What is a Service Desk?
A service desk is a single point of contact where employees and customers who use software can start the process of getting prompt help for a question or issue. Service desks handle both incidents and general service requests, and effective service desks abide by IT service management (ITSM) best practices and often use the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework.
Service desks usually include several components, such as:
- Ticketing system
- Knowledge Base
- Incident management
- Service catalog
- Service-level agreements (SLA)
Why Does it Matter?
Service desks help ensure that the needs of every user are being met efficiently. Whether there’s a major service outage, a minor password issue, or a cybercrime incident, the service desk is the first line of defense in tackling various requests, assigning priority, and overall keeping customer service moving quickly.
In the era of digital transformation, when an influx of service requests is inevitable, finding ways to prioritize requests and route them to the right places is crucial in running an effective IT team, department, or business.
