What Does a Helpdesk Do When You Ask for Help?

What does a helpdesk do when someone on your team asks for help? It is the first point of contact when a technology problem keeps a person from working: it records the request, gets the details it needs, fixes what it can and passes the rest to someone who can. “Help desk” and “helpdesk” mean the same thing.

CERN’s service management team describes first-line support as the group responsible for “the detection and recording of all requests” and for making sure that “all information necessary for successful handling and resolution is obtained.” In other words, the first job is to understand the problem.

In a small office, that first contact might be a phone number, an email address or a portal. What matters is what happens next: someone takes ownership of the request and follows it until it is solved. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) adds that help-desk technicians respond to requests for help in a number of ways, such as in person, by phone, by online chat or by email, and that some work in call centers and take customers through a problem step by step.

The Everyday Problems a Helpdesk Handles

The BLS says help-desk technicians usually provide technical help to non-IT computer users. Their typical work includes analyzing a customer’s computer problem to find the cause, documenting how the customer describes it, and guiding the customer through the recommended problem-solving steps. They also set up or repair computer equipment and install new hardware or software and train users on it.

In an office, that often looks like a locked-out account, a printer that stopped responding, a laptop for a new hire or a program nobody knows how to install. None of these are dramatic, and each one stops somebody from doing their job until it is fixed.

A good help desk also keeps notes. The BLS lists informing team members and managers of major problems or of customers’ recurring concerns among the typical tasks. When the same complaint keeps coming up, it points to a setting or a habit that needs fixing for everyone.

What Happens to a Request From Start to Finish

Every help desk works a little differently. CERN’s description of first-line support covers the core of it: requests are recorded, sorted, worked on and watched until they close.

A workaround is a temporary way to keep working while the real fix is prepared. CERN’s page says first-line staff apply workarounds and, where possible, final solutions, and that they handle contact with the people who asked for help. When a problem is bigger than the first line can handle, how it moves on depends on the provider, so it is worth asking.

The BLS also describes a related job that shows what a help desk technician is not: the network support specialist.

Location matters too. The BLS says some computer support specialists are able to telework, while others must be onsite or may need to travel to clients’ locations. In practice, a locked-out account can usually be sorted out over the phone, while a new workstation or a failed network cable needs someone in your office.

Do You Need a Help Desk or Is One Person Enough?

It depends on who solves your technology problems today and what happens when that person is out. If a coworker who is good with computers handles every request, ask what happens during a vacation or a week when three things break at once.

A help desk does not have to replace that coworker. Some companies have no IT team at all, and others need to add to the one they have. What matters is that a request does not depend on one person being available.

If you already have someone, the useful question is which requests they handle well and which ones keep landing on them at the worst time. A new-hire laptop on the same morning a printer fails, or a password reset in the middle of a call with a client, are the kind of small requests that pile up on one person.

A simple way to decide is to write down how many times last month somebody on your team waited for help, and for how long. You don’t need exact numbers. A rough list shows whether your current setup is keeping up or whether the same few people are absorbing every request.

If you are wondering why pay every month when little goes wrong, remember that requests don’t wait for a failure. Accounts, new devices, permissions and software questions come up in any office, and each one pulls someone away from their own work. For a wider view of how IT support works for businesses in the region, read everything you need to know about IT support in Central Florida.

What to Ask a Help Desk Provider Before You Sign

Providers often use the same words for different things. These questions get you answers you can compare.

Pay attention to how the conversation feels, too. The BLS lists the qualities support specialists need: they must understand the problems customers describe, be patient and sympathetic, identify both simple and complex problems and solve them, and describe solutions in a way that nontechnical users can understand. If a provider can’t explain something to you in plain language before you sign, that is useful information.

Note: The BLS says some support specialists work nights or weekends because computer support services may need to be available 24 hours a day.

• Ask how you reach the help desk and whether every channel is covered.
• Find out who answers, and whether those people know your office.
• Ask which hours are covered and what happens outside them.
• Ask how a request is recorded and how you can see its status.
• Confirm which problems the monthly fee covers and which ones cost extra.
• Ask when a technician comes to your office instead of fixing the problem remotely.
• Ask how recurring problems are reported back to you.

Write the answers down so you can compare providers side by side. This guide is part of the IT support and helpdesk section of our blog.

The Bottom Line: What You Need to Know About Help Desks

• A help desk is the first point of contact for technology problems. It records the request, gathers the details, fixes what it can and passes on the rest.
• The everyday work is practical. The BLS lists diagnosing problems, guiding people through fixes, setting up equipment and training users.
• Some support work happens in your office and some does not. The BLS notes that some support specialists must be onsite, and it describes network support as a related job that often works under administrators who handle more complex tasks.
• One person can be enough until that person is out. Ask what happens when your go-to person is away.
• Ask about hours, channels and coverage before you sign. The answers are what let you compare one provider with another.

Where CFL Technology Source Fits

CFL Technology Source works as the outsourced IT department for small and mid-sized businesses in Orlando and Central Florida, with on-site and remote IT support for a fixed monthly fee. You can read more on our IT support and helpdesk page.