Extending Your Help Desk Software to End Users

Providing your end users with some “self-service” capabilities can be a highly effective way to increase the efficiency of your help desk operations. Your new help desk software can be easily extended to your end users, allowing them to quickly submit their own support requests, and track the status of those incidents.

A new user account, complete with contact information and associated assets, will automatically be created in your help desk system the first time an end user submits a support ticket. This new account will have a specific role – help desk requester – that will allow the user only to submit tickets or to access the support portal. Help desk requesters will not be able to access or utilize others features and functions of your help desk software.

Opening and Tracking End User Requests

All support requests received from your end users will appear as new tickets in your help desk system. When creating support requests, users will be required to include their email address. This address will then be used to provide status updates until the issue is resolved.

Communicating with End Users

Your new help desk system will automatically notify the end user when any changes or updates are made to his/her support request. For example, the end user will receive an email notification when his/her ticket is assigned to a help desk technician, when a status or priority change is made to the ticket, or when the issue is resolved and closed.

Help desk technicians can also communicate with end users by adding comments to the ticket. These comments are captured and stored along with the ticket, so that complete history of the incident is available if needed. The end user will receive an email notification when a comment is added to his/her ticket, and he can respond to the comment if required. End user responses will also be linked to the ticket and stored in the system.

Using the Support Portal to View Tickets Status

When an end user creates a new support ticket, the notification email they receive will include a URL that will direct them to the online support portal. From here, they can log in and view the status of their ticket(s) at any time. They can also make changes to open incidents, or leave comments or notes for help desk technicians.

Through this portal, users can track their issues in real-time, on their own, without assistance from support staff. This leaves the help desk team free to focus on more important tasks related to investigating and resolving critical issues. It also provides for an effective and convenient way for users to communicate and share information with their support technicians.

Managing Your End Users

To view a list of all current end users, go to your Setup screen, and then click on Users. You can make immediate changes to user information from this area. For example, you can update a phone number or add the end user’s full name. You can also grant access to other services and features within the SAManage help desk software.

We recommend that you periodically review your account’s list of help desk requesters, to ensure that all information is correct and up-to-date.