While trying to examine some of the dilemmas a help desk manager can face, it is sometimes helpful to consider hypothetical cases. Consider this first case involving a fictitious company. Productive workers currently staff a company help desk and the company expects call volume to increase because of a new system implementation that will affect a large chunk of the company user base but the budget doesn't allow for additional headcount in the help desk area. This means that the help desk may soon become bogged down, queue times will lengthen significantly, and customers will likely become quite dissatisfied.

Developing software in-house involves a long-term commitment in terms of time and money from developers that already have too much to do and not enough time to do it. If a company decides to purchase software, the company enters into a business relationship with a vendor and can spend thousands of dollars to purchase a license and them to customize and install the software.

Customer service cannot exist without customer interactions. Resolving customer issues typically requires many separate contacts with the customer. The close linkage of issue information and customer contacts in help desk software at every level is one of the keys to great service. By doing this and by following best practices, companies can control costs, maximize customer service, and increase revenue opportunities.

Businesses these days are under tremendous pressure to boost revenue and cut costs. One way to achieve both goals is to increase customer satisfaction. This can have the affect of cutting down on support calls and boosting revenue. Customers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and with that sophistication comes more demanding expectations that are more difficult for a company to meet.

Locating call centers in third-world countries rather than in the U.S., a phenomenon known as ffshoring? has been the trend in recent years, with companies exporting their call center operations to countries like India, the Philippines, Africa and Central America. There are a number of compelling reasons to do so - the primary one being a potential 20-50% savings in operating costs. In many cases, companies also report improved service from call centers in countries where jobs are scarce and steady work is at a premium.

In an effort to generate additional sales, some companies have done the unthinkable by asking service agents to generate sales during service calls. For these companies, this change is definitely working. One company reported that it increased sales dramatically by implementing this change over a short period of time and even exceeded its internal targets for improvement.

It's great when customers speak up and give a business feedback, whether it's positive or negative. Unfortunately, not all customers feel confident enough or have enough time to speak up. Rather than complain about poor service or an inadequately addressed Help Desk issue, these customers would rather reduce their relationship with the company or do business elsewhere.

Competitive pressures and tough economic times often force companies to do more with fewer resources. This critical issue, productivity, spans all industries and resonates with organizations large and small. The drive to survive and remain competitive drives companies to find ways to improve service and support. With the right technology, a Web-based service desk can provide a way to achieve these efficiencies and productivity gains.

The RU Help Desk is an integrated package of services offering to members of the RU community a variety of ways to request technical assistance and to keep track of requests that have already been submitted. This document provides a quick introduction to the use of each of these services. We recommend that you read through the entire document in order to identify the approach that best meets your needs.

IT professionals attend daily to the chaos that IT support involves. Help desk software can ease some of those administrative burdens while increasing end-user satisfaction and productivity and lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO) for the enterprise. To achieve these goals, the software's feature set must align with your organization's support activities. In some cases, Help desk software must integrate with an existing support system.