Most Common Help Desk Issues...and How to Prevent Them

by Stephanie Faris on Monday, August 22 6:00

Spend any amount of time on a help desk and you ll likely begin to see patterns. While the wording on your tickets may vary from one case to another, likely they all fit into a few specific categories. Understanding these categories may be key to reducing incoming calls, which means you ll have happier end users. You may even be able to reduce your technicians workloads, which will make their days less stressful. Here are a few of the most common help desk calls, along with tips on preventing them.

Unable to Log In

There are a variety of reasons for this type of call. A user may have been disconnected from the network, have the wrong ID in the username field, or be entering their password incorrectly. Train end users to check the username field before calling. You should also teach employees to choose passwords that are complex while still being easy to remember.

Can t Print

Printing issues tend to create a constant headache for tech teams. Setting up your print management on the backend can reduce some of those calls, but driver issues are only one reason for printer calls. Teach end users how to clear the queue on their printers and remove paper jams on their own. If possible, try to find ways to reduce printing in the workplace, including saving documents as PDFs to make them sharable electronically.

Lost Shared Drive

Within an organization, end users often share a drive with others in their group. This makes it easier to work on the same documents or share information from one team member to another. When a call comes in that an employee has lost access to this drive, it s important to make sure the mapping has been done properly to avoid future calls.

Slow Computer

As computers age, they ll naturally get slower and your help desk will begin seeing tickets for the issue. It s important for technicians to get to the root of the problem and report it. In addition to viruses or physical problems with the device, sluggishness could be a sign that there s a server problem. Most often, it s an issue of not having a viable computer replacement cycle, where employees get new devices every few years.

Can t Access Internet

Most help desk workers know that when this call comes through, it merits further investigation. Employees only know they can t Google something and they ll put the ticket through as such. Have your technicians ask several key questions to determine whether the issue is a forgotten password, an unplugged cable, a problem at the router level, or any number of other issues. If you can diagnose the problem before putting the ticket in, you may be able to save your technicians a trip.

You ll never be able to completely erase repeat calls, but you should pay attention to ongoing issues and see if they can be permanently fixed. Doing so means you ve done your job as an IT department, making day-to-day work easier for the hard-working professionals you support each day.