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How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”

• Guy Kawasaki

Remember: Less is more.

A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.

• Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
• Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
• Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
• Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.

As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.

• Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.

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How to strengthen your service operations and service desk strategies with Lucidchart

Lucid Content

Reading time: about 5 min

You need to have the right people, processes, and technology in place to efficiently handle incidents and service requests on a day-to-day basis—your service desk is basically the frontline of IT support. Without the proper service desk support processes in place, you may end up with frustrated users and overwhelmed employees.

As you optimize your service desk, here's what Lucidchart can help you do: 

• Map out service desk and other IT processes. 
• Calculate your service desk ROI. 
• Provide better insights to help your team make decisions. 
• Centralize your knowledge and IT documentation. 
• Improve teamwork and collaboration across the lifecycle. 
• Streamline training and onboarding. 

Let's take a closer look at how Lucidchart can help you optimize your service desk below. 

A closer look at service desk support

Although IT teams try to catch issues before they get to customers, it doesn’t always happen that way. In these cases, incidents are reported to the service desk.

Whether your service desk is local, centralized, or virtual, your service desk support team tries to restore “normal service” to users who receive services from the IT service catalog, such as passwords, security, internet services, backend storage, and more.

Given the rapid response of service desk models, there are significant opportunities to deliver ROI. The service desk is made up of specialized staff but differs slightly from the help desk, which is more technically focused and is likely not a single point of contact for users in your org.

Within the IT service desk, there are many roles and responsibilities. Services are built and deployed, requiring cross-functional collaboration between people and teams (for example, the help desk may need knowledge of IT hardware and software engineers). Services are monitored and tracked, and the results often drive future service desk strategies.

Service desk processes are guided by the user and provider needs, although it typically requires guidance from business and IT leaders, like most IT services. Management and leaders set KPIs, make recommendations for service changes and improvements, and are also responsible for communicating changes to the functions that use and provide the services.

As you’ve probably witnessed in your own organization, these support processes overlap and require a multitude of collaboration and communication to ensure a balance between bandwidth and quality service delivery. With the right platform, you can simplify your ITSM and ITIL processes, especially when it comes to the service desk—and Lucidchart can help.

6 ways to leverage Lucidchart for ROI in service desk management

1. map out your service desk and other it processes.

Visualizing and documenting your IT processes in Lucidchart plays an integral part in delivering ROI and effective decision support. Although service desk demands are always changing, any task that is done more than once or is completed by multiple people needs to be documented for consistency purposes.

Map out your service desk processes, support processes, customer journey, and more with Lucidchart. If you’re not sure where to start, Lucidchart has an extensive list of templates for service management, including event management processes and service desk flowcharts.  

2. Calculate your service desk ROI

3. provide better decision support.

These days, IT management relies on decision support systems to make major strategic decisions, but it can be tough to get everyone on the same page. Using presentation mode in Lucidchart, you can create focused and polished presentations to share with your Change Management advisory board and reveal the weakness, such as needing more staff on your service desk to take calls to increase ROI and customer value.

4. Centralize your knowledge and IT documentation

Often, service desk employees simply need the right information and knowledge to resolve an issue. Store important documentation, such as office floor plans and provisioning processes, in a single location on Lucidchart for your IT team. You can set permissions on your diagram for any scenario, separating owners, editors, commenters, and viewers, so that you can avoid escalations to Level 2 support workers. You can even include this information within a Confluence wiki or on other leading apps.

5. Streamline training and onboarding

Although new service desk employees may be specialized, every company operates differently. Save time and money in the onboarding process by including visuals in your training and onboarding processes. Leverage network diagrams to help new employees get up to speed on how your systems and models work, giving your employees the knowledge and confidence to resolve issues on the frontlines and without escalation.

6. Improve teamwork and collaboration across the lifecycle

It’s easy to communicate with your organization as you improve or implement new processes. Lucidchart works on any device and is cloud-based so you can collaborate in real time, with access to the latest version of a document (and all its prior revisions).

To improve how your teams work together, you can also delineate roles by using a swimlane diagram or even a multi-set Venn diagram in Lucidchart to help clarify responsibilities and overlap in all stages of the lifecycle, especially when it comes to your service desk vs. help desk and incidents that require escalation. Outlining who does what helps teams better work together to bring fast and quality value to customers.

Start improving your service desk management

As you're reading this, service desk requests are likely trickling in in. So, why wait? 

Stop wasting anymore time and up your service desk management today. Follow the six strategies above to streamline your service desk operations and visualize your IT processes in Lucidchart to meet your customer demands in the evolving technology landscape. 

Use Lucidchart to improve your service desk efficiency.

About Lucidchart

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

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Everything You Need To Know To Get Started With Helpdesk KPIs

Table of Contents

1) What Is a Help Desk KPI?

2) Why Are Help Desk KPIs Important?

3) Top 20 Help Desk KPI Examples

4) Bring It All Together In A Help Desk Dashboards

5) Help Desk KPI Metrics: Best Practices

In today’s business world, the competition is fierce. Sector, niche, or industry aside, to survive and thrive in an ever-evolving digital landscape, working with measurable online data analysis and performance metrics is essential.

To succeed in the Age of Information, you have to keep your internal talent as well as your clients happy. In fact, customer experience (CX) is one of the main brand differentiators across industries, surpassing factors like price and product in terms of importance to today’s digitally native consumers.

By choosing a dynamic mix of KPI examples to track, measure, and forecast the success of your company’s client-facing activities, you will set yourself apart from the competition in a big way.

Working with proper help and service desk metrics and KPI reports will allow you to make the improvements you need for continual growth and success.

To put this notion into perspective, we will explore the value of help desk metrics and consider a mix of real-world service KPI reports.

Let’s get started.

What Is a Help Desk KPI?

A help desk KPI (or service desk KPI) is a performance metric centered on your business’s customer service and support activities. These KPIs include first response times, issue resolution rates, satisfaction levels, and other important consumer-facing metrics.

As the saying goes, what gets measured can be improved. Your customer support operations are no exception.

By gaining this level of insight, it’s possible to spot trends, capitalize on strengths, identify weaknesses, and become more cohesive, consistent, successful, and intelligent as an organization.

As mentioned, customer experience is pivotal to commercial success and evolution in the digital age, and by working with help desk metrics and online data visualization , you stand to push yourself ahead of the pack, one insight at a time.

A service desk KPI drills down into the areas relating to clients' issues and requests from various forms of media, including phone, web chat, or email. These operational metrics measure the success of your operations. For a help desk to remain successful, communication is key .

A help desk's primary role is to ensure that end-users (clients, consumers, and business partners) receive appropriate help with their issues, requests, and questions in a smooth, timely manner.

Service desk reporting metrics and key performance indicators are designed to assist in the continued growth, success, and improvement of your business’s consumer-facing efforts. Help desk metrics will enable you to make every one of your customer support touchpoints the best they can be.

Why Are Help Desk & Service Desk KPIs Important?

Service desk metrics and key performance indicators are incredibly powerful and will allow you to improve your business, encouraging loyalty and boosting your bottom line in the process.

Without benchmarking your performance effectively while setting targets and giving your data direction, you will only ever reach half of your business’s support potential.

In addition to these clear-cut benefits of using service desk KPIs, here are a few other reasons why tracking these metrics is vital to the ongoing success of your business:

• Clarity: You’ll gain a clear understanding of where you need to focus your efforts to improve your service performance. For instance, if some of your agents are underperforming, you’ll be able to gain a deeper understanding of why that is and be ready to take the right approach by offering training, support, and motivation. This, in turn, will boost your customer satisfaction metrics .
• Accountability: A KPI for service desk will help make people more accountable for their performance, responsibilities, and duties in several key client-facing areas. If the data is presented in a clear, digestible format, such as a customer service report , the proof will indeed be in the pudding. This means that everyone in your business must accept accountability for their actions, making your organization stronger and more productive. Being accountable for one’s actions usually boosts engagement. If you use data to help your staff become more accountable, you can provide them with more autonomy, further driving their performance.
• Engagement: By obtaining access to a panoramic snapshot of your business’s entire support processes, you’ll be able to make vital improvements to your service levels, consumer touchpoints, content, and communications. In doing so, you stand to significantly improve your engagement levels, positively impacting your brand authority and overall consumer-facing performance levels.
• Loyalty: In this context, KPI-driven loyalty works on two levels: customer loyalty and staff loyalty. Simply put, if your support staff are happy, motivated, and engaged, they will be more loyal and perform better, and if your customers are satisfied with the assistance you offer them, your chances of repeat will improve exponentially.
• Innovation: Service desk KPI reports offer a level of vision and data-driven insight that will empower you to streamline all of your consumer support processes sustainably. By utilizing an online reporting tool , you will ensure maximum efficiency and become more adaptable to change while gaining time to focus on creative initiatives. In turn, help desk KPI metrics will improve your brand reputation while pushing you ahead of the pack.

"A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well." – Jeff Bezos

Top 20 Help Desk KPI Examples

Help desk roles and software are constantly evolving, especially in the current climate of using chatbots as a tool for service desks. Not only are your human employees fielding calls and resolving issues, but your technology is working on autopilot to do the same. It’s more important than ever to re-evaluate your help desk support metrics to ensure you’re delivering on key goals and objectives.

Now that we've established the power and business-enhancing potential of these metrics, it's time to explore some real-life examples. These are the help desk KPIs you need to track for the best possible customer data management and service-driven business performance.

Here, we look at 20 top metrics to help you consistently meet your buyer's needs, exceed expectations, and skyrocket your brand reputation.

1. Tickets by status

A must-have metric in our service desk KPI examples, tickets by status offers a clear-cut insight into the number of support tickets your business receives as well as the corresponding ticket status.

By monitoring your customer inquiry ticket statuses (new, open, pending, on-hold, solved, closed) on a regular basis, you’ll be able to track the overall performance and responsiveness of your customer service operations, giving you the opportunity to make vital improvements while offering the kind of internal assistance that will significantly boost your consumer satisfaction levels.

2. First response time

Your first response time (FRT) is essential as it measures the mean time between the receipt of a consumer inquiry to the initial communication made by an agent.

This help desk template has a significant impact on satisfaction and loyalty, so keeping your FRT as low as possible should be one of your business’s main consumer-facing priorities. This indicator will help you keep a visual log of your FRT over time, presenting a prime opportunity to consistently enhance your support strategy.

3. Top service agents

Disengaged team members cost companies worldwide up to $8.8 trillion in lost productivity. As mentioned earlier, supporting, engaging, and motivating your employees is integral to your organization’s ongoing service success.

Presented in a leaderboard format, the top-performing agents' indicator offers a swift snapshot of the performance of individual members of your customer support team, allowing you to celebrate positive achievements, help those who need extra training, and as a result – make your service department the best it can possibly be.

4. Net Promoter Score

Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) is one of your most invaluable customer service metrics as it drills down into the likelihood of your consumers recommending your service to others. And as you might be aware, today’s consumers value the opinions of their peers above all else.

With this must-track service desk KPI, you can examine your number of ‘Promoters,’ ‘Passives,’ and ‘Detractors,’ look at your overall NPS score, and build strategies based on improving this metric, thus optimizing the overall performance of your customer service department.

NPS is an essential client-centric performance indicator that will help you preserve your brand reputation and ensure your business continues to adapt to meet the ever-changing needs of your consumers – a help desk metrics industry standard.

5. Utilization rate

One of the cornerstones of productive, cohesive, and attentive customer support is ensuring that every team member is working to their full potential. In addition to keeping your agents engaged and motivated, utilizing their strengths or reaching their productivity potential will transform your service offerings from basic to exceptional.

Also known as occupancy rate, this metric will help you monitor your whole support team’s workload with razor-sharp accuracy while drilling down into the output of individual staff members.

Presented in an accessible bar chart format, our utilization rate metric will give you a clear snapshot of what percentage of time your team spends on genuine support-centric tasks. If you spot a lag in utilization or support output, you can get to the root of the issue swiftly, providing training or updating your strategy where necessary.

6. Customer satisfaction

Regarding consumer support, here’s the bottom line: if your customers are unsatisfied with your service, you are doing something wrong, and you need to fix it.

Our customer satisfaction indicator is particularly effective as it offers an at-a-glance overview of your customer’s overall satisfaction levels over a specific time frame.

Based on the customer satisfaction score (CSAT) metric, which is typically measured on a 1-5 scale, you can use this most essential of service desk performance metrics to gauge how your customers perceive your approach. This metric works most effectively alongside net promoter score (NPS) insights.

7. First contact resolution rate

A key component of any help desk metrics dashboard, your first contact resolution rate (FCR) shows the percentage of tickets that your team resolves at the initial point of contact.

With so many channels and touchpoints to manage in the digital age, resolving your customers’ issues with as few steps or follow-ups as possible will significantly improve your efficiency and satisfaction levels.

By being able to easily analyze your FCR based on different queries or issues, you can spot emerging trends and create informed strategies to increase your first contact success consistently.

8. Tickets by type

Knowing the nature of your ticket types and customer requests is essential to the ongoing success and development of your business’s support offerings.

As one of our most useful service desk performance metrics, tickets by type provide a digestible visual snapshot of the main requests your agents deal with over a set period.

Request types and the nature of queries differ from business to business according to size, model, and sector. Still, by periodically tracking this KPI for helpdesk success, you will get an accurate overview of your most prominent query types, allowing you to prepare resources or strategies accordingly. In turn, this will increase output, improve your service levels, and, ultimately, increase loyalty.

9. Tickets by channel

There is seemingly an infinite number of channels and touchpoints to manage in the digital age. By getting a solid grasp on every one of your main support channels, you will ensure the support you offer is personable, extensive, and fit for the modern age.

As one of our top help desk metrics, ticket by channel is a swift and effective way of understanding where the main source of your support queries comes from. It gives you a panoramic overview of how to distribute your efforts.

Using this digestible bar graph-style metric as a working guide, you can instantly see where the bulk of your tickets come from. You can then drill down further into each channel (allocating time and effort according to engagement levels) using a mix of the metrics discussed above – in particular, first response time and satisfaction levels.

By analyzing each channel, you can iron out any potential issues or inefficiencies and ensure a consistently high level of service across the board. This will accelerate the growth and success of your business.

10. Average resolution time

Next in our rundown of top help desk metrics and KPIs is average resolution time, also known as full resolution time.

Generated with a professional KPI tool , this vital visualization will give you an accurate gauge of how long it takes for a request or query to reach a resolution from the time it’s raised, excluding non-operational or non-business hours. The quicker an agent can successfully wrap up a request, the better. So, if you notice a lag in your mean resolution time, you can get to the heart of the issue and improve your processes (or provide training where it’s needed). 

11. Cost per ticket

Cost per ticket is an essential service desk dashboard metric that will show you how much budget it takes, on average, to resolve a request.

By benchmarking this metric regularly, you will paint a vivid picture of your support agents and processes' efficiency while understanding which resources you use most to get the job done. Armed with this information, you can nip any issues in the bud while creating more cost-effective yet fluid processes across the board.

12. Repeat visits

The reason the repeated visits are so important is simple: if a customer or client keeps on finding their way to your service desk, it’s clear that their queries aren’t being resolved or their questions aren’t being answered.

If you find that your repeat visits are on the rise, you can take immediate action and put measures in place to improve your support resolution success rates. You might discover, for instance, that you need to provide more personalized training to your agents or that you need to make your communications more succinct. Whatever you uncover, your repeat visits metric will help you meet customer requests far more consistently.

13. Customer churn

In our hyper-connected digital age, a customer can connect with a competitor or cancel a subscription with the swipe of a screen or the click of a button.

That said, to reduce your churn rates and improve retention, tracking a metric like customer churn is vital. When you track this key performance indicator regularly, your support agents and decision-makers will gain the information they need to understand where to place their service efforts while sharing content or communications that result in customer loyalty. This is essential in today’s cutthroat business environment (especially when you consider that retaining existing customers is more financially effective than attracting new ones).

14. Quality rate

To reach or exceed your performance goals, quality is key—and that’s what this most dynamic of service desk KPIs is all about.

Based on the overall success and perception of your support center’s service, this dynamic metric will present trends, patterns, or numbers based on customer feedback. By asking them to rate the quality of their communications with your agents, you will quickly discover whether you’re consistently meeting your customers’ needs while maintaining a positive brand reputation.

If you do notice any discrepancies in your quality rates, you can act quickly and precisely before the issue snowballs.

15. Average answer time

The average answer time quantifies the speed at which a support agent answers a call from when it’s activated in the system.

Broken down into digestible parameters based on seconds, this useful metric will paint a clear picture of your call system’s overall efficiency. If you notice a number of bounced calls or a trend in long answer or transfer times, you will have the information required to tweak your staffing strategy or provide on-call training to help your agents resolve queries with greater efficiency and ensure your call handling strategy is flowing, reducing answer times and boosting customer satisfaction in the process.

16. Chatbot engagement rate

In order for your service desk chatbots to deliver any real value to your bottom line—and your customers’ lives—customers need to engage with them. The chatbot engagement rate metric can tell about its perceived value and accessibility to customers.

Low engagement rates could indicate your customers don’t know the chatbot exists, or they may otherwise struggle to access it. A high engagement rate indicates the opposite; it shows people actively use this tool to resolve concerns. In the above example, we see that the bot handled 72% of all requests, but only about 11% of them were resolved by the bot. This could indicate a need to retrain your chatbots or review the resolution journey.

17. Digital assistant NPS

Chatbots affect your Net Promoter Score just as much as your human employees. After an interaction, regardless of how it’s handled, your customers must decide whether they will recommend you to others. With this help desk KPI, you can determine how your digital assistants contribute to customer satisfaction.

In this example, we can track whether customers are satisfied with the bot’s assistance by asking them to provide a rating or feedback after their interaction. A high NPS indicates customers enjoy using the chatbot to resolve issues or questions; a low NPS indicates the opposite. Gain greater context by analyzing specific responses and interactions with the bot and comparing them to NPS scores.

18. Chatbot referral rate

There are some issues or queries your helpdesk chatbot might be unable to handle. Maybe the question is complex or hasn’t been trained on certain scenarios. Either way, it’s good to know how often your chatbots need to escalate a customer to a human assistant, which is what the chatbot referral rate measures.

Ideally, your chatbot will handle as many queries as possible on its own. The more it facilitates, the less demand on your human staff members. This metric tracks the percentage of interactions where an agent gets involved, allowing you to gauge and improve the chatbot’s capacity and effectiveness.

19. Digital assistant resolution rate

Similar to tracking the involvement of helpdesk agents in chatbot interactions, businesses should also track the percentage of cases the chatbot resolves over time. This metric considers how well the bot resolves customer inquiries as it learns more information.

Initially, your chatbot might not be as effective in resolving customer queries. But over time, businesses can learn more about the interactions the bot handles and provide it with adequate resources to serve customers. In this example, we see the bot has a low-resolution rate and a high number of unresolved cases. This could mean the bot isn’t qualified to assist users or that the queries are too complicated for the bot to interpret.

20. Article suggestions CTR

One of the simplest ways for bots to assist customers is to direct them to pre-made resources that can answer their questions. This usually happens in the form of articles published in a knowledge base, and tracking the number of click-throughs to these articles can indicate the bot’s effectiveness at providing the right resources to the right customers.

Companies must feel certain the bot recommends helpful content to its customers. Tracking this help desk metric helps companies understand if users find the resources valuable. In the above example, we see that 40% (approximately half) of users clicked an article suggested by the bot.

Here is a summary of the top 20 service desk metrics examples we discussed in detail:

• Tickets by status
• First response time
• Top support agents
• Net promoter score
• Utilization rate
• Customer satisfaction
• First contact resolution rate
• Tickets by type
• Tickets by channel
• Average resolution time
• Cost per ticket
• Repeat visits
• Customer churn
• Quality rate
• Average answer time
• Chatbot engagement rate
• Digital assistant NPS
• Chatbot referral rate
• Digital assistant resolution rate
• Article suggestions CTR

Bringing It All Together With Help Desk Dashboards

We’ve established how invaluable working with the right help desk metrics dashboard is. Now, we will explore three Zendesk dashboard examples that bring it all together.

1. Daily Operational Dashboard

**click to enlarge**

Primary KPIs:

• Tickets & Ticket-Status
• First Response Time (FRT)
• Average Resolution Time

To streamline your daily customer support processes, working with an interactive and customizable visual digital dashboard is the way forward – and this particular platform is just the ticket!

Our daily operations platform houses a cohesive mix of service desk KPI examples designed to offer complete logistical transparency while empowering customer service executives to make confident data-driven decisions based on all of your business’s key support areas.

In this example, the tickets & ticket status, first response time, and average resolve time work together in visual harmony to create a centralized customer support nerve center.

When it comes to the everyday operations of your customer service department, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Customers have more contact points at their disposal than ever before. If you want to manage those touchpoints well, having the right Zendesk KPIs in one central location is the way to ensure success.

With invaluable data on first contact resolution and average resolution time, as well as key insights on the status of your tickets and the performance of your agents, a powerful BI dashboard software will enable you to create a modern dashboard that offers all of the tools to squeeze maximum efficiency from your department while solving your consumers’ issues faster and more effectively.

2. Talk Dashboard

The next of our essential daily help desk dashboard examples comes as a talk-based online dashboard divided into four key areas. 

• Answer Time
• Leg Talk Time
• Unsuccessful Inbound Calls
• Quality Rate

This highly focused informational hub drills down into metrics relating to support agent call performance based on a mix of relevant factors, such as agent activity, inbound call success (including unsuccessful calls) and efficiency, and overall quality.

A melting pot of operational and performance-based information, this well-arranged business dashboard provides dynamic real-time insights, at-a-glance data, and metrics that build a profile of future support strategy or performance.

Built with a modern BI dashboard software for swift, informed decision-making as well as continual call quality and efficiency improvements, this example allows you to connect with all of the information you need to not only make your call or contact center financially efficient but also become more productive, more responsive, and better equipped to meet your customers’ ever-changing queries, needs, and requests.

If you want to improve your brand reputation and boost your customer satisfaction rates sustainably, this is the daily operational support desk dashboard you need at your disposal. 

If you get a solid handle on your daily operations, you will see significant improvements in satisfaction and service levels. This will have a profoundly positive impact on the growth of your business.

3. Digital Assistant Dashboard

Our last essential daily help desk dashboard example focuses on the digital assistant (or chatbot) role, which works quietly in the background to solve customer queries.

• Engagement with Digital Assistant
• NPS Interaction with Bot
• Requests by Topic, Channel, and Platform
• Requests Development and Resolution Rate

Rather than looking at your entire call center or support team, this dashboard gives you specific insights into your digital assistant performance. Because human agents do not always need to get involved in these interactions, it’s important to know how many interactions your chatbots are handling and the degree of effectiveness they produce.

The digital assistant dashboard starts with a basic overview of engagements with the chatbot, including the total number of users, total number of requests, percentage of interactions with article suggestions, article click-through rate, and resolution rate. This gives organizations a basic idea of the user journey and their chatbot’s effectiveness—a low-resolution rate indicates the chatbot is ineffective at resolving customers’ needs.

You can break down these metrics into more detailed sections to extract deeper insights. For example, we can see that the bot solved 11% of the requests but 44% were transferred to an agent. This doesn’t mean that only 11% of requests were resolved; it simply means that 44% of requests may have been too complex for a bot to handle without human assistance. Then, look deeper into these interactions and compare them to the request by topic chart to learn more about what customers need and how to resolve those issues.

Help Desk KPI Metrics Best Practices

Now that you’ve seen our best service desk dashboard examples and understand the business-boosting power of help desk KPI metrics, let’s look at the best practices—concepts, and considerations that will allow you to get the most from your data.

1. Focus on your existing processes

When working with help desk key performance indicators, many business decision-makers immediately look at metrics based on creating brand-new processes or strategies.

While service desk metrics can indeed assist you in formulating new strategies, one of the most important best practices to consider is to start with your existing processes. By looking at your existing functions or processes, you will focus on what needs measurement or improvement before moving on to new initiatives.

For example, rather than using your help desk KPIs to set up a completely reworked online customer inquiry journey, you should begin by using your metrics to focus on response time and support tickets by channel to improve your call handling efficiency and customer resolution rates across every touchpoint.

Once you’ve tackled your existing roadblocks and processes, you will have solid foundations for tackling new processes or strategies, maximizing the value of your data in the process.

2. Roll out your help desk metrics dashboard at a steady pace

Whether you’re looking to work with one service desk metrics template or several, your ultimate success will depend on how you roll everything out.

By taking a consistent yet gradual approach, you will have time to train all of your support agents on the software and metrics that will improve their day-to-day duties while integrating any current platform data from other sources with care.

When it comes to customer support, experience, and service, data counts. If you have access to all relevant data from one central reporting dashboard and all of your support agents understand how to use your service desk reporting metrics, you will optimize your service initiatives across the board without any costly mistakes or hiccups.

3. Offer your customers genuine value

Ultimately, these metrics exist to ensure you can meet your customers’ needs head-on and offer them a deep level of personal value—not just as a one-off but on a consistent basis.

That said, to ensure your help desk KPI dashboard is always optimized for success, you should check in with your customers regularly. By asking your customer base how you can improve your support interactions and services, you will gain an informed understanding of the service desk metrics and key performance indicators that will help you make your communications and strategies the best they can be.

Starting the conversation will also help you build a rapport with your customers and give your future communications a definitive direction. For instance, by incentivizing your customers to leave feedback via email, you can gather intelligence that will help you refine your support KPI selections while opening up an opportunity to send over valuable content, deal offers, or product recommendations to cement customer loyalty.

4. Regularly review your help desk support metrics

The metrics you choose to measure today have a purpose. But over time, you may find that other metrics can better address your needs or uncover new insights. The only way to know for sure—and also the whole point of tracking these metrics is to regularly review and analyze your data.

Set a regular schedule for analyzing help desk performance metrics. It could be daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the nature of your business and the metrics being tracked. Analyze trends over different time periods (week over week, month over month, year over year) to understand seasonal fluctuations, identify improvement or decline patterns, and make informed decisions based on long-term data.

Regular help desk analysis serves two purposes:

First, it ensures you’re extracting the most value from your data. You can apply your findings to improve outcomes at the help desk, which will ultimately have an impact on customer satisfaction and your overall bottom line.

And second, it ensures you capture the right information to drive better business outcomes. Using a help desk metrics template can show you the KPIs you’re tracking at a glance. By continuing to capture useful data, you can empower your support teams and the business to provide great customer experiences.

5. Create new resources according to customer requests by topic

One of the most valuable benefits of tracking help desk metrics is to surface insights related to why customers contact you. Maybe they have a question or need you to troubleshoot a product, for example. Whatever the case, the metrics you review can tell about your customers’ experiences. 

By learning more about their chief concerns, you can position your employees (and your chatbots) to solve problems during the initial contact by providing helpful resources tailored to their needs. These resources encourage autonomy among support agents to make decisions within certain redefined boundaries. This empowers them to resolve issues faster without constantly seeking approval, improving customer satisfaction. 

If you’re using chatbots in your help desk operations, the chatbot can provide these self-help resources to customers and get the fastest resolution possible.

6. Dig deeper into your helpdesk dashboard to gain context into your metrics

Tracking metrics on the surface level via dashboards can offer quick insights into your help desk operations. But the story doesn’t end there. Ideally, your live dashboard can provide a jumping-off point for further investigations into cases your employees or chatbots are handling, which can lead to more insights about how to help customers and improve NPS scores.

Instead of just looking at surface-level numbers, perform deeper help desk analysis to identify underlying issues causing repeated problems. This involves investigating the reasons behind trends or recurring patterns in metrics. As you surface insights and make changes to your approach, document successful strategies or solutions and share them across the team. Creating a repository of best practices and resources allows everyone to learn from successful approaches.

7. Implement continuous improvement

No help desk is ever set in stone. With evolving technologies and shifting customer expectations, your help desk must remain open to these changes to serve your customers well over time. 

Encourage a culture where every team member suggests, tests, and implements improvements to processes and workflows. Encourage experimentation with new approaches or technologies. Collect feedback from customers and the team to understand the impact of these changes, iterating and refining based on results. Highlight successes and improvements resulting from efforts to enhance support operations. Celebrating achievements motivates the team and reinforces a culture of continuous improvement.

Start Your Help Desk Analysis Journey Today!

“Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Customers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don’t catch up, we’re in trouble.” – Ian Schafer

You should never underestimate or undervalue the power of exceptional customer support in the modern age. Your ability to resolve your customers’ issues efficiently while remaining empathetic and personable across all channels and touchpoints will dictate the ongoing success of your business.

Your customer service department is the beating heart of your business – a fact that you cannot afford to ignore. By working with the right mix of KPI examples for service desk activities and embracing the power of a modern support desk metrics dashboard and online business intelligence software , you’ll grow your business in ways you never thought possible.

Take a data-driven approach to your customer support strategy, and you will boost your brand authority, increase consumer retention and loyalty, and see your bottom line grow year after year.

Track these service desk KPI examples today, and you will improve your business’s performance across the board. Now is the time to strike.

Are you ready to take your customer support strategy to the next level? For more insight into how our powerful help desk metrics examples can improve your business and help you on your journey, start your datapine 14-day free trial today.

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Help Desk Process PowerPoint Presentation

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The Help Desk Process PowerPoint Presentation is a comprehensive and professional deck designed to help organizations streamline their customer support services. This visually appealing presentation template covers all aspects of help desk processes, from ticket management to resolving customer queries efficiently.

This PowerPoint presentation is filled with high-quality graphics, diagrams, and charts that will help you effectively communicate the key steps involved in a help desk process. Whether you are looking to train your team on best practices or showcase your help desk procedures to clients, this template has got you covered.

Features: 1. Fully Editable Slides: Customize the content, color scheme, and design elements to suit your brand and messaging. The fully editable slides allow you to tailor the presentation to your specific needs.

2. Easy-to-Use Templates: The pre-designed templates make it easy for you to create professional-looking slides in minutes. Simply add your content and let the templates do the rest.

3. Comprehensive Coverage: From ticket creation to ticket resolution, this presentation covers all the essential aspects of a help desk process. Your audience will gain a complete understanding of the workflow and the importance of each step.

4. Visual Appeal: Engage your audience with stunning visuals that capture their attention and make complex concepts easy to understand. The graphics and charts included in this template will help you deliver your message effectively.

5. Professional Design: Impress your audience with a sleek and modern design that reflects your organization’s commitment to excellence. The Help Desk Process PowerPoint Presentation is designed to make a lasting impact on your audience.

Overall, this PowerPoint presentation is a must-have for any organization looking to improve its help desk processes and customer support services. With its fully editable templates and professional design, you can confidently present your help desk procedures to stakeholders, team members, or clients with ease. Elevate your presentations with the Help Desk Process PowerPoint Presentation and take your customer support services to the next level.

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What Are Effective Presentation Skills (and How to Improve Them)

Presentation skills are essential for your personal and professional life. Learn about effective presentations and how to boost your presenting techniques.

At least seven out of 10 Americans agree that presentation skills are essential for a successful career [ 1 ]. Although it might be tempting to think that these are skills reserved for people interested in public speaking roles, they're critical in a diverse range of jobs. For example, you might need to brief your supervisor on research results.

Presentation skills are also essential in other scenarios, including working with a team and explaining your thought process, walking clients through project ideas and timelines, and highlighting your strengths and achievements to your manager during performance reviews.

Whatever the scenario, you have very little time to capture your audience’s attention and get your point across when presenting information—about three seconds, according to research [ 2 ]. Effective presentation skills help you get your point across and connect with the people you’re communicating with, which is why nearly every employer requires them.

Understanding what presentation skills are is only half the battle. Honing your presenting techniques is essential for mastering presentations of all kinds and in all settings.

What are presentation skills?

Presentation skills are the abilities and qualities necessary for creating and delivering a compelling presentation that effectively communicates information and ideas. They encompass what you say, how you structure it, and the materials you include to support what you say, such as slides, videos, or images.

You'll make presentations at various times in your life. Examples include:

Making speeches at a wedding, conference, or another event

Making a toast at a dinner or event

Explaining projects to a team 

Delivering results and findings to management teams

Teaching people specific methods or information

Proposing a vote at community group meetings

Pitching a new idea or business to potential partners or investors

Why are presentation skills important? 

Delivering effective presentations is critical in your professional and personal life. You’ll need to hone your presentation skills in various areas, such as when giving a speech, convincing your partner to make a substantial purchase, and talking to friends and family about an important situation.

No matter if you’re using them in a personal or professional setting, these are the skills that make it easier and more effective to convey your ideas, convince or persuade others, and experience success. A few of the benefits that often accompany improving your presentation skills include:

Enriched written and verbal communication skills

Enhanced confidence and self-image

Boosted critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities

Better motivational techniques

Increased leadership skills

Expanded time management, negotiation, and creativity

The better your presenting techniques, the more engaging your presentations will be. You could also have greater opportunities to make positive impacts in business and other areas of your life.

Effective presentation skills

Imagine yourself in the audience at a TED Talk or sitting with your coworkers at a big meeting held by your employer. What would you be looking for in how they deliver their message? What would make you feel engaged?

These are a few questions to ask yourself as you review this list of some of the most effective presentation skills.

Verbal communication

How you use language and deliver messages play essential roles in how your audience will receive your presentation. Speak clearly and confidently, projecting your voice enough to ensure everyone can hear. Think before you speak, pausing when necessary and tailoring the way you talk to resonate with your particular audience.

Body language

Body language combines various critical elements, including posture, gestures, eye contact, expressions, and position in front of the audience. Body language is one of the elements that can instantly transform a presentation that would otherwise be dull into one that's dynamic and interesting.

Voice projection

The ability to project your voice improves your presentation by allowing your audience to hear what you're saying. It also increases your confidence to help settle any lingering nerves while also making your message more engaging. To project your voice, stand comfortably with your shoulders back. Take deep breaths to power your speaking voice and ensure you enunciate every syllable you speak.

How you present yourself plays a role in your body language and ability to project your voice. It also sets the tone for the presentation. Avoid slouching or looking overly tense. Instead, remain open, upright, and adaptable while taking the formality of the occasion into account.

Storytelling

Incorporating storytelling into a presentation is an effective strategy used by many powerful public speakers. It has the power to bring your subject to life and pique the audience’s curiosity. Don’t be afraid to tell a personal story, slowly building up suspense or adding a dramatic moment. And, of course, be sure to end with a positive takeaway to drive your point home.

Active listening

Active listening is a valuable skill all on its own. When you understand and thoughtfully respond to what you hear—whether it's in a conversation or during a presentation—you’ll likely deepen your personal relationships and actively engage audiences during a presentation. As part of your presentation skill set, it helps catch and maintain the audience’s attention, helping them remain focused while minimizing passive response, ensuring the message is delivered correctly, and encouraging a call to action.

Stage presence

During a presentation, projecting confidence can help keep your audience engaged. Stage presence can help you connect with your audience and encourage them to want to watch you. To improve your presence, try amping up your normal demeanor by infusing it with a bit of enthusiasm. Project confidence and keep your information interesting.

Watch your audience as you’re presenting. If you’re holding their attention, it likely means you’re connecting well with them.

Self-awareness

Monitoring your own emotions and reactions will allow you to react well in various situations. It helps you remain personable throughout your presentation and handle feedback well. Self-awareness can help soothe nervousness during presentations, allowing you to perform more effectively.

Writing skills

Writing is a form of presentation. Sharp writing skills can help you master your presentation’s outline to ensure you stay on message and remain clear about your objectives from the beginning until the end. It’s also helpful to have strong writing abilities for creating compelling slides and other visual aids.

Understanding an audience

When you understand your audience's needs and interests, you can design your presentation around them. In turn, you'll deliver maximum value to them and enhance your ability to make your message easy to understand.

Learn more about presentation skills from industry experts at SAP:

How to improve presentation skills

There’s an art to public speaking. Just like any other type of art, this is one that requires practice. Improving your presentation skills will help reduce miscommunications, enhance your time management capabilities, and boost your leadership skills. Here are some ways you can improve these skills:

Work on self-confidence.

When you’re confident, you naturally speak more clearly and with more authority. Taking the time to prepare your presentation with a strong opening and compelling visual aids can help you feel more confident. Other ways to improve your self-confidence include practicing positive self-talk, surrounding yourself with positive people, and avoiding comparing yourself (or your presentation) to others.

Develop strategies for overcoming fear.

Many people are nervous or fearful before giving a presentation. A bad memory of a past performance or insufficient self-confidence can contribute to fear and anxiety. Having a few go-to strategies like deep breathing, practicing your presentation, and grounding can help you transform that fear into extra energy to put into your stage presence.

Learn grounding techniques.

Grounding is any type of technique that helps you steer your focus away from distressing thoughts and keeps you connected with your present self. To ground yourself, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and imagine you’re a large, mature tree with roots extending deep into the earth—like the tree, you can become unshakable.

Learn how to use presentation tools.

Visual aids and other technical support can transform an otherwise good presentation into a wow-worthy one. A few popular presentation tools include:

Canva: Provides easy-to-design templates you can customize

Powtoon: Animation software that makes video creation fast and easy

PowerPoint: Microsoft's iconic program popular for dynamic marketing and sales presentations

Practice breathing techniques.

Breathing techniques can help quell anxiety, making it easier to shake off pre-presentation jitters and nerves. It also helps relax your muscles and get more oxygen to your brain.  For some pre-presentation calmness, you can take deep breaths, slowly inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

While presenting, breathe in through your mouth with the back of your tongue relaxed so your audience doesn't hear a gasping sound. Speak on your exhalation, maintaining a smooth voice.

Gain experience.

The more you practice, the better you’ll become. The more you doanything, the more comfortable you’ll feel engaging in that activity. Presentations are no different. Repeatedly practicing your own presentation also offers the opportunity to get feedback from other people and tweak your style and content as needed.

Tips to help you ace your presentation

Your presentation isn’t about you; it’s about the material you’re presenting. Sometimes, reminding yourself of this ahead of taking center stage can help take you out of your head, allowing you to connect effectively with your audience. The following are some of the many actions you can take on the day of your presentation.

Arrive early.

Since you may have a bit of presentation-related anxiety, it’s important to avoid adding travel stress. Give yourself an abundance of time to arrive at your destination, and take into account heavy traffic and other unforeseen events. By arriving early, you also give yourself time to meet with any on-site technicians, test your equipment, and connect with people ahead of the presentation.

Become familiar with the layout of the room.

Arriving early also gives you time to assess the room and figure out where you want to stand. Experiment with the acoustics to determine how loudly you need to project your voice, and test your equipment to make sure everything connects and appears properly with the available setup. This is an excellent opportunity to work out any last-minute concerns and move around to familiarize yourself with the setting for improved stage presence.

Listen to presenters ahead of you.

When you watch others present, you'll get a feel for the room's acoustics and lighting. You can also listen for any data that’s relevant to your presentation and revisit it during your presentation—this can make the presentation more interactive and engaging.

Use note cards.

Writing yourself a script could provide you with more comfort. To prevent sounding too robotic or disengaged, only include talking points in your note cards in case you get off track. Using note cards can help keep your presentation organized while sounding more authentic to your audience.

Learn to deliver clear and confident presentations with Dynamic Public Speaking from the University of Washington. Build confidence, develop new delivery techniques, and practice strategies for crafting compelling presentations for different purposes, occasions, and audiences.

Article sources

Forbes. “ New Survey: 70% Say Presentation Skills are Critical for Career Success , https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2014/09/25/new-survey-70-percent-say-presentation-skills-critical-for-career-success/?sh=619f3ff78890.” Accessed December 7, 2022.

Beautiful.ai. “ 15 Presentation and Public Speaking Stats You Need to Know , https://www.beautiful.ai/blog/15-presentation-and-public-speaking-stats-you-need-to-know. Accessed December 7, 2022.

Keep reading

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This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

6 steps to creating an effective presentation or slide deck

Creating powerful presentations and supporting documents for clients is the heart and soul of everything we do at Presentation Studio. As part of this, we see the good, the bad and the downright ugly !

One of the most common mistakes people make is to confuse a presentation and a report. Quite often, they’ll try and present a report.

Difference between a presentation and report

A presentation  includes carefully constructed and designed slides that support what a speaker is presenting. So, like a billboard on a highway, you should be able to digest the content on each slide within a few seconds without causing a pileup of information.

Visuals, keywords, infographics and diagrams are used to explain or create an emotional connection with your audience, so you can help them remember your key points.

A  report  or slide deck , on the other hand, can be used as a stand-alone document that you handout before or after you present.

Slide decks are great when you have more information than you can put on screen. Like a magazine, they can be read on their own and don’t need the speaker to talk through them – in fact, that would make understanding them worse as you can’t read lots of information and listen at the same time.

You can do both in most presentation software, but a presentation and a slide deck have different purposes. Ideally, you would present and then follow up your presentation with a report/slide deck of the supporting information.

To help show the difference between the two, let’s look at how you might take a large chunk of text from a word document (like above) and turn it into a handout and then an effective presentation.

HANDOUT TOOL [REPORT] 

Step 1: Convert text into multiple columns

The human eye finds narrow columns easier to read than full-width pages. That is why newspapers and magazines split the information up with visuals and columns, and graphic designers use grid layouts when setting copy pages.

So your first step would be to convert blocks of text into multiple columns that automatically adjust. This makes it easier for your audience to scan read.

Step 2: Contrast fonts and font size to emphasize points

To help the ‘readability’ of your information, make the titles bold, use line spacing to tighten up blocks of text that are related to each other. You might also look at highlight quotes in different colors, fonts or font sizes, and add in bullet points where you can.

This makes the information far more natural to scan and digest. That’s a perfect handout for before or after you present.

PRESENTATION 

Step 3: Cut the clutter 

Once this is done, you can start thinking about thinking your text into a presentation. It’s more important than ever to cut out all the clutter from your presentation. What gets left out of your presentation is more important than what goes in.

Some of us are apparently better at this than others. Many of us believe that sharing everything and blinding our audience with data is the best way to create a connection – that couldn’t be further from the truth! This will only put the people you are trying to engage off and make them lose interest faster.

You need to identify the main points that your audience can act on and display these in a way that they can immediately understand. Strip out all the other background content.

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Step 4: Spread out your slides 

Step 5: Represent data as diagrams 

Step 6: Create visuals, icons and images 

Images create an emotional connection to what you are saying, which helps your audience remember it. Think of the meaning or the feeling you are trying to evoke and represent that. Avoid hand-shaking figures, smiling suited people, little vector people standing on arrows and graphs, and predictable and boring stock images that have been used a hundred times before. Cheesy stock photos have the opposite effect than the one you want – they turn your audience off. This is your chance to get creative! Using these visual references helps create clarity and a much stronger emotional connection with your audience. It’s these kinds of emotions and visuals that they will remember long after your presentation has ended.

Quick summary

Before your next presentation, the following will help you create a powerful and pleasing slide deck:

• Covert text-heavy information into multiple columns
• Contrast font and font sizes to emphasize points, highlight headings with color
• Reduce the clutter
• Spread out your slides
• Represent data as diagrams
• Create visuals, icons and images
• Use a PowerPoint theme to make your presentations visually uniform and consistent

About the author

As the founder and CEO of Presentation Studio, Emma leads the team to create presentations that are influential, memorable and successful. Emma and her team can help you stand out so that your audience understands your message. She can help your presentations have impact and influence. This means the right messages are more memorable for your audience. Emma achieves this through content writing, visual communication, and strong presentation delivery.

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How and why to use Microsoft Teams as a help desk

Being able to quickly deal with and resolve incoming issues is a hallmark trait of productive offices – creating a smooth help desk experience in Teams will level up your entire company.

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Using Microsoft Teams as a help desk allows employees to get support without leaving the app they already use to collaborate, chat, and make video calls. This makes the entire ticketing process much more efficient, from the initial report through the issue’s resolution.

How using Microsoft Teams as a help desk can benefit your business

If employees in your company use Microsoft Teams to communicate, asking them to switch to different software whenever an issue arises can be inconvenient. It requires spending time changing from one app to another, and often having to train the staff on how to use an additional piece of software. 

Why all that hassle when your help desk can live right within Microsoft Teams? If employees already use it to talk to each other, it makes sense to use it to raise issues there as well. And IT and Operations teams will get a queue of tickets they can organize, prioritize, and resolve, instead of a chaotic flow of requests coming in from different sources.

It’s ideal for organizations of any size

Microsoft Teams is used by small companies as well as organizations with tens of thousands of employees. Since Microsoft Teams is included in Office 365, millions of organizations have access to the tool, and tens of millions of users engage with it every day.

Companies of every size need a help desk to quickly resolve issues. If you’re a small company, setting up a help desk in Teams takes only a few minutes, and is a huge improvement over having employees ask questions in Teams with no tracking at all. If you’re a large organization, implementation still takes only a few days or weeks at most, and the resulting productivity improvements across the company are significant. 

It just works – no training required

If your organization already uses Teams, employees will intuitively understand the idea of opening a ticket there. If you’re just rolling out Teams, including a baked-in help desk means your employees will only have to learn one system instead of two. 

The same holds true for your IT and Operations teams; help desk admins using Microsoft Teams will feel right at home. They’ll also be able to resolve issues quickly, thanks to the context and knowledge accessible in Teams. 

It’s conversational and human

Internal help desk tickets are essentially conversations between coworkers. Unlike traditional customer support, in an internal help desk, there’s a much closer relationship between the end user and the support agent. Coworkers spend eight-plus hours a day working together for many years, often in the same office; a robotic help desk experience feels unnatural. 

That’s why Microsoft Teams is such a natural place to create and respond to a help desk ticket. It’s a free-flowing, conversational experience that highlights human communication. Messages include faces, emojis, and gifs, enabling a more personalized experience. Interacting with a help desk ticket in Teams ensures that employees feel like they’re talking to a coworker, rather than a nameless service agent. 

How Microsoft Teams can be used as a help desk

Halp brings help desk resolution directly into Microsoft Teams

Setting up a help desk in Microsoft Teams is simple – here are a few key steps you’ll need to take. 

Make it easy to create tickets from public channels and direct messages with a bot 

The most important piece of this puzzle is making it easy to create a ticket in Microsoft Teams. There are two primary places where this should happen.

• From a public channel, ideally named “#help-it,” “#help-security,” “#help-finance,” or something similar 
• In a direct message, using a bot 

If you want to get up and running quickly, Halp makes it easy to create tickets from channels as well as in direct messages. Alternatively, you could build your own custom bot. 

Quickly triage and assign tickets to the right person

Once you’ve made it easy to create a ticket in Teams, you’ll need a way to manage and delegate those requests. One elegant solution is to create a separate Team specifically for the agents in IT or Operations who are in charge of answering tickets.

Imagine a coworker contacts you via DM asking for help with the password reset for the CRM software. Then, someone else requests a new battery for her mouse in the #help-it channel. Each of these requests would route to one triage team, which can review and claim incoming tickets directly in Microsoft Teams. Also, once the ticket has been assigned, the responsible agent can ask for clarification without having to leave Teams.

Streamline your help desk workflow 

When the connection between your laptop and the screen isn’t working and you need to give an important presentation, you need help – fast. With Microsoft Teams, you can streamline theticketing system at both ends. Both the requester and the help desk agent will benefit from using Microsoft Teams and resolving the ticket where they’re already working.

‍Help desks in Microsoft Teams are efficient help desks

Being able to quickly deal with and resolve incoming issues is a hallmark trait of productive offices. Many times, however, help desk users have to switch back and forth between systems, which can cause delays.

Using Microsoft Teams as a help desk is a win-win because it improves the experience for both ticket requesters and agents. Requesters can open tickets where they are already working, and Agents have a simple queue that can be organized, ranked, resolved, and reported on.

No matter the size of your company, using Microsoft Teams as a help desk is a smart solution.  Use it to cut response time, better organize incoming requests, and answer common questions automatically.

Click below for more about using Microsoft Teams as a help desk with Halp.

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Service Desk Proposition Presentation

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More related content, what's hot, what's hot ( 20 ), similar to service desk proposition presentation, similar to service desk proposition presentation ( 20 ).

• 1. Service Desk & Support Services Alan McCarthy Pink Elephant EMEA Ltd Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 1
• 2. Our Value Proposition  To provide Service Desk Improvement Programmes, (rejuvenation/revitalisation) consulting led delivery: assess, improve, implement  Including provision of managed, flexible, motivated, intelligent Pink Elephant employees to supplement or replace current permanent, agency or contracted resources in Service Desk/Support. Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 2
• 3. Key Client Problems our Service is designed to Solve  Demotivated, under performing staff  Low first time fix rate  Service Desk „churn‟ - contract resource  Lack of knowledge transfer/management  Lack of process & process automation  Over resourced Service Desk  Lack of out of hours service  No/poor relationship with customer base  Poor Service Desk Leadership/Management  Lack of Career progression Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 3
• 4. Key Client Problems our Service is designed to Solve  Poor perception of Service Desk (from User Community)  Poor perception of IT Leadership (Reputation)  Poor perception of IT as a whole Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 4
• 5. Features & Benefits • Help clients to improve overall Service Desk service provision • Help move beyond just Incident Management • Look to continuously improve services • Management of staff: motivation / morale / rotation / training / leave/sickness • Assist with tool requirements identification (if required) • Assist with tool selection process (if required) • Assist with provision of resources for SD tool implementation / integration (if required) • Market leading education to support Career Path Development of Service Desk team Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 5
• 6. Features & Benefits Recruitment is a critical Mostly Graduates Good Technical skills / IT Literacy, but………. Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 6
• 7. Features & Benefits Induction Company Values ITSM Simulation ABC of ICT (Attitudes, Behaviour, Culture) ITIL Foundation Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 7
• 8. Features & Benefits Three Year Charter – An ITSM Apprenticeship Year 1 Induction – ITSM Simulation, ABC of ICT, ITIL Foundation SDI – Service Desk Analyst Technical and Communications Training as required Year 2 ITIL Intermediate – Operations, Support and Analysis PRINCE2 Foundation Technical and Communications Training as required Year 3 ITIL Intermediate – depending on role PRINCE2 Practitioner Technical and Communications Training as required Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 8
• 9. Features & Benefits Field Management Responsible for about 25 analysts Well being of on-site staff – Regular Appraisals through 1 to 1s Reduces vital „Management time‟ from Client Manager Responsible for performance, SLAs, and KPIs Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 9
• 10. Features & Benefits Staff Rotation Energy/Motivation/Drive 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% Months 0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 10
• 11. Features & Benefits Supernumerary 8+ staff Managed Service? – we give you 9 In-built contingency for sickness, holidays etc Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 11
• 12. Features & Benefits Knowledge Our people have access to a vast amount of knowledge ATLAS – hundreds of documents/ templates/ spreadsheets/ presentations etc, etc Back-up from the world‟s best Service Management Consultants Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 12
• 13. Features & Benefits Off-Shore Capability South Africa Based (+1hr Timezone) Great English - UK Graduates Entirety with on-site desk-side support Peaks & Troughs Ratio of 4:1-SA costs v UK Costs Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 13
• 14. What‟s in it for you? • Provision of analysts, team leaders and management level resources • Reduced Client Management Time • Reduced Cost – through better processes • Focused Improvement Programme • Experience & Skills • Supporting organisation – Access to Documentation repository (ATLAS) • Better Customer Satisfaction • Improved perception of IT • Improved relationships with key lines of business • Service Ethos – leading the way… Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 14
• 15. Pink Elephant‟s Values Charter Our Professional Values (WE WILL); • Be customer focussed (in mind and in all we do) • Be positive and supportive at all times • Take responsibility for delivery • Behave honestly and ethically • Be truthful and straightforward • Act with professional integrity • Use opportunities to educate and develop our customers • Share constructive feedback and seek continuous improvement • Be accountable for results • Demonstrate our commitment to our colleague‟s success Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 15
• 16. Pink Elephant‟s Values Charter Our Values Towards the Business (WE WILL); • Build proactive relationship with the business • Be tolerant of business and personal pressures • Seek to understand their, their priorities & needs • Focus on delivering value • Ensure we are accessible and quick to respond • Be empathetic – see things from their point of view • Not snipe or make critical comments behind their backs • Engage in joint problem solving • Give high quality, constructive tailored advice • Communicate on a regular basis • Share ideas, opportunities, knowledge and resources • Position our services proposition as a Strategic Asset • Be “one team” as a function Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 16
• 17. Pink Elephant‟s Values Charter Our Values Towards Each Other (WE WILL); • Convey mutual respect at all times – for human rights and individuality • Be polite, positive and professional • Handle our differences in a rational manner • Prevent discrimination and harassment • Share knowledge for the benefit of the whole team • Avoid blaming others, not shout at others or belittle them • Engage in mutual support when others are facing difficulty, pooling our skills and valuing teamwork Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 17
• 18. Our SD Service Offerings - Packaged Strategy • ABC Workshop • Leadership Development • Coaching & Mentoring CSI Vision • Metrics & Reporting • Measure & Review • Visioning Workshop • Communications Planning • Performance Monitoring • Governance & Control Assessment • SD Assessment (EFQM/SDI) Build • PinkSelect • Project Roll Out • PinkVerify • Recruitment, Induction • PinkReady • Team Building • PinkView Plan • Service Desk SIP • Resource Planning • Tool Roll Out Service Desk & Support Services © Pink Elephant, 2012. All Rights Reserved. 18

Editor's Notes

• Many of our Service Desk projects come from the need to improve service delivery, so can be preceded by Consulting – to rejuvenate or revitalise your Service Desk. We can provide Consulting which goes hand-in-hand with resources on the Service Desk to complement your own staff and assist with the improvement programme.Alternatively can provide the complete managed service, providing all staff required for the IT Support function. Including SD Analysts, Team Leaders, 2nd and 3rd Line Technical Support, Desk-side support, Network Analysts etc, Process Analysts and Managers – i.e. Problem/ Change Analyst and Problem/ Change Managers.Quote the TechData example. TechData called us in to talk about ITIL training for their Service Desk staff – however through the conversation, it wasn’t really a lack of understanding of ITSM that was the problem (although that was a requirement). All the staff were contractors from a number of different agencies. The agencies weren’t prepared to pay for training for them and TechData were also a bit reluctant. The agencies basically provided Techdata with a ‘body’ and weren’t interested what happened so long as they got their monthly fees. The SD staff felt abandoned, without any management or guidance from the agencies, without any career progression plans, and without any opportunities for further training. One or two were looking for other work. We offered a Managed Service solution where we employed all the SD staff – providing them with all the things they didn’t get from an agency.
• Why do organisations call us in?Go through all the above.Many projects come as a result of being called in to fix a ‘perceived’ training problem.
• How is IT Services perceived by your customers?More importantly how are YOU perceived by your customers.Talk about the Service Desk as being the window through which your customers build up a picture of IT Services.Are you seen as the devil himself controlling all his minions in Hades?Or do they paint a completely different picture?
• This is how we benefit organisationsWhen talking about Tools, mention PinkVerify – all the major tool vendors have come to Pink Elephant to ensure their tool is aligned with ITIL.
• Critical to us supplying good staff is the recruitment process.We look for three things: 1. A good service attitude, 2. A good service attitude, and 3. A good service Attitude.By selecting graduates – they usually have good IT skills – they are easily trained in more specific technologies.
• All our staff attend our Induction Course where we imprint the Pink factor, and make sure they have a good understanding of our Values and Culture.We run through our IT Service Management simulation where we show them the impact their actions and poor process can have on company performance – both ours and yours. This also gives them a better understanding of ITSM (ITIL) and where their rols fits into the wider context of delivering and supporting IT Service.We also show them how their attitudes, behavious and culture can affect their capability to deliver a world class service.And finally they will come out of the Induction with the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management.
• We promise all our employees a three year charter – a sort of ITSM Apprenticeship.This slide simply depicts a framework – each employee will have their own charter, depending on their career aspirations, the Client’s requirements, and Pink Elephant’s requirements.
• For every 25 staff we have a Field Manager.He or she will be responsible for the well-being of our analysts, conducting regular appraisals.They will deal with all first-line HR Issues, attendance and performance issues. In a recent SDI survey a clear majority identified people management as their biggest drain on time, which meant that actually managing the people on the service desk took up more time than any other of their activities.We’ll take away this burden.The Field Manager will also liaise with the client to monitor SLA’s and KPI’s.
• Everybody goes through this curve.When someone starts a new job they are full of enthusiasm and excitement. It takes a period of time to ‘learn’ the job – this curve will depend on how complex the job is. If it’s a easy job the time taken to learn it will be relatively short – conversely, the more complex it is, the longer it will take to learn it.But at some point you know how to do the job, and it may start to become a ‘9 till 5’ – just put in the hours and pay me my salary.Having people on the Service Desk with this attitude will damage your reputation.Through our Field Management we monitor this situation, and when the time is right, rotate the analyst to either a more complex role within the incumbent company, or replace and transfer to another company. The people who have just moved will start the Motivation curve all over again.The client will get a fresh, motivated, energetic analyst, and the analyst will get a new challenge. All this is done of course with the full co-operation and involvement of the client.
• When we first talk to you about providing a Service Desk Managed Service we will discuss the number of staff you need.If that number is 8 or above we will provide, free of charge, and additional person.THIS IS PROVIDED THAT THERE ARE NO DISCOUNTS IN PLACE.This provides an in-built contingency for absence.Short notice/ term sickness is always a problem – if someone phones in sick at 09.00 am in the morning we cannot guarantee a replacement. Planned holidays on the other hand are easier to cover.
• Our staff come with the best back-up in the business.They have access to ATLAS, our Knowledge Base – this is our Consultant’s tool kit.They also have access to our Consultants – so for example if there was a particular problem or issue on the Service Desk they have access to a wealth of information to enable them to correct it.
• This is an option available for Pink Elephant.If required the whole Service Desk facility can be off-shored – however you don’t have to worry about ‘poor spoken English’. We have a model in place where we place some of our Graduates on secondment to our office in South Africa, where they have a complete off-site Service Desk facility. So when you ring up the Service Desk, the likelihood is that you’ll be speaking to an English Graduate.Some organisations use our off-shore facility as a contingency, for example: if you had 8 lines coming into the desk, and the ninth caller came in, instead of waiting this call would be re-routed to our South African desk, where they would receive exactly the same service as if they had called into the local desk. We can patch into your Service Management tool, so no information would be lost.For your interest you could have 4 South African analysts for the price you pay for one in the UK.
• A review of the benefits.Client Management time is a big one – it frees them up to do more strategic/ interesting/ productive/ proactive work.Play on the fact that their reputation is in the hands of the people on the service desk – are they willing to risk that to a bunch of contractors (if this is the case).
• You can skip through these last three slides – this is what we hammer home in the Induction course. But it’s interesting for the audience to see.
• This slide puts into context the Service you are discussing.This shows the complete lifecycle of our SD offering.

Best online IT service desks in 2024

A complete guide on everything you need to know

• Best practices

While all organizations undoubtedly try their hardest to eliminate pesky IT issues, the unfortunate reality is that they’re going to happen. The best approach involves trying to reduce their frequency and having the proper measures to mitigate them when they occur.

Online IT service desks play an integral role in these efforts by providing around-the-clock accessibility while employing techniques to identify potential incidents before they happen proactively. These service desks offer internal and external support, ensuring employees remain productive while end users can access critical services.

Today, we’ll examine what an online IT service desk can do for you, the best practices to maximize its potential, and the top software currently available.

What is an online IT service desk?

An online IT service desk serves as a centralized platform designed to offer technical support to both employees and customers. Through this platform, users can submit requests for assistance, report problems, and seek guidance on IT-related matters, such as software troubleshooting, hardware issues, or network connectivity problems.

Typically, these service desks employ a ticketing system to streamline the process of resolving user requests. When an individual submits a ticket, it’s immediately routed to the appropriate IT personnel based on the nature and severity of the issue. This ensures that problems are promptly addressed according to predefined service level agreements (SLAs) or response times.

Benefits of online IT service desk software

The advantages of your online IT service desk will depend on how you plan to incorporate it into your business operations. Key benefits include immediate cost savings, uninterrupted availability, and extensive customization capacity.

Cost savings

First, by streamlining the management of IT requests, service desks reduce the need for extensive manual coordination. Automated ticket routing and escalation mechanisms verify that requests are efficiently handled by the most appropriate personnel, helping to optimize resource allocation.

Additionally, implementing self-service capabilities empowers users to resolve common issues independently, without the need to escalate problems to support staff. By providing access to knowledge bases , FAQs , and troubleshooting guides, users can find solutions to their technical issues without direct assistance. 

24/7 accessibility

Unlike traditional service desk models that operate within specific business hours, an online service desk offers around-the-clock availability. This perpetual accessibility caters to the needs of global workforces, accommodating employees operating in different time zones or engaging in remote work arrangements.

Furthermore, automated workflows can route incoming tickets to the most relevant support teams based on issue type, severity, or user location, accelerating the resolution process. Automated notifications also notify IT staff of critical issues, enabling timely intervention and ensuring uninterrupted support coverage.

Personalization to business/customer needs

The customization capacity of online IT service desks empowers businesses to configure the service desk to reflect their internal processes. By defining custom ticket categories and fields, companies can ensure that the service desk aligns with their support practices and integrates seamlessly into existing organizational operations.

For the benefit of end users, businesses can implement self-service portals tailored to different user groups, providing customized access to relevant resources and support options based on user permissions. They can also personalize their interface with branding elements, logos, and color schemes to create a consistent, branded experience.

Integration capabilities

Through API (Application Programming Interface) integrations, online IT service desks can connect with other software applications employed within an organization's infrastructure. Service desks are commonly tied into monitoring systems, asset management platforms, and collaboration tools. This allows the desk to automatically import relevant data from these systems, enriching support tickets with contextual details.

Moreover, omnichannel integration with email, chat, or voice systems allows users to interact with the service desk using their preferred communication methods. By connecting with email servers, for example, the service desk can automatically convert incoming messages into support tickets, eliminating the need for manual oversight. Integration with chat and messaging platforms is also vital, as it enables real-time interactions between users and support staff.

Online IT service desk best practices

An online IT service desk will provide the framework for a successful technical support plan, but it’s up to businesses to verify that these systems are utilized to their full potential. Providing a robust knowledge base, employing automation where applicable, and regularly assessing the platform’s performance are a few measures to consider to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your service desk software.

Build and maintain a knowledge base

First things first: it's essential to conduct a comprehensive assessment of existing resources and documentation materials within the organization. This includes gathering knowledge from IT manuals, FAQs, troubleshooting guides, and past support tickets. By consolidating these resources, companies can identify gaps or redundancies and prioritize content creation efforts based on their most pressing needs.

Remember that building a knowledge base is an ongoing process that requires regular maintenance to ensure that the information remains relevant and up-to-date. Establish clear governance processes for the base, including content creation, review, and approval workflows to maintain its quality standards. Feedback mechanisms such as user ratings and surveys further empower businesses to continuously improve their knowledge base.

Continually monitor progress

You’ll want to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) that properly reflect the objectives of your IT support operations. These KPIs may include average response time, first-call resolution rate, ticket backlog, or customer satisfaction scores.

Once these metrics have been identified, you can leverage the reporting tools within your online IT service desk to generate performance dashboards. These boards should provide insights into trends, patterns, and outliers in ticket data, allowing you to monitor progress against established KPIs. Remember to schedule regular review meetings to discuss performance, analyze root causes of issues, and develop action plans to address any challenges.

Leverage AI/automation

Within online IT service desks, AI-powered chatbots can deflect a plethora of routine support requests. These bots can be trained using natural language processing ( NLP ) algorithms to respond to user queries accurately, providing personalized and contextually relevant assistance. By automating recurring tasks such as password resets or account provisioning, chatbots free up IT support staff to focus on higher-priority issues.

Additionally, machine learning algorithms can be leveraged to analyze support request data, identifying valuable patterns and trends. By examining past incidents, AI systems can predict potential issues before they occur, enabling proactive intervention to mitigate risks and minimize downtime.

Meet your customers where they are

Today, customers expect to interact with businesses on their preferred channels , whether it's through email, chat, social media, or self-service portals. An online IT service desk accommodates these expectations by offering a diverse array of communication options, allowing users to access assistance through the channels that they’re most comfortable with.

Online IT service desks can also facilitate remote sessions, enabling support personnel to resolve issues directly on customers' devices, regardless of their location. Specialized tools integrated into the service desk allow technicians to remotely access users’ devices and provide real-time assistance, replicating the experience of in-person support without the need for physical proximity.

Looking to start ITSM in your organization?

5 best online it service desk software, 1. freshservice.

Freshworks’ Freshservice solution is a full-feature IT Service Management ( ITSM ) platform that provides robust ticketing capacity, incident management capabilities, automation potential, and much more. It offers all the tools that a business requires to efficiently manage support requests and optimize technical services.

Freshservice’s unified dashboard focuses on enhancing visibility across all relevant fields, allowing companies to personalize communications to unique users, unify interactions across multiple channels, enhance collaboration abilities, and much more. Its no-code Orchestration Center supports a plethora of third-party apps that can be integrated with the workflow automator, helping expedite and customize processes to fit your business needs.

Key features

Support portal can create standardized service catalogs to streamline the service request process

Problem management tool isolates issues, links them to past incidents, and performs root cause analyses

AI-driven service management supports end-users with powerful chatbots, offers intelligent suggestions for employees, and provides powerful analytics

Robust incident management potentially routes incidents intelligently, while providing technicians with the tools to resolve incidents quickly and accurately

Alert management consolidates notifications from monitoring tools on a single pane of glass; use Freddy AI to automatically highlight potential operational issues

Acts as a comprehensive ITSM software in addition to its service desk capacity

Multiple SLAs can be easily designated for different business hours or incident categories

Unified service catalogs deploy powerful, extensible workflows for different processes

Straightforward management of agent workloads ensures a balanced distribution of tasks

Easily build customized workflows that automate repetitive manual tasks to expedite resolution processes

Why customers rave about Freshservice

Our clients love Freshservice’s easy-to-navigate interface that provides enhanced visibility into all support requests, verifying that tickets are being handled in a timely and accurate manner. With Freshservice, it’s easy to collaborate with team members or across departments to ensure that an organization’s collective expertise is being utilized to maintain system integrity.

Satisfied client, Harry N., extols Freshservice’s ticket management and automation capacity, saying, “Freshservice allows me to create, assign, prioritize, and track tickets easily and efficiently. I can also collaborate with other agents and attach notes, files, and screenshots to the tickets. Freshservice also has a smart automation feature that can trigger actions based on certain conditions, such as sending notifications, escalating tickets, or closing tickets. This saves me a lot of time and effort and improves the quality of service.”

2. SolarWinds 

SolarWinds is a leading provider of comprehensive IT management software with a wide range of products to help IT professionals monitor and secure their systems and applications. Its AI-powered ITIL and ITSM tools simplify operations, manage incidents, and help to quickly resolve user issues.

Automated ticket management processes like routing, assignment, and creation for better agent productivity

Able to integrate with other ITIL tools and can sync data like asset inventory information 

Can automatically create searchable knowledge base FAQs and self-service options to decrease inbound ticket requests

Pros and Cons

Easy to use and implement, according to some users 

Ability to track customer satisfaction is incredibly beneficial for some users

Extensive support resources available like training, documentation, and more

Lack of flexibility of SLA and SLA can be difficult to adjust to accommodate changing circumstances or evolving needs

Notification layout and portal lack customization

Dashboards can be a bit complex and may present a leaning curve  

Pricing starts at $39 per month per technician and a free trial period is offered. 

3. Vivantio

Vivantio provides service management software that supports both internal and external users. The platform can easily be scaled to meet the needs of multi-site organizations, optimizing workflows across IT, operations, and customer support.

Case management tool audits all tickets created by employees and end users to refine IT processes as time goes on

Report scheduler automatically runs pre-scheduled reports, distributing the results to managers, customers, or stakeholders

FLEX offers easy configuration, rapid on-boarding, and improved user experience (UX) for organizations, specific teams, and customers alike

Robust ticketing features such as routing, escalation, and deflection ensure that requests are directed to the right agent or automated when possible

Management reporting capabilities ensure that relevant stakeholders are updated on critical operational developments in real-time

Emails can easily be converted into tickets and routed to an appropriate representative based on the type of query

Top-tier enterprise package required to access all useful tools

Omni-channel capacity could use work – no social media support available

Extensive training necessary for non-technical agents to utilize the platform

Begins at $99 per user per month for small businesses with up to five users, while you’ll need to contact Vivantio directly for a custom quote on their package for businesses with 500+ users

4. HaloITSM

HaloITSM provides ITIL-aligned help desk software that can be installed on-premise or in the cloud. Useful tools include problem management, change management, telephony integration, and more.

Problem management feature automates the monitoring of ongoing problems, investigates root causes, and offers in-depth resolutions.

Service Catalogue maintains a comprehensive record of all actions carried out through the system to help document lessons learned and refine future approaches

Extensive self-service portal allows end users to access their requests, raise tickets, and find solutions from knowledge base articles

Robust IT service transition tools like change control and release management promote smoother adjustments to technical services based on user feedback

Capable incident management capacity automates workflows and centralizes communications to ensure that disruptions are addressed quickly and accurately

Full array of features available at every pricing tier; no tools reserved for higher-paying clients

Steep learning curve, particularly when utilizing customization features

Limited native integration with popular third-party applications

Users require some structured query language (SQL) knowledge to sufficiently utilize the software’s reporting capabilities

$75 per license per month for businesses with 1000+ users, up to $95 per license per month for those with 1-25 users

5. ManageEngine Service Desk Plus

ManageEngine’s Service Desk Plus is an ITIL-ready help desk that offers extensive asset and project management capabilities. It assists IT support teams in delivering consistent service to all users at a reduced cost.

Low-code customization capabilities allow organizations to personalize modules, forms, and configurations to fit their specific processes

Capable virtual agent that can analyze context, answer FAQs, update records, and interact with an abundance of third-party apps

Graphic workflow builder aims to create IT service process automations with end-to-end customization

Provides a centralized hub to manage all service desk operations including experience management, performance analysis, and delivery automation

Several flexible packages to choose from that span all ITSM maturity levels

Robust onboarding resources that assist new team members in quickly acclimating to the system

Organizations handling a high volume of tickets may find it challenging to search for specific requests

Many redundant features that create unnecessary complexity and may hinder business processes

User reviews indicate that the chatbot can only assist English-speaking users, restricting use for global client bases

You’ll need to contact ManageEngine directly for a custom quote on your specific business’s needs

Enhance your IT service desk capabilities with an online service

Compared to traditional service desk systems, online IT service desks offer several advantages that enhance their effectiveness in managing IT operations. 

Firstly, an online service desk provides superior accessibility, allowing users to access knowledge resources and engage with support personnel from anywhere with an internet connection. Unlike traditional service desk systems that may be limited to on-premises access, an online service desk is accessible through web browsers or dedicated applications, enabling users to seek assistance regardless of their location.

Moreover, online IT service desks promote collaboration among support teams and users through centralized knowledge bases, collaboration tools, and self-service portals . By consolidating support resources within a single platform, organizations empower users to resolve routine issues autonomously, while enabling staff to access relevant information in a more timely manner. These platforms may also incorporate features like discussion forums or community support groups, empowering users to share insights, tips, and troubleshooting strategies.

Get started with Freshservice today

Freshservice is one of the market’s premier online IT service desk solutions for good reason.

Its robust ticket management capabilities ensure that support requests are always directed to an appropriate agent, automating processes when possible and offering follow-up reminders to ensure that no tickets fall through the cracks. Additionally, Freddy AI can be utilized to proactively identify potential risks, taking care of support requests before they even occur, while helping to maintain overall system integrity.

Simply put, Freshservice provides unmatched guidance and optimization throughout the entire IT support process.

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Schools turn to AI to help with bus driver shortage

by GEOFF HARRIS | The National Desk

WASHINGTON (TND) — It's no secret that school districts around the country are facing a bus driver shortage.

According to the Economic Policy Institute , the number of bus drivers in the United States in K-12 schools has dropped 15.1% since 2019. But now, some districts are turning to artificial intelligence to help get kids to and from school.

"You can set areas, like little circles, on the map so that when your bus comes past that circle, it pops on your phone," said Amy Kennedy, a mom of four living in Pennsylvania.

Kennedy said that her district has been handling the shortage well in part because they've implemented AI software.

It makes me feel that my children are that much safer and that I have more control over the situation," Kennedy said.

The school district Kennedy's kids are enrolled in uses a company called Transfinder. Using artificial intelligence and routing optimization, the software company tracks each school bus to help drivers pick up more kids as safely as possible.

"Maybe instead of having two to three stops in an area, we go down to one stop," said Transfinder President & CEO Antonio Civitella.

Civitella said this software is becoming more popular because not only is there a dire need for drivers, but also communication.

There's a shortage everywhere, but it's the miscommunication that hurts the community," said Civitella.

Right now Transfinder is being used in about 2,500 school districts across the United States. Civitella said they could add hundreds more this upcoming school year.