IFS410 End User Support

1. IFS410 End User Support Chapter 6 Help Desk Operations

2. Porter’s Value Chains Porter argued that firm’s opportunities to create competitive advantage occur at different steps in the value chain The Margin is the value of the firm’s products and services less their costs, as perceived by the firm’s customers The value chain is made of the primary and support activities that contribute to a firm’s margin value. Increasing that marginal value is the objective of the chain model Firms can create value by performing activities, which Porter calls value activities

4. What Is a Help Desk? • An organization that provides a single point of contact for users in need of technical support • Goal: To enhance client satisfaction by effectively and efficiently resolving problems and questions • Alternate titles: hotline, information center, lab assistance, tech support, client services

5. Multi-level Support Model • Multi-level Support Model is a help desk structure • Organizes support staff and services into several levels (or tiers) • Each level is staffed by a worker with different skills • Also called the frontline/backline model • Goal: to handle as many incidents as possible at the lowest level in the support hierarchy • Save scarce resources for incidents where more expertise is necessary

6. Multi-Level Support Characteristics • Level 1 – Incident Screening • Creates ticket (logs incident) • General triage • Work From Scripts • Level 2 – Product Specialist • More experienced helpdesk representative • Typically hands-on • Generalist (small depth, large breadth)

7. Multi-Level Support Characteristics • Level 3 – Technical Specialist • MSCE • CCSE • Designers / Developers / Analysts • Level 4 – Supervisor / Manager

8. The Incident Management Process • Incident Management is a well-defined, formal procedure that help desk staff use to: • Handle problem incidents • Get information to users • Solve user problems • Maintain records about the incident • Call Management is primarily concerned with handling telephone contacts

9. 1. Receive the incident 2. Prescreen the incident 3. Authenticate the user 4. Log the incident 5. Screen the incident 6. Prioritize the incident 7. Assign the incident 8. Track the incident 9. Escalate the incident 10. Resolve the incident 11. Close the incident 12. Archive the incident Steps in the Incident Management Process

10. 1. Receive the Incident • Sources of incidents: • Goals: • Establish a relationship with end user • Get basic information from user • Who is the user? • What is the purpose of the contact? • May use a specific greeting script • Warn that the call may be monitored • Apologize for any delay or wait time

11. 2. Prescreen the Incident • Prescreening is a filtering process to determine how the help desk staff will handle the incident • Goal: Incident screener may be able to handle a simple request for information • Product information • How to order • Where to purchase

12. 3. Authenticate the Incident • Authentication determines whether help desk staff are authorized to handle an incident • Usually involves checking • a product registration database • a product model or serial number • a warranty database • a support service database of authorized clients • Goals • Determine the status of each client • Establish a billing procedure (where appropriate) • Filter out unauthorized clients

13. 4. Log the Incident • Incident logging begins to document the incident and its related problem • Basic information about the incident is recorded • Trouble report form • Incident tracking database • Goal: • Start a record of the incident

14. 5. Screen the Incident • Incident screening categorizes and describes the incident • Common Incident Categories: • Request for information (that could not be handled during prescreening) • Question • Problem • Complaint • Work order • Goals: • Define the category of an incident • Capture a brief description of the incident

15. 6. Prioritize the Incident • Priority code is assigned based on • How serious the problem is for users • How many users are affected • Consequence of not handling problem immediately • Goals: • A priority code often determines the kind of attention an incident will receive from staff • Alternative to priority codes • handle incidents on first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis

16. Priority Codes and Incident Handling • Example priority codes 1 – Urgent 2 – High priority 3 – Medium priority 4 – Low priority • High priority incidents are usually serious problems that affect the productivity of a large number of users • Priority codes may be used to determine response time of support staff • Priority codes may change as an incident is handled

17. Priority Codes and Queue Management • A queue is a waiting line into which incoming incidents are placed when they cannot be answered immediately • Queues may be defined for • Priority codes • Different products • Types of customers • Levels of support

18. 7. Assign the Incident • When a level 1 Incident Screener cannot respond to an incident directly, they assign it to another agent who • has specific product knowledge • has specialized expertise • Goal: • Move an incident to a queue where it will get appropriate attention

19. 8. Track the Incident • Incident tracking updates information • as an incident is processed • as new information is added to the incident log • Goals: • Provides a record: • When important events occur • A history of how the incident was handled • Provides data: • Measure the quality of incident handling • Evaluate support agent performance • Identify support staff training needs

20. 9. Escalate the Incident • Escalation is a normal process in which an incident is transferred to a higher level support agent who has • greater ability or expertise • resources to handle more difficult problems • Goal: • Resolve a difficult problem effectively and efficiently • Escalation may be automatic if an incident is not resolved within a limited period of time

21. 10. Resolve the Incident • Resolution means that a user’s problem has been solved or information has been provided • A complaint may be referred to product designers as a suggestion for the next product revision cycle • Caveats: • Not all calls can be completely resolved by the Incident Management Process • Resolution doesn’t necessarily mean the client is completely satisfied • Goal: • Minimize the percent of incidents that cannot be resolved satisfactorily

22. 11. Close the Incident • Incident closing may include: • Review the steps to solve the problem • Seek mutual agreement (verification) that a solution has been reached • Thank the user for contacting the help desk • Invite the user to recontact if not satisfied • Make final entries in incident log or database • Goal: • Provide technical and interpersonal closure to the incident

23. 12. Archive the incident • Archive means to copy resolved incidents to a database of completed incidents • Incidents are retained in an active database as long as they remain relevant • Goal: • Reduce the size of the active database by removing less relevant information • The archives • can be searched if needed in future problem-solving situations • can serve as a source of data for statistical analysis

24. Physical Layout of Help Desk Work Areas • Desk in a cubicle • Access to one or more computer systems • Access to reference library • Telephone headset permits freedom of motion • Issues • Job stress • Diversions for staff • Ergonomic work place

25. Help Desk Technology and Tools • Impact of automation on help desk industry • Help desk software packages • Computer telephony systems • Web-based support

26. Large-scale Operations Remedy Help Desk Peregrine ServiceCenter Magic Solutions Service Desk Clientele for Help Desks Small or Mid-scale HelpTrac Track-It! Manage-IT! Soffront Customer Helpdesk BridgeTrak Popular Help Desk Software Packages

27. Computer Telephony Systems • Computer telephony is the integration of computer and telephone technology into a seamless help desk tool • Automated Call Distributor (ACD) is a computer telephony system that automates the first steps in incident management • answer calls • greet callers • provide menus • route the call to support agents

28. Computer Telephony Systems (continued) • Goals • Reduce amount of time and cost to respond to calls and route them to support agents • Collect information about performance of help desk operation • Monitor calls • Problems • Reputation for poor customer service • Poor design of menus • Lengthy hold times • Repetitious requests for information • Dropped calls

29. Interactive Voice Response • Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems let users interact with a database of information • User presses keys on telephone handset • User speaks simple words into telephone • IVRs can be programmed with decision-tree logic to • ask and answer questions • without a human agent

30. Product information Order entry Rebate status Automated responses to information requests Online documents Software downloads Troubleshooting wizards Knowledge bases Search engine Chat rooms E-mail links to staff Submit problem reports Contact information Customer satisfaction surveys Links to related sites Web-based Support

31. Web Support Advantages • Lower cost to provide support than other methods • Makes users more self-reliant • Reduces errors due to misinformation and miscommunication • Eliminates user time spent waiting on phone for help desk agent

32. E-mail Support Advantages • E-mail is asynchronous • user and support staff do not have to be available online at exactly the same time • E-mail responses make more flexible use of support agent’s time • E-mail responses to frequent questions can be composed in advance and then pasted into messages

33. Impact of Web and E-mail Use on Support Staff • More efficient use of support staff resources • Writing skills become more important for support staff than telephone skills • Quick recall is less important than ability to locate information • Ability to listen is less important than ability to read and understand • Customer service skills remain important

34. Impact of Intranets on Support Staff • An Intranet is a network modeled after the Internet with information organized into Web pages • Facilitates communication between an organization’s employees and support staff • Uses familiar technology • Web browser • Search engine • Provides better security for communication than the Internet

35. Trends in Help Desk Operations • Outsourcing • will reduce need for telephone support agents who serve external clients in US • will have less impact on support agents who serve internal clients • Greater reliance on electronic mail and the Internet to provide support • Increases in support staff productivity with remote diagnosis • Remote diagnosis is the use of a help desk computer to connect to a remote user’s computer

36. Trends in Help Desk Operations (continued) • Increased use of voice recognition and artificial intelligence in support products • Help desk operations will become more proactive (anticipate user problems) and less reactive • Help desks will play significant role in client relationship management (CRM) • Client relationship management (CRM) is a business process that aims to meet the needs of clients by providing excellent client service

37. Trends in Help Desk Operations (continued) • Certification of help desk professionals and their knowledge and skills will become more common and an expectation in the job market • Future help desk managers will need better information for decision making