Helpdesk and Service desk blog
Read all the latest posts as we blog our way through the latest in service management best practice, software, IT news and HelpMaster.
ITSM Product Documentation
Over the years, I’ve read A LOT of product documentation and technical material - it’s part of working in IT. Much of it is OK, some is great, and lot of it is a convoluted mess of technical verbiage, broken links, shallow information and confusing hyperlinking. (We’ve all been there…right?) Don’t get me started on open-source stuff, or beta MS doco :-) As a vendor developing and supporting our service management product, HelpMaster, product documentation has always been a part of the process.
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ITIL Compliant service-desk software
Is there such a thing as an ITIL compliant service desk application…helpdesk software even? Nope. Back in the day, ITIL was referred to as a library (the “L”). You cannot be compliant to a library. These days, ITIL is a stand-alone name given to the framework of service-management related ideas and concepts. Either way, there is no compliance to it. ITIL describes a process, or a value chain only. It doesn’t tell you how you must implement it.
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Professional Telephone Skills for the Helpdesk
Ring….ring…. “Hello helpdesk……have you tried turning it off and on again?!” Sound familiar? The helpdesk. A place where the relentless ringing of the phone can slowly drive a perfectly sane, patient and skilled helpdesk operator into a frazzled shell of their former self. In a world where the ubiquitous telephone plays such an important role in the customer service that an organization provides, it’s worthwhile to review a few of the basics when it comes to using the phone, especially from the perspective of the helpdesk analyst.
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People, Process and Technology
If you had to choose only 2 from the 3 words above as ’tools’ that could be used to implement service management and helpdesk delivery, which would you pick? A tough one eh? Remove people, and we’re staring down the barrel of the technological singularity. Remove process and you’ve got automated chaos. Remove technology, and we’re back to smoke signals. Process and technology? Consider technology and process. They are a perfect match.
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The Job state field - aka helpdesk tennis
Many support scenarios are similar to a game of tennis. Helpdesk tennis. When it comes to who has the next action on a ticket, it’s either in your court, or it’s in theirs. The next move often oscillates between the team providing the support, and the customer/client responding to that support. Similar to a point in tennis, this cycle continues as long as the helpdesk ticket / incident / task is active.
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New website for HelpMaster
PRD Software has a new website for HelpMaster! We’ve given our online presence a complete makeover, and are making changes with the way we will deliver content, product updates, downloads and other information. In time we’ll be releasing more information about this, but here’s a brief summary of what’s new. A new look Our previous website served us well to a point, but it was well and truly time for an upgrade.
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