Typical features of a help desk software solution

Help-desk software solutions are solutions that help you to manage your help-desk activities more easily. A company's help-desk is the point where customers reach out to, in case, they need clarifications on the usage of a product or if they experience any trouble with a product's functionality. Customers take to the help line when they want to understand more about the features of a product they are considering to purchase. Managing such customer calls can be done efficiently using a help-desk software solution.

A typical help-desk software solution will record and track every call received at the help-desk. A trouble-ticket generate screen is used to record customer details such as the customer's name, phone number, the type of trouble encountered by the customer and the priority to be assigned to the trouble-ticket.

The software will record details such as the staff to whom the trouble-ticket is assigned and who will be responsible for resolving the issue. It will also track the status of each trouble-ticket, for example, it will display that a trouble ticket is in-progress status, when its issues are being tackled. Every entry made against the trouble-ticket, whatever be the status of the trouble ticket, is date and time stamped. For example a trouble ticket could be in the assigned status and you can see the time and date in which it was assigned to a particular staff.

The software usually includes features by which the administrator can view a list of new and open trouble-tickets according to a sorting functionality. For example, the list could be viewed date-wise or according to the type of trouble ticket. This way the administrator is aware of tickets that are resolved and those which are pending and have to be attended to by concerned staff.

One of the most important features provided by a help-desk software solution is the report functionality, by which reports can be generated for record purposes. Sometimes, the report can also be exported to Microsoft excel.

Some solutions can be configured according to a client needs to send specific notifications to mangers or key personnel. For example, the system could be set-up to have different types of alerts such as a level one alert, level two alert and so on. A level two alert could be one which sends an e-mail informing the number of trouble-tickets having a high priority and which is still pending to the designated staff every two days.

Looking into the features of a help-desk software solution will help you to understand how the product will automate the work you carry on at your help-desk and aid you in selecting the product most suiting to your requirements.

Joushua James - Help Desk Software Solutions