What is a help desk agent?
Help desk agents are customer support representatives. They provide technical assistance and answer any questions that potential and existing customers may have about your business, products, or services.
What does a help desk agent do?
Help desk agents can have different roles based on their industry and the business they represent. However, the common denominator is that help desk agents offer assistance via email, live chat, the phone, and often on social media and in person. They usually resolve issues related to:
- Billing
- Refunds
- Bugs
- Troubleshooting
- Functionality
- Availability
Some help desk agents also prepare knowledge base articles and technical guides that explain how to set up, troubleshoot, and use the products/services their company is selling.
How to add agents to your help desk
To invite agents to your help desk, you need to be the owner or administrator of your LiveAgent account. Please note that agents cannot add/invite other agents into the ticketing software.
- Log in to LiveAgent.
- Click on Configuration.
- Click on Agents.
- Click on the orange Create Agent button.
- Write their name in the Name panel.
- Write their email address in the Email section.
- Select the Role you want to give them.
- Select their Gender.
- Click on the orange Create button.
Once you click the Create button, the agent will receive an email invitation to your help desk that will contain their automatically generated login credentials.
How many agents can I invite into my LiveAgent help desk?
LiveAgent help desk software enables you to invite an unlimited number of help desk users into your account. However, please note that adding new agents to your help desk will increase your monthly subscription price unless you’re using a free LiveAgent account.
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How can I delete an agent?
- Log in to LiveAgent.
- Click on Configuration.
- Click on Agents.
- Find the trash/bin button on the right-hand side of the agent’s name. Click the button.
5. A confirmation message will pop up. Confirm your choice by clicking on the orange Delete agent button.
What can an agent do in LiveAgent?
Agents can take care of all the customer requests, answer chats, phone calls, and messages from all other channels that are connected with your help desk software. They also have the option to manage knowledge base articles.
They do not, however, have access to configuration options or reporting/analytics dashboards. Agents can only access their work reports.
What other user roles are there?
- Admin – Admins can configure the system, view reports, and manage other users.
- Owner – The owner is a particular type of administrator that, in addition to configuring settings, viewing reports, and managing users, can change/upgrade their LiveAgent subscription plan. They also have access to billing information and invoices.
How to modify agent permissions
- Log in to LiveAgent.
- Click on Configuration.
- Click on Agents.
- Find the pencil/edit button on the right-hand side of the agent’s name. Click the button.
- Find the Role field. Select the role you want to give them.
- Click on the orange Save button.
How can agents modify their agent profiles?
To edit their profile and preferences, agents simply need to click on their avatar/profile picture in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and click on Edit profile.
What can agents modify in their agent profile?
Personal details
- Photo/avatar (profile picture)
- Name
- Alias
- Gender
- Password
- 2- Factor Authentication
Notifications
- Email notifications
- Slack notifications
Tickets, chats, and calls
- Departments from which you will receive tickets, chats, and calls
- Call center devices
- Call center extension
Signature
- The signature that will be added at the end of all outgoing messages
Settings
- Agent panel theme
Sounds
- Notification sounds for new calls, new chats, new messages, new system messages, and new tickets
Performance report
- Performance report values (You will be able to view your performance report by month, week, day, hour, etc.)
Why should I add agents to my account?
Unless you’re a tiny business or a solopreneur, it’s advisable to add agents to your help desk account so you can start answering customer emails, calls, and chats on time. Doing everything on your own can be overwhelming, especially if you have tons of tickets coming in every day.
What skills do I need to become a customer service agent?
Customer service agents need to be excellent written and verbal communicators. They need to have active listening skills, empathy, and thorough knowledge of your products and services. Successful support agents have to seamlessly navigate the company’s IT ticketing software. In addition to that, they should be:
- Analytical
- Tech-savvy
- Able to type fast and accurately (Feel free to try out our free typing test! Can you type as fast as a support agent? Try to reach 80 WPM)
- Able to explain complicated concepts in easy to understand terms
- Well versed in dealing with stressful situations
- Know how to talk to control their emotions
- Able to multi-task
- Flexible in their work schedule
- Speak more than one language (not required, but preferred)
Knowledge base resources
To learn more about customer service agents and the skills they need to master, check out our knowledge base, blog, academy, and glossary.
- Free typing test
- Agents
- Account Administrator
- Agents and users
- How to add agents in LiveAgent
- Real estate customer service mistakes that your agents should avoid at all costs
- Top 7 useful tools for IT support agents
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Frequently asked questions
What is a help desk agent?
What does a help desk agent do?
Help desk agents can have different roles based on their industry and the business they represent. However, the common denominator is that help desk agents offer assistance via email, live chat, the phone, and often on social media and in person.
What skills do I need to become a customer service agent?
Customer service agents need to be excellent written and verbal communicators. They need to have active listening skills, empathy, and thorough knowledge of your products and services.
Help desk software is an effective management tool that focuses on serving customers and end-users by providing information, support, and assistance. With the right software, faster and more personalized responses can be delivered, while self-service options empower customers to resolve issues independently. Help desks can eliminate problems such as lost or unanswered tickets, delayed responses, and lack of responsibility. The use of help desk support can improve customer satisfaction, engagement, retention, and sales, as well as improve agent productivity and reduce stress and burnout. LiveAgent offers a free and easy-to-use helpdesk portal that can be customized to fit a company's needs.
Help desk software is crucial for businesses of all sizes and industries to track and solve customer issues effectively. To improve the performance and quality of customer support, implementing IT help desk best practices is essential. These include selecting the right help desk software, having a single point of contact, automating processes, incorporating Service Level Agreements, creating dedicated support teams, offering a self-service portal, building a comprehensive knowledge base, tracking key metrics, setting up third-party integrations, providing employee training, collecting customer feedback, and taking care of the help desk team.
Companies that prioritize customer service should have helpdesk support to easily communicate with customers about technical problems and questions. However, if a company does not engage in activities that require help desk support, there is no need to introduce it. LiveAgent offers helpdesk software for businesses of all sizes.
Help desk contacts store essential information about customers including name, email, phone number and personal information. Custom contact fields can be created to store specific information. Through LiveAgent’s contacts feature, information such as gender, job position, IP address and browser information can be stored. Building customer profiles with the help desk contacts feature can lead to better customer service, more personalized service and improved customer satisfaction. LiveAgent is a highly recommended solution for managing customer support requests via different channels.
