Many small companies have no idea what help desk software is and how it can help them eliminate manual process, streamline communication and workflow within and between departments, organize and find essential business data, eliminate error, and keep on top of issues before they become costly mistakes.

In essence, help desk software solutions automate workflow and issue resolution so your customers and employees can submit a ticket via email or web form to explain issues, and have a tech department or representative find the information they need to fix the issue, while keeping all impacted parties in the loop. Here’s why help desk software is essential for IT best practices for every company:

1. Customizable and efficient

At their most basic level, help desk software allows workers and customers (at the company’s discretion) to submit issues electronically to get them fixed quickly so everyone can be more productive. Tickets are electronically submitted explaining the issue and can even be customized and submitted by issue (i.e., website, system), building location and department, etc.

2. Centralizes and prioritizes IT requests

Obviously certain issues require immediate attention (i.e., failed servers that affect day to day business). Help desk solutions ensure all submitted tickets are in one centralized location, sorted, and prioritized so technicians can address as such. This way, everyone (IT, managers, and ticket submitter) can see the open ticket and know as soon as it’s resolved.

3. Easy assignment and due date

Another handy feature of help desk software is that it allows managers to automatically assign and attach a completion date to issues based on worker skill and available IT resources. This way, a tech can make the most of their time when juggling multiple issues.

4. Identify IT trends

Overall, help desk software provide companies with a bird’s eye view of their IT needs. The software records metric reports (i.e., frequent issues, time for resolutions) so that you can identify trends for specific tasks and needs.