The new help desk: Agile, educational, efficient

Some organizations view users' problems as a 'teaching moment,' others focus on efficiency

February 1, 2012

A help desk can be a real lifesaver for employees, not to mention a productivity boost. A keyboard stops working, or Outlook crashes repeatedly, and a technician is just a phone call away. Even complex issues can usually be resolved internally, and relatively quickly, without needing an outside vendor.

Yet, innovations in the help desk itself are often slow to evolve. Many large organizations still track tickets in complex or age-old systems that are not adept at pinpointing recurring problems, don't work well on the latest smartphones or tablets, and don't provide detailed reports about average call times or how long it takes to resolve issues. Read more.