According to the most widely accepted definition, a knowledge base is:
- A collection of facts, rules, and procedures organized into schemes,
- The assembly of all other information and knowledge of a specific field of interest.

Information centers maintain knowledge bases that store possible solutions and comments about problems previously solved. Accordingly, a knowledge base used in a help desk environment for a customer support contains information about common problems, incidents, customer requests and their solutions.

Such a knowledge base captures and organizes problem-solving information so that existing knowledge can be applied to new problems. The knowledge base is continually built and updated as support staff contribute their comments, as well as user problems are solved and archived.

Building a knowledge base structure

Knowledge base can be broken down into categories and components. These components include the case base, the vocabulary used to describe the cases, and the similarity measures used to compare cases. Support staff can reach for solutions within the knowledge base when they are troubleshooting. Knowledge bases can incorporate articles, hardware and software manuals, and frequently asked questions.

Until recently, building a knowledge base was challenging and time-consuming experience. It required expert developers, who were well trained in the programming languages, writing scripts, and case-based reasoning theory. The process required specialized training and a serious commitment of resources that did not always pay off.

SaaS knowledge base

Now, with HelpDeskSaaS knowledge base builder, building knowledge base requires only expertise in content. In fact, the best knowledge bases are built by content experts – people who have knowledge and experience in the subject meter. In a help desk environment, its’ usually the help desk technician or support representatives.

HelpDeskSaaS knowledge base builder offers an intuitive development interface that allows anyone to create the knowledge base for help desk with no need for programmers, experts, or even web masters.

Because a knowledge base of support problems and solutions can be huge and grow daily, and the ability to locate relevant information is critical to its effective use. HelpDeskSaaS knowledge base includes powerful search capability, which allows users to search for the relevant content. Full text search feature allows searching within knowledge base article title and content, without additional training needed for help desk staff and the end users.