Help Desk Technicians

Have you ever had a problem with your PC for which you had to call technical support (either at the company that manufactured your PC or one of the companies that provided software). If so, you were speaking with help desk personnel to sort out your problem. Perhaps you've aspired to helping others with their problems. If so, maybe you have what it takes to work at a help desk.

In days of yore (the early 1970's), there were no PCs. Computers were large mainframes sold by a handful of major manufacturers. Back then, there weren't any help desks either. When there was a problem with the computer, the manufacturer was called. The engineers who designed the computer had to attempt to solve the problem. This took time away from their main task of designing new computers as well as not earning revenue for the computer manufacturer.

IBM, being a relatively perceptive organization hit upon a wonderful idea. They encouraged customers to pre-screen calls to for assistance internally before calling IBM for help. The incentive IBM offered was discounts on equipment.ⁱⁱⁱ By calling a central point for help, IBM hoped that the customer would minimize the number of calls for technical support by solving repeat problems internally. Thus the concept of the modern help desk was born.

Screening problems is very different from solving them. Eventually, management realized that moving help desks from a reactive role (screening calls for help) to a proactive role (solving problems) should save the company money. Therefore, help desks evolved into the problem solving entities that they are today.

Activities at modern day help desks span a vast array of activities, including but not limited to, the following:

• Conduct and schedule training sessions - help desk personnel are in touch with users on a daily basis. Who is better equipped than them to recommend, design, develop and implement training?
  
  
• Coordinate hardware and software installations - Hardware and software are constantly upgraded. This activity requires a great deal of planning and coordination to carry it off successfully.
  
  
• Distribute software electronically - Who wants to run from desktop to desktop or from customer to customer installing software individually? Using the Internet and company Intranets, software can be distributed electronically.
  
  
• Create customer and management reports - Customers must be kept abreast of bug-fixes and management needs to be informed of proposed changes to software and hardware based on customer complaints. Customers also need to be surveyed to determine their level of satisfaction with company products and services.
  
  
• Market help desk services and training services - Help desks don't have to be just an expense. You can charge for help desk services and turn it into a revenue center.
  
  

Help desks can be centralized or decentralized. Centralization normally makes sense in small and medium size organizations where funds and resources are more limited. With modern communication tools (telephones, the Internet, etc.), customers don't really know where help desk employees are located. In large organizations, when decentralizing help desks, responsibilities are often broken down along product lines. For instance, Microsoft maintains a help desk that only support its Access product.

Management also needs to decide if a help desk will be run as a cost center or a profit center. As a cost center, all the costs of the help desk are born by the organization. It's part of the cost of doing business and help desk support service costs are buried in the cost of a product. In a profit center model, a company charges customers for access to help desk services and attempts to fully recover the cost of help desk services and may even have the goal of making a profit on those services.

Another consideration is whether to outsource help desk support. Outsourcing support means contracting with a third party company to provide some or all of your help desk services. Popular reasons for outsourcing are:^iv

• Reducing costs
  
  
• Improving productivity and performance
  
  
• Providing a wider range of services
  
  
• Increasing the skill level of help desk employees
  
  
• Providing increased flexibility so response time can be improved
  
  
• Increased ability to focus on the main business functions of the company

Help Desks generally come in three different flavors:

1. Internal Help Desks - Support internal customers (employees).
   
   
2. External Help Desks - Support external customers (i.e. - the people who buy the product or services of the company).
   
   
3. Hybrid Help Desks - Support both internal and external customers. These are usually found in small or medium size companies.

Internal and External help desks each have their own distinct roles while Hybrid help desks are provide a blending of services offered by Internal and External help desks.

Internal Help Desks

Although internal help desks can have many functions, four common roles are as follows:

1. Resolving employee problems - Key steps in the problem resolution process are as follows:
   
   
   • Tracking the incident - incidents are logged into a database
     
     
   • Keeping the customer informed about the status - customers like to know what is being done to solve their problem
     
     
   • Resolving the problem within a certain time frame - customers need to know when a problem will be resolved or will be tackled by a more experienced person
     
     
   • Assuring the customer is satisfied with the solution - don't assume the customer is happy...verify it!
     
     
2. Training - The help desk personnel are in constant contact with the employees. They are able to spot problems and recommend training to solve them. Training can take several forms:
   
   
   • Formal, organized training - usually done in a classroom setting with groups of employees. Often this is done when new software is launched company wide.
     
     
   • Informal, ad hoc training - One on one training often at the employee's desk. Could be as simple as showing an employee how to print large Excel spreadsheets.
     
     
   • Computer Based Training (CBT) or Distance Education (Internet Based Training) - Many organizations are taking advantage of rich multimedia CBTs that are available as training aides for numerous products. Also, distance education over the Internet (whether instructor lead or totally self-paced) is becoming increasing popular due primarily to its cost effectiveness.
     
     
3. Low-level Network Administration - Many network administration tasks are repetitive and can be done by employees without high levels of network training. Often the help desk personnel become involved with these tasks which would include:
   
   
   • Setting up accounts for new users
     
     
   • Executing daily back-ups of data on the network
     
     
   • E-mail and database management
     
     
   • Printer management
     
     
   • Monitoring servers
     
     
   • Reviewing logs
     
     
   • Disaster recovery planning
     
     
4. Asset Management - Equipment and software must constantly be purchased (both for new employees and as replacements). Upgrades to software occur frequently. Employees (and entire departments) are moved to different physical locations. Assets must be tracked, tagged and periodically inventoried to ensure they are not misappropriated. Maintenance agreements must be negotiated and executed with the appropriate external vendors. Eventually, equipment must be disposed of properly (especially since PCs contain a certain level of hazardous waste). Since help desk personnel will be orienting and training new employees, and since they presumably know where the existing employees are located, these tasks seemed natural for help desk personnel to handle.

External Help Desks

External help desks can also serve many functions. Typical functions are:

1. Resolving customer problems - As per internal help desks, this comprises:
   
   
   • Tracking the incident
     
     
   • Keeping the customer informed about the status
     
     
   • Resolving the problem within a certain time frame
     
     
   • Assuring the customer is satisfied with the solution
     
     
2. Pre-sales support - Potential customers often have technical questions about products before purchasing them. Often, these questions are handled by help desk personnel.
   
   
3. Post-sales questions - Often customers are unable to ascertain how to use a product or may be seeking advice on using advanced features.
   
   
4. Training - Help desk personnel are often involved with formal or informal customer training. Often the help desk personnel design training based on customer problems/questions they encounter.

Most help desks are organized on a tiered system. Front-line or first tier support personnel are the level of support that a customer initially encounters. The goal is to have the front-line technician solve the problem. If they cannot, the problem is escalated to a second tier or third tier technician (more experienced employees) for resolution. A diagram of the typical problem resolution process is shown below:

Change management is an essential step in the process. When new solutions to problems are identified by technicians, they need to be recorded in a database that is used by technicians to diagnose and solve customer problems. By recording these solutions, the technicians avoid "reinventing the wheel" by solving the same problems repeatedly. By using solutions from the database, they are able to reuse solutions provided by other support personnel.

Entry Level Job Profile - Help Desk Technician

Equivalent Job Titles - Help Desk Analyst, Customer Support Analyst

Average Salary - $36,421^v

Responsibilities - A level 1 technician is a typical entry-level job at a help desk. As a level one technician, your typical job responsibilities would be:

• Taking customer calls and logging problem incidents
  
  
• Analyzing and resolving problems
  
  
• Documenting new solutions to problems
  
  
• Participation in Change Management Process (i.e. - recording new solutions in the appropriate database)
  
  
• Communication with customers and other employees in your organization - Customer communication is rather obvious since they need to be informed of solutions. However, you will also need to communicate with other parts of your own organization (such as software development, manufacturing, fulfillment) to formulate plans to alleviate or minimize recurring problems.
  
  
• Training - Both training customers and obtaining appropriate training for yourself to keep abreast of new developments.
  

Skills - To successfully perform these duties, you would need to possess the following skills:

• Business Skills (industry specific) - For most help desk positions, knowledge of the industry in which the company operates is an extremely desirable skill. For instance, when sitting on a help desk for Chase Manhattan Bank, a background in banking services should allow you to be more effective at your job.
  
  
• Technical Skills - Varying levels of technical skills will be required by different organizations. But base level skills in the following areas are essential:
  
  
  1. MS Office - You should be intimately familiar with MS Office since you will most likely be using it every day to communicate with customers and your peers. In addition, if your help desk role requires providing support for MS Office, you should possess an in depth knowledge of MS Office troubleshooting.
     
     
  2. Basic PC troubleshooting - Knowing how a PC is put together and how to fix or replace basic components.
     
     
  3. Familiarity with recent versions of Windows - Many technical problems with software are Windows related. If you are providing PC support or MS Office support, familiarity with the latest versions of windows will be critical.
     
     
  4. Facility with Databases - You should be proficient in searching for, retrieving and storing data in databases. You will use databases every day to track incidents and research solutions.
  
  
• "Soft" Skills - The so-called "touchy-feely" skills that are less tangible in nature than technical skills. Nevertheless, they are still quite important to being a proficient help desk technician. To be successful, you should display the following qualities:^vi
  
  
  1. Listening - You have to be able to understand a customer's problem to be able to solve it.
     
     
  2. Verbal and Written Communications - You will need to communicate with customers, fellow team members and other employees in your organization on a daily basis. Being able to communicate clearly and succinctly is very desirable.
     
     
  3. Customer Service - Being able to handle irate customers and saying no to customers (when appropriate) without irking them are examples of good customer service skills.
     
     
  4. Patience - Customers are often angry or explain their problems poorly. Being able to patiently work through difficult customer communications is critical.
     
     
  5. Team Focused - You will work as part of a team to solve problems. Other levels of technicians and specialists will assist you. You should enjoy working with others.
     
     
  6. Time Management - Often you will be working on solutions to multiple problems at the same time. You should be able to prioritize your work and juggle conflicting tasks.
     

Career Changing Opportunities - So would you make a good help desk employee? If you already have experience working with other people or the public, you may already have many of the "soft skills" necessary for this type of work. Managers, administrators, teachers, human resource professionals, marketing and sales professionals and bank tellers are all examples of people that already need to work well with others.^vii Obtaining the technical skills to augment your customer skills should be all you need to be successful.

Education - A two-year college degree or equivalent training at a technical institute is extremely desirable. Professional certifications, while demonstrating professional competence, are generally not viewed as substitutes for technical degrees. Community Colleges (and other two-year schools) may provide degrees or certificates in PC repair and maintenance. Make sure that whatever training program you pursue contains hands on experience, not just book learning. It is critical to be able to practice on real equipment while you are learning the necessary skills for PC support.

Certifications - The following certifications would help demonstrate that you have mastered skill sets that are applicable to a help desk role:

1. Help Desk Analyst (HAD) - Sponsored by the Help Desk Institute, this certification deals with the skills necessary in entry-level help desk positions. (www.helpdeskinst.com/hdi-certification/).
   
   
2. HelpDesk 2000 - Sponsored by STI Knowledge, the HelpDesk 2000 certifications focus on developing skills for modern help desk professionals. (www.stiknowledge.com/certification_advisory/index.asp).
   
   
3. Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) - The MOUS (pronounced "mouse") certification is widely recognized as showing proficiency with MS Office applications. For help desk jobs, shoot for the expert level of certification. (www.mous.net).
   
   
4. A+ - A certification developed by CompTIA. This vendor neutral certification demonstrates proficiency in troubleshooting hardware problems with PCs. (www.comptia.org/certification/)