice Response may be used to answer simple questions without operator intervention, to obtain information from the caller such as account numbers, or to identify the needs of the caller so that the call can be automatically routed to a particular skillset, which is a group of agents with a particular skill. | ||
| − | Interactive Voice Response definitely lacks conviviality. But it may be the price to pay for widespread development of help centers. It seems likely however that companies could significantly reduce the number of help desk calls by furnishing more complete and effective | + | Interactive Voice Response definitely lacks conviviality. But it may be the price to pay for widespread development of help centers. It seems likely however that companies could significantly reduce the number of help desk calls by furnishing more complete and effective Online Help (internal to software) or Web Help (through internet). On the subject of Interactive Voice Response, see the ezine article [http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Beat-Those-Automatic-Telephone-Answering-Systems&id=108229 How To Beat Those Automatic Telephone Answering Systems]. |
When the caller finally gets through to a human being, the request will typically be managed by staff using help desk software. Such software provides an "issue tracking system," also known as an "incident tracking system" or a "ticket tracking system." | When the caller finally gets through to a human being, the request will typically be managed by staff using help desk software. Such software provides an "issue tracking system," also known as an "incident tracking system" or a "ticket tracking system." | ||
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==The Wikipedia Help Desk== | ==The Wikipedia Help Desk== | ||
| − | Wikipedia has its own help desk: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk Wikipedia:Help desk]. However, according to the way the terms are used on this site, the above Wikipedia information page would be a form of | + | Wikipedia has its own help desk: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk Wikipedia:Help desk]. However, according to the way the terms are used on this site, the above Wikipedia information page would be a form of Web Help rather than a telephone-based Help Desk. |
==Links== | ==Links== | ||
