If you’ve been looking for help with your IT for your business, you may have come across companies offering IT support as well as help desk services.
While these are distinct terms, it’s best not to think in terms of IT support vs. help desk. Rather you should think of them as complementary and intersecting services to provide your business with solutions to your IT problems.
What Is IT Support?
IT support refers to the various services provided by an IT specialist or company to help you with your technology needs. This can include things like managing and troubleshooting your IT infrastructure, providing security for your data, and handling ongoing maintenance of your systems.
Many businesses work with an internal IT team or outsource this service to another company in order to ensure that their technology is running smoothly and securely.
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IT support services are wide-ranging and can include everything from helping with hardware or software setup, to managing and troubleshooting networks, to helping create custom software solutions for businesses.
Common IT support services also include providing security measures, such as installing firewalls or other protective layers to reduce the risk of cyber attacks. IT professionals can also help your business stay on top of best practices and technology trends to ensure that your systems are up-to-date.
What Is an IT Help Desk?
An IT help desk, also known as a technical support center, provides phone or online assistance for users who need help with specific technology issues. This can include things like troubleshooting problems with software or hardware, helping users to set up new devices, or offering general support for technical questions.
Unlike IT support, which typically focuses on ongoing maintenance and management of systems, an IT help desk is generally more focused on short-term or immediate issues that users experience with their technology.
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An IT help desk can provide an invaluable service for businesses, as it allows users to quickly and easily get assistance with any issues they may be having with their technology.
Some of the most common issues that an IT help desk can assist with include troubleshooting hardware or software issues, helping set up or configure new equipment or devices, and providing advice on cybersecurity best practices.
Help Desk vs. IT Support: Two Sides of a Coin
Help desk services act as a first stop before IT support services by providing users with quick and easy help for immediate technology issues. This help desk assistance is usually the first step in solving technology problems, as help desk technicians can help identify the core issue and provide initial assistance to help users get back up and running quickly.
For example, help desk technicians can help users troubleshoot a hardware or software issue, help them set up new devices, or provide advice on cybersecurity best practices. Help desk technicians may also help escalate more complex issues to IT support services for further assistance.
IT support services are typically focused on the long-term maintenance and management of systems and networks, as well as providing help with more complex tasks, such as setting up or troubleshooting IT infrastructure.
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In short, help desk services are a great way to provide users with fast help with immediate technology issues, while IT support is focused on managing and maintaining your systems for the long-term. Working together, help desk and IT support services can help ensure that your business’s technology needs are taken care of.
It’s important to remember that help desk and IT support services are two separate, yet complementary services. Working together, help desk and IT support can help provide businesses with reliable solutions for all of their technology needs.
Help Desk vs. Service Desk
Help desk services and service desk services are often used interchangeably, but they are two different types of support services. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) specifies a help desk as a specific use case of a service desk.
Help desk services focus on providing users with quick help for immediate technology issues, while service desk services typically provide more comprehensive support by focusing on the long-term maintenance and management of systems.
Service desks can also provide guidance on best practices and process improvements, as well as helping to manage more complex projects. So where a help desk will only provide break-fix support, a service desk could handle hardware and software requests and more.
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How to Submit an IT Service Request
If you have an IT issue, help desk and IT support services can help. Before submitting a help desk ticket or contacting an IT support team, it’s important to understand the nature of the issue so that you can provide as much detail as possible.
When submitting a help desk ticket, be sure to include information such as your contact details, the type of issue you’re experiencing, and any steps you’ve already taken to try to resolve the issue.
Once you submit an IT support ticket or contact an IT support team, the help desk technicians will assess the issue and help to identify the core problem. After this initial assessment, help desk technicians may decide to refer the issue to more specialized IT support services for further assistance.
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If help desk technicians are able to resolve the issue on their own, they will help to provide the necessary help and guidance to ensure that you’re able to get back up and running quickly.
Overall, help desk and IT support services work together to help businesses ensure that their technology needs are taken care of.
Whether you’re submitting a help desk ticket or contacting IT support, it’s important to provide as much detail as possible so that technicians can quickly assess the issue and help you find a solution.
With help desk and IT support working together, businesses can help ensure their technology needs are taken care of for the long-term.
Outsource Solutions Group for Help Desk and IT Support Services
Outsource Solutions Group offers both help desk and IT support services to help businesses of all sizes navigate their technology needs. Our help desk and IT support teams specialize in quickly identifying the core issue and providing quick assistance to help you get up and running again.
Our help desk technicians are highly trained to help users troubleshoot any hardware or software issue, help them set up new devices, and help guide them through cybersecurity best practices. Our IT support teams help manage the long-term maintenance and management of systems and networks, as well as providing help with more complex tasks such as setting up or troubleshooting IT infrastructure. Contact Outsource Solutions Group to get started with professional managed IT services.
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