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This newest book by author Barbara Czegel reads like a session with a first rate consultant. Filled with fascinating scenarios and real-world examples to illustrate tips, techniques, and advice, the Help Desk Practitioners Handbook covers important and sought after topics that many other books miss: How to calculate return of investment on your help desk, how to cost justify increasing in staffing, how to cost justify your department's need for training, increasing contribution to profitability through marketing, structuring the help desk, and more. Helpful checklists at the end of each chapter will motivate you to get started.

For help desk reps, this book is a gold mine of "how-to" advice, illustrated by realistic help desk customer exchanges and enlightening stories.

Table of Contents

Section One: Expectations of the Business

1. Roles

• Profitability Scale of a Company
• Roles You Play on the Help Desk
• Skills You Need on the Help Desk
• Checklist

2. Focusing on the Business

• The Needs of the Business
• Focus and Customers
• Focus and Senior Management
• Focus and Other IT Groups
• Mission, Services, and Objectives
• Focus, Success, and You
• Checklist

Section Two: Supporting the Help Desk Structure

3. Structure

• Levels in a Help Desk Structure
• The Relationships Between Support Levels
• Making Distributed Help Desks Work
• Consolidating Help Desks
• Checklist

Section Three: Managing Problems

4. When Problems Become Dangerous

• The Out-of-Control Problem Cycle
• Avoiding Common Mistakes
• Focus, Structure, and Tools
• Priorities and Procedures
• A Cycle of Evaluation and Improvement
• Checklist

5. Listening to Resolve and Prevent Problems

• What is Listening? Sensing, Interpreting, Evaluating, Responding
• Negative Filters
• The Challenges of Listening in a Help Desk Environment
• Positive Listening Habits
• Checklist

6. Getting and Giving Information

• The Cycle of Information Exchange
• Effective Translation
• Poor Habits to Avoid
• Getting Your Message Across Effectively
• Meeting the Challenges With Open- and Close-Ended Questions
• Checklist

7. Proactive Problem Control

• Understanding Customer Needs
• Early Warning Systems: Sensory, Statistical, Internal and External
• Levels of Causes
• Layered Strategies for Problem Control
• Maintaining and Improvement Cycle
• Checklist

8. Using Tools

• Help Desk Management Systems
• Asset Management Systems
• Knowledge Bases
• Remote Control Software
• Telephone Technologies
• Getting the Most Out of the Internet
• Voice Mail and E-mail
• Making Customers Self-Sufficient
• Checklist

Section Four: Understanding the Business of Help Desks

9. Everything You Need to Know About Performance

• Components of Performance
• How ROI is Calculated
• How Investment is Calculated
• ROI is Not Enough
• Measuring How Effectively You Handle Calls
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative
• Measures to Use
• Objectives
• Service Level Agreements
• Customer Evaluation
• Your Own Evaluation
• Help Desk Management Statistics
• Checklist

10. Cost Justification Made Easy

• Effective Use of Estimating
• Measures That Reflect Business Value
• Good Organization
• The Formula
• Example A: Justifying Training
• Example B: Justifying Help for Peak Load
• Example C: Justifying Help for a Help Desk in Trouble
• Checklist

11. Can I Interest You in Marketing?

• Image
• Selling Value
• Education
• Communication
• Marketing Vehicles
• A Help Desk Web Site
• Implementing Marketing Initiatives
• Checklist

Section Five: Thriving in a Help Desk Environment

12. It's All in Your Attitude

• Getting a Help Desk Attitude
• Lowering Your Susceptibility to Stress
• Changing Your Outlook