I have found in my experience that by assigning an individual the task of creating a knowlege database of issues that were resolved by the level two and level three technicians this becomes a grand asset to all members of the team. The helpdesk team has the ability to search for issues similar to the problem that the individual is explaining and regardless of their skill level, can sometimes walk the user through the steps to resolve an issue that they otherwise would have had to escalate onto technicians.

I love this ideal and believe that it has it's place in the industry, however I would have to expand on this ideal as it is only a steping stone for the larger picture. This individual is my kind of employee, he is thinking outside of the box and coming up with solutions that normally are steped over or around for answers.

The Knowledge database that we have created allows each and every helpdesk call rep to search through for issues that are categorized by the initial complaint and resolution. I have always advised my helpdesk call representatives that they have 3 minutes once the users data has been documented to determine if they can resolve the issue. If the issue cannot be resolved within a 7 minute time frame, the call center representative can offer to email the resolution found in the database to the user, or the call center representative can assign this ticket to a technician that has the ability to resolve this issue. Our call center representatives also work each week with technicians from the field that have the experience to resolve issues. Each technician has to work with the call center call takers for a set period of time each week to help train them to resolve issues at first contact with the user as well as to help understand what the call takers are dealing with on a daily basis. We have found this to be extremely effective and reduces training costs dramatically throughout our organization.