Most people have heard of helpdesks and service desks at this point, but most don’t know the difference between the two. While helpdesks and service desks can both have an impact on your CX strategy, they each offer different benefits and features.
If you want an entire end-to-end CX environment, complete with help ticket management, CRM insights, and analytics, then you need to start by understanding what each kind of software can really do. Today, we’re going to be looking at the major differences between the helpdesk and service desk, as well as which one’s best suited to your needs.
Defining the Helpdesk
Helpdesks or IT helpdesks are usually intended for tactical purposes. The aim is to solve technical incidents and issues as fast as possible, guiding people through troubleshooting and fixing processes. Helpdesks can either work alongside service desks and other tools or operate independently. While the helpdesk generally “reacts” to problems as they occur, they’re supposed to be as efficient and speedy as possible.
Helpdesks can:
- Support tracking and management for all incoming incidents
- Provide a single point of contact for IT support and guidance
- Automate tracking solutions for tickets, as well as routing, and email notifications
- Deliver basic incident and service request management features
- Provide integrations with ITSM practices like knowledge, configuration, and asset management tools
- Providing self-service options and knowledge bases for end-users
So, who might need a helpdesk? The toolset within a helpdesk provides support for service and incident request management, as well as change enablement. If you don’t have a lot of demand for IT support, having your own helpdesk can be the most cost-effective alternative.
Defining the Service Desk
So, what’s a service desk? A service desk is a much broader form of solution management, providing cross-organisational guidance and strategic features. With a service desk, companies can examine the wider needs of the business and the context in which issues usually happen. This means that you’re not just responding to issues as they take place, but tracking the entire performance of the company, so you can make better strategic decisions long-term.
Service desks usually manage incident and service requests, as well as enabling user communication and customer engagement. Most modern service desks also have a helpdesk component within them. The overall goal of the software is to improve the processes and efficiency of the business.
One of the significant benefits of a service desk is its ability to integrate with a full range of IT service management processes. You can use this technology to organise service level management agreements, integrate asset management, access crucial information, and more. The service desk can also be a crucial point of contact between end-users and the service provider.