What is the difference between a help desk and a service desk?

How do I prepare for helpdesk interview. I am going to interview for the first time.

To me a help desk is part of an IT department whereas a service desk can be in any type of business/department.

α service desk hαndles dαy to dαy customer issues, hαndles incidents, problems αnd questions, but α service desk cαn αlso provide αn interfαce for other αctivities such αs customer chαnge requests, billing αnd αvαilαbility mαnαgement.

α help desk however is α support system designed to αssist end users with technicαl αnd functionαl questions αnd problems [like this site:)]

This was a question that I was challenged with in my interview for a position as a manager for a Global Service Desk for a large company. Truthfully the question caught me by susprise as I never thought that this will be important. I have to admit that I stumbled with the answer. At the end I believe I answered it well, but since was the ony question that I was not prepared to answer, I made a point of researching it so this is what I've found.

Wikipedia and my own experience has been the source for the betterpart:

A Service Desk is a primary IT capability called for in IT Service Management (ITSM) as defined by the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). It is intended to provide a Single Point of Contact ("SPOC") to meet the communications needs of both Users and IT and to satisfy both Customer and IT Provider objectives. (according to ITIL "User" refers to the actual user of the service, while "Customer" refers to the entity that is paying for service)

The ITIL approach considers the Service Desk to be the central point of contact between service providers and users/customers on a day-to-day basis. It is also a focal point for reporting Incidents (disruptions or potential disruptions in service availability or quality) and for users making Service Requests (routine requests for services).

The Service Desk differs from a Help desk by offering a more broad and user-centric approach, which seeks to provide a user with an informed single point of contact for all of their IT requirements. A Service Desk seeks to facilitate the integration of business processes into the Service Management infrastructure. The processes in ITIL are : Event, Incident, Problem, Access management as well as Request Fullfillment. In addition the SD actively monitors and owns Incidents and user questions, and provides the communications channel for other Service Management disciplines with the user community, a Service Desk also provides an interface for other activities such as customer Change requests, third parties (e.g. maintenance contracts), and software licensing.

For example. A help desk will help you with a an issue (incident or service requests) like a password reset, order an IMAC, "how to" questions, etc. But a Service Desk does a whole lot more. For example a SD will note that a network node is down, will activate the incident management process to bring stakeholders together to start addressing the situation, and it will notify the users of progress in the resolution or workarounds. The SD will own the incident (although it does not own the fix itself) in front of the users because it's the single point of contact for them

If you will, a Help Desk is just that, help. The SD adds a lot more value to the organization by providing improved communication and help to drive resolution

By he way I got the job... Hope this helps

@Hello pauliri.. I'm really satisfied with your answer, I need a small clarification. As per this thread the Help desk and service desk is based out on IT industry perspective. Does the help desk and service desk management is adopted for Non IT solutions? Eg: pharma