If your organization runs on Microsoft Teams, odds are your employees are already using it for chats, meetings, and document sharing. But here's the thing: Teams can also be your internal support powerhouse—if your employees know how to use it right.
Too often, service requests from employees get dropped into general channels, sent via DMs, or passed around with no clear tracking or accountability. This creates chaos for IT admins, slows down resolution times, and ultimately frustrates the very teams you're trying to help.
That’s why cross-departmental training on how to use your Microsoft Teams-based IT helpdesk (especially when powered by a platform like Siit) is critical. Below, we’ll walk through what every department—HR, Finance, Ops, and beyond—needs to know to get the most out of your helpdesk setup.
How IT Support Works in Teams (The Basics)
Let’s start with the foundation. Microsoft Teams is your centralized workplace, and when paired with a powerful ITSM tool like Siit, it becomes a fully integrated helpdesk platform.
Instead of DMs or email chains, employees can submit requests directly through the Siit Teams Bot, which prompts them with Dynamic Forms to ensure the right context is captured upfront. Think of it as replacing the “Hey, quick question…” messages with structured, trackable, and triaged requests.
Once submitted, those requests are routed using AI Triage and Distribution Rules, meaning your IT team doesn’t need to manually sort through noise. Each request gets tagged, prioritized, and assigned to the correct person based on team, location, urgency, and more.
What HR Needs to Know
HR departments are often among the heaviest internal support users, especially during hiring cycles or organizational changes.
Here’s how HR teams should engage with the Teams-based helpdesk:
- Onboarding Tool Access: Requesting access to platforms like BambooHR, Workday, or PeopleSpheres can be done with a few clicks via Siit’s form-based intake.
- Offboarding Workflows: Triggering deactivation of accounts in Okta or Jumpcloud can be automated through Power Actions.
- Role-Based Routing: Siit pulls data from HRIS tools to enrich requests, so HR doesn’t need to clarify which department or team a new hire belongs to.
- Status Visibility: Using the 360° Employee Profile, HR can see the status of access, provisioning, or deprovisioning requests without chasing IT in Slack or email.
What Finance Teams Should Know
Finance teams deal with a wide range of tools and workflows—expense platforms, payroll systems, travel tools—all of which require support.
Key tips for Finance:
- Access Requests: Requesting or updating permissions for tools like ADP, Payfit, or Rippling can be done via Teams using Siit’s guided request workflows.
- Security Questions: Policy or permission-related questions can be submitted with a clear audit trail, avoiding ambiguity or miscommunication.
- Approvals in Teams: Using Rapid Approvals, finance managers can approve or escalate access requests within Teams, keeping workflows tight and centralized.
- Tracking + Reporting: Every finance-related service request is tracked, categorized, and analyzed via Analytics & Reporting, so bottlenecks and patterns are easy to identify.
What PeopleOps and Operations Teams Should Know
Ops teams often work at the intersection of IT, HR, and Facilities. That means they’re frequently managing:
- Onboarding Kits: Equipment and device requests for new hires can be submitted via Teams and fulfilled through integrations with Jamf, Kandji, or Microsoft Intune.
- Remote Access: VPN access or mobile device provisioning can be automated and logged.
- Bulk Actions: Siit supports role-based and batch request submissions, so Ops can handle onboarding for multiple employees in one go.
- Tagged Views: Use Saved Views and Tags to filter requests by location, team, or job type to manage ops across offices or functions.
Training Ops teams to use these tools cuts down on email back-and-forth and ensures every request is traceable and automated wherever possible.
Empowering Employees With Self-Service Support
Sometimes, the best service is no service—because the employee found the answer on their own.
With Siit’s AI Assistant, employees can:
- Ask questions directly in Teams (e.g., “How do I reset my MFA?”)
- Get immediate answers from documentation stored in Notion, Confluence, or Google Workspace
- Receive AI Article Suggestions based on request content, before they even submit a form
Training employees to self-serve reduces request volume while improving response times and employee satisfaction. It also helps build a knowledge-first culture across departments.
Request Tracking, Status, and Collaboration Best Practices
No more “just checking on this” messages.
Make sure every department knows:
- Requests submitted via Teams are tracked in real-time with Request Status updates
- All communication should happen in the request thread using Comments, not scattered across unrelated channels
- Employees can add colleagues to requests as Request Followers if others need visibility
This transparency not only reduces unnecessary follow-ups but also streamlines internal operations by keeping conversations organized and searchable.
Include Helpdesk Training in Onboarding and Internal Enablement
Every new employee should learn how to use the helpdesk—not just where the coffee machine is.
Here’s how to embed helpdesk training in onboarding:
- Siit + HRIS integrations (e.g., Workday, Personio, Remote) trigger onboarding tasks automatically
- Use the Self-Service Portal to host short training videos, FAQs, and how-tos
- Add request submission demos as part of your new hire checklist
Don’t forget: re-training is just as important during role changes. When someone switches teams or starts managing others, ensure they understand how approvals, escalations, and role-based workflows function.
Measure Usage and Improve Over Time
You can’t improve what you can’t measure. Luckily, Siit makes it easy to see who’s using the helpdesk effectively and where more training is needed.
Use Analytics & Reporting to monitor:
- Which departments submit requests via Teams most often
- Who still uses DMs or unstructured methods
- Where resolution times are lagging (and why)
- Which articles are being surfaced by AI Assistant—and which ones need updates
From there, you can run targeted refreshers, update documentation, or adjust automation rules based on what’s working—and what’s not.
Make Microsoft Teams Work Harder for Internal Support
Microsoft Teams already powers your meetings, project updates, and collaboration. But with the right tools and training, it can also become the foundation of fast, trackable, and scalable internal support.
By rolling out department-specific training and leveraging Siit’s built-in automations, approvals, knowledge management, and integrations, you empower every team to get what they need—without overwhelming your IT admins.
Whether you're supporting onboarding, provisioning, or day-to-day troubleshooting, Siit + Microsoft Teams is a helpdesk that actually works.
Sign up for a free trial and start giving every department the tools they need to support themselves—and each other—better.
