Help desk staff face meltdown as users struggle with IT

According to a study by research firm Xephon, end users are now in contact with help desks 44 per cent more than in 1997.

The research claims the increase is due to companies using more sophisticated desktop applications.

Other factors that have led to the increase include the level of software customisation needed for each user, and lack of training of both help desk staff and end users.

Mark Lillycrop, director at Xephon, told silicon.com: "End user training has improved little since the last survey took place in 1997, despite a vast increase in complicated applications. Automation tools have helped to ease some of the burden, but technical expertise at help desks seems hardly to have improved since 1997."

Martin Hill-Wilson, director of CRM at call centre specialist Merchants Group, said: "End users have certain expectations of help desks, people tend to reach for the telephone at the smallest instance. New technology is often introduced in order to increase productivity but without proper training it will actually not be cost-effective."

A director at Front Range, a help desk company, told silicon.com that his operatives were finding it hard to cope with the stress of increased enquiries.

He said: "The problem is lack of training and time. As soon as the technology is updated in a company, the staff should be trained immediately and not left to catch up on their own. End users need advice and guidance as the amount of applications increases."

Lillycrop continued: "Help desk managers need to monitor what sort of queries they are getting and solve the problems by using a mixture of business and technical skills."