Help Desk guide
Start here
How to write a ticket properly, what to collect on a call, and the software the Help Desk runs on. No account needed — read it, bookmark it, come back to it.
How a ticket works
The Footprints form field by field — what goes in the title, how to pick a category, what the description has to contain, and who it should be routed to.
What to collect on a call
Where, when, why, how, what — plus the identity and device details a ticket is useless without. Run it before you start fixing anything.
The systems we use
9 pieces of software, what each one is for, and which situation sends you there.
Bookmarks for your browser
Download one file, import it into Chrome, and every system you need is on your bookmarks bar.
The shape of every call
Whatever the problem turns out to be, the sequence is the same.
- 1Ask
- 2Verify
- 3Troubleshoot
- 4Document
- 5Assign
- 6Notify
- 7Double-check
- 8Save
The single most common mistake is starting at Troubleshoot. Almost all wasted Help Desk time is spent confidently fixing the wrong problem, and the information that would have prevented it was one question away.
Checklists
Open these while you are on a call. They are built to be scanned, not read.
- Before you troubleshootA two-question reflection that slows a new technician down at the point where rushing costs the most.
- Call intakeWhat to establish before you begin troubleshooting. Built around where, when, why, how, and what.
- Ticket quality checkThe final pass before saving a Footprints ticket. Ten seconds of re-reading catches almost every ticket problem.