Help desk

A service that gives employees a single point of contact for reporting IT problems, requesting changes and getting technical support, usually tracked through tickets.

A help desk can be in-house or provided by a managed IT provider. Staff contact it by phone, email, chat or a web portal, and each request becomes a ticket so it can be tracked, prioritized and resolved. A good help desk handles everyday issues like password resets, printer problems and new user setups, and escalates more complex issues to specialists.

The help desk is also an important part of security. It is often where staff first report a suspicious email, a strange pop-up or a lost phone. At the same time, attackers sometimes call help desks pretending to be employees in order to have passwords reset or multi-factor authentication removed, a tactic seen in several high-profile breaches.

Practical tip: make sure your help desk has a clear identity verification process before resetting passwords or changing sign-in methods, such as calling the employee back on a number already on file or confirming with their manager. Encourage staff to contact the help desk early, since small problems are easier to fix before they grow.