As Canadian businesses face a surge after the pandemic, the day-to-day IT challenges of a growing business can be a significant obstacle to expansion. When internet connections crash, applications fail, or laptops malfunction, it can disrupt productivity and hinder progress. A practical IT help desk is valuable for resolving these issues quickly and keeping employees working productively. Here are the best IT Help Desk Practices to learn from the country’s booming tech industry. 

Use the Right Help Desk Software System

Your IT help desk should employ an ITSM (IT Service Management) software like BMC Helix or ServiceNow to drive its operations. ITSM provides a framework for your help desk to efficiently receive and resolve service tickets, manage assets, and report on key performance indicators. 

With the suitable configuration, an ITSM suite enables IT help desks to handle large volumes of tickets and — via self-service portal and other features — reduce call volumes and control IT support costs. The main challenge is ensuring you have the necessary resources to configure your ITSM suite properly and sustain the overhead of an actual service desk (e.g., payroll, equipment, etc.).

Hire the Right Talent

You need the right people staffing your help desk. Ensure this by getting them HDI (Help Desk Institute) certified. Doing so will ensure that your service agents are using help desk best practices, especially in customer service and asset management. Implement a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to hold your desk team accountable and ensure your help desk works effectively. Under the SLA, you can require your help desk team to solve a minimum percentage of tickets and respond to calls and support tickets within a set period.

Employ Optimal Customer Service Manpower

Ensure that your IT service desk has enough people to serve customers 24/7, especially during peak hours. 

Use Automated Ticketing Systems

Use automation for all low-value tasks and concerns that can be resolved through a sign-up link or an informational resource. Your agents can focus on things that matter.

Specialized Technical Help Desk Groups

Train a specialized group to resolve specific technical concerns. This will minimize escalation.

Curate Pre-Drafted Responses

Remove your help desk staff from burning time on menial tasks through automation with pre-drafted responses. ITSM suites can generate automated responses. You can go further by pairing canned responses with self-help support that directs users to a self-help portal or FAQ.

Maintain Multiple Contact/Social Media Channels

Be available in Facebook or LinkedIn Chat, Phone, and Email.

Train Agents to Resolve Recurring Concerns

Empower service agents to resolve concerns at their level by listing recurring problems and the best ways to fix them.

Aim for First Contact Resolution

The best way to reduce disruptions and downtime is for your service desk to solve tickets on first contact. This may require a lot of training for each help desk staff member, but it will be worth it in the long run. Not only will this minimize the impact of IT problems, but it will also contribute to higher customer satisfaction rates.

Follow-Up with a Feedback Form

Follow-up resolved cases with a feedback form to assess areas for improvement.

Track Your Help Desk’s Performance

 Monitor key performance metrics, especially:

• ticket resolution rates
• time to solve tickets
• response time
• percentage of tickets still open after a period
• FCR
• number of escalations

Keep Your Help Desk Employees Happy

Use positive reinforcement to motivate agents. Prevent employee fatigue by maintaining enough ratios.

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