Helpdesking

Helpdesking refers to the operations and practices associated with a centralized point of contact for users seeking assistance with information technology services or other organizational systems. It encompasses logging incidents and service requests, triaging and routing them to appropriate personnel, and providing initial guidance or resolution. The term is commonly used in IT support but may apply to other domains such as facilities, telecommunications, or software applications. A service desk typically encompasses IT service management processes beyond incident handling.

Operations typically involve a team of helpdesk agents who handle first-line support (1st level). They receive requests through multiple channels (phone, email, web portals, chat), classify and prioritize incidents, attempt resolution, or escalate to specialized teams (2nd or 3rd line). The ticket lifecycle includes logging, categorization, prioritization, assignment, investigation, resolution, notification, and closure. Common tools include ticketing systems, knowledge bases, remote-access utilities, and monitoring dashboards. ITIL-inspired practices encourage integration with incident, problem, change, and knowledge management, and formal service level agreements define response and resolution times.

Variants and trends: Internal helpdesking serves employees; external helpdesking supports customers. The function is found in IT, telecommunications, manufacturing, education, and public services. Metrics such as first contact resolution, mean time to acknowledge, mean time to resolve, and SLA compliance are used to assess performance. Challenges include high volume, diverse user needs, security and privacy, and keeping knowledge up to date. Current trends emphasize self-service, knowledge accessibility, automation, AI-assisted triage, and remote diagnostics.