How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform IT Helpdesks
Artificial intelligence is often regarded as the next big thing in IT. However, AI is better considered as an added intelligence - it is there to help IT, staff, not to replace them.
But no matter how well an organization describes AI directly, it should look at how technology can make it more productive and competitive. In IT, in particular, one area where AI can be particularly useful is within the help desk.
The emergence of AI in the IT help desk domain
IT service management (ITSM) addresses the need for a set of robust IT processes around the help desk. The help desk is alerted to any problems within the IT platform, issues tickets, and distributes them to the appropriate organizations for some repairs. After that, the help desk staff sends alerts to users when the problem is fixed, and they monitor and research this thread for ongoing work.
While ITSM help desks can work with manual setup - when human operators start and complete each step - automation can speed up problem-solving and improve overall efficiency. Indeed, as IT platforms become more sophisticated, and the help desks have grown older to deal with such difficulties, a lack of ingenuity in the help desk system has led to a collapse of skills: Help desk staff are frustrated by the number of problems brought to them; tickets are improperly distributed; engineers and developers lose sight of what is important, and sensitive issues are ignored.
This is where AI can help. But first, the data needs to be properly compiled.
Many IT machines create data, which is stored within certain types of data. This has enabled admins to identify and track any issues with historical data analysis. Over time, real-time analysis of such data allows IT teams to identify potential problems before they become a problem. After that, IT teams start collecting data from the same devices to predict which devices will face problems in the future, depending on the problem that exists with one device.
Today, there is an opportunity to integrate all data from all devices in a logical way, and then analyze that data to identify and solve IT problems. IT teams can use AI to extract any non-existent, or minimal, use data - power is very beneficial, as the internet of things continues to grow. By carefully designing the platform, admins can filter and reduce the amount of data they need to analyze it.
After data analysis and identification of potential issues, tickets are produced efficiently and automatically. If software changes fix this problem, the AI ​​system can take action and close the ticket, and notify the help desk staff of the action. The system can also save regression points, enabling people to undo any auto-changes, as required.
Data and cloud definitions present other AI deployment options in big data sets. An organization can not only identify potential problems compared to what is happening - and what has happened - in its IT platform but can also compare that information with the work done by many IT organizations. As it stands, AI systems are more likely to take on pre-existing issues before they affect users - and fixes can occur at a slower pace.
AI technology can also include historical correction data when compared to new problems - for example, did a particular method work in the past? If the help desk staff used multiple methods before, which one was better? An AI-based system that can self-update itself by solving problem solutions is much better than a simple rules-based engine that will always test the ultimate solution that works, even if IT platforms may have changed.
NLP assists staff at the IT help desk
Another possible use of AI on the help desk is the use of native language processing (NLP). While the smart help desk system is very sensitive to issues based on data streams in the system itself, some issues are still man-made. For example, users may forget their password or may not know how to do a certain task. However, they do not set their terms in the usual way: "I do not remember my password" is different than "I can not log in to the system."
At both the text and word level, NLP technology can filter or use personal help desk queries. Companies such as Unisys, Numerify (acquired by Digital.ai), and ServiceNow offer NLP capabilities directly within their help desk tools, or as an addition to other help desk systems.
The NLP can allow for left-handed methods, where FAQs, computer training modules, or one-level support staff can deal with simple problems. After all, only complex problems, or rare ones, need to be raised for more experienced staff - and the NLP can ensure that these employees only receive news that matches their specific skill sets.
Even the fortune 500 companies are leaning towards AI for their IT helpdesk support. Overall, the use of AI in the help desk operation will continue to rise.