Once level one decides it can't handle the issue, the matter is assigned to level two, and in all likelihood, a new SLA begins. I have seen cases where a particular problem can take two to three days merely to get to the service desk that can handle the ticket (and I also have seen it take a week or more). SLAs should start from the time the user discovers the problem. Help-desk efficiency reports need to be based on how much time has elapsed between a user discovering a problem and complete resolution of that problem.

Let's back up one step. How much time passed between discovery of the problem and the first contact with the help desk? Did the user call her friend sitting 20 cubes over and ask his advice? Did she attempt to fix the problem herself by trying this and that with no clear direction or understanding? Or did she have access to a set of basic instructions to follow? All users have an employee manual they don't read. Do they have a self-help manual to turn to when something doesn't work? If you have employees stuck in a hotel room 500 miles away and they can't seem to get VPN to work, you have a wasted resource.

There probably are four or five quick answers to basic problems with every application to which a user should have ready access. I am not suggesting you ask users to check their IPCONFIG or PING the server on their own; just provide them with the answers to the really easy problems users encounter. So, the first two rules for the help desk are:

1. Provide the user with some level-zero tools to accomplish basic troubleshooting.

2. Get the ticket into the system ASAP. Don't waste time asking Billy Bob how to reset the intranet zone on your Internet Explorer. Properly implementing this requires user training.

Now comes the tricky part. What will users experience when they first contact level-one support? Is it an experience that will make them want to come back again? I have worked in very large organizations where support was outsourced and offshored. Employees in those organizations "knew" in all likelihood they were going to have some difficulty communicating with the help-desk personnel.

English is spoken by some 400 million people worldwide, and most of them probably can't communicate easily with each other. Dialects, accents, and the lack of visual clues on a phone connection can make it very difficult for an already frustrated user to communicate effectively with a support person. If your workers are located in Alabama and your help desk is in Minnesota, you have a problem beginning. If the help desk is in Pakistan, your problem is growing.

Offshoring support just to save direct support costs may be costing the organization more in the long run.

But that still leaves the communications problem an open issue. Perhaps it is time to start using instant messaging technology for help-desk support. I recently moved and needed to place an order for a cable service that included HDTV, DVR, VoIP, Internet access, etc. I started the order process online because of my dislike of phone menus. Midway through the order process, I was tossed into an instant messaging session where I was able to "chat" with a knowledgeable person who quickly and efficiently completed my order. When I was done, I was offered the ability to save the entire session locally, should I ever need to refer to it. Maybe that is the way we need to do support.

Perhaps the telephone is not the best way to communicate anymore. Large organizations will have some sort of corporate IM service–Sametime or Office Communicator or something. What if a user could just pop onto Sametime and type "help"? Suddenly that English-speaking person in the Philippines is speaking "perfect" unaccented English in response to my problems.

Once we get past communication issues, there remains the users' level of confidence that support really is there to support them. I had an experience with a level-one team that made me decide never to use that help again. I had been issued a laptop that had been loaded with the standard corporate image for software developers. The problem was the Intel chipset software was not configured properly. Wireless would not work. There was a bad block of memory that would cause a catastrophic blue screen whenever it was accessed. I was told by my corporate sponsor I had to use the help desk to resolve these problems. The fact I was a knowledgeable user was lost on level one. I was asked what application I was using when I blue screened. I tried to explain the problem with the bad memory but was sent to the application help desk. What I needed was a new or rebuilt machine, but that was unattainable with paying my dues on the phone with level one.

The problem was not with the support-desk personnel. They were doing exactly what their scripts told them to do. The problem was with the system. When supervisors see a call is taking longer than 10 minutes, they need to jump in on that call, maybe through a private IM or by actually joining in the conversation. Once a supervisor sees an expensive resource is not productive because of an obvious equipment problem, he or she should take that call and route it to an appropriate resource for quick resolution. On the other hand, when the supervisor discovers the call is taking so long because the user doesn't know how to plug the network cable into a laptop, the supervisor can leave that call in the competent hands of level one (and make a note to discuss the issue with the user's manager).

The ugly fact is there is no such thing as a standard help-desk call. You need to have a system in place to decide quickly how critical that call is and what kind of effort it is likely going to take to resolve it. And that requires some sort of expert system that can identify these things upfront. I suspect that expert system is going to be a small team of highly skilled, highly motivated individuals who constantly can monitor support and ensure the proper steps are taken in the first few minutes. Once users come to expect the help desk is not really there to help them, you have lost the game. Which brings me to the next rule:

3. Ensure callers experience some sense of positive resolution to their problem within the first few minutes of their call.

In fact, most help-desk issues are relatively simple items that are the result of uneducated or unsophisticated users. I did not make up my earlier comment regarding the user who could not plug in a network cable. A large percentage of help-desk calls could be avoided by hiring workers who are computer literate or by properly training workers to use the tools you have provided. Organizations seem to assume tacitly that when people apply for a position that is going to require use of a computer to accomplish all of their required duties, they actually can use a computer. There is no room in the corporate workplace for workers who do not understand the basics of computer and productivity software use. Throw this back onto the HR department. If you don't know how to enter a formula into the spreadsheet software, you shouldn't be in that position. In short:

4. Ensure computer users really know how to use a computer (before they are hired). If that does not take place, make sure they are properly trained after being hired.

So, you effectively and efficiently have navigated your way through level-one and -two support and now have been placed in the hands of expert-level care. Just how expert is that level-three help? At this level, support personnel should not be working through a script. If the policy admin system is returning an unspecified error on John's desktop, the help desk better be able to think creatively, combining the available knowledge base with its own knowledge to solve the problem. It should easily be able to use remote access software to interact with the user's computer and see firsthand what the problem is. It should have quick access to IT or developers to assess and repair the problem. Level-three resolution times should be closely monitored. Loaner machines should be readily available for distribution to users who need to get back to work immediately. That presupposes you have configured the work environment in such a way users can access quickly and easily their individual work files because they are stored somewhere on the network (in a collaboration or sharing environment) rather than on their individual computers. Thus, my last rule is:

5. Ensure quick and expert resolution to real problems. If you can't fix the computer, then provide an alternative to get the user back to work.

It is a simple equation. Worker productivity = More revenue potential. Great help-desk support = Greater worker productivity. Don't remove the "great" from your help desk by making it a lesser priority within the organization.