If you would like to learn more about expert systems for helpdesks, visit the Help Desk Institute, HelpDesk . Com - A Complete Help Desk Software and Solution Index, or the very comprehensive Philip Verghis' Help Desk FAQ. Who do you call when your printer won't print? Who do you trust to install new hardware on your PC? Who do you ask for advice before purchasing new software? An expert! Expert systems are a practical application of artificial intelligence concepts that provide expert advice when the "experts" are, for some reason, in short supply. Expert systems allow the user to draw on a "knowledge base" that stores knowledge through case-based reasoning, rule-based logic, or neural nets. For more information on expert systems, see what
PC AI, a magazine devoted to artificial intelligence, has to say about them."
Helpdesk" is a slang term for the place end users call when they have a problem with their computers. This could be a call-dispatch center, where the persons answering the telephone log a call, make a judgement as to the problem area, and send a field expert to resolve the problem. More often this is a center with troubleshooting generalists who try to resolve the issue as it comes into them ("first point of contact").Either approach, however,
costs money -- money to staff the helpdesk, money to staff the field support team, money in lost productivity from the user calling in ... and perhaps even lost productivity from the six other people in the user's area that she bugged before calling the helpdesk!Added to the base cost of salaries and lost productivity are the problems helpdesk managers have finding qualified staff (particularly for first point of contact) and then keeping that staff from leaving due to boredom and/or overwork.
Did we mention that staffing a helpdesk which prides itself on 80% or better call resolution at first contact must either have a pretty specific question field or must have some pretty impressive staff?
General PC troubleshooting includes hardware problems (any of several dozen components), operating system problems, and application software problems.If the PC connects to a server for any services like files, printing, or databases, then that server's problems are added to the mix. Then there are likely to be systems other than the PC and a single server, like the physical network, mainframe computers....In a company of any size, the number of possible problems coming into a helpdesk boggles the mind.
So if we can't find enough people who know all about troubleshooting computers to staff our helpdesk, what are we going to do?
Give them an
expert system designed for the helpdesk, of course!Unfortunately, while computer users are all different, their questions seldom are. Wouldn't it be nice if one could have a non-human handle the bulk of these questions, saving the interesting or unusual problems for the people?
This happy thought has occurred to others, too. In fact, the industry that sprung up to provide expert systems for helpdesk staff is now branching out into
expert systems for end users. If you would like to learn more about expert systems for helpdesks, visit the Help Desk Institute, HelpDesk . Com - A Complete Help Desk Software and Solution Index, or the very comprehensive Philip Verghis' Help Desk FAQ.
Tools for building an expert system can be purchased from Acquired Intelligence, Inc..
You will find more information on case-based reasoning at AI-CBR - the case-based reasoning site. You can also search the case-based reasoning bibliography.
You can find out more about specific products by reading product reviews or visiting product websites. Another interesting general article can be found in InfoWorld.
An interesting product called Instant Text, though not an expert system, might be helpful for improving helpdesk efficiency.
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"AI and Expert Systems" LIS 385T.15 at the University of Texas at Austin on August 13, 1998 by Jeff Steely, Kimbol Soques, and G. Marc Turner