Building & Managing a World Class It Help Desk

by Bob Wooten (Conducted by)

Overview

What is a help desk? A help desk is a department within a company that responds to user's technical questions. Most large companies have help desks to answer user questions. Questions and answers can be delivered by telephone, e-mail, BBS or fax. This guide should help readers build, improve or maintain a successful help desk. The resource details a step by step methodology for help desk implementation and continous improvement, including tools, tips and techniques to make the help desk more efficient. The author shows how to select, implement and utilise new technology for help desks such as web based help desks, electronic display boards and call management packages. The guide also gives real life examples that demonstrate the successes and failures involved in creating and maintaining a help desk.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780072132373
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media
Publication date:	04/26/2001
Series:	Career Series
Pages:	583
Product dimensions:	7.56(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.26(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	xiv
	Introduction	xvi
Part I	What Is a Help Desk and Why Would I Want One?
Chapter 1	Help Desk Concepts	3
	What to Look For	4
	Defining a Help Desk	5
	Understanding Several Help Desk Names and Terms	6
	Quick Recap	8
Chapter 2	Why Do I Want One?	9
	What to Look For	10
	Reasons to Create Your Own Help Desk	11
	Quick Recap	14
	Action Plan Checklist	14
Part II	I Want a Help Desk. Go Create One
Chapter 3	Identify the Drivers	17
	The People	18
	The Processes	19
	The Tools	19
	What to Look For	19
	Senior Management	20
	The IT Department	24
	Vendors	24
	Customers	25
	Add Some Needs of Your Own	30
	Quick Recap	51
Chapter 4	Defining the As Is	53
	What to Look For	54
	The Importance of Defining the As Is Environment	54
	Questions That Must Be Answered	55
	What Is the Environment Like in Which the Help Desk Will Be Placed?	69
	Quick Recap	71
Chapter 5	Define the Help Desk Processes	73
	What to Look For	74
	Mission Statement	75
	Determine the Services the Help Desk Will Provide	78
	Define Standards	80
	Hours of Operation	82
	Call Routing	84
	Problem Handling	89
	Notification	107
	Customer Responsibilities	113
	IT Department Responsibilities	126
	Internal Communications	129
	Quick Recap	135
Chapter 6	Budgeting	137
	What to Look For	138
	Know the Rules of the Game	139
	Income Sources	140
	Cost or Expense Items	152
	Getting Budgetary Approval	161
	People vs. Tools	171
	Budgeting Is Not a One-Time Event	172
	Quick Recap	173
Chapter 7	Organization Options	175
	What to Look For	176
	Organizational Chart Factors	176
	Organizational Chart Options	182
	Handling Mergers and Acquisitions	193
	Quick Recap	201
Chapter 8	Staffing Your Help Desk	203
	What to Look For	204
	Job Descriptions	205
	Skill Sets of Your Team	210
	Management Skills	218
	Determining Headcount Strategies	225
	Methods to Find Agents	229
	Interviewing	232
	Quick Recap	241
Chapter 9	Tools for Your Help Desk	243
	What to Look For	244
	The Help Desk Work Area	244
	Help Desk Communication Devices	249
	Help Desk Equipment and Technologies	254
	A Common Area for Help Desk Agents	256
	Culture	257
	Quick Recap	258
Chapter 10	Beginning Operations	259
	What to Look For	260
	A New Person's First Day	260
	The Help Desk's First Day	268
	Quick Recap	285
	Action Plan Checklist	287
Part III	I Like My Help Desk. How Can I Keep It Going?
Chapter 11	Preventing Burnout	291
	What to Look For	292
	Protect Your Help Desk from the Threat of Burnout	293
	Signs of Burnout	294
	Ways to Reduce Burnout	294
	Quick Recap	304
Chapter 12	Implement Some New Processes	305
	What to Look For	306
	Service Level Agreements	306
	Increase Your Support Offerings	318
	Asset Management	319
	Standards	320
	Change Management	321
	Intern Programs	325
	Training	327
	Quick Recap	330
Chapter 13	Measuring Your Help Desk	333
	What to Look For	334
	Rules of Help Desk Measurement	334
	Quantitative Measurements	344
	Qualitative Measurements	353
	Quick Recap	357
Chapter 14	Promoting Your Help Desk	359
	What to Look For	360
	The Promotional Campaign	360
	Quick Recap	370
Chapter 15	More Tools for Your Help Desk	371
	What to Look For	372
	Call Management Packages	373
	Phone Tools	385
	Electronic Display Boards	388
	Web Page	389
	Computer Lab	396
	Additional Knowledge Management	396
	Quick Recap	398
Chapter 16	Developing Your People	401
	What to Look For	402
	Agent Career Life Cycle	402
	Associate Reviews	408
	Developing Teams	414
	Developing Managers	418
	Quick Recap	422
Chapter 17	The Business of a Help Desk	423
	What To Look For	424
	Total Cost of Ownership	424
	Software Maintenance Contracts	434
	Implementation and Services Contracts	436
	Quick Recap	437
	Action Plan Checklist	438
Part IV	I Hate My Help Desk. Fix It!
Chapter 18	Identify Perceived Issues	441
	What to Look For	442
	Interview Stakeholders	442
	Review Metrics	444
	Common Causes of Complaints	444
	Quick Recap	468
Chapter 19	Move Forward	469
	What to Look For	470
	Watch What Is Happening	470
	Build upon Your Strengths	471
	Overcome Your Weaknesses	472
	Communicate Your Action Plan	481
	Quick Recap	482
Chapter 20	How Not To Be Outsourced	483
	What to Look For	484
	Know Your Help Desk and Its Processes	484
	Make Sure Others Know You, Too	486
	Do Things Better, Faster, and Cheaper	487
	Your Overall Approach	489
	Quick Recap	489
	Action Plan Checklist	490
Part V	Taking Your Help Desk to Another Level
Chapter 21	The People	493
	What to Look For	494
	Organizational Empowerment	494
	Developing Leaders	495
	Outsourcing Revisited	497
	Compensation Plans	498
	Vendor Councils	504
	Customer Training	505
	Quick Recap	506
Chapter 22	The Processes	507
	What to Look For	508
	Measuring Others	508
	Procurement Services	512
	Hardware Repair Services	515
	Disaster Recovery	516
	Telecommuting	523
	Quick Recap	526
Chapter 23	The Tools	529
	What to Look For	530
	Workforce Management	531
	Customer Relationship Management Packages	534
	Technology Integration	544
	Telephony Practices	546
	System Management Packages	547
	Quick Recap	549
	Action Plan Checklist	549
Appendix A	Sample Job Descriptions	551
Appendix B	Sample Service Level Agreement	557
	Scope	558
	Contacting the Help Desk for Assistance	558
	Hours of Operation	559
	Problem Severity Levels	559
	Severity Level Definitions	559
	Escalation	559
	Notification	560
	Standards	561
	Contact List	561
	Service Performance Measures	561
	Signatures	562
	Glossary	563
	Index	573

Editorial Reviews

Many companies start out by delivering a product or a service to customers, but as they move past the initial stages, it becomes evident that some sort of support for users is necessary. Wooten, an experienced information technology (IT) help desk professional, offers valuable suggestions and real-life scenarios to companies looking to create their first help desk and those wanting to improve existing conditions. Topics include standard business practices such as defining processes, budgeting, and hiring, but they are specifically geared toward the IT help setting. A good book for managers and businessowners.

From the Publisher