Collaboration tools to consider when buying help desk software

Mistakes happen and issues come up unexpectedly. As such, quick problem resolution is important to drive business growth. External stakeholders and customers get frustrated with long delays when their problems aren’t solved, and it may be difficult for them to even get an acknowledgment to a service request. Employees can also find themselves in a similar situation and it can lead to demoralization for the employee and a loss of operational coordination for the company. Help desk software can help solve these issues. But to ensure that a company purchases the right help desk solution, it is important to align your specific business needs with the software that offers the collaboration tools you need.

Help desk solutions come with a variety of tools, and there are several collaboration features that should be considered essential. For example, service request submission should be quick and simple. Predetermined parameters should specify how priorities are automatically assigned. A continuous status audit should be implemented to ensure that each request is recorded and answered. A system should be in place where requests are automatically escalated if the response has been delayed. Statistical information detailing response and resolution times should also be readily available.

Other collaboration tools that are essential to create an optimal help desk include real-time queue monitoring that allows priorities to be manually overridden. There should also be a tool that allows custom conditions, actions and triggers to be defined for situation-specific responses. The help desk should create a database of service requests that can be sorted based on commonality, frequency, nature of the request or any other defined parameters, making it easier for management to look at an overview of common issues that occur and take the necessary action.

Collaboration tools in the help desk should also make the experience easy and productive to the user. The user experience should be interactive so that people feel that they have communicated their problem and that it has reached someone who can fix it. A self service portal should be available that allows users to solve any minor problems on their own, which provide the benefits of increasing user satisfaction, as well as reducing the help desk workload. In order to improve customer service, post-service feedback forms should be automatically sent to users. These responses can be docketed with their request and resolution data, which will allow the company to analyze user satisfaction levels.

    With the right help desk collaboration tools, user satisfaction will increase because they will see that their needs have been noted and that assistance will be provided shortly. The right collaboration tools will leave the impression that the quality of service is top-notch, enhancing customer service satisfaction. There are many help desk collaboration tools available today. Look for a help desk collaboration software that meets your business’ existing needs, while also being scalable to meet projected future requirements.

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