In your opinion, which of these following types of business could benefit from a helpdesk system?

• Laptop repair service. Your customers bring you their computers, and you service, upgrade and repair them.
• Civil works. You manage a team of contractors who carry out road inspection and repairs.
• IT department for a government office. You manage secure servers, networks, and general “I’ve forgotten my password” enquiries.
• Software development house – You run a small business creating bespoke software solutions according to your clients’ specifications.
• Coal mining – You are responsible for managing all the plant and PLC installations, and every minute of downtime represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

It may be true that currently you feel like you can handle it, your team has a well rehearsed routine of answering the phone, sticking post-it notes all over the office, forwarding emails, putting them in appropriate folders, and keeping your end users informed. But what about that email attachment you forgot to save? Or the VIP client you forgot to reply to? Or the crucial plant equipment you forgot to order?

When your business idea first became successful, offering support for your product or service may have been the last thing on your mind. But now, your pet project, or even your hobby, has turned into a business. Perhaps recently you have been promoted to department manager and would like to get some order into your world, or you are a CEO trying to trim the fat off your company, benefiting your shareholders, and freeing up a little spare time to have with your family.