The Confusion Between Service Desks and Call Centers
Before defining service desks and call centers let’s make one distinction: the terms “call center,” “service desk,” and “help desk” can refer to multiple things.
Sometimes they refer to the software being used, and sometimes they refer to the team using the software. In this article, we’ll talk about both definitions and clarify which one we’re currently using.
In This Article
- What is a Help Desk vs Service Desk?
- What is a service desk, and how does it work?
- What types of issues do service desks usually handle?
- What kinds of organizations need a service desk?
- What are the parts of a service desk?
- What is a Call Center?
- What is a call center and how does it work?
- What are the different kinds of call centers?
- What kinds of organizations need a call center?
- How are call centers and service desks related?
- Why Your Service Desk Needs a Strong Call Center
- Your call center is the first impression
- Urgent issues don’t require a ticket number
- A weak call center only adds to the help desk’s burden
- A strong call center adds scalability and flexibility
- How Landis Contact Center Helps You Build a Better Service Desk
What is a Help Desk vs Service Desk?
A quick note about the terms help desk and service desk, and how they’re related.
For practical purposes, they’re the same thing. They are both parts of an IT department and both work to solve problems. If you want to examine the minutiae, the term help desk may lean more towards the reactive side, while service desk may imply a more proactive approach. However, for this article, we’ll use the term service desk to encompass this idea.
What is a service desk, and how does it work?
Defining service desk as the team of people means that a service desk is the primary support hub where users go for technical or service-related help. Asking questions, reporting problems, or requesting assistance.
In terms of the software, a service desk is basically a system that creates tickets and tracks their resolutions. Users typically interact with a service desk by submitting a ticket through a website, email, phone, or even chat.
The service desk team then works to resolve the issue and provide updates on the progress.
What types of issues do service desks usually handle?
Here, we refer to the team of people comprising the service desk. This team handles a wide variety of issues. These can be
- Computer problems e.g. frozen screen or trouble connecting to the internet
- Software issues e.g. installing a program or fixing a bug
- Account problems e.g. resetting a password
- Sometimes (less often) even general questions about a company’s products or services.
If it’s a problem requiring quick help, it might go through the service desk.
What kinds of organizations need a service desk?
Any company that has employees who use technology, or that offers products or services to customers, can benefit from having a service desk. This includes small businesses, large corporations, schools, hospitals, and government agencies.
Even non-tech focused organizations might have an internal service desk for employee support.
What are the parts of a service desk?
As we said before, the term service desk can refer to either the software or the team behind the software. The most useful way is to think of it as a whole system that includes the people (the service desk staff), the processes (how they handle requests), and the technology (the software they use).
The technology, of course, includes a ticketing system to track requests, but may also include a knowledge base with answers to common questions, automation capabilities, and always, a way to communicate with the people needing support.
What is a Call Center?
What is a call center and how does it work?
The term call center (also contact center) referring to the team, is a central point of contact for an organization and its customers or other stakeholders.
Contact center teams usually handle a wider range of interactions than do service desk teams, from answering questions and providing support to taking orders and resolving complaints.
The software behind the contact center team provides the ability to reach out through various channels like phone, email, or chat. When someone contacts the center, the software may route their request to the appropriate agent who can assist them.
What are the different kinds of call centers?
Call center teams can be categorized in several ways such as inbound, outbound, remote, etc., but for this section, we’ll look at the different kinds of contact center software.
It’s the most useful to divide call center software (or hardware) based on their location. Contact centers in the past have been mainly physical components such as desk phones, phone lines etc., collectively referred to as “on-prem” systems.
Modern contact centers, however, have moved completely to the cloud. This offers a host of advantages such as improved security, faster deployment, remote access, etc.
Contact centers can also, but less commonly, be a hybrid of these types.
What kinds of organizations need a call center?
Any business that has multiple agents interacting with customers, employees, stakeholders, etc. can benefit from having a contact center team and the software to support it.
Basically, if an organization needs to manage any volume of interactions, a contact center is usually necessary.
How are call centers and service desks related?
When looking at the software, a contact center is one part of a service desk. It simply provides the communication tools that connect users with agents.
A service desk, on the other hand, includes more than just communication. It also has a ticketing system, knowledge base, and workflows that help track, manage, and resolve issues.
If we focus on the team structure, the service desk is usually a smaller part of a larger contact center.
While the contact center handles a wide range of interactions—customer inquiries, sales, and general support—the service desk specializes in troubleshooting technical problems. In this setup, the service desk team works within the contact center, focusing on IT-related issues while other agents handle different types of requests.
Why Your Service Desk Needs a Strong Call Center
Contact centers and service desks – in both senses – can support each other in many ways. For example, your contact center team will benefit greatly from having a strong service desk as a sub-team.
However, for the rest of this article, we will consider contact center software as one of the tools used by your service desk team and look at the ways it can and should be used.
Your call center is the first impression
Your contact center is often the first interaction a customer or employee has with your organization. If a customer has to navigate through frustrating IVR menus or be transferred through three different departments before reaching the help desk, they will already be frustrated which complicates resolving their issue.
Urgent issues don’t require a ticket number
While tickets are necessary for tracking and managing most issues, sometimes urgent problems arise that need immediate attention. A strong contact center allows the help desk team to quickly address the need without waiting for a ticket to be processed.
A weak call center only adds to the service desk’s burden
A poorly managed or unstable contact center can overwhelm IT resources. If the contact center has an issue, usually the IT team will be the first ones called upon for the remedy. The service desk’s tools should not be their obstacles.
A strong call center adds scalability and flexibility
If your business or organization is healthy and growing, so will be the service desk. As the team grows, new licenses will be added and new features used. Security and compliance will become a greater necessity as well as more detailed workflows. A strong contact center will open the door for this growth.
How Landis Contact Center Helps You Build a Better Service Desk
Landis Contact Center offers several features that contribute to a more effective and efficient service desk, even if it doesn’t function as a traditional ticketing system.
Interaction tracking
While not a ticketing system, Landis Contact Center tracks interactions through call logs, agent activity reports, and callback requests. These logs help manage issues from initial report to resolution, providing a record of communication and progress.
Self-service options
Landis Contact Center supports IVR self-service options and web chat integration. This empowers users to find answers to common questions and solutions to simple problems on their own, reducing the volume of direct support requests and improving self-service capabilities.
Callback Reminders
Landis Contact Center’s callback reminder feature makes sure that every callback request is fulfilled. When an agent or receptionist receives a call for someone who is unavailable, they can instantly create a callback reminder via Teams chat or email. This reminder includes the caller’s name, phone number, time of the call, and a link for one-click callback. Agents can also add custom notes to give context to the request.
Automation and AI Integration
Landis Attendant Console includes AI prompts for call summaries, coaching hints, and action lists. These can give feedback that may be easier for agents to accept than the same feedback from a supervisor, allowing the team to improve their own skills.
Reporting and Analytics
Landis Contact Center provides real-time dashboards and detailed historical reports. These reports can be used to track KPIs like agent productivity, service levels, and abandoned call rates, giving you valuable insights into your service desk performance.
If you’re on the road to improving your service desk team by giving them the best tools available, reach out to realize why they will love Landis Contact Center.
