The IT Service Desk is the initial contact point for all IT incidents, requests, tasks and problems. Therefore, an organization needs to have talented IT service desk staffing in place. Furthermore, a solid help system is crucial to keep the process efficient. Simply put, maintaining a sturdy helping hand for customers starts with having a backbone procedure.
While having a plethora of experienced and fantastic IT Service Desk workers is critical to maintaining a solid customer service department, it’s not the only factor. You must have a procedure of actions and stages to put into place. Silver tongues and great talkers will work in simmering customer incidents, to an extent. Unfortunately, with no basis of tactics, things can get confusing and out of place.
Nothing upsets a customer more than a problem with your product or service. Nothing exasperates the irk more than getting tossed around by a confused help desk department. Your customer service department must maintain a working order.
What Is the Service Desk Process?
The overall initiative of the service desk process is fairly simple: find out the customer’s issue and work to solve it.
Users in an organization first call or submit a self-service ticket through the organization’s ticketing system. Then the Service Desk agent responds by gathering detailed information from the user and documenting it into a new ticket. The Service Desk Agent initially attempts to resolve the issue. If the issue is resolved, the Agent documents detailed notes on the ticket and updates the company’s knowledge base (KB).
If the issue is not resolved, the ticket is routed to the appropriate queue that reaches the corresponding team to address the issue.
The Service Desk is considered Tier 1 Help Desk (Service Desk in ITIL Methodology) in the IT infrastructure. Ideally, Tier 1 should resolve 75% of all incoming calls. The remaining 25% of issues are transferred to Tier 2 or Tier 3.
What Happens Without a Process?
There’s something to be said about the importance of organization within all facets of life, especially dealing with emotions and solutions.
Let’s dip back into the note we added earlier. Nothing upsets a customer more than a problem with your product or service. Ever heard someone be elated about having to call customer service?
Didn’t think so.
Firstly, having an efficient and laid-out process allows the customer experience to be as smooth and fast as possible. When a customer has to call the help desk, they are already in a state of negativity (though the level may vary). To both increase and maintain a customer’s positivity towards your company, it’s crucial to help address their problem as quickly as possible. Get them off the phone and back to living.
Having a clear process increases efficiency, therefore lowering customer call times. This also increases the number of calls that can be answered within a day.
Secondly, having a structured process and hierarchy keeps customer information organized and maintained. For example, if a customer has to call a help desk for a product twice, having their information and incident already marked will lower the chances of irritation. Furthermore, transferring the customer to a higher tier should not involve the customer having to explain the entire issue again.
A process makes the service easier for the customer, helping keep their emotions towards the company positive.
Service Desk Stages – How it Works
Still unclear about how the process should look and work? Let’s break down a universal example of the basic operations of a service desk.
Though this example may not involve specifics, it relays an overview of how the process should look. Specific tasks may vary depending on industry and product.
1: Collecting Data From User
- Triage initial ticket.
In the first stage, this is the method in which the ticket enters the queue. A support phone call, self-serve ticket via a web portal, etc. - Answering calls/responding to self-serve tickets.
- Respond to the user as soon as possible. Instant response.
- Documenting actual issue.
- Afterward, note the user’s description in the ticket.
- Identify priority level.
- Next, the technician will need to set the priority level based on SLA and IT policy.
- Categorize the issue.
- A Request: A request such as needing hardware or software.
- An Incident: A break in service or an interruption in normal operations.
- A Problem: An incident with multiple users impacted.
2: Search for a Resolution
- Search the knowledge base for a resolution.
- First, check if the knowledge base already has a solution to the issue.
- The technician should know how to search the knowledge base.
- Determine if the solution is appropriate for the issue.
- Afterward, implement the solution and document the resolution.
- Alternatively, if there is no solution in the knowledge base, try to resolve the issue.
- Best effort at diagnosing the issue.
- The troubleshooting begins if the resolution is not already in the KB (knowledge base).
- Initially, the technician utilizes a process of elimination.
- Then, ask the user questions about the issue to gather more details.
- Questions such as when the issue started. What changed? etc.
- Based on the information gathered, search for a resolution.
- Afterward, record the steps sequentially.
- Most importantly, a supervisor should periodically listen in to ensure quality.
- While listening to the call, determine if there is a faster route to resolving the issue.
- Consequently, provide training on best-in-class troubleshooting practices.
3: Resolve and Close or Transfer the Ticket
- Document troubleshooting steps and resolution.
- Add resolution to the KB (knowledge base).
- Ask the user if there is anything else the user needs assistance with.
- Ask permission to close the ticket.
- Resolve the issue and close the ticket.
- Or transfer to the appropriate queue.
- At this stage, troubleshooting steps are documented in the ticket.
- All possible troubleshooting steps should have been exhausted and documented.
- Document valid reason why the ticket is being transferred to the next queue.
- Inform the user of the current state of the ticket.
- If the user calls back asking for an update, do not put liability on the next queue.
- Contact the queue and request an update and inform the user that IT is working on the issue. ETA should not be provided unless provided by management.
Need Help Staffing IT Service Desk Workers?
Tier2Tek Staffing has over a decade of experience staffing within the IT Service Desk industry. Furthermore, we have:
- A proven methodology to screen and hire the best candidate for your culture and position.
- An extensive network of qualified and skilled candidates.
- A proven track record in placing professional talent across the nation.
- A reputation for quality-driven solutions and transparency.
If you need a reliable staffing agency that can fulfill your direct-hire staffing needs, Tier2Tek Staffing is the right choice.