How Would You Like to Log Your Help Desk Incidents?

Question 1

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How Much Does Help Desk Software Cost?

The price for Help Desk Software ranges from £5 per agent per month for small businesses, to £150 per agent month for an enterprise plan with extensive IT service management requirements.

The cost of Help Desk Software can vary depending on several factors. Some solutions can be used for free, but with limited access to features and roles, such as Zoho Desk and Jira Service Desk.

Whereas other help desk platforms are charged monthly via a subscription model like Zendesk, Teamwork Desk, and ServiceDesk Plus from Manage Engine.

As well as being impacted by features, help desk prices are available in multiple types. Pricing for Help Desk Software can be:

Free
Subscription-based (monthly or yearly)
Paid per-user
Part of a software bundle
Customised by quote

Question 2

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What Are the Different Types of Help Desk Software?

Help Desk Software is available to businesses in several different forms. Each type of help desk is dependent on the size of a company. As well as the amount of support staff and a business’s allocated budget. Typically, there are four types of Help Desk Software:

Cloud Help Desk Software

Cloud Help Desk Software is an SaaS application. It is hosted entirely on a vendor’s servers and loaned to a business in exchange for payment. Businesses can access their cloud-based solution by logging into a dedicated web page. Or, in some cases, by installing a desktop or mobile app.

Cloud-based tools are often a cheaper option, which makes them popular for smaller businesses. They are also easy to set up and maintain. The only drawback to a cloud-based help desk solution is that an internet connection is required.

On-Premise/Self-Hosted Help Desk

Self-hosted Help Desk Software, also on-premise, is a licence brought and owned by a business. Once a company owns the licence, they will have to host it on their own servers. This eliminates the need for a monthly fee and requires only purchasing and set-up costs.

Self-hosted solutions provide more control over a company’s data and security. As well as providing more customised capabilities. However, there are disadvantages to having an on-premise system. It requires investment in hardware, such as servers, and a dedicated IT team to run them. As well as needing additional purchases for data backups and security.

Open-Source Help Desk

Open-source Help Desk Software is a highly customisable solution. It allows developers and technicians to build their own tools by having access to the source code. This allows businesses to create a completely customised platform without limitations. However, open-source software can be expensive and time-consuming. It requires IT professionals to build it and technical teams to provide security.

Enterprise Help Desk Software

Enterprise Help Desk Software is exactly that; a help desk solution for enterprises. It offers robust features that won’t be found in other help desk tools. Such as IT asset management and enterprise reporting. Enterprise platforms are designed to enable support for all customers; internal and external. As well as being highly configurable and customisable. However, they can be an expensive help desk option.

Question 3

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Yes. With social media integration, support teams collect tickets from channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Tickets can be set up to detect direct messages, comments, and tags. This works by having social triggers. Meaning the system automatically detects a request from a channel and turns it into a ticket. Tickets are then placed in a centralised dashboard. Here, IT managers can assign them to specific agents and choose whether to prioritise them or not.

Replying to requests on time is crucial when looking to retain customers. As well as attracting new customers and building brand loyalty. Help desk tools provide the necessary integrations to increase the efficiency of customer responses. Particularly with the use of automated ticketing systems. This is a valuable feature for identifying and answering requests across communication channels. Including email, phone, live chat, and SMS.

But, the majority of customer-focused companies will require a social media integration. With 47% of customers preferring to contact businesses via social media channels. Not only can this improve customer service experiences, but it will also make sure that comments and messages across social channels do not go unanswered. By not responding to customer requests, businesses risk damaging their brand and reputation. As well as repelling potential new customers.

When integrating social media with a ticket system, there are factors that customers will expect. For example, 12% of customers will expect a response within 30 minutes. And 25% of customers will expect a response later the same day.

Question 4

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Can a Help Desk Solution Replace a Shared Email Inbox?

Replying to queries on time is one way to improve customer service levels. As is offering the best email support service they possibly can. With 62% of customers using a business’s email support channel.

Handling two to three emails a day in an email system is fine. It’s easy to organise customer requests and queries. As well as track a support agent’s answers and replies. But, as a business grows, so does its customer base. With this growth, comes more questions and requests. Sooner or later, email systems will become near impossible to manage the uptick of incoming requests.

When Is It Time to Swap a Shared Email Inbox for Help Desk Software?

Ahead of social media and live chat, email support is the preferred choice of communication for customers. Only phone support is used more than email. So, it’s important to know when the right time is to switch to an automated ticketing system. Be sure to watch out for signs such as:

Tickets being left open and forgotten about
Agents use memory to search and find requests
Sending follow-up emails to an original customer query
Businesses receiving bad reviews about the quality of their email support
Agents not responding to questions within a day of receiving them

A timely response is important to improving the customer experience. Keep in mind that over 80% of customers expect a response within one day. While 30% expect a response within one hour.

What Are the Benefits of Moving Away From Email?

Switching to Help Desk Software allows support teams to deliver a more efficient level of customer support. The benefits of using Help Desk Software instead of an email system include:

Assigning team members to individual tickets
Categorising tickets in order of priority
Setting alerts and notifications to improve response times
Analysing metrics to improve processes
Receiving tickets from other channels such as Facebook and Twitter

Question 5

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Is Help Desk Software Right for a Small Business With a Small Support Team?

Small businesses need an efficient way to handle each incoming customer request. They must do so, as building a good customer base is crucial for a smaller business.

Unlike large companies, SMBs have only a handful of employees that deal with customer support. In some cases, that may also include the support manager. Making it hard to prioritise work tasks and meaning customer requests go unnoticed or unanswered.

This can also be an issue if a business provides multiple lines of communication. Such as email, phone and SMS, as well as social media. With so many channels that need maintaining, a limited application such as Outlook or Gmail just can’t cope.

Factors are holding small business owners back when it comes to purchasing a help desk solution. These include:

Price

It’s common to believe that Help Desk Software is expensive. But, that’s not the case. The majority of help desk solutions are available as SaaS. These can be purchased via a manageable monthly pricing subscription. This is handy for businesses working with a smaller budget. With many vendors providing the option to cancel at any time.

Training

Support managers may be worried about the time it takes to train staff in a new system. If they’ve chosen the right tool, hopefully, they’ll have a system that is already familiar and easy to use. Either way, vendor’s provide relevant training in the form of videos, online webinars, and documentation. Not to mention offering 24/7 support and live chat.

Installation Time

Contrary to on-premise models, help desk solutions can be implemented and deployed instantly. With cloud-based and web-based programs, it’s as simple as downloading an app. Small businesses can integrate external programs and data within the same day of purchase. Compared to larger companies that may more data to migrate.

Question 6

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Help Desk vs. Service Desk: What’s the Difference?

An IT service desk covers a broader range of IT support operations. It acts as a single point of contact for service providers and end-users. Whereas a help desk focuses on problem-solving, a service desk goes beyond that. Helping to manage IT incidents, requests, and communications.

ITIL defines a service desk as “the single point of contact between service providers and users. It manages incidents and service requests. And also handles communication with the users.”

A service and help desk are seen as two varying forms of customer support processes. Although they can be interpreted as having no significant difference between one another. Defining the two variants can depend on several factors. Including business size and the depth of support operations. As well as the type of customers a business serves.

Question 7

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Does Help Desk Software Include Remote Support Access Tools?

Remote support access is a feature used to provide first-hand remote technical assistance to end-users. It allows IT personnel to connect to and control a device from a remote location via a secure network. To resolve technical issues without requiring physical access.

Accessing a device remotely can have several benefits for both IT departments and customers. Benefits of remote access include:

Providing instant off-site support to end-users
Reducing disruptions to productivity
Increased first-time fix rate (FTFR)
Providing a better customer experience

Remote access is usually part of a more robust help desk solution, such as Enterprise Help Desk Software. But, it’s a feature that is much sought after, especially in complex fields such as security and IT. With a rise in employees working off-site, remote access tools are on the rise.

Question 8

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What Is a Web Help Desk?

Web Help Desk Software is a help desk system specifically used for online, web-based support interactions. It is also referred to as cloud Help Desk Software and web-based helpdesk.

Whereas a help desk - such as an enterprise help desk system - has the functionalities to raise tickets and track issues from both call centres and online, a web help desk focuses exclusively on providing online support, both internally and externally.

The benefit of a web-based help desk system is the ease of use. It is accessed by opening a web browser and accessing data in real-time through cloud services. Meaning there is no need to download applications onto devices or purchase infrastructure - like some on-premise solutions.

Question 9

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What Industries Benefit Most From Implementing a Help Desk Software?

Help desk tools have been designed for multiple industries and types, including:

SaaS help desk: A SaaS help desk is a support tool designed for organisations delivering complex software applications. This helps customers navigate a recently installed tool with the right technical support.
Retail help desk: A retail help desk (or ecommerce help desk) is designed for online businesses selling a product or a service. This offers issue tracking and 24/7 assistance features to help customers resolve issues like lost passwords, order updates, and return policies.
Enterprise help desk: Designed for large organisations looking to build a reputable brand for exceptional customer service. An enterprise help desk provides features for analysing key data, supporting customers in different time zones and languages, and categorising a large intake of tickets.
IT help desk: IT help desks are built with internal technical requests in mind. Providing the tools to track and solve issues such as network issues and login requests.
HR help desk: HR help desk systems are set up for HR leaders and teams to resolve employee issues, tracking tickets from internal communication channels like email and Slack.

Question 10

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What Are the Challenges of Implementing a Help Desk Ticketing System?

Security implications of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) practices: To avoid security problems when support team members use their own devices at work, businesses need to implement a secure BYOD policy.
Learning curve challenges: Additional support from external consultants may be required to implement and manage specialist help desk systems.
Employee buy-in: Employees may baulk at doing things differently and may need training to get to grips with new features.
Cost implications: Investing in Help Desk Software requires a financial outlay. However, some software suppliers offer free trials. While open-source software can appear to be a cost-effective option, external or internal support may be costly.

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