Internal help desk

An internal help desk/service desk is meant to help the “internal customers” or employees of a company. The help desk can be manned via an intranet, telephone, or be outsourced.

The significance of an internal help desk especially that related to IT can be understood from the fact that up to half of the total cost of PC ownership comes from end-user time and effort. This means that if a business can divert more of the end-user’s time towards productive activity, it can reduce operational costs.

When managing an internal help desk, it is essential to maintain a level of service such that the staff continues to retain faith in the working of the IT help desk. All amount of help desk automation will not be of much help if the staff loses faith in the ticketing system, bypasses the procedure and tries to rectify issues on their own. The first step is to ensure that the help desk is manned by trained staff and not undergrads and summer trainees. This ensures that a high number of issues are resolved at the help desk itself without escalation to other departments.

Structure your IT help desk so that it functions at its optimal best. This is particularly significant if your business works 24 x 7 and your IT works 24 x 5. Decide if all staff can support all issues or there should be areas of expertise. Ensure that the ticketing system does not get bypassed. Only when you have a structured help desk in place will you succeed in “selling” the idea of an IT help desk to the employees.

The most common types of IT-problems problems faced by company employees were related to applications software, hardware, data communications, and services such as security and passwords. Other user requests include technical support for operating systems, databases, voice communications, and other services.