Managed Services

Desktop Support vs. Help Desk

A solid, comprehensive IT support plan is essential for smooth business operations. Help desk and desktop support are two services that can benefit your organization, helping you form a well-rounded infrastructure that boosts productivity and ensures customer and employee satisfaction.

Help desk and desktop support are similar services that focus on solving technical problems. The distinctions between the two are important to note, since they offer different advantages to your business depending on your IT needs. Learn how the broad scope of help desk services and the specialized attention of desktop support can improve your IT strategies.

What Is Help Desk Support?

Put simply, a help desk is where people come to ask for help. Help desks, or service desks, can be physical locations where individuals come for support. They can be virtual services, like a telephone helpline or a webpage with a chatbot and a section discussing frequently asked questions.

A help desk is the first point of contact for an employee who needs help. The individual or team at the help desk will track requests, assist with basic problems and transfer complex issues to other departments to find solutions.

Examples of Help Desk Services

Help desks assist with a broad scope of technical issues. They provide services such as:

• Answering inquiries
• Resolving basic technical issues
• Figuring out device compatibility
• Guiding users through specific tasks and actions
• Escalating complex problems to a higher-level support team

Benefits of a Help Desk

Using service desk support can bring many benefits, such as:

• Fast response times: When a team member has an issue, they can contact help desk support and find immediate assistance. If the problem is more complex than the help desk can handle, they can quickly transfer it to a specialized team and track the request to ensure each ticket is resolved.
• Improved user experience: With fast answers and solutions, teams can enjoy their technology and work more productively. Greater employee satisfaction will lead to better performance and talent retention.
• Lower operational costs: Investing in managed help desk services will lower operating costs in the long run by saving expenses on hiring an in-house IT team. Help desks keep tickets organized to ensure each employee gets the appropriate, cost-efficient resources and services they need.

What Does Desktop Support Do?

A desktop support technician provides direct IT support for front-end computer users. They assist with everything related to a computer system, including software and hardware. Desktop support is usually self-contained, meaning the technicians handle issues themselves rather than escalating them to other teams.

Technicians work with team members virtually by answering questions over the phone, providing guidance through virtual chats or controlling a computer remotely. They can also work with machines in-person to help solve issues if needed.

Examples of Support for Desktop and Laptop Users

Desktop support technicians provide a variety of services, helping users with:

• Installing software
• Answering operation and setup questions
• Troubleshooting hardware problems
• Performing regular maintenance tasks

Advantages of Specialized Desktop Support

Desktop support from expert technicians can offer:

• Quick resolutions: A technician can quickly and efficiently solve complex problems, providing flexible in-person or virtual services to meet unique needs.
• Solutions for reducing downtime: With their expertise, desktop support technicians can solve issues and offer advice to help team members maintain uptime.
• Opportunities for improved productivity: Desktop support can provide the speedy and effective repairs and advice needed to improve performance and smooth out workflows.

Differences Between Help Desk vs. Desktop Support

Help desk and desktop support services have the same goal of assisting employees with technical issues, but they have a few key differences.

Scope of Services

Help desk services address a wide range of IT issues. They answer questions, provide basic technical guidance and organize tickets as they transfer cases to various specialized teams. On the other hand, desktop support focuses on more specialized services specific to computer systems, hardware and software. While the help desk may escalate issues to other teams, desktop support can handle concerns directly.

Help desk services are appropriate for general issues, such as figuring out login credentials, getting access to a new system or troubleshooting a printer. Desktop support is for more complex situations, such as getting software to run correctly or connecting several remote computers.

Availability

Help desks are always available whenever someone has a question. Whether a help desk employs an individual to monitor requests around the clock or uses automated replies, it can provide assistance almost whenever and wherever an employee may be. Help desks can be a convenient addition to companies that hire remote workers across different time zones.

Desktop support is usually offered on a break-fix model, where the service is only given when needed. Technicians can help with software and hardware installations, operational questions and complex technical issues as they arise. They can also help organizations improve cybersecurity by ensuring their technology is updated and working properly.

Choosing the Right Support for Your Business

Picking the right support for your business is essential to productivity and growth. With the right support empowering your team, you can use your technology to meet business goals and improve customer experiences.

Both help desk and desktop support services can benefit your organization depending on your requirements, goals and current processes. You may need just one or the other, or both.

Factors to consider when deciding which service you need include:

• Budget: How much money you have to allocate to IT resources may determine which service will work best for your requirements. A more restrictive budget means you will need to pick one service that can address most of your team’s concerns, but if you have the funds, you can arrange for both services to ensure all your bases are covered.
• IT needs: If you encounter a lot of issues with hardware and software, you may want to invest in desktop support to meet those needs. If your employees have more basic technical questions, a help desk service with a broad scope of IT services may be more beneficial.
• User requirements: Help desks can be ideal when users have general questions about networks, connectivity and technical processes. Desktop support is best when your users have demanding requirements and complex needs.

As you consider your company’s specific requirements, you’ll want to find the right managed IT provider to meet your expectations. When evaluating potential support providers, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do they provide support across multiple channels, such as email, phone and online messaging?
• How much experience do they have providing help desk or desktop support?
• Can they offer the industry-specific support your organization requires?
• Are their support services scalable to keep up with your growth?

Learn More About Support Services From Kirbtech

Determining whether you need desktop support vs. service desk support will have a significant impact on your organization. Selecting the right type of support for your business’s needs will ensure efficient and effective IT operations.

At Kirbtech, we understand the unique IT challenges that small to medium-sized businesses face. We offer comprehensive help desk and computer repair services to help your team members find technical solutions that enable your operations to run smoothly. Learn more about our managed IT services or fill out our online form to receive a free consultation.