Help Desk Software for better support experiences

Help desk systems receive customer inquiries, forward them to the responsible employees and ensure a quick response and thus satisfied customers. Help desk systems can also be used internally by IT support staff. This is how simple the term help desk software could be explained. However, there is much more behind the support tool. Find out here what benefits intelligent software can offer your company, which different systems are available and what challenges are associated with them.

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Questions and answers about Help Desk Software

When it comes to the topic of Help Desk Software, many questions arise among users and companies alike. What are the advantages of such software, who can and should use it, and what does such software actually do? It is precisely those questions that we address and answer in the following sections.

What is Help Desk Management Software?

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 in this. The evaluation and use of the services depends to a large extent on the design of this catalog.

When used by IT teams, the goals and processes of a Help Desk are based on best practices, such as those 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. To do this, customers contact the company with questions and problems via email, phone, 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.

Tickets are assigned manually or automatically according to the business rules. 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 customer.

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.

Your Benefits with REALTECH

End-user-optimized

A service platform must work for providers AND users. We have both sides in mind.

Efficiency in focus

Maximum automation enables effective IT Service Management and using minimal resources.

SAP-compatible

SAP is often left out of conventional ITSM. With us, it becomes an integral part.

ITIL-compliant

You benefit from ITIL-compliant ITSM processes for smooth IT operations.

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.

Why Help Desk Software pays off

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:

Improved user satisfaction

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 customers to make requests without hurdles, which increases customer satisfaction.

Increased efficiency

It is often difficult to find the 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. In addition, you can automatically answer recurring requests and, as mentioned above, create workflow rules to further increase your support efficiency.

Better analytics and reporting

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 gives you detailed insights into your customers’ behavior and the performance of your help desk. This helps you identify trends and make decisions that move your business forward.

Scalability

You can easily customize a good Help Desk Software to meet the needs of your business. As you grow, you can easily add new agents without overloading the software.

Technical expansion is possible at any time. Modern cloud-based solutions (such as those from REALTECH) can be flexibly adapted to the respective needs of the customer. This concerns both the number of users and the resources (memory, CPU power, etc.) required to process tickets or data.

Cost savings

Last but not least, by using Help Desk Software, you can save the costs associated with manual support processes, such as phone or email support. Good software can also help reduce errors and increase efficiency, which in turn saves costs.

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Overall, good Help Desk Software can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your IT department, make your employees happier as well as more efficient, and give your company a competitive edge. Therefore, investing in a high-quality Help Desk Software is beneficial for any business.

A good IT Help Desk System, such as the one from REALTECH, can do just that and provide concrete support for the following tasks:

Easily Create, manage and escalate support tickets
Ticket system that meets the needs of end users and service desk staff
Automation of standard tasks for improved efficiency
Self-dependent problem solving thanks to integrated knowledge base and CMDB connection
Avoidance of media breaks through integration with MS-Teams/SAP
Creating transparency in internal and external communication
Continuous learning through the automated collection and cataloging of customer requests in a knowledge database
Contextual ticket distribution in real-time and viewable at any time

So if you’re willing to invest in quality software, it will have a positive impact on your business in the long run. But who exactly uses an IT Help Desk System within a company?

Who uses IT Help Desk Software?

A Help Desk System is used by various departments within an organization, including IT departments, customer service representatives, customer success teams, technicians, and other support and service staff.

Support staff use the software to track, prioritize and resolve support tickets. IT departments use Help Desk Software to manage and resolve IT issues. Track support 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.

Customer support managers also use Help Desk Software. However, their focus is usually on creating reports and setting up workflows. However, they can also be called in for certain escalated tickets.

What is the difference between Service Desk and Help Desk Software tools?

A Service Desk and a Help Desk are both IT support solutions that help troubleshoot problems and assist users with IT issues, but they tend to get lumped together. However, the main difference between the two lies in their scope and functionality.

An IT Help Desk System is typically limited to supporting end users and resolving issues directly related to the IT infrastructure. It is therefore usually a first point of contact for IT support, responsible for receiving, classifying, prioritizing and resolving incidents.

A Service Desk, on the other hand, is a comprehensive solution that encompasses a broader range of functions and tasks. A Service Desk not only supports end users, but also other IT areas such as Incident Management, Change Management, Problem Management, and Service Level Management. Here you will find a compact summary of the main differences once again:

The Service Desk is an evolution of the Help Desk based on the ITIL framework and the concept of managing IT as a service.
The Help Desk evolved from IT orientation (mainframe computing), whereas the Service Desk evolved from IT service orientation (based on the ITIL-supported approach to IT delivery as a service).
Depending on the company, you can also say that a Help Desk is more tactically oriented, while a Service Desk is more strategically oriented.
With a Service Desk, the focus is on providing users with services (requests of all kinds) that go in the direction of customer service. A Help Desk, on the other hand, is designed for problem resolution alone (Incident Management).
Unlike the Help Desk, the Service Desk is part of an IT service delivery system (an IT support ecosystem) based on the so-called service lifecycle. This is also the key reason for using the term Service Desk instead of Help Desk in the ITIL framework.

Good to know: Other synonyms for Help Desk include: Help Desk Management Software, IT Service Help Desk Software, IT Help Desk System or Help Desk Tracking System.

What functions can and should an IT Help Desk System have?

An effective Help Desk System is a must for any business, especially IT departments and customer support. It is a tool to provide quick remedies for technical questions and problems as well as to organize and automate the workflow in a company. In this section, we will take a look at the key features of an effective IT Help Desk System.

Multichannel support

Support requests can be reached through various channels: social media, phone, live chat, text message, or email. Multichannel support means choosing the channels your customers prefer and communicating with them in exactly the way they want.

Automatically categorize, prioritize, and assign tickets

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 their existing tools and workflows.

Report and analysis tools

Reporting and analytics tools help managers gain insights into their team’s performance, customer satisfaction and more. This constant measuring and reporting can help improve service operations and the company as a whole by identifying recurring problem points from customers.

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 track of your Service Desk’s performance, and continuously improve support for users and supporters .

Ticketing integration into existing IT infrastructures

An ITSM platform should be able to integrate seamlessly with existing IT infrastructures to optimize process flow. This is exactly what a good Help Desk Software has to do. Particularly in demand is the connection to MS Teams or SAP.

Solve recurring problems efficiently

Storing known solutions to problems in a knowledge base is an extremely important feature. 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.

Self-service portal

A self-service portal provides end users with the ability to resolve issues without relying on IT Help Desk ticketing tools for support. This works particularly barrier-free if the IT Help Desk System is integrated directly into the familiar working environment (e.g.: MS Teams).

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What are the different types of Help Desk Tools?

There are several types of Help Desk Software solutions on the market. The difference between them is mostly …

… in the nature of their hosting options,
… in the application inside or outside the company,
… in whether they were developed specifically for certain companies and
…in the type of software code used – whether there is openly available code or proprietary code.

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.

At REALTECH, for example, you have the advantage of being able to purchase individual modules separately or together, such as Incident Management, Problem Management, Knowledge Management, or Change Management.

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. In addition, integration with SAP and MS Teams is also possible with us.

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1. Enterprise Help Desks

Enterprise Help Desk Tools are designed specifically for large enterprises that need Help Desk Tools on a large scale. This type offers a wide range of features, such as inventory and account management, knowledge bases, tools for collaboration with IT technical support, and no or very high limitation on the number of users. An Enterprise Help Desk System is an ideal choice for companies that want to provide support to both their employees and their customers. With the help of Enterprise Help Desk Tools, companies can make the support process more effective and efficient and increase customer and employee satisfaction.

2. Internal and external Help Desks

The main difference between internal and external Help Desk Systems is who uses them to submit support requests. While employees submit support requests with internal Help Desk Systems, customers contact the support department with external Help Desk Systems.

3. Web-based Help Desk

Help Desk Software-as-a-Service Solutions refer to web-based platforms that are SaaS-based and hosted on servers of the software provider. As opposed to a one-time purchase and installation, customers pay a monthly or annual fee to gain access to maintenance, updates and data security.

SaaS-based Help Desk Solutions are ideal for small or medium-sized businesses that don’t have the finances or infrastructure to host and operate their own Help Desk Software.

4. On-site and cloud-based Help Desk Software

Both an on-site Help Desk Application and a cloud-based Help Desk Solution have comparable key functions. The difference is that an on-premise solution hosts the underlying software on local servers rather than in the cloud.

With an on-premise application, companies that have strict data security policies can continue to store their data on their own servers and also have the ability to customize it to fit their internal systems. However, regular maintenance work must be carried out internally.

In contrast, cloud-based Help Desk Software stores data on remote servers owned by either the software provider or a third-party vendor. Since this data is stored in the cloud, it is usually easier to adjust the scope of these solutions as needed. In addition, the IT effort for maintenance measures of the software is eliminated.

5. Open source and closed source software

Open source Help Desk Software gives users and organizations the ability to copy, modify, or remove the underlying code. This flexibility allows companies that have skilled programmers to fully customize the software to their specific needs. Individual customizations here go beyond the conventional standard plug-ins and integrations.

In contrast, closed source Help Desk Applications are proprietary, so they are not as extensively customizable. However, there are still many ways to customize closed-source Help Desk Software thanks to APIs, SDKs, third-party application integration, and plugins.

What challenges does Help Desk Software bring?

Ensuring that the team accepts the Help Desk and uses it consistently is one of the biggest challenges in deploying this software. Because a platform alone cannot solve the problems of your support, but your employees must also (be able to) use this tool and not look for the detour over the phone or the personal conversation with the IT support.

REALTECH’s Help Desk Software specializes in IT support. This makes it the starting point for the company’s employees to report incidents or to obtain solutions or services.

In addition, the Help Desk can be extended to the external customer side, insofar as the application scenarios can be mapped. As a cloud solution, it is technically no problem to make the Help Desk (as well as the Service Desk) accessible to external customers in order to post tickets or requests.

For this, it is crucial that you have a strategy in place when implementing a Help Desk System and that you train your staff to ensure that support is optimized as planned. Otherwise you overload your workflow with only one tool without being able to draw any optimization from it.

Another challenge in using Help Desk Software is how to take advantage of the data it generates. Because even if an IT Help Desk System has powerful reporting and analysis capabilities, you and your staff also need to make the best use of the data, thereby optimizing processes in a targeted way.

4 tips to provide helpful Help Desk Management Software

Want to know how to make your Help Desk efficient? Because even if you have great Help Desk Software, it won’t do you any good if your Help Desk doesn’t take the following 4 tips to heart.

1. First impression is crucial.

Your employees should experience exemplary service quality right from the start. Courtesy, friendliness, clarity and directness are essential in this regard. Of course, the service tone and nature of the service itself needs to be in line with your brand and industry, but friendly service always pays off regardless of that.

2. Users know where they stand.

For technical issues or more complex requests, they are often unsure of the status of their ticket or how far along the resolution of their issue is. Even if your staff is very busy, you should still always inform customers about the status of their ticket to avoid dissatisfaction. You should also provide transparent steps along the way to resolving the issue.

3. Profit from past inquiries.

If a user has already submitted tickets, it is worth checking to see if this is a recurring issue. With the right Help Desk Software, you can quickly view the history of tickets and interactions so employees don’t have to start from scratch each time and customers don’t have to wait an unnecessarily long time for resolution.

4. Speed is important.

Users want quick solutions to problems. Although some issues may take some time to resolve, it’s important that your technicians and support staff have the time and resources necessary to deal with complex issues quickly. You shouldn’t have to deal with simple requests over and over again. Provide your employees with tools such as self-service portals and knowledge bases to reduce the volume of simple queries and give your employees more time to deal with complex issues.

Solve requests more efficiently with Help Desk Software by REALTECH

With our Help Desk Software, you can solve problems related to your IT infrastructure efficiently and, in part, automatically, thereby make better use of your resources. This is because the Help Desk Management Software not only integrates easily with existing interfaces such as MS Teams and SAP. Through the connection to a central knowledge database, it also offers the possibility to solve inquiries even faster and without annoying media breaks.

FAQs: Help Desk Software

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.