Help Desk Software

Help Desk Software is utilised by organisations that offer technical support to computer users. This can either be an in-house team, helping the organisations staff, or it could be an inbound call centre, dealing with customer queries. Similarly, technical support is increasingly available on the Internet via email or ‘live chat’ as well as over the telephone. Some schools and colleges also have their own technical support department that will utilise help desk software in their jobs.

The help desk software is used to keep a log of reported incidents – monitoring ‘open’ and ‘closed’ queries (those that are being fixed and those that have been solved). This enables the organisation to search through the database to find common user problems – allowing them to improve their training provision in this area, or to fix a reoccurring bug with their systems.

When a user reports the issue to the help desk technician, they will be issued with a ticket number, which is to be quoted if they need to contact the help desk again. This unique number is entered into the database along with details of the users error. If the technician is able to solve the issue, details of the solution are also input into the database and the ticket is ‘closed’ at this point. If the initial technician is not able to resolve the issue, the ticket remains ‘open’ for another operator to look into, until the issue can be resolved.

With new teleworking technologies, it is feasible that the help-desk is not physically located within the organisation. It is possible that the technician can work from a home office and use remote desktop technologies to enter the users machine and fix any issues remotely. Knowledge bases of common questions can be stored in online directories that are accessible from any location. Using ‘live chat’ or VOIP technologies, the users call or enquiry can be redirected to any location with an Internet connection. Of course, organisations will always need technicians on site to offer physical assistance to the users, or to fix hardware issues. Home-users who are calling the technical support line would not be aware if the technician was based at home or in an office, as their enquiry can be dealt with just as effectively from any location.

An example of a freeware (GPL) helpdesk program is ‘phpSupport’. This program is designed as a web-based helpdesk, enabling support staff to access the tickets database from any location with Internet access. Private messages or emails can be easily sent to users, updating them on the status of their ticket or offering solutions to the reported issue. Users can also submit attachments (screenshots etc.) that will enable the technicians to diagnose the issue more easily. More information, and a live demo is available from the developers website at http://phpsupport.jynx.net. Another good example of freeware helpdesk software is ‘Helpdesk Reloaded’ available from helpdeskreloaded.com. Again, this is a web-based solution with simple installation instructions. The developers actively encourage users to suggest improvements to the program. They also provide useful FAQ’s and user-forums to help with all aspects of the program from installation to usage. Kinderfahrrad