MANAGING IS SERVICE DESK

Chapter 8-1
 Definition

Simple definition:

• User support is the process by

which technical knowledge is
used by specialists to solve
computing problems
experienced by lay users
 Definition

More complete definition:

• User support is a specialist function which

retains, on behalf of the company’s user
population, technical knowledge about IT and
the way the company uses it, in order to
deliver that knowledge in a focused form to
solve specific technical and business problems
on both a reactive and proactive basis, such
that user productivity is maintained and
enhanced, thereby further enabling the user to
contribute to the company’s business goals.
 Forms of Support

Helpdesk Call center Technical support User training Customer relationship

management

Information Center Research and User support center Technical library User group
development representative

Workstation System maintenance E-support and the Triage support

management internet
Help Desk
• The low skill helpdesk exists to take queries either by phone
or walk-in and, minimize interruptions to the development,
Desk
technical support, or other resolver groups.
• At the other end, the helpdesk attempts to solve as many
users problems as it can.
Help
helpdesk
• Supports the customers of that organization External
helpdesk
• Supports computer users in the same organization Internal
Help Desk 1
1 Help Desk
The helpdesk usually has a good relationship with
the users, and understand on how the company
works and the real problems faced by the users

The helpdesk offers a single point of contact

The functions may be Depends on the helpdesk

repeated across many parts officer to understand the
of a large organizations, base problem and route to the
the expertise right problem solution
1 Help Desk – Common
Problems
Working on a helpdesk can be
exhausting for the individuals
• Work to be no end, depress, get the blame, burnout etc
concerned and, morale can suffer.

Image – putting non-expert helpdesk

officer

and cannot answer immediately

Relationship between the helpdesk
and the resolver group • If the helpdesk is non-technical, they will pass all queries ,

Different manager – politics

Delay because moving the query from

one team to another

Garbled communication (ask-explain

again)

Problem ownership?
 staff
• To be effective as a helpdesk
operative, he needs some
right
technical competence or keep the
computer literacy,
considerable patience and and
the ability to handle certain
situations with diplomacy
to find
and assertiveness. Problem
Problems
Help Desk – Common
1
Call Centre
2 Call Centre
Helpdesks have always taken
The call centre is the typical telephone calls, but call centre
front line of the support techniques offer a focus on a
machine special expertise in the art of
managing incoming calls.

The computer may have

The agent job it to answer the
identified the caller by
call, respond to the enquiry
recognizing the telephone
and note both enquiry and
number and, feeds the agent
response in the computer
with the previous information
before moving to the next call
kept in the database.
2 Call Centre
The response may take one of two
forms:
• First, to resolve the enquiry. The agent may
Not all helpdesks need call centres
have access to a knowledge base, providing
the requisite information. and not all call centres are
• Second, is the catch and dispatch helpdesk. helpdesks
The job is to note the nature of the enquiry
and pass it to a second line resolving agency

The helpdesks responsible are to

exclude diagnosis, meaning they
often cannot resolve the problem
but they may be good at passing
the enquiry to somebody who can
solve the problem
2 Call Centre

Their specialization in one limited

The technologies to aid call centres
aspect of the customer support
are broad and sophisticated.
relationship.

The reason call centres are

everywhere in a sales environment is
because of the predefined nature of This is rather different to “My printer
the information they must deliver,eg: won’t print’, which may be as much
• Do you have a flight to Kuching tomorrow? to do with the caller’s
Yes comprehension and explanation.
• Have you seats available in Business Class?
Yes
2 Call Centre
From survey, people would prefer
to avoid having to deal with call
centre technologies by press Staff retention – low salaries
button or answering tape
machines

The catch and dispatch call centre

also may lose staff because the
job offers few prospects for
improvement and, the job that is
the same all day, everyday, for
the foreseable future.
Technical Support
3 Technical Support

The main function is to

solve technical problems,
for which it takes a very
high proportion of the
total responsibility.
If a helpdesk exists,
The department is staffed
technical support will
and often run by
often be one of its resolver
technicians.
groups.

Technical support appears

It is a backroom operation,
most in companies using a
focus on supporting the
lot of personal computers,
technology rather than the
or those with private local
the use to which it is put.
or WAN/LAN/VAN
3 Technical Support
The main advantage of an
internal technical organization is
the cost saving to the business.
Having extensive IT skills in-house
strengthens the company’s
negotiating position with the IT
suppliers.
It is cheaper to build or buy in a
small, specialist team to service
user problems on demand, than
attempt to spread that ability
through the whole company
They can be used as internal
advisers ensuring that the users’
business needs can be accurately
converted into a technical
specification and that a supplier’s
proposal meets that specification
3 Technical Support
Common Problem

The user feels compelled to

Technical support groups find it
difficult to maintain a good rapport
with all users.
understand something of the
Language and priorities different.
technology in order to be able to
explain a problem.

The computer industry moves very

quickly. Technical support must view
new technology from two angles
• First – on behalf of the users. Benefit to the
Inaccurate impression of how quickly
company support will respond to or solve their
• Second – prepare for the new demand. What problems
user support problems it will create
3 Services

The service is:

• Not what we do
• Not what we provide
• What the customer
consumes
Overview of the IT delivery process
 Identi fy the Delivered
Services

Justification
• These are our products. The
customer have to see what they are
getting for their money
Resourcing
• Every single service we produce
requires staffing. The staff need
particular skills. Every service needs
a set of processes, which will have to
be defined and kept up to date and
the staff trained in their operation.

Reporting
• How well are we doing at providing
services?
 Example of IT individual services
Service Description Main deliverables
Archival Offline data storage •Timed, automatic data backup
and retrieval • Minimization of system downtime during
backups
• Secure, fireproof storage
•Restoration of data by request

Business Disaster recovery • Anticipation of potential major loss of IT

continuity infrastructure
• planned alternative data processing and
communications systems
• Agreed prioritization of systems

Hardware Replacement and • maintenance of local stock for rapid

maintenance repair of faulty replacement
hardware • Management of maintenance service
supplier
•Guaranteed service levels
•Preventive maintenance of non-solid state
equipment
 Cont… Example of IT services
Service Description Main deliverables
helpdesk Reporting point for •Single point of contact for all IT services
user enquiries enquiries
• gateway to other services, with assignment
as appropriate and agreed
•Job number for every enquiry
•Guaranteed immediate resolution of
certain types of enquiries

installations Making new • delivery, unpacking and installation of new

hardware and desktop equipment to appropriate location
software available • installation of non-IT services supplied
for use at the usual equipment by special arrangement
point of use •Disposal of old equipment
•Disposal of packaging
•Brief acquaintance of user with use of new
equipment