It’s Tuesday morning and there are about a dozen helpdesk tickets you need to attend to. However, an employee enters the office to inform you that she cannot turn on her take-home laptop.

In an ideal situation, you can immediately replace the laptop with another one to give you time to better diagnose the issue. Then you start asking yourself, Are there any laptops available to lend her? Which one can I give her? The whole process takes too long and I am swamped! Can she come back later!?

Helpdesk software helps keep incidents and tickets in one place. However, what helps you manage the physical devices? Boost your helpdesk by integrating it with an IT Asset Management (ITAM) tool.

Improve your Helpdesk processes, with the help of an ITAM solution, by:

1. Streamlining the Check-in/check-out process

2. Settings Reminders for maintenance and warranties

3. Storing repair information

1.Streamline the Check-In/Check-Out Process

In the opening scene, an easy process to check out a device and an updated inventory could have prevented some frustration. By consolidating your helpdesk system with an ITAM tool, you have your tickets and device information in one place. And the ITAM tool makes it possible to track who is using what device and for how long. Therefore, you know where devices are located.

Possible locations of your devices include: 

• with a new employee
• on a business trip
• a special project or meeting
• in for repair
• in your inventory

Boost your checkout processes with an IT Asset Management solution so you 1) know what devices the company owns,  and 2) the location of each device. The device can be allocated to an employee or can be sitting on a shelf.

So, when an employee needs a replacement laptop, you can check the system to see what devices are available. Then, easily allocate the device to her, and check-in the broken laptop for diagnosis.

With a few clicks, the IT Asset Management tool can take care of this by triggering helpdesk tickets to start the laptop diagnosis.

An example of a triggered helpdesk ticket is for a technician to fill out a diagnosis form. The IT Asset Management tool creates the ticket and sends the notification as soon as the laptop is checked-in for repair.

BONUS TIP:

Find an IT Asset Management that integrates with barcodes. Thus, saving even more time in the check-in/check-out process.

So you can make informed decisions on the spot, scanning a device will tell you the following:

• Who is borrowing the device
• The department of the employee
• When it is due back
• Access to the history of the device
• Access to the employee’s profile to see what he/she has borrowed

2. Set Reminders for Maintenance and Warranties

Integrating an ITAM tool with your help desk empowers you to make even better decisions. Whenever someone claims there’s something wrong with their computer, you type their name in the ITAM tool and see what device they are using.

The tool reveals 1) how long they’ve had a device, 2) the depreciation costs, 3) the maintenance renewals, and 4) warranty expirations.

If a piece of hardware breaks before warrantee, you can see it in your tool. But you don’t have to wait until an employee calls to complain. You can set up reminders for maintenance and warranties. Being proactive can save you a lot of money, and headaches!

3. Store Repair Information

Let’s say you need to fix a laptop. You aren’t sure if it has been fixed before, without knowing the history of the laptop. And if it has been sent for repair, what was fixed? Without the important dates we previously covered, you don’t know if it’s under warranty.

The IT Asset Management solution stores all this information. It’s all in one place so you can react quickly and efficiently. Once integrated to your helpdesk system, you can call up that information any time you receive a ticket.

For example, in the IT Asset Management solution, VIZOR, the repair section has a history of the device (who borrowed it, previous repairs, what has been repaired), vendor information, warrantee dates, maintenance dates, and a place to store documents. Therefore, the information you need to make an informed decision is all there.

Interested in simplifying your helpdesk? Try VIZOR today

This blog was updated in July 2020.