Help Desk Software Guide

Running a helpdesk takes a lot of skill and knowledge. But it also requires the right tools. Helpdesk software has to have the features to keep the workflow smooth and facilitate the job of the IT workers who are processing tickers. In this post, we will talk about some of the most important features that help desk software should possess in order to be as useful as possible.

First of all, one of the most basic elements of helpdesk work is the ticket system. Any IT department needs robust software for logging and tracking tickets. More sophisticated systems will provide triage tools and other extra features, but it's a basic necessity to have a ticket system in place. If you want to go into extra features, it's very useful to be able to automatically generate tickets from emails. That saves a significant amount of time and effort for the IT staff and also makes the department more accessible for users. It is also very helpful to be able to save and review ticket history. That helps uncover patterns in a particular user's reports, which can unveil systemic problems. Solving those problems reduces future IT work by eliminating an intermittent issue.

Having the ability to search the ticket database by a variety of measures is also quite useful. For example, date, customer, and the text of the problem should all be searchable, allowing IT workers to check for similar problems, look for patterns by date, or find any other data that could be useful in their day to day. The ability to search turns the history of past tickets into useful information. It is also important to be able to move tickets between helpdesk systems. Different departments do not always use the same software, and at some point it will become important to view the same ticket in different systems. That task is much easier if the software can handle it all out of the box.

That is a sign of a broader issue: integration. Many helpdesk systems are isolated and have little to do with other parts of the company. But it's a good idea to link together as many different elements of the customer experience as possible. An interaction with IT is just like an interaction with marketing, support, or sales because it shapes the customer's experience with the product. That is why being able to hook into CRM tools and bugtrackers can make helpdesk software much more valuable. The ability to examine a customer's entire history with the product is becoming an important aspect of strategy, and the IT department is no exception.

There are also some features that simply make it easier for customers to get help. For example, the ability to attach files to tickets opens up many possibilities, like screenshots and logs for problematic tickers, which can make the IT staff's job easier and help customers get help faster. It is also a good idea for the IT staff to build a set of pages with frequent issues and some simple solutions. That cuts down on routine tickets by empowering users to solve them on their own. Combine this with the searching feature, and the IT staff can spot when simple problems are becoming common and create knowledge modules to save time.

The more of these features helpdesk software can provide, the better. Ideally, it would have all of them. Good software can significantly increase an IT department's productivity, improving response time and making their job easier. That means both the customers and the workers will be happier and the work will get done faster.