Which functions are necessary for an IT help desk? And why should you not do without such software? In this guide, we take a look at the features your support team really needs and answer important questions about help desk software.
At first glance, help desk systems are quite simple: they receive requests, forward them to the right employees and ensure that everything runs smoothly. But their impact goes far beyond that. These tools are real helpers for your support teams, creating structure, increasing efficiency and ensuring that no request is lost.
Help Desk Software is designed to simplify and optimize the entire support process. It offers functions such as ticket management, with which every request is recorded and tracked as a ticket, as well as automation tools that take over routine tasks. Many systems also integrate self-service portals or reporting functions.
We have often seen companies initially try to manage IT queries without proper help desk software. Sure, it might work somehow at the beginning. But as soon as the team grows, the number of users increases and more and more requests come in, it quickly becomes chaotic. The overview is lost and this not only costs nerves, but also time and efficiency.
With help desk software, this can all be handled in a much more relaxed manner. Here are a few reasons that everyone has probably already experienced:
An effective Help Desk System is a must for any business, especially IT departments and customer support. It is a tool for quickly resolving technical issues and problems and for organizing and automating the workflow in a company. In this section, we will take a look at the key features of an effective IT Help Desk System.
Provide a help desk that your users actually enjoy using. Direct integration with Microsoft Teams and SAP gives your users easy access to IT support, which benefits everyone involved and makes the support process more efficient.
The flexible connection to your ITSM processes and the central CMDB (Configuration Management Database) considerably simplifies the management of your IT resources. Easily link support tickets with configuration data to ensure a comprehensive overview.
Good help desk software automatically sorts incoming tickets and integrated workflows prioritize support requests and assign them to the responsible supporters. In this way, tickets can be managed highly efficiently within a very short time.
Support staff like to use help desk apps, integrations and automations to create a customized work environment that fits with their existing tools and workflows.
Reporting and analytics tools help managers gain insights into their team’s performance, customer satisfaction and more. This constant measuring and reporting can help to improve service operations and the company as a whole by identifying recurring customer issues.
For this reason, various report options are often available within a Help Desk Software. By connecting to tools such as Power BI, you can create reports and dashboards, keep an eye on the performance of your Service Desk and thus continuously improve support for users and supporters.
An important feature is the saving of existing problem solutions in a knowledge base. This is because it enables support teams and end users to obtain targeted information and access existing problem-solving approaches. This speeds up resolution times and makes it easier to respond to support requests.
A self-service portal offers end users the opportunity to solve problems without having to rely on support from IT helpdesk ticketing tools. This works particularly barrier-free if the IT Help Desk System is integrated directly into the familiar working environment (e.g.: MS Teams).
The use of AI in the help desk enables faster and more efficient support, which benefits both companies and their customers. A key aspect here is automated ticket categorization. AI can analyze and prioritize incoming requests and forward them accordingly, relieving human employees and enabling them to work efficiently.
The basic functions of Help Desk Software (also popularly referred to as an IT Ticketing System) are to help service teams systematically manage support requests, provide self-service options, and track and evaluate performance.
Self-service options are a critical tool for improving Help Desk acceptance. The service catalog plays a central role here. The evaluation and use of the services depends to a large extent on the design of this catalog.
When used by IT teams, the objectives and processes of a help desk are based on best practices, such as those set out in ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library).
In practical terms, the IT Help Desk System provides a toolset that enables organizations to respond to customer inquiries and incidents in a targeted manner. Customers contact the company with questions and problems by email, telephone, web, chat bots and social media. The system generates a ticket for each problem and automatically links it to the customer history, if applicable.
The same applies to internal requests, i.e. when employees face problems in the course of their daily work. The tickets are assigned manually or automatically. While support agents are working on tickets, they can easily collaborate with other team members to get assistance. Once the support staff has solved the problem, they inform the user. Administrators can define precise workflows and assign different levels of responsibility to support staff. With analytics, you can track metrics on common incidents, internal KPIs, and more.
However, not all Help Desk Solutions are the same. Many Help Desk Solutions, such as those from REALTECH (also called “Service Desk”), focus on internal IT teams. In the case, the system is used by IT support staff, experts and managers to provide support to internal employees. In the following, we will also focus on this form of software solution.
Forms of communication are increasingly evolving, often changing at breakneck speed, and so no one knows exactly which channel your end users will prefer tomorrow. By using Help Desk Software, your employees can access support options whenever they need help, completely independent of their preferred platforms.
In addition, good Help Desk Software offers the following benefits to your business:
Help Desk Software enables you to provide fast and effective support to your end users. With a simple and user-friendly system, you enable your users to make inquiries effortlessly.
It is often difficult to find the right person with the right qualifications for a specific matter. IT Support Software can also help with this. This is because pre-filled ticket information makes it possible to set up workflows and thus link customers specifically to the appropriate support employee.
Due to their specific knowledge of the incidents described, this support employee is able to process or solve the problem more quickly and efficiently. You can also answer recurring requests automatically and, as mentioned above, create workflow rules to further increase your support efficiency.
Another important advantage is the ability to collect and analyze a wide range of data and information. This can facilitate fact-based decisions and increase efficiency within the IT department.
Help desk software provides you with detailed insights into the behavior of your end users and the performance of your help desk. This helps you identify trends and make decisions that move your business forward.
Last but not least, using help desk software can save you the costs typically caused by manual support processes, such as telephone or email support. Good software can also help reduce errors and increase efficiency, which in turn saves costs.
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Overall, a help desk tool can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your IT department, make your employees happier and more efficient and give your company a competitive advantage. Therefore, investing in high-quality help desk software is beneficial for every company.
A good IT Help Desk System, such as the one from REALTECH, can do just that and provide concrete support for the following tasks:
Even if there is no universal best solution for every company, there are some important points that you should consider when making your choice. Here are some questions that can help you make the right choice:
Think carefully about the specific problems you want to solve with the help desk software. Is it about managing support requests or optimizing IT processes? Clearly defined goals make it easier to choose the right solution. You can either opt for all-in-one tools or for specialized solutions that cover individual areas.
Check whether the software can grow with your company and find out about possible additional costs for extensions or additional functions. With REALTECH, you receive a comprehensive ITSM solution at a transparent fixed price, with no hidden additional costs.
Ensure that the software offers a user-friendly interface that enables all users to quickly become productive without extensive training.
Ensure that your new help desk tool integrates seamlessly into your existing business processes. This leads to holistic IT management, which ultimately improves service quality.
Find out about the effort and duration of the implementation and whether the provider offers you support. With SmartITSM, you receive basic onboarding and support at no additional cost. Further details can be found in the pricing.
Find out first-hand whether the solution is right for you. You can test SmartITSM free of charge or arrange a demo with our friendly product experts.
There are several types of Help Desk Software solutions on the market. The difference between them is mostly …
Choosing the right Help Desk Software depends on a number of factors, including company size, complexity and expertise within the IT department, and specific support requirements.
We offer a complete ITSM Solution that is characterized in particular by high flexibility and integration into known system landscapes. Depending on which requirements are paramount and which modules offer your company the most added value. We also offer integration into SAP and MS Teams.
Take your help desk to the next level with SmartITSM!
A help desk system is used by various departments in the company, including IT teams, customer service representatives, customer success teams, technicians and other support and service employees.
The internal IT department is often the main user of IT help desk software. IT staff use the software to track incoming support tickets, diagnose and resolve problems, prioritize user requests and comply with service level agreements. They track tickets, manage resources and coordinate services and support teams.
Technicians use help desk software to log service requests, manage work orders and update the status of support requests.
Companies that offer customer support often use helpdesk software to manage customer support requests. This may include technical support for products or services, but also general inquiries or complaints.
With a Help Desk, requests and incidents from all over the world can be organized and assigned to the right expert to handle. This concerns requests and orders from customers as well as from employees. This form of software solution can therefore fully automate service processes and save resources and time.
A good IT Ticketing System should allow for easy ticket capture, track the lifecycle of tickets, support prioritization and escalation, and provide automated assignment to the right people or teams.
The Service Desk employee is the first contact person for the user when one has technical difficulties with a hardware component or software solution. This employee documents the problems and ensures that they are resolved as quickly as possible.
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