Nothing is a bigger turn-off for customers than an unhelpful help desk. Shape up your customer service by getting in touch with the Help Desk Institute.

The Help Desk Institute, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based organization for service and support professionals, has formed a partnership with Service Management International (SMI) to develop and deliver curriculum to assist help-desk professionals.

It offers three levels of certification: Help Desk Analyst, Certified Help Desk Support Engineer and Help Desk Manager.

HDI also offers certification preparation training, including self-study packages, online training classes and regional seminars. This open approach allows the preparation for testing to be more flexible than other programs, and ultimately the cost is lower.

Source: Help Desk Institute, (800) 248-5667.

Writer: Tom Truman