What is Help Desk?
When IT clients have a problem, they contact the help desk for assistance. The help desk can be an individual, a team, or an entire organization that takes calls or messages. The help desk responds to customers with the information, resources, and solutions needed to resolve any issues with hardware or software. A help desk will:
- Create and manage tickets
- Handle client responses and communication
- Escalate urgent issues
- Update and manage a resource center/knowledge base
The first iteration of help desks was call centers, which emerged in the 1960s. Two to three decades later, the help desk, a term coined by IBM, was officially born.
Why Does It Matter?
Help desks ensure that customers are satisfied and don’t churn. The help desk can decide what tickets matter the most and are responsible for making sure that all questions are answered or forwarded to the proper person or team. 93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies that provide great customer service, and help desks are the front lines of the customer experience.
Business leader Robert Half put it aptly when he said, “When the customer comes first, the customer will last,” and help desks are a major part of putting the customer first.
