John Kroll 6/3/2012

A help desk is an information and assistance resource that troubleshoots problems with computers or similar products. Corporations often provide help desk support to their customers via a toll-free number, a website or e-mail. There are also in-house help desks geared toward providing the same kind of help to a company's employees. Some schools offer classes in which they perform similar tasks as a help desk. In the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, within companies adhering to ISO/IEC 20000 or seeking to implement IT Service Management best practice, a help desk may offer a wider range of user centric services and be part of a larger Service Desk. A typical help desk has several functions. It provides a single point of contact for users to receive help on computer issues. The help desk typically manages its requests via help desk software, such as an issue tracking system. Also known as a "Local Bug Tracker" (LBT), this system allows tracking of user requests with a unique number. There are many software applications to support the help desk function. Some target the enterprise level help desk and some target departmental needs. In the mid 90s a study was to find out the value of an organization's help desks. It found that value was derived not only from a reactive response to user issues, but also from the help desk's unique position to communicate daily with numerous customers or employees. Information gained in areas such as technical problems, user preferences and satisfaction can be valuable for use in planning and preparation for other units in information technology. A help desk worker can be many things, It can range from the small things needed from employees of the company from a forgotten password all the way up to a computer crashing completely, A help desk employee should be able to understand the functions of every aspect of the operating system that the employees use as well as one before that and possibly the one after that if the company is not using the most up to date version of windows. The role of a support technician varies from company to company some may give a wider range of duties while others may have structured tiers of responsibilities for their help desk workers. For the most part a help desk employee is one that can answer any question about any operating system and if they are came to with a question they cannot answer on their own they should have the proper information and access to databases with all the information necessary to answers question quickly and with tact. There are many methods and tools that are necessary for them to support their customers with ease ranging from programs and knowledge of many common problems that can occur within the windows operating system. Some useful tools would be databases and diagnostic programs to be used efficiently in aiding the customer in any issues they may have when trying to help the customer with the computer issues. The desk side team (sometimes known as "desktop support") is responsible for the desktops, laptops other technology such as PDAs. The help desk will assign

John Kroll 6/3/2012

the desktop team the second-level desk side issues that the first level was not able to solve. They set up and configure computers for new users and are typically responsible for any physical work relating to the computers such as repairing software or computer hardware issues and moving workstations to another location. The network team is responsible for the network software, hardware and infrastructure such as servers, switches, backup systems and firewalls. They are responsible for the network services such as email, file, and security. The help desk will assign the network team issues that are in their field of responsibility. The server team is responsible for most, if not all, of the servers within the organization. This includes, but is not limited to, Domain Name System (DNS) Servers, Network Authentication, Network Shares, Network Resources, Email accounts, and all aspects of server software. It also includes more advanced services such as databases, Storage or Content Management Systems, specialized proprietary services, and other industry-specific serverbased applications. In order to a great help desk worker you must have vast knowledge of the windows operating system as well as the ability to search for causes to common issues quickly and efficiently.