Easing the Overloaded Help Desk- the Development of an User Self-help Knowledge Management System

IT has changed the way organizations function. This has resulted in reliance of help desks to support users to deal with a wide range of IT related problems such as hardware, software and telecommunication. However, due to resources problem, users often have to wait for a considerably long time before their enquiries and problems are answered and solved. Literature has shown that the majority of incoming enquiries are considered to be simple and routine which do not require specialized knowledge. This book investigates the feasibility of developing an user self-help knowledge management system by applying techniques in knowledge management and software agent technology to improve the support process of routine and simple technical enquires in the help desk. A survey is conducted to identify queries and problems that are considered to be simple and routine. The results also show that a decrease of incoming enquiries can be expected if sufficient online information, trainings, guidelines and technical documentations are provided to the users. The book is addressed to help desk practitioners and researchers in IT/IS and Knowledge Management.