Working the help desk can sometimes feel like a thankless job. Day after day, IT staff must field a seemingly endless wave of requests and address tickets as quickly as possible. If something goes wrong or a problem slips through the cracks, IT is often the first to take the blame. It's a lot to keep up with, and help desk pros may understandably feel overwhelmed by it all.
There's light at the end of the tunnel, though. By implementing best-in-class issue tracking software, help desk teams can better monitor tickets, keep tabs on specific assignments and ensure that their close rate meets expectations. If your help desk team is floundering, toss them a lifeline with end-to-end issue tracking solutions.
Where problems emerge
Help desk teams field a lot of complaints throughout the day. IT tickets can range from quick fixes like resending an employee's login credentials to more time-consuming tasks such as identifying the cause of and resolving an unresponsive network.
A common headache for IT staff is the fact that other employees often lack the experience to properly articulate the problem they're encountering. Every help desk professional has received a ticket with a description along the lines of "my computer doesn't work." When those kinds of vague requests come in, it takes even more time to determine what precisely is wrong and how to fix it.
Things can become even more problematic if help desk assists with customer-facing issues as well, essentially doubling their workload.
All of the various tickets filed in a given day can be overwhelming, and it's not unusual for teams to lose track of certain requests while they try to stem the tide.
How to ease help desk headaches
As InformationWeek contributor Duran Holycross noted, it's up to IT department heads to support help desk staff and put them in the best position to succeed. That can be done, to some extent, through more comprehensive training to follow processes and operate more efficiently. However, the biggest game changer will be providing a stronger technological foundation for these teams to work upon - and the best solution available is end-to-end issue tracking software.
Best-in-class issue tracking solutions offer a single platform to comprehensively tackle help desk and IT ticketing needs. Every request can be submitted and tracked through one easy-to-use portal, streamlining workflows and ensuring that each ticket is cataloged from the outset. Once your team has established a specific process, team members can efficiently execute that workflow time and time again.
"The best solution available is end-to-end issue tracking software."
Organizing tickets in this fashion makes it easier for help desk staff to monitor requests and stay on track with their close rates. IT teams won't feel so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of incoming tickets because there's a streamlined process in place to quickly assign each one and follow its progress. With a little customization, department heads can even automate many of these tasks, removing yet another bottleneck from the equation.
Moreover, issue tracking software can provide an alert system to notify help desk teams when a particular ticket has not been closed within an acceptable amount of time. Escalation features flag the appropriate parties and effectively light a fire under IT staff to tackle lingering problems.
Issue tracking software isn't necessarily focused on getting help desk employees to work faster, though - just more efficiently. When teams are able to keep better tabs on the status of their tickets and streamline their help desk workflows, everyone's jobs get a little bit easier.
If you want to ease IT headaches and improve overall employee satisfaction, issue tracking solutions can help. Speak with a product expert today to get started!