Help Desk

A help desk is a resource intended to provide the customer or end user with information and support related to a company's or institution's products and services. The purpose of a help desk is usually to troubleshoot problems or provide guidance about products such as computers, electronic equipment, food, apparel, or software. Corporations usually provide help desk support to their customers through various channels such as toll-free numbers, websites, instant messaging, or email. There are also in-house help desks designed to provide assistance to employees.

HDI, formerly known as the Help Desk Institute, was formed by Ron Muns as a for-profit organization in 1989, its purpose being to serve the industry as a professional association focused on the development of technical support personnel and the sharing of optimal practices. It adopted the name HDI in 2004 to reflect the maturing of the support industry. Technical support was expanded to cover desktop systems as well as provide other types of assistance for customers of organizations.

While the term "Help desk" initially implied the place where employees receive technical support relating to their organization's IT infrastructure, the scope of the term has expanded in meaning and use. In major academic institutions, "help desk" can also refer to help provided in an academic library. The 2012 HDI Practices and Salary Report reported that for the first time in the 20 years since its inception, the name "service desk" (at 32.3%) is more frequently used than "help desk" (at 26.6%) or other names (which total 40.1%). The primary reason is likely to be the global adoption of the terminology of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), which uses the term "Service Desk" to describe a one-stop function providing support and assistance, replacing the concept of a "Help Desk" within the context of the provision of IT support.

A typical help desk can effectively perform several functions. It provides a single (or multiple) point of contact for users to gain assistance in troubleshooting, get answers to questions, and solve known problems. A help desk generally manages its requests through the use of software such as issue tracking systems. These systems often involve the use of a "local bug tracker" (LBT). This system allows the help desk to track and sort user requests with the help of a unique number, and can frequently classify problems by user, computer program, or similar categories. Many software applications are available to support the help desk function. Some target the enterprise level help desk and some target departmental needs. Help Desk able to handling and prioritize all escalate tickets and requests.

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