10 Most Common IT Helpdesk Service Requests And Their Solutions

Why is my computer so slow? I can’t connect to the internet. I’ve forgotten my password and can’t log in to my computer. I accidentally deleted an important file. I think I have a virus on my PC.

Businesses today depend on their technology being readily available and functioning properly when they need them.

IT downtime isn’t just a temporary headache.

Prolonged downtime due to a technical issue could lead to a cascade of problems, such as costly repairs, operational disruption, data loss, customer churn, and security risks.

According to recent reports, IT downtime costs small and medium-sized businesses an average of $5,600 per minute, although that number can vary widely depending on the size of the business and industry.

The costs resulting from extended business disruption jump exponentially in certain high-risk industries, including finance, healthcare, and manufacturing.

In this article, we’ll discuss 10 common IT service requests from clients that managed IT service providers get and how they’re handled. With this information, you’ll be able to better prepare for the unexpected, and possibly even know how to fix a few of the problems yourself.

What Are The Most Frequently Asked IT Service Questions?

Managed IT service providers (MSPs) receive service requests on a variety of technical issues that clients are facing.

These issues can pop up unexpectedly for many reasons, such as: networking equipment failure, software bugs or glitches, overloaded systems, compatibility issues, system misconfigurations, cyber incidents, and even human error.

Once we receive a service request, either by chat, phone call, or email, we can generate a ticket and assign it to an engineer on our helpdesk team to begin working on. Sending an online chat is the fastest way to start the process as clients will get an almost immediate response. 

Below, we’ll discuss 10 of the most common business IT issues and helpdesk requests that we receive here at Kelser. We’ll outline some possible causes of these problems and possible troubleshooting solutions.

1. Peripheral-related issues

Scenario: Your connected mouse isn’t working properly, or your device won’t recognize your USB device.

• This can be an issue with any peripheral, which is a device that’s either plugged into your personal computer or wirelessly paired with your PC or your network.
  
  
• Examples of peripherals include: monitors, keyboards, mice, docks, external hard drives, and internet of things (IoT) devices such as smartphones, and smartwatches, among many others.

Related Article: Device Management: Why You Need A Plan To Replace Your Business Tech

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• We can troubleshoot cables and connection points to ensure that none are loose, disconnected, or damaged; make sure batteries in wireless devices aren’t dead; and replace items as needed.
  
  
• We may even determine that the problem is an issue with drivers and resolve the issue with an update.

2. Printer issues

Scenario: An end user is unable to print and instead gets an error message, a printer is offline or unresponsive, or the employee is experiencing poor printing quality.

• Printer issues are among the most common IT issues.
  
  
• It should be noted that printers aren't always included as a covered device under a managed IT services agreement.

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• Oftentimes, the fix is a matter of properly mapping a printer to the correct driver to restore its proper working order.
  
  
• Another possible source of the problem could be that the printer has lost its network connection due to an issue with the network cable or the port it’s plugged into.
  
  
• Or, it can be as simple as making sure it has plenty of toner/ink and that the paper trays are full.

3. Device or app login issues

Scenario: I can’t log into my PC. I’m locked out of my account due to too many failed login attempts, or I’ve forgotten my username and/or password to an application.

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• If a password fails, or multi-factor authentication (MFA) fails when logging in, we will provide support to unlock the account, reset the password or resolve any remaining issues with MFA when logging in.
  
  
• Of course, you should always check to make sure that you’re correctly entering your login information. For instance, check to see if you have the all caps button on or if you’ve mistyped a letter or number.
  
  
• If the login issue is with a web application, sometimes the problem can be fixed by simply clearing your browser cache to remove outdated information.

4. Client needs an application installed

Scenario: Clients may be looking to install a desktop application or upgrade an existing application to a newer version, or they want to take advantage of features on specific web applications, mobile apps, cloud-enabled apps, or cloud-native solutions for their device(s).

• In this case, there isn’t a technical problem; the client simply wants the ability to install an app or software that’s not currently available on their device.

Related Article: Is Hybrid Cloud The Right IT Solution for Your Business?

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• We will vet the application to make sure it’s safe and then provide admin credentials to complete the installation of that application on the identified device(s).

5. Website is blocked

Scenario: An employee is trying to research a topic for a report that they're on deadline to complete. When trying to navigate to a particular website, it’s blocked.

• An alert message will immediately pop up on your screen, such as: “Access denied,” “This site is blocked,” “Cannot access this website,” or you'll get a cautionary message warning you that the site you’re attempting to go to is potentially harmful.

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• If a website is blocked, it’s usually to protect your device and your organization’s network from a potential security incident.
  
  
• Businesses often use web filtering, anti-malware, antivirus software and domain name system (DNS) filtering to automatically block employees’ access to malicious websites.
  
  
• Still, sometimes legitimate websites can get swept up with the suspicious ones. We will check our filters and update policies that will allow websites/domains to become whitelisted (marked as trusted sites). The filters are able to continue to block domains that could be malicious.

Related Article: Windows 11 Update QR Code Phishing Scams: How To Spot Fake Emails

6. Website not loading

Scenario: A member of your finance department is trying to complete an online purchase from a third-party vendor that your company uses regularly. This time, however, when the employee attempts to access the site, it simply displays an error message: “Website cannot be reached.”

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• Often times, the cookies/cache just need to be cleared for the browser or website.
  
  
• It can also be an issue where a URL to an old bookmark has changed and needs to be updated.
  
  
• We can walk the customer through how to easily manage this on their own, or we can step in to help if needed.

7. Not able to send/receive email

Scenario: You’re logging into an application that sends a verification code to your inbox, but you’re not receiving that message.

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• There are a number of reasons why email flow may be interrupted.
  
  
• To solve this, we would first check your spam folder.
  
  
• If the source of the problem isn’t found there, we can also check the spam filter and do message traces to see if the email is getting stuck somewhere in the backend, or if it’s maybe even an issue on the sender’s side.
  
  
• If that doesn’t work, we’ll doublecheck your email configuration and settings to ensure that nothing has changed that would prevent you from receiving the authentication emails. We would provide instructions for resolution as needed.

8. My PC is very slow

Scenario: You’re up against a fast-approaching deadline to complete an assignment, yet your computer is taking what seems like an eternity to complete routine tasks like opening an app or downloading a file.

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• Sometimes slow networking can be caused by overloaded data centers that can’t handle all of the traffic crossing your network. This can gum up the works, leading to network congestion. We can check for bottlenecks in the network and look for issues that would cause the network to run slow.
  
  
• Other times, your device may be nearing its storage capacity or running low on RAM, slowing down processing speeds and causing regular computing tasks to slow down to a crawl.
  
  
• Resolutions can range from replacing failed or outdated hardware, upgrading hardware, running diagnostics on a PC, and cleaning up temporary files, to contacting third-party vendors for appropriate applications or data storage support.

9. VPN issues

Scenario: An employee can’t access internal files while working remotely.

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• This can be caused by an expired credential or locked account.
  
  
• We’ll check to make sure that the VPN client isn’t using an expired certificate.
  
  
• Sometimes reinstalling the VPN client will resolve the issue.

Related Article: Ransomware Target: How Secure Is Your Virtual Private Network (VPN)?

10. New hire setup

Scenario: Your company is filling a much-needed vacancy. The new employee will work a hybrid schedule, splitting their time between in-person and remote work.

Solution/troubleshooting options:

• When clients have a new person starting, we work diligently to set up accounts and hardware for them in a timely manner.
  
  
• Onboarding new hires, whether remote or in person, requires careful planning to ensure that nothing gets missed in the process.
  
  
• For instance, we would need to order all of the IT devices your new hire will need, such as a desktop, laptop, mouse, keyboard, monitor, and dock.
  
  
• Once the hardware arrives, it all needs to be properly configured with the user’s login credentials and our software stack, including cybersecurity tools.

The Bottom Line With Common Managed IT Helpdesk Requests

After reading this article, you now know 10 of the most common IT support issues our helpdesk works to resolve every day.

While some of these issues are easily diagnosed and corrected, that’s not true of all IT issues. Sometimes issues can't be resolved by the helpdesk engineers and need to be kicked up to a higher-level engineer in the escalation process. 

The expenses can pile up quickly when trying to go it alone with DIY troubleshooting or relying on a break/fix model for repairs.

Likewise, the cost of hiring an internal team of IT and cybersecurity experts can also be cost-prohibitive for many small and medium-sized businesses. 

Managed IT services emphasizes proactive IT management to keep your business running smoothly, securely, and efficiently. When unexpected problems do come up, however, you have immediate access to a team of highly skilled engineers who can quickly troubleshoot and resolve those issues.

With Kelser, you gain an entire team of experienced, dedicated professionals with broad IT knowledge to provide managed device management, network monitoring, and responsive support should your systems or devices go down.

We know, however, that managed IT services isn’t the right fit for every business. If you do decide to use a managed IT company, we strongly encourage you to thoroughly research prospective MSPs before signing on with any provider.

Check out How Do Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Work In Managed IT Services? to learn more about the ticketing and escalation process. 

To better understand the value of managed IT, read this article: Managed IT Services: What’s Your True ROI?

Or, discover Why Are More Small And Medium-Sized Businesses Using Managed IT?

If you are looking for reliable managed IT support, reach out now! We’ll respond promptly to schedule a brief chat to find out more about your business and the IT challenges you’re facing, and see how we can help you solve them.