Technology such as the Help Desk covered in this article are rapidly changing our world in many ways and becoming more affordable for the average person. Its worth mentioning however that better technology is actually properly defined as simply a better way of doing something we already do with whatever process we have at hand. Rather than thinking of better technology in terms of computers, hi tech gadgets and such, for example anytime we find a way to get to work 5mins faster than before we have found a better technology to improve our lives in some respect.



Where do you go if you have a problem with your satellite television or broadband service provider? Whom do you call if your have a problem with your computer's installation system or if your printer just died on you before a major presentation? Who is the one person who can quickly help you stop that whining noise and smoke that your lap top is generating right in the middle of the conference call you are having with your boss? If you are like me, the auto dial function on your telephone will have the number of your friendly global help desk!

According to me, the help desk is the best invention of man in the twenty first century. The computer and all the electronic gadgets are over hyped. Technology changes much before it becomes affordable in the first place. And gadgets and gizmos are flooding the marketplace like never before. If there is anything at all that has remained consistent through all the tumult, it has been the ubiquitous help desk.

The concept of the help desk started off as a service offering, provided by makers of new IT products and services to clients, who were still unfamiliar with the new age technology. But as users have gotten more savvy, the products and services too have become even more complex. Which makes the role of the help desk even more important. Take Windows itself. This simple operating system started off as Windows 1.0. It grew over the years to become Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 97, 2000 and now XP. Obviously, each new version has seen the features increase. And each passing year has seen more users start taking up desktop computing as a real option.

**Running Commentary** - Its interesting to note at this point that the cost of paying for Help Desk support is going to range in price quite a bit and you really need to first identify your needs and wants and when you go shopping make sure you don't overspend for features you want but don't really need. As technology so quickly becomes obsolete 1. many of the features will become obsolete 2. later models will be cheaper if not superseded by a later model with newer features and 3. are you going to actually have time to read the whole manual and understand how all the features work ? (I know I never figure out all the features of any new gadget or gizmo I buy)

This has only meant more work for the people at the Microsoft help desk. As the versions increased and the features expanded, the conventional help desk too expanded to become much more than a mere service offering. Software products and services almost being on par made the quality of the after sales service a critical component in the competitive marketplace. And the help desk, being at the forefront of this arena, has had to adapt and evolve.

So, the typical help desk of today is staffed not just with people who can familiarize you with products and their features, but also specialist engineers and technicians who can troubleshoot your problems and provide you with the correct solution, often within the duration of a simple telephone call. And since the business demands skilled professionals who come with an innate understanding of technology, better prospects have emerged for IT professionals.

In fact, in keeping with the global outsourcing trend, most help desk jobs have moved to countries like India and China where there is no shortage of skilled manpower, and the quality of the professionals is assured. The beneficial cost structures have also contributed to this trend. For like I mentioned earlier, the products may evolve and newer versions may come up. But unless the help desk remains an integral part of the service offering, there will be no exponential increase of market share.

To wrap up our article about Help Desk I wish you luck in putting your new technology to use in your home/work life. In the last 20 years I have seen so many examples of new technology come and go I cant help feeling excited about what I'm going to see in the next 20 years. Although many people seem to feel a sense of foreboding about new things changing their lives in a negative way I must confess that I don't have this fear at all (at the ripe old age of 40 anyway). I understand that new and changing technology is not only inevitable but in fact is opening up more opportunities for us all than ever before in our history and we should only feel threatened if we choose to cling to the past and somehow expect the rest of the world around us to do the same.