Help Desk Terms Glossary

Asset Management
It can help you to manage your software and hardware assets for better performance trends on your computer systems.

Billable and non billable time
The amount of time logged to perform a task for which customer will be billed is a billable time. The additional time spent on operations over and above the time is called non billable time. This time can be used to record any and all internal operations which are not charged to a customer.

Call Ticket
Call ticket is the information of an issue collected by helpdesk. There might be complete information in the call ticket like demographics of the customers, previous case history and actions taken to resolve an issue.

Call Tracking
The software package which automates the process of collecting information for support or service call is called Call Tracking.

Client
Clients are the computers connected to local area network.

Client Access Area
The place where help desk is contacted by the clients directly without going through a service agent is call client access area.

Client Application
It is a computer program which is used to integrate the processing capabilities of another program.

Client/Server
The computers which are connected to a Server through LAN.

Closed Ticket
There is no further action required in call ticker as the issue has been resolved.

Customer History
It is the activity of the customer tracking by the help desk.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The way through which relations are developed and maintained with the customers is called customer relationship management. Data is collected during interaction with customers in CRM to find demographics and needs of customers.

Database Management System (DBMS)
Computer program through which data and information of customers are stored and retrieved by help desk is called DBMS. This program can be used to store concerning information of callers, company, fax, email and other demographics.

Email Notifications
The emails are sent to trigger one or more specified events.

End user
These are the customers are interact with the help desk software products. There may be personnel within company or external clients who contact call center, internal or external helpdesk.

Escalation
It is the process through which an issue is transferred to the next appropriate level for resolution.

Flexibility
There may be difficulty in finding right application to fit your needs whether you are upgrading your helpdesk or building new help desk system. There are so many software in the market who claim to be best. It is very important for you to get the right software for your help desk system.

Help Desk
It is a place which provides service to external or internal callers for the use of their technology assets.

Intelligent Call Processing (ICP)
The ACDs can automatically route calls consisting of information from callers and the information retrieved from their database and it done with ICP feature.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
The calling customer can perform computerized function like pressing any key on telephone to retrieve information with the help of IVR application.

Intranet
The electronic communication through which you can number of  computers within an organization or business is called Intranet.

Issue
Issue is the action, situation or incident for which support is required.

Knowledge Base
The information collected from database of helpdesk in problem resolution is called knowledge base.

Local Area Network (LAN)
The system of computers connected to Server within organization through which multiple users get access to same printers or files on server is called LAN.

Middleware
The application through which information is collected by helpdesk is called middleware. These applications usually help to connect different types of devices and data sources.

Natural Language Processing
The users can search for help through knowledge base with the help of this technology.

Network
The computers are connected with each other through network like LAN, WAN etc.

Network Management Tools
These tools are used to find health of your help desk infrastructure as well as system configuration information.

Notification
The emails containing specific information about an issue via automatic report is called notification.

Number of calls
The estimated or actual number of calls is noted for client history and future information.

Peer-to-Peer Network
The computer LAN though which PCs are connected to access network is called P to P network.

Personalized User interface
The users can get customer information based on login or other identifying information with the help of personalized user interface.

Query
It is the database search to retrieved specified information help desk database.

Remote Diagnostic software
It is the software application through which different problems are detected by computer.

Remote (ASP)
It is the hosting browser installed on computer and can be accessed through internet.

Return on Investment (ROI)
The value which is brought to the organization by the help desk is called ROI and this return is divided by operating costs of help desk.

Satisfaction
It is important for you to keep your customers happy whether you are an external or internal support group.

Scheduling Tools
The help desk managers can anticipate staff needed based on call with the help of this scheduling tool.

Service Level Agreement
Certain level of service is provided by the agreement between customer and help desk.

Structure
There is always structure involved in helping users to solve their problems. You can get right person with skills and accessibility for your organization on the right issue in the right time.