Help — how it works

Help Desk Hero is practice for real customer-service and computer work. You play a help-desk agent: a customer needs something, and you sort it out. It's built to work cleanly with a screen reader or a magnifier, using the keys you already know.

What a shift is

A shift is one practice session. It opens with a short briefing — what desk you're on and what's going on — then you work through the queue. Most of the queue is calls: one customer handled from start to finish. Each thing you answer along the way is a step, so a call might be six steps, and a stand-alone question is just one. At the end you write a quick shift report, and then you see your score. Pick a shift from the Campaigns page.

Scenarios — one customer, start to finish

The best practice is Scenario Practice: one customer handled from beginning to end. You greet them, look up what you need, check the policy, sort it out, and reply — as connected steps, in order. Each step builds on the last, so it feels like a real call instead of a set of unrelated questions.

Answering a step

Each step tells you what's needed. Depending on the task you might:

• Read a record, a table, or a short article, then type the answer.
• Choose the best reply to a customer.
• Fill in a form so every field matches.
• Write a short email to the customer.

Some steps keep the information you need on a separate page — a link takes you to it, like looking something up in another system. Read it, then come back with your browser's Back command or the "Back to your call" link at the top. Anything you had already typed is still waiting for you. If your answer isn't quite right you usually get another try; you never have to guess wildly.

How much help you get

The game meets you where you are. At first a step may spell out what to do; as you get stronger it gives you just the goal, and then only the situation to work out yourself. You won't see levels or numbers — you'll simply notice you're getting less hand-holding over time. Getting things right unassisted earns the top result; speed is a small bonus, not the main thing.

Mock calls

Some shifts include a live call: a customer played by the computer that you talk to by typing (or speaking). Hear them out, look up what you need, help them, and close the call. You can also practise calls on their own from the Mock call link. Your calls are saved for your instructor to look over.

The shift report

At the end you write a short handover, the way you'd leave one for the next person on the desk. Two things: a short paragraph on what the customer's problem was and what you did about it, and — if you want — a line on what was easy and what was hard. It takes a minute, and it's the same writing the job runs on. Both boxes have an "I don't know" button if you're stuck. Assessments end the same way.

The placement check

The Placement check is a short set of questions that finds the right starting point for you, so your practice begins at a comfortable level and builds from there. It isn't a test and nothing counts against you.

Where to find things

• Campaigns — pick a shift to play.
• Resources — guides your instructor has shared, including how to talk to customers.
• Settings — sound, speech, text size, and your assistive technology.

Take it a step at a time. You've got this.