IT Help Desk Survival Guide
Management and Oversight
Use these guidelines to develop the right end user to IT support staff ratio
· Developing the right end-user to IT support staff ratio
Here's help for defending new heads on the help desk
Ten questions that can help you hire a good help desk analyst
Get maximum value out of your help desk temps
Managing help desk call volume and shift scheduling
Learn to provide three levels of support with only five people
Training tips can jump-start your help desk team
How to audit your help desk
Analyze your data while it's still relevant
Track your help desk's hang-ups
Keep your help desk staff informed about the scope of service contracts
Make voice mail an asset, not a drawback
Ten ways to improve user utilization of your help desk
Keep your end users informed by using some simple communication
Publicize scheduled outages with a downtime report
· Downtime report template
Trends
Should your company use a Web-based support structure?
Tips for providing help desk services online
Support desks are spread thin, for longer hours
Understaffed? Start a PowerUsers program
Are helpful power users a bane or boon?
Some support pros bristle at user help
Help desk support for handhelds is growing
Policies and Procedures
Distribute our welcome letter to new users
· Welcome letter
Don't install another computer without our new-user checklist
Use our guide to decide who gets help first
· Help Desk Triage Policy
Stay on track with our sample Excel time sheet
· Sample Excel time sheet
Keep a log of telephone support calls to pinpoint how your time is spent
· Ready-to-use telephone support log
Use our software support decision tree to keep your help desk on track
· Software troubleshooting decision tree
Use our hardware repair ticket to log critical details and solutions
· Hardware Repair Ticket
Use our help desk trouble ticket
· Help Desk Trouble Ticket
Use our Employee Separation Checklist
· Employee Separation Checklist
Make a password policy part of your security plan
· Sample password policy
Generate random passwords in Excel
· Password generating Excel spreadsheet
Avoid asking users for their passwords
Tips to help users remember their passwords
Methodology
A problem-solving method for support professionals
Stop, look, and listen when providing support to users
Help your users and your help desk by mastering the five phases of a support call
Provide your end users with good 'deskside' manner
Five tips for improving help desk/client communication
Members share ideas on improving help desk/client communication
Use effective questioning to deal with confused, chatty users
Cut through caller confusion with these three tips
Seven rules for being a great help desk analyst
Break down your help desk barriers
Don't overwhelm users with too much information
Reduce help desk calls by writing to the right audience
Know when to draw the line on support
How to hang up on users who hang on too long
Know how to stop the abuse: Dealing with abusive callers
Stand your ground: Advice on dealing with disruptive users
Losing your temper could cost you your job
From the help desk: The power of an apology
Cleaning up the call centre
Career Advice
The importance of working an enterprise help desk
Members sound off on working an enterprise help desk
Remember why your job exists
Recognize and manage the stresses of IT support
Prevent help desk burnout, part 1
Prevent help desk burnout, part 2
Members offer tips for preventing help desk burnout
Avoid burnout: Ask your boss for a little recognition and reward
Trust: The key to working for a "non-technical boss"
Help others prepare for a support interview
Got job woes? Check out this compilation of useful sites dedicated to IT careers
· Key career links for IT professionals
User Training
Teach users to help themselves
Keep users in the driver's seat
Use these tips to deal with technophobes
Share these indispensable tips for Word users
· Indispensable tips for Word users
Check out these 50 essential Excel tips
· 50 essential Excel tips
Check out our compilation of indispensable Outlook tips
· Indispensable Outlook tips
Troubleshooting Basics
Recovery tips and tools for corrupt Microsoft Office files
Use our preventive maintenance checklist
· The ultimate preventive maintenance checklist
Here are 200 ways to revive a hard drive
· 200 ways to revive a hard drive
Resources
The trouble-shooter's guide to free IT resources
Tips for finding help on the Internet
Keep these IT support links at your fingertips
· The ultimate list of IT support links
Remote Desktop lets you control your users' desktops from afar
Use NetMeeting to support remote clients—for free!
Don't forget bandwidth when considering remote control
Previo increases help desk productivity
You CAN find good help desk software for under $10,000
HDD imaging: Not just for the enterprise
Product review: SYMON's NB-24x200 NetBrite Display
A Viewlet is worth a thousand words on your help desk’s Web page
Software for every support pro's toolkit
Always be prepared with your software toolkit