Working at a school that grew consistently over a decade, it is important that the school's IT support remains saleable and responsive to the school's student, staff, and parent body. What often gets overlooked to keep information relevant and scalable in a maturing organization is the help desk's knowledge base.
A knowledge base is a catalogue of technical articles and resources specific to the school's technology. Many resources and articles may be easily "Googleable" but in many cases, if the organization relies on Google there are just as many incorrect and misleading ones out there. It can become easily frustrating for the end user and for IT support personnel.
In addition to keep information accurate and accessible, a knowledge base also caters to those who prefer self-service. Today students and younger staff expect it. According to Knowmax, Forbes, and Hubspot, these statistics support a self service ethos. 50% of millennials view self-service as an expectation. 85% of customers will choose self-service first. For those who find a self-served solution, 67% of those respondents prefer self-service over speaking to a company representative.
When do you know it works? Well at the independent school where I implemented a help desk system with a knowledge base that currently holds hundred of articles and resources, we see hundreds of views from students, staff, and parents. However, what is even more confirming is when we see thousands of views of an article. When I saw this metric it was fascinating!
After investigating it a bit, I realize our article is being searched and linked to by others. Our investment not only helps our users but models and supports users outside of our community as well. Is a knowledge base the only thing a help desk needs? No. A great help desk also requires a strong human component too; from drop-ins, phone calls, or even chats. I am proud to say we value and have these too.
However, I would argue that self-service is a standard now. It is everywhere, banking online with a chat bot, requesting how to return an item online, ordering food on a tablet instead of a waiter, etc. Is self-service important to you? Google an organization with the words, "help desk", "support", "Knowledge Base", "KB", etc. and see if they have a portal with resources and articles. If they do, ask yourself is this a place you want to work and learn at?
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