Come on.. no one ever really escapes the help desk role in IT ever!!! lol
Unless you go into management and declare yourself as non technical, or in to sales (heaven forbid) everyone I know still have to pickup the phone to an end user now and again, or reply to an email from them. There is an awful lot of customer services involved in any IT jobs; and this is why I hate people (lol).
Yes, your customer base changes depending on your role; it may even be fellow 'engineers' or big corp companies, but they are still your customers. Heck; I work with one guy at the moment who doesn't understand this, and wants people to pass on messages to end users! It's just frustrating when you ask him to look into something that he's responsible for, he's like can you asked them why they want to do that? and I'm like ask them your freaking self!
I just tend to find issues get resolved a lot quicker when I speak to the end user myself, so the issue doesn't get translated or diluted to something else and end users are more willing to accept a solution when they feel that you have listen to them even if the answer is 'no', its coming straight from the horses mouth.
Hell, I knew one senior server tech who wouldn't speak to anyone else but me
IMHO... getting helpdesk experience will make you a better tech in the long run, and some people do actually enjoy the helpdesk role.