From:	Adriano Berenyi, Help Desk Representative
Subject:	Help Desk guide
Attachment(s):

 

Hi there,

I heard you’d be covering the help desk, so I thought I’d give you some tips, since you helped us so much the past couple weeks.

It’s important to prioritize the tickets so you can manage your time effectively. The priority key on the incident report is a good guideline, but there are other, softer considerations, things like deadlines, the possibility of a quick-fix, and the seniority of the person making the request…

So, when you’re deciding which incidents to respond to first, ask yourself:

- Is the deadline critical?

- Are many people affected? Are customers affected?

- Is the delay for the user’s work a serious issue? Is the user unable to work or is s/he simply inconvenienced?

- Is the user’s work critical to the organization?

- Is the person (or people) having the problem a senior executive?

- Is there a “quick fix” for the problem?

- Is the problem recurring, i.e., has it happened before and not been fixed successfully?

Oh yes, and keep in mind that just because someone’s whining a lot doesn’t mean that their problems are really important. On the other hand, keep your cool with the gripers and screamers – they may be annoying, but we have to be professional (hard as it is sometimes).

Cheers,

Ad