What is a help desk? A help desk is a centralized support team that assists employees and customers with technical issues, providing solutions and troubleshooting for problems like system access, software bugs, and hardware malfunctions. It serves as the first point of contact for IT-related assistance. Get ITSM
Things to know about help desks
What are some types of help desks? Primary capabilities of a help desk Essential components of a help desk Who can use a help desk? Why is a help desk important? How can a help desk benefit your company? What are common myths about help desks? What is a help desk vs. a service desk? What is the future of help desks? What should you know before setting up a help desk ticketing system? Is ServiceNow right for help desk support? How ServiceNow manages IT support requests
Information technology (IT) is the use of technology hardware, software, networks, and systems to support business operations. IT aims to help a business, its employees, and its customers achieve their goals with greater efficiency and less wasted time.   Unfortunately, as IT solutions become more complex, many employees and customers require additional resources to ensure the technology they depend on is functioning properly and being used correctly.

At their most basic, help desks are resources where employees can request and receive assistance with IT-related problems, particularly in regard to products, services, in-house tools, platforms, and devices. In some businesses, a help desk may be as simple as a single experienced employee with a deep understanding of relevant technologies and the solutions to common problems. In larger, more-established businesses, help desks may consist of teams of experts backed by dedicated software tools designed to help track and analyze IT issues as they arise.
Expand All Collapse All What are some types of help desks?
Help desks come in many forms, designed to address different support needs within an organization. Each type of help desk offers distinct advantages, depending on the scope of support required, the available resources, and the target audience (e.g., internal employees or external customers). While there may be various subcategories for each, the following are among the most common types of help desk solutions:

Internal help desk
An internal help desk provides support to employees within an organization. It is primarily focused on resolving technical issues, offering software assistance, and troubleshooting hardware malfunctions. Internal help desks improve employee productivity by providing fast and easy support for internal IT users.

External help desk
External help desks serve customers outside the organization. The main goal of these kinds of help desks is to assist customers with inquiries or issues related to products or services. Support is typically provided through multiple channels, including phone, email, live chat, and social media. These help desks are critical for maintaining a positive customer experience, as they handle everything from product setup to troubleshooting technical issues.

Hybrid help desk
A hybrid help desk combines elements of both internal and external support. It often includes in-house staff for employee support, while outsourcing customer service functions to third-party providers. A hybrid model is especially useful for companies needing to scale support operations while maintaining a balance between internal and external resources.

Automated help desk
Automated help desks use artificial intelligence (such as AI agents or AI chatbots) and automation tools to streamline responses to routine inquiries. Through self-service portals, virtual assistants, and automated ticketing systems, these help desks reduce the burden on live agents by handling frequent, repetitive tasks such as password resets and common troubleshooting requests. Automation allows organizations to provide 24/7 support while improving efficiency and reducing operational costs.

Outsourced help desk
An outsourced help desk delegates support tasks for employees and customers to a third-party provider. This approach allows companies to access specialized expertise without the need to build an in-house team. Outsourcing can be a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to offer high-quality support without significant investments in personnel and infrastructure. This is a popular approach for startups and small businesses, which may lack the resources to maintain a dedicated help desk. 
Deliver Stellar Service Operations with AI and Automation See why using AI and automation wisely helps you deliver better, faster, cheaper and more scalable IT services and operations. Get Ebook
What are the primary capabilities of a help desk?
The main advantage of a help desk is that it gives your IT users a reliable resource for remediating problems and requesting services. But help desks offer other advantages for IT organizations as well, including the following: 

Unifying support channels
Help desks bring together different support channels into a single, unified location. A help desk application can seamlessly transfer customers from one channel to another without interrupting the conversation. Support channels include a service portal, virtual agents, mobile applications, integration with common collaboration tools, and a walk-up experience for in-person conversations. 

Evaluating IT support agent performance
 If IT agents are using personal inboxes to handle emails, there is a lack of visibility into what they are saying, if they are saying the right thing, and how many cases they are handling. Help desks can gather essential information to help track agent growth and productivity, and give you the data you need to help improve your support services mean time to resolution (MTTR). 

Providing insight into employees and customers
Tagging and analytics software provide insights into what is important to your employees and customers, based on their past interactions. You can see a clear overview of their needs and wants, allowing you to create a more-personalized support experience. Reliable customer awareness also provides you with actionable insights into your own product, services, and tools. 

Offering self-service options
Although live-agent IT support options are valuable, there are many customers who would rather find solutions on their own. Help desks backed by a comprehensive knowledge base give these employees and customers the answers they want to self-solve their issues anytime, anywhere, and on any device.  

Automating vital tasks
Help desk automation allows teams to automate mundane, repetitive tasks. This may include communicating with employees, alerting agents or specific teams, and assigning incidents to the correct resolution teams. 
What are some essential components of a help desk?
Help desks exist to provide employees with important IT support in a way that is reliable, fast, and convenient to access. To accomplish this, they depend on several core components. 

The right people
Even with the world’s most-advanced technologies at your fingertips, at the end of the day, the success of your help desk will depend heavily on how well your IT support agents interact with employees. Staff your help desk with individuals who not only demonstrate IT aptitude and expertise, but who also have the interpersonal skills to patiently work with employees to resolve issues. 

A strong ticketing system 
Omnichannel ticketing systems support a help desk as they track, prioritize, manage, respond to, organize, and resolve IT cases. When a user submits a support ticket, a record is created to allow a support team to monitor its resolution progress from beginning to end.  This record helps multiple agents to collaborate on solving the issue, while giving IT managers a comprehensive overview of the support experience. When deployed and managed correctly, a strong ticketing system can result in faster incident resolutions and reveal opportunities to improve the service experience for users.   

An effective issue tracker
Issue trackers allow an IT help desk to record issues, bugs, or errors that customers experience within a software product. This allows IT support agents, managers, and engineers to track the issue until it has been resolved while also providing timely update notifications to employees who are waiting for answers. 

Analytics  
Help desks gather valuable data on services, operations, and employee/customer satisfaction while providing insights into the performance of the IT team members. This analytical data can provide essential insights for improving your services and your business. Performance analytics enable stakeholders, including workers, owners, and executives, responsible for service delivery to make smarter, real-time decisions. These analytics empower users with data visualizations to anticipate trends, prioritize resources, and drive IT alignment with business goals. 

Self-service
On-staff experts are there to handle difficult IT issues and help workshop unique solutions. However, if they spend all their time resetting passwords or fulfilling common service requests, they are not providing the best value to your business. Self-service options empower customers to find solutions to common problems on their own, without having to loop in a live dedicated IT support agent. This can include searching for knowledge articles with answers to common requests or interacting with a conversational AI agent that can provide accurate recommendations using business data. 

Employee/customer feedback
Employee/customer feedback can be built into a help desk interaction. When an issue is resolved, the help desk can send an automated survey to the employee/customer, asking them to provide feedback on their service experience. This feedback is important for IT departments looking to improve the quality of service they provide.  

Customization
Although most help desks provide the same basic service, no two businesses are going to demand the exact same functionality from their help desks. As such, there is no out-of-the-box, one-size-fits-all help desk solution. Instead, help desks must be customizable, integrating apps, artificial intelligence,and automation where needed, to better serve employees and customers. 
What are some help desk best practices?

As a business grows and their support needs become more complex, help desks may need to adopt best practices to maintain efficiency and deliver high-quality service. As you consider your approach to IT help desk support, be sure to: 

  • Encourage cross-team collaboration
    Ensure that help desk teams can work seamlessly with other departments, especially when handling complex issues that require input from multiple groups. Clearly define team roles, responsibilities, and processes to ensure that communication is efficient and that incidents are resolved faster.
  • Provide specialized training
    Equip help desk agents with industry-specific training and soft skills such as cultural sensitivity and effective communication. This ensures that agents can better understand customer needs, handle diverse clientele, and deliver more personalized and accurate support. 
  • Use artificial intelligence (AI) and automation for efficiency
    Automate repetitive tasks like ticket assignment, common issue resolution, and status updates. Use AI, machine learning, and generative AI (GenAI) to identify performance trends, auto-generate incident resolution notes, and create knowledge articles. This frees up help desk agents to focus on more complex or high-priority requests, improving overall service quality and reducing response times. 
  • Offer self-service options
    Build a comprehensive knowledge base and self-service portal that allows users to resolve simple issues on their own. This reduces the workload on agents and gives customers the flexibility to find solutions independently, even outside of regular business hours. 
  • Implement clear escalation procedures
    Ensure that agents know when and how to escalate issues to higher-level support or other departments. Well-defined escalation processes prevent delays in resolving more complex problems and help maintain service quality. 
  • Continuously gather and analyze feedback
    Regularly collect employee and customer feedback on help desk performance. Use this data to identify trends, address recurring issues, and make data-driven decisions that improve the overall service experience. 
Who can use a help desk?
Although companies of all sizes can benefit from an IT help desk, the specific needs that a help desk addresses may vary depending on the size of the company. 

Small and mid-sized businesses
Small and mid-sized businesses rely on exceptional customer care to help them stand out from competitors. This includes answering questions, handling phone calls, and fulfilling special requests with a level of commitment that goes above and beyond. A reliable help desk system will support this functionality and scale with your small company as it expands.  

Large enterprise businesses
Larger organizations need faster collaboration between teams—especially those outside of IT support. It can be easy for requests to get lost between multiple teams. The faster and more aligned the IT services team is with the rest of your organization , the better you can serve your employees and customers. 
Why is a help desk important?
When employees and customers face technical issues, the help desk serves as their primary point of contact. It serves as a guide and a buffer, playing a significant role in simplifying user experiences related to digital technology. This helps eliminate much of the potential confusion and frustration experienced by those who are not information technology experts. 
How can a help desk benefit your company?
More specifically, help desk software can improve your business in several quantifiable ways. Beyond simply solving technical issues, help desks contribute to smoother operations, enhanced employee productivity, and greater customer satisfaction. 

Enhance customer satisfaction
When customers receive fast resolutions to IT-related issues, they are more satisfied with the services delivered. This satisfaction leads to customer loyalty, repeat business, and eventually increased revenue. 

Boost employee satisfaction
Every second your employees are scratching their heads trying to figure out solutions to IT problems is a second that they are not working toward growing your business or assisting customers. But more than that, having the support of an effective help desk demonstrates your commitment to employee success, leading to improved satisfaction and engagement. 

Grow your business more efficiently
  While there are many different equations for business success, satisfied customers and engaged employees are certainly essential factors. The right help desk helps you retain valued customers and skilled staff, so that you can grow your business. 
What are common myths about help desks?
As help desks become an integral part of modern business operations, several misconceptions have emerged that can hinder their effectiveness. Understanding and debunking these myths is crucial for businesses looking to optimize their support processes: 

All agents are experts
  While help desk agents often have a foundational knowledge of IT, they may not be experts in every issue. Their primary role is to deliver quality customer service and direct complex problems to the appropriate specialist, ensuring a fast and smooth resolution process. 

Issue descriptions do not need to be very detailed 
Providing detailed descriptions of issues is essential for quick resolutions. Vague or incomplete information can lead to unnecessary delays and additional communication, slowing down the resolution process. A clear problem description allows agents to address the issue more effectively. 

Help desk tickets are not necessary
Every support request, regardless of size, should have a ticket. Tickets provide a record that helps agents track progress and review past resolutions. They also ensure that no issues slip through the cracks and help teams analyze recurring problems. 
What is a help desk vs. a service desk?

A help desk is not a service desk; though similar, they serve different functions.

Help desk
IT help desks are more tactical and focused on helping employees resolve their IT issues. An IT help desk can be separate from a service desk or be part of the overall service desk solution. Some traits of help desks include: 

  • Providing level 1 and 2 support
  • Escalating incident ownership up the ladder (if needed)
  • Displaying self-service options
  • Handling basic incident request management
  • Offering configuration and knowledge management
  • Acting as a single point of contact for IT support

Service desk
Service desks are broader in function, more strategic and cross-organizational. They address larger business needs rather than solely focusing on the needs of an employee. Typically, service desks do have a help desk component, but it is part of the larger goal of proactively improving IT and business processes across your organization. Some traits include: 

What is the future of help desks?
As with many technologies, help desk software is seeing major advancements through the application of emerging AI technology. AI agents, GenAI, Natural language processing (NLP), and natural language understanding (NLU), are all enabling help desks to provide faster, more accurate support through increased automation and more efficient workflows.  

Today’s AI-driven systems can now automate many foundational help-desk processes, including ticket creation, categorization, escalation, and self-service. AI agents can interact autonomously with its environment to gather data, make decisions, and perform tasks. It can provide context for a help desk agent to determine the best course of action to resolve an incident, use NLP and NLU to handle complex self-service requests, and leverage GenAI to auto-generate incident summaries and knowledge articles. As these technologies advance, help desks will continue to evolve, offering smarter, more proactive support and significantly improving operational efficiency.
What should you know before setting up a help desk ticketing system?

As you prepare to implement your help desk solution, keep these considerations in mind: 

  • What will the help desk deliver?
    A help desk usually receives basic requests and provides help resolving issues, but it can also be a more centralized location for managing customer service and building a knowledge base. The scope of your help desk is completely up to you and should fit the needs of your business. 
  • How much staff will you need?
    Although AI, automation, and other technologies can take you a long way, you will still need dedicated experts to help staff your help desk and provide essential insights. As you evaluate your help desk options, keep in mind just how many employees you will need to hire, train, or reassign to make it work. 
  • What are your priorities?
    Categorize, prioritize, and assign tickets based on business requirements. Consider service level agreements with customers and how you will use technology to fulfill those SLAs. 
  • What are your goals?
     Not all organizations need the same type of software. Consider your needs and the size of the software and whether it offers the proper scope of features to help you achieve your business objectives.
Is ServiceNow right for help desk support?
ServiceNow provides the services that your organization needs to run an efficient and effective IT help desk to benefit your customers and your employees. 
Pricing for ServiceNow ITSM Get pricing here for ServiceNow ITSM. Transform the impact, speed, and delivery of IT in your organization. Get Pricing
How ServiceNow manages IT support requests
ServiceNow ITSM enhances help desk efficiency by applying AI capabilities and advanced automation to IT workflows. Assistive virtual agents, automated incident creation, and intelligent ticket routing help IT teams resolve issues faster while minimizing manual effort. At the same time, predictive analytics and contextual knowledge base suggestions empower users to self-resolve common issues, reducing the overall demand on IT staff. 

For in-person support, ServiceNow’s Walk-up Experience streamlines face-to-face IT service with online check-ins, real-time queue estimates, and automated notifications. Employees can easily schedule appointments, track wait times, and receive reminders through an easy-to-use, mobile-friendly self-service portal. Integrated dashboards, inventory tracking, and incident automation further enhance technician efficiency, ensuring a seamless support experience. 

Give your customers the end-to-end service and support they crave. Demo ITSM today to learn more! 
Explore IT workflows Build the future of IT with connected digital workflows. Modernize operations and transform your business with IT workflows on a single platform. Explore ITSM Contact Us
Resources Articles What is ServiceNow? What is ITSM? What is a help desk? Analyst Reports IDC Agility Assessment: Compare your Enterprise Business Value of ServiceNow Service Operations Gartner Market Guide for AI Applications in ITSM Data Sheets Demand Management Resource Management Ebooks Don't Let Migration Anxiety Hold You Back Creating customer value with ITIL 4 Avoid common ITIL mistakes White Papers Grow to ITSM Pro with AI and Analytics ITSM: Empowered by Integrated Operations Forrester Thought Leadership Paper: ITSM Advancements