Enterprise help desk: the ultimate guide

Enterprise help desk software is revolutionizing how businesses handle IT support in 2024, becoming an indispensable tool for boosting efficiency and productivity.

For businesses that want to stand out from the competition, quality customer service practices are essential. When customers receive prompt, comprehensive assistance, they are more likely to return to your business in the future and contribute to building its positive reputation, putting your enterprise at the forefront of your industry.

However, getting there is not as easy as it seems. There are many elements that make up a fully inclusive customer service system, which can be difficult for a large enterprise to organize and deliver without a dedicated tool. But worry not—that’s where enterprise help desks come in.

With features like automation, self-service portals, and multi-channel support, enterprise help desks help you deliver timely and consistent support to your customers. Read on to see why enterprise help desks are becoming vital to creating and maintaining a resilient, high-performing business environment.

What is an enterprise help desk?

Designed for large businesses, an enterprise help desk is a centralized hub where customers can get quick solutions for technical issues or questions they have about your business, its products, and its services. It can cover multiple channels such as email, live chat, and phone, allowing you to create an extensive self-service portal or help center that customers can access however they choose. Enterprise help desks aren’t just about troubleshooting; they provide the resources for your support operations to run like a well-oiled machine. By enhancing customer support and streamlining agent workflows, these systems are crucial in helping companies maximize efficiency and maintain high rates of customer satisfaction.

Benefits of enterprise help desks

Enterprise help desks are essential tools for modern businesses that value efficiency and collaboration. Let’s dive into some of their key benefits.

Leverage automation

It’s almost impossible for a large business to address each and every customer issue if it still uses manual methods for ticket management. By automating routine tasks such as ticket creation, prioritization, and assignment, enterprise help desks free up your IT team's time for more complex and critical issues. Automated workflows ensure that support tickets are directed to the right technician promptly, reducing wait times and accelerating resolution. In addition to enhancing productivity, enterprise help desks minimize the risk of human error by providing a more consistent and reliable service.

Automation can extend to proactive maintenance tasks, such as software updates and security patch installations. By scheduling these activities during off-peak hours, an enterprise help desk ensures minimal disruption to your business operations. This approach helps prevent potential issues before they escalate, keeping your systems running smoothly and your team focused on their core responsibilities.

Improved workflow

When all technical support requests are funneled through a single platform, it’s easier to track, manage, and resolve issues efficiently. An enterprise help desk's centralized approach eliminates the confusion and delays often associated with multiple communication channels, providing a clear and organized workflow optimal for handling IT support.

By using a standardized process for resolving issues and answering users’ questions, enterprise help desks ensure that every ticket follows a defined path, from initial report to final resolution. Enterprise help desks can also prioritize support requests and assign tickets to relevant departments. This allows for better tracking of your business’s performance metrics, helping to identify bottlenecks and continuously improve its processes. The result is a smoother, more efficient workflow that reduces downtime and keeps your operations running seamlessly.

Self-service

Empowering customers and employees with self-service options is a game-changer for any business looking to improve its IT support offerings. Self-service portals provide users with the tools and resources they need to resolve common issues independently, eliminating the need to wait for support. This includes access to a comprehensive knowledge base, FAQs, troubleshooting guides, and even automated chatbots that can answer questions in real time.

Self-service also enhances customer satisfaction by giving them more control over their IT needs. When customers can find solutions to their problems on their own, it reduces frustration and increases their confidence in both the support system and the business as a whole. Self-service also dramatically reduces the volume of routine support requests for IT workers, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks.

Enhance collaboration

Collaboration is crucial in resolving complex IT issues, which sometimes require insight from team members in different departments across an organization. Enterprise help desks provide the perfect communication platform, with integrated communication tools such as instant messaging, video calls, and collaborative workspaces that allow IT teams to work together seamlessly with other departments. For example, ticket tracking and shared dashboards allow all relevant stakeholders to stay informed about the status of support requests, fostering transparency across the organization. 

This enhanced collaboration ensures that knowledge and expertise are shared effectively, leading to quicker and more accurate problem resolution. As a result, enterprise help desks can strengthen interdepartmental relationships and promote a more cohesive work environment.

Better support experiences

A well-implemented enterprise help desk dramatically enhances the support experience for customers and employees with IT-related questions and requests. With features like multi-channel support, users can reach out for help through their preferred method—be it email, phone, chat, or a web portal. This flexibility ensures that every user feels supported, regardless of their tech proficiency.

Enterprise help desks also provide timely updates and notifications, keeping users informed about the status of their support requests. This transparency reduces concern and builds trust in the support system. By delivering personalized and responsive support, enterprise help desks create a positive experience that boosts employee morale and productivity, as well as customer perceptions and decisions.

Reporting/analytics

An enterprise help desk can supply helpful information for companies that are continuously striving for improvement. Its reporting and analytics features allow companies to identify trends, monitor performance, and pinpoint problem areas. For instance, detailed reports and dashboards provide insights into key metrics such as ticket volume, resolution times, and customer satisfaction.

By leveraging these insights, businesses can make data-driven decisions to optimize their IT support processes. Enterprise help desks can identify frequently recurring issues, highlighting areas that need attention. Regular analysis of performance metrics also helps in setting realistic goals and tracking progress, ensuring that the IT support team is always on top of its objectives. This strategic approach to IT management leads to a stronger support system and more efficient operations overall.

Key features in enterprise help desks

Enterprise help desks are equipped with a range of powerful features. From offering omni-channel support to advanced reporting and analytics, these systems are designed to handle the complexities of large organizations. Let's explore some of the key features that make enterprise help desks indispensable tools.

Offer omnichannel support

Omnichannel support provides users with multiple ways to seek assistance, whether through email, phone, chat, social media, or web portals. This feature makes an enterprise help desk widely accessible, allowing users to choose the method that is most convenient for them. Omnichannel support also lets users switch between communication channels with ease. For example, a user might start a support request via chat and then continue the conversation over the phone without losing any context.

Ticketing management

Ticketing management in enterprise help desks streamlines the process of logging, tracking, and resolving support requests. This feature ensures that every issue is documented and assigned a unique identifier, making it easy to track its status from start to finish. These systems prioritize and categorize tickets based on urgency and category, ensuring that critical issues are addressed promptly while less urgent ones are still monitored and resolved in a timely manner.

Ticketing management also includes features like automated ticket assignment, escalation protocols, and integration with other IT tools, such as knowledge bases and asset management systems. These capabilities enhance the efficiency of the IT support team and deliver timely and accurate resolutions to users’ problems.

Self-service capabilities

Self-service capabilities assist users in resolving common issues on their own, reducing the burden on IT support teams and speeding up problem resolution. An enterprise service desk often includes a comprehensive knowledge base, FAQs, and step-by-step guides that users can access independently at any time to solve their problems.

Self-service portals can also be equipped with intelligent search functions and AI-driven chatbots that guide users through troubleshooting processes. By enabling users to find answers on their own, self-service features reduce the volume of routine support requests and free up IT department resources to focus on more complex and critical issues.

Reporting and analytic capabilities

The reporting and analytic features of enterprise help desks provide valuable insights into the performance and efficiency of IT support operations. These tools generate detailed reports and visual dashboards that track key metrics such as ticket volume, resolution speed, NPS, and user satisfaction. IT managers can analyze this data to identify trends, monitor performance, and discover areas that need improvement. Reporting and analytic capabilities also allow businesses to share findings with key stakeholders, increasing transparency and making communication easier.

5 best enterprise help desk software

There are many enterprise help desk support software options to choose from, each with its own unique elements and limitations. Let’s take a look at the key features, pros, cons, and prices of the 5 best enterprise help desk software.

1. Freshdesk

Freshdesk’s Enterprise plan features advanced automation and bots for high performance and enterprise customer support. It incorporates all the features of Freshdesk’s Free, Growth, and Pro plans with expanded security, efficiency, knowledge base, and testing capabilities.

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Key features

• Can engage with customer data on multiple channels, including email, chat, phone, and portal.

• Automates repetitive tasks, such as responses and ticket follow-ups.

• Allows your business to track, review, approve, and publish knowledge base articles like guides and FAQs.

• Centered around a digital system that organizes and prioritizes tickets, as well as manages timely customer support responses.

• Includes Freddy AI add-ons to provide agent assistance and generate analytical recommendations.

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Pros

• Offers a 14-day free trial.

• Day passes are available for temporary use.

• Accessible user interface (UI) makes the system easy to use.

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2. Zendesk

Zendesk’s Suite Enterprise plan offers all the elements of the Zendesk Suite Team, Growth, and Professional plans, plus additional security protections, testing capabilities, workflow efficiencies, and knowledge base expansion features.

Key features

• Offers HIPAA-enabled select services.

• Features AI-powered Content Cues that help you create relevant knowledge base articles by automatically identifying common topics from customer requests.

• Can engage with customer data on multiple channels, including email, chat, phone, and portal.

• Automates repetitive tasks, such as responses and ticket follow-ups.

Pros

• Offers a free trial.

• Access to Sunshine Conversations, Zendesk's messaging platform that allows you to design customer interactions from scratch.

• AI co-pilot add-ons available.

Cons

• Some messaging channels do not support all content or action types through Sunshine Conversations.

• Inability to recognize multi-submission tickets as singular instances.

3. Kustomer

Kustomer’s Ultimate plan is designed for large teams to enhance customer relationship management with AI assistance and seamless multi channel enterprise customer support.

Key features

• Consolidates data from multiple channels to create a dashboard view of customer interactions.

• Automates repetitive tasks, such as responses and ticket follow-ups.

• Can engage with customer data on multiple channels, including email, chat, phone, and portal.

• Provides customization options, so you can adjust the platform to meet your needs.

• Includes AI-powered agent and customer assistance.

Pros

• Allows customers to switch between channels without losing context for their IT support needs.

• Integrates with various third-party systems and apps.

Cons

• Occasional system bugs disrupt workflows and interrupt customer support efforts.

• Users may face a learning curve for more advanced features.

4. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk can help businesses manage omnichannel communication over the phone, email, live chat, SMS text, and social media. It also helps you assign calls to your support agents based on their department or team and automatically route calls to agents the customer is familiar with.

Key features

• Utilizes AI for analytics and insights into customers, including tracking interactions and full responses.

• Automates repetitive tasks, such as responses and ticket follow-ups.

• Can engage with customer data on multiple channels, including email, chat, phone, and portal.

Pros

• Integrates with other Zoho applications, expanding an existing suite of IT support tools.

• Allows businesses to customize their platform to reflect their branding and operations.

• Offers a free trial.

Cons

• Zoho Desk is a feature-heavy system, which can make it difficult for new users to understand

• Supports limited third-party integrations.

5. Help Scout

Help Scout's shared inbox, help center, and live chat software help IT teams manage customer communications and provide timely assistance with technical inquiries.

Key features

• Offers HIPAA-compliant features.

• Can engage with customer data on multiple channels, including email, chat, phone, and portal.

• Automates repetitive tasks, such as responses and ticket follow-ups.

• Integrates smoothly with Salesforce, Jira, and Hubspot.

Pros

• Access to integration with other enterprise help desk software enhances Help Scout’s capabilities.

Cons

Mainly intended for customer service purposes, not for IT service for internal employees.

Choosing the right enterprise software for your business

The right enterprise help desk software can significantly impact your business operations, so it’s important to know which one fits your goals best. While searching for a plan that balances your company’s IT service needs with its financial restrictions, conduct an informal cost-benefit analysis. Baseline research that goes beyond price can reveal differences that set one system apart from another, so it’s wise to become familiar with specific enterprise help desk features as they relate to your individual company. You may find certain features beneficial, while others might be unimportant to your enterprise’s intents and purposes.

Additionally, focus on utilizing plans that support AI-powered technologies. This can set your business apart by showing customers and employees that it can adequately adapt to new technologies, keeping your business capable and relevant as AI continues to shape industries across the board.

Enhance your enterprise operations today with Freshdesk!

Freshdesk has advanced ticketing, self-service, AI-powered automation, collaboration, and analytics designed to handle large volumes of inquiries and support a comprehensive knowledge base for your business. With sandbox testing, unlimited cloud storage, flexible API rates, advanced security features, and omnichannel support, Freshdesk provides a comprehensive system that can assist any enterprise at any level. Harnessing the power of AI is a crucial element of efficiency and productivity in 2024, which is why Freshdesk supports AI-powered assistance for agents and customers with Freddy AI. Purchasing help desk software for a large enterprise can be daunting with all the options out there, so Freshdesk offers a 14-day free trial for businesses to try it out with no strings attached.

Freshdesk is smart, streamlined, and scalable to support your company’s IT service efforts. Purpose-built for IT, customer support, and sales and marketing teams, Freshdesk enterprise help desk software empowers the people who power business. It’s fast to onboard, priced affordably, and built to delight, yet powerful enough to deliver critical business outcomes. With 24/7 email support, features that keep your help desk running at all times, and an easy user interface, Freshdesk is equipped to help enterprises strengthen their IT service solutions.