Help Desk Vs Service Desk – Definition, Differences, and a Complete Dissection

Navigating the intricacies of IT support structures can feel like deciphering a complex algorithm. At the core of this digital labyrinth lie two essential counterparts: the help desk and the service desk. While often used interchangeably, these entities have distinct functionalities and serve unique purposes within organizational ecosystems. Let’s dive into the differences between help desks and service desks.

What is a help desk?

A help desk provides reactive IT support for end users. At a help desk, you first explain your problem to a technician, who, after some troubleshooting, will help solve it. Help desk support can often be accessed in person, over the phone, by email, or even via a company portal. They are often a smaller part of overarching service desk operations. 

How can a help desk provide support?

Help desks are there to provide technical support to individuals and answer IT or tech questions. They are also on hand to provide more in-depth engineering support if needed. As an example, let’s take a look at Aisha, who has been locked out of her employee portal. The help desk process would look something like this:

1. Aisha raises a ticket.

2. The help desk technician contacts her and they troubleshoot the problem together.

3. The technician identifies the problem: her company account hasn’t been set up in the directory yet.

4. The technician activates her account and makes sure Aisha can get into her email and the cloud drive.

5. The technician closes the ticket.

What is a service desk?

A service desk is tasked with improving efficiency across the organization. Instead of reacting to problems, service desks take a more strategic, proactive approach; they focus on finding their root cause. Service desks often use self-service software and collect data to improve help desk support. They also use IT service management (ITSM) to keep track of all tickets, requests, and incidents.

How can a service desk provide support?

A service desk provides strategic support for organizations, with the goal of improving IT service efficiency. It also manages incidents and service requests and introduces long-term solutions. A service desk helping Aisha would look something like this:

1. Aisha raises a ticket.

2. The service desk reviews Aisha’s ticket and solves the problem via the help desk.

3. They review Aisha’s standalone incident and monitor for similar issues.

4. If they pick up multiple similar incidents, they will identify it as a larger problem.

5. They’ll then work to fix this problem and provide long-term service changes to reduce the likelihood of it happening again.

Key differences between service desks and help desks

Now that you know what service and help desks are, let’s break down their main differences.

Primary scope

Service desks adopt a holistic approach to IT support that extends beyond mere issue resolution to encompass proactive service management and continuous improvement initiatives. Their scope includes addressing user inquiries and technical issues and overall service management. 

Help desks provide reactive support, primarily addressing immediate technical issues and resolving user queries as they arise. Their primary goal is to ensure quick issue resolution and restore normal operations for users. 

Area of focus

Service desks have a broad focus on not only issue resolution but also service management and optimization. Beyond addressing immediate user concerns, service desks prioritize the overall delivery and performance of IT services. They focus on service availability, reliability, and performance, with an emphasis on proactive problem-solving, continuous improvement, and aligning IT services with business objectives. 

Help desks concentrate on providing immediate assistance to users facing technical issues or seeking guidance on utilizing technology effectively. Their primary focus is resolving specific problems promptly, whether it's troubleshooting software glitches, resolving hardware malfunctions, or addressing user queries. 

Key features

Service desks offer comprehensive features for proactive service management and continuous improvement initiatives, such as service-level agreement (SLA) management to define and monitor service commitments, problem and incident management to identify and resolve underlying issues, and change management to implement IT changes while minimizing disruption to operations. 

Help desks provide fast reactive support using tools like ticketing systems for logging and tracking user issues, knowledge bases for troubleshooting common problems, and escalation procedures for routing complex issues to specialized support teams. These tools help them prioritize rapid response and issue resolution.

Key metrics

Service desks use metrics that encompass both operational efficiency and service quality. They focus on metrics like service-level agreement (SLA) adherence that measure the organization's ability to meet predefined service commitments and maintain service availability. Service desks also track metrics related to incident and problem management, such as the number of incidents resolved, mean time between failures (MTBF), and the rate of recurring incidents, to identify and fix underlying issues. Additionally, they may monitor metrics like service utilization and user adoption rates to assess the effectiveness of IT services and identify opportunities for optimization.

Help desks focus on metrics related to issue resolution and user satisfaction, such as mean time to resolution (MTTR), first-call resolution rate (FCR), and customer satisfaction scores (CSAT). These metrics measure the efficiency and effectiveness of help desk operations in addressing user inquiries and technical issues with a primary emphasis on minimizing downtime and maximizing user productivity. Help desks may also track metrics like call volume and ticket backlog to assess workload and resource allocation, ensuring sufficient customer support is available to meet user needs.

How to choose between a help desk and service desk

When it comes to optimizing IT support structures, organizations must decide whether to implement a help desk or a service desk—or perhaps even a combination of both. To decide where to start, keep an eye out for the common indicators outlined below.

Signs you might need a help desk:

If your team finds itself overwhelmed by user inquiries and struggling to keep up with technical issues, it might be time to invest in a help desk solution. Here are some signs that indicate the need for a help desk:

• Increasing volume of user inquiries

• Difficulty in tracking and managing user requests

• Lack of standardized issue resolution processes

• Inconsistent service quality and response times

• Challenges in prioritizing and assigning tasks

• Growing frustration and dissatisfaction among users

• Difficulty in measuring and evaluating help desk performance

Signs you might need a service desk:

If your organization wants to adopt a proactive approach to IT support, streamline service delivery processes, and improve overall service quality, it might be time to invest in a service desk software solution. Here are some signs that indicate the need for a service desk:

• Desire to shift from reactive to proactive support

• Increasing complexity of IT infrastructure and service offerings

• Growing emphasis on SLAs and performance metrics

• Lack of standardized service management processes

• Desire to improve service reliability and performance

• Challenges in managing and resolving recurring incidents and their causes

• Minimal integration between IT services and business processes

• Increasing demand for self-service capabilities

Choosing the right tool for your business

Choosing the right ITSM tool for your business is crucial, and it all depends on your preferences and operating style. You should choose a solution that both accommodates your business goals and meets your current business needs. Let’s look at the two ITSM tools Freshworks has to offer and how they can benefit your business.

Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a customer service software (CSS) that focuses on your customers. It enables IT teams to effectively manage incidents and service requests while prioritizing service availability and user satisfaction. Its ticketing system facilitates efficient issue tracking and resolution, while its self-service portal empowers users to find solutions independently. Freshdesk's automation capabilities and knowledge management come together to enhance operational efficiency.

Freshservice

Freshservice focuses more on IT technicians, their workflows, and the performance of your IT services. It empowers IT teams to manage incidents, changes, and assets efficiently, all from a single unified platform. The platform has powerful automation capabilities, comprehensive asset management functionalities, and insightful analytics tools, enabling organizations to drive operational efficiency, minimize downtime, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.