Help Desk vs Service Desk | What's the Difference?

Are Service Desk and Help Desk the same thing? If not, what's the difference between the two? Actually, the difference depends on the IT support and company that uses it. Companies that market their software to be Service Desk or Help Desk might be contributing to the confusion on those two. Does it matter if you use the term help desk or service desk ? It does – as you might be underselling or overselling your capabilities.

Is Help Desk Really Different?

When a company wants to be more tactical, and its ultimate goal is to solve immediate, technical needs and issues, they will most likely use an IT Help Desk. The IT Help Desk can be independent or part of a Service Desk software. We'll give some of the explanations why Help Desk is different from Service Desk:

The help desk is an IT dependency, while service desk is much focused on IT Service-centricity.
The help desk provides help and solutions, whereas a service desk provides service.
Those who are fluent in ITIL will say that a help desk is tactical, whereas a service desk is strategic. That may still be different for every company who uses this software.

Does Service Desk Have Help Desk On It?

If we're going to talk about an IT desk that is more strategic, the Service Desk is the best term for that. It focuses on the needs of a business rather than the customer's needs and requests. The ITIL defines the Service Desk (Service Operation) as the Single Point of Contact between the Service Provider and the clients. IT Help Desk is typically included in the Service Desk software to open possibilities for improvements within the company or organization. Meanwhile, here are some of the features and benefits of Service Desk for better understanding:

Automated emails and updates
Comprehensive tracking and reporting
Configurable ticket categories
Scripted responses
Automatic ticket routing
Integrated knowledge base
Service Level Agreement tracking (SLAs)
Escalation procedures
Branded customer portal and user experience
and much more.

Given all of these facts, the difference between these two software will still vary to the user's liking. If you wish you get either of these programs, please visit our website for more details.