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 relianceof help desks to support users to deal with a wide range of IT related problemssuch as hardware software and telecommunication. However due toresources problem users often have to wait for a considerably long time beforetheir enquiries and problems are answered and solved. Literature hasshown that the majority of incoming enquiries are considered to be simpleand routine which do not require specialized knowledge. This bookinvestigates the feasibility of developing an user self-help knowledge managementsystem by applying techniques in knowledge management andsoftware agent technology to improve the support process of routine andsimple technical enquires in the help desk. A survey is conducted to identifyqueries and problems that are considered to be simple and routine. Theresults also show that a decrease of incoming enquiries can be expected ifsufficient online information trainings guidelines and technical documentationsare provided to the users. The book is addressed to help deskpractitioners and researchers in IT/IS and Knowledge Management.