Help Desk Practitioner's Handbook [Paperback]

Barbara Czegel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471319929 | ISBN-13: 978-0471319924 | Publication Date: December 16, 1998 | Edition: 1

Your complete guide to surviving and thriving as a Help Desk practitioner
Help Desk Practitioner's Handbook
The only book to address the unique concerns of the huge and growing number of Help Desk analysts, this is your complete guide to becoming a more effective communicator and problem-solver and deriving greater satisfaction from your job. Barbara Czegel, North America's most well-known expert on Help Desk support services and training, uses dozens of fascinating scenarios and real-world examples to illustrate the right (and wrong) ways to handle virtually every situation you can encounter. She arms you with an arsenal of proven tools of the trade, including:
* Eleven effective listening habits that improve your ability to solve problems
* Techniques for increasing the speed and accuracy of problem resolution
* Early warning systems and layered strategies for problem control
* Tools for reducing calls and eliminating problems before they occur
* A simple, step-by-step process for doing cost justifications
* Methods for turning Help Desk interactions into marketing opportunities
Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Your complete guide to surviving and thriving as a Help Desk practitioner

Help Desk Practitioner's Handbook

The only book to address the unique concerns of the huge and growing number of Help Desk analysts, this is your complete guide to becoming a more effective communicator and problem-solver and deriving greater satisfaction from your job. Barbara Czegel, North America's most well-known expert on Help Desk support services and training, uses dozens of fascinating scenarios and real-world examples to illustrate the right (and wrong) ways to handle virtually every situation you can encounter. She arms you with an arsenal of proven tools of the trade, including:
* Eleven effective listening habits that improve your ability to solve problems
* Techniques for increasing the speed and accuracy of problem resolution
* Early warning systems and layered strategies for problem control
* Tools for reducing calls and eliminating problems before they occur
* A simple, step-by-step process for doing cost justifications
* Methods for turning Help Desk interactions into marketing opportunities

Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/

About the Author

BARBARA CZEGEL is President of SIRIUS3, a consulting company that provides Help Desk training and seminars across Canada. She is a member of the Help Desk Institute and the Support Services Association. Her other books include Running an Effective Help Desk, Second Edition, also available from Wiley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471319929
• ISBN-13: 978-0471319924
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Culture > Technical Support

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Concise Reference for Support Staff, January 20, 2000

By 

Stan Kuback (Tualatin, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Help Desk Practitioner's Handbook (Paperback)

I found this to be a concise reference manual that will benefit any Help Desk Analyst.

It provides information on Help Desk operation aimed specifically at the analysts who staff your Help Desk.

Its full of tips, examples, and case studies, while teaching skills in effective listening and problem solving that every analysts needs.

I have made this mandatory reading for my Help Desk staff.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner from Ms. Czegel - this focuses on people, April 10, 2001

By 

Linda Zarate "IT Ops Consultant" (Azusa, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Help Desk Practitioner's Handbook (Paperback)

This is the second book I have read by Ms. Czegel (the first was Running an Effective Help Desk). Where the first book leads you through the help desk planning, implementation and operations process, this one focuses on the people issues. My experience has shown that the best help desk technologies you can buy, and problem management processes you can develop and implement are worthless if you don't take care of the people part of the equation.

Ms. Czegel jumps right in with roles. She systematically goes through the various roles a help desk analyst must assume. The ability to switch from one character or personality type to another that is the hallmark of a truly great analyst gives you some keen insights into why there is an epidemic of burnout and high turnover among support professionals. Aside from this insight, it also shows you what to look for in candidates and gives you a good foundation for coaching and training. It also gives you some ammunition for getting their pay and bonus structure aligned to the high stress the job casues.

As in her other book Ms. Czegel never loses sight of the business side and part two of this book gives an intelligent description of help desk stakeholders and their unique needs based on their level in the organization and how their functions intersect with the help desk mission and objectives. The next two sections cover issue management processes and procedures and help desk technology. Some of the material is close to what is in her other book, but is not identical.

The remainder of the book duplicates a lot of the material in Running an Effective Help Desk, but is excellent if you only buy one of Ms. Czegel's books. A reason to buy both, however, is the different focus of each and some expansion of topics in each book.

Overall, I like this book a lot and gained much from it. I came away with an appreciation for and empathy with those thick-skinned folks who staff help desks. I also came away with some good ideas about how to motivate and train help desk analysts and design processes that make their life easier. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading if you want to stand out among your peers, March 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Help Desk Practitioner's Handbook (Paperback)

This book is packed with useful information that will make you a more well-rounded support person. Help desk and technical support in general is so much more than just technical know-how. The non-technical aspects are just as important and this book will help you in those areas. Has information on standard methodologies of technical support, full of tips. Has gotten me higher job ratings and a nice raise in the past year. You need this to compete in today's tough job environment. I think this should be required reading by all help desk/technical support staff. Great book.