How automation is making IT service desks more efficient

• The majority of help desk calls are related to password resets, which is shocking.
  
• Automation streamlines customer communications, enables IT to track issues promptly, and provides information on common issues.
  
• When the end-user has access to the necessary information or automated procedures, they can frequently resolve the problems on their own.
  

Company leaders increasingly agree that IT has strategic value beyond cost savings. But, finding, growing and retaining IT talent are huge hurdles. Demand for help desk services is outpacing companies’ ability to find the staff and funds to fill the need, resulting in a slew of issues that stifle customer experience. Identifying the most common difficulties can enable and empower companies to address them sooner, make operations smooth and preserve high levels of customer satisfaction. An IT team can respond quickly to clients or coworkers who require technical assistance by using automation. It streamlines customer communications, enables IT to track issues promptly, and provides information on common issues.

Cloud-based services, remote access, global interconnection and mobility are just a few of the new challenges and trends that help desk staff must adapt to. These factors may put more strain on the help desk service. The performance of the IT help desk can have a significant impact on the entire organisation as businesses today are tech-savvy and leverage advanced solutions to remain competitive and prosper.

IT help desk challenges

Numerous requests & interruptions

Without effective processes in place, it can be challenging to handle issues and tasks in a cost-effective manner without sacrificing quality, as IT services are expensive. Establishing processes is important as it frees the service desk to focus on fixing problems rather than waste time on taking calls, sorting through email requests or dealing with in-person requests.

Due to their rapid queue flooding and prolonged resolution timelines, phone calls are particularly time-consuming. This is not only bad for the IT support staff but also for the users who expect a quick fix. They frequently stand in a long line before speaking to someone, which ruins the customer service experience and creates frustration.

Lost in manual tracking

Instant troubleshooting becomes increasingly important as technology becomes integral to a company's operations. When the service counters are overburdened with requests to handle issues but lack the necessary communication tools, the problem is aggravated. For instance, according to a TechValidate survey, 43% of IT help desks track user requests via email. When staff have to manually process these requests, productivity is stalled.

The IT service desk also misses out on the chance to collect data that can aid in identifying common issues and, ultimately, speed up future resolution times. So, having an organised ticket intake process and demand tracking tools are essential.

Problems with user assets

Problems are frequently related to user equipment, so understanding these assets is necessary to develop solutions. While tedious, this teaches the support staff how to handle particular issues. By analysing service histories, the IT desk would be able to address issues when users with the same assets ask for help, for instance, rather than having to go through the entire troubleshooting process each time.


This significantly boosts productivity, but when surveilled, it’s been frequently found that details about IT assets and their issues are noted on antiquated software and spreadsheets that, if improperly curated, can produce unreliable data.

Repetitive, time-consuming tasks

The help desk typically has to deal with a variety of commonly asked questions and issues on a daily basis, resulting in time wasted on repeating the same tasks. The majority of help desk calls are seen to be related to password resets, which is shocking.

When the end-user has access to the necessary information or automated procedures, they can frequently resolve the problems on their own. A lack of these can seriously limit the potential of the service department and result in high costs.

Recurring issues

The pain of unresolved, recurring issues is directly related to increasing dissatisfaction. Help desks are unable to quickly identify systemic issues without effective record-keeping and data analytics software, which results in wasting time and resources on repeatedly investigating and resolving the same issues.

It becomes challenging for the team to develop adequate plans to handle these hiccups and lower the volume of submitted tickets and address the root of frequently-reported user issues if valuable data is not collected. So, to ensure smooth operations of the IT help desks, automation and other tech advancements are critical.

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