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University of Hartford Builds a Better Help Desk
5/20/2004
Bottom-Line Benefits
Having a centralized help desk yields important benefits beyond efficient problem handling in areas such as reporting and responsiveness to the user community.
With a few clicks in the data analysis menu of its HelpSTAR software, for example, the UofH help desk was able to justify a budget overrun for student employees last year by showing that students had handled 1,215 calls compared to 512 a year earlier. The data also showed that 80% of those calls were virus-related, and that the average fix time for a virus call was two hours.
In addition, the central help desk strategy has enabled UofH to guarantee that users who call for help between 8 a.m. and noon will receive a return call the same day, while those who call between noon and 5 p.m. will receive a response by noon the next day at the latest. This level of service was not possible without a central call-tracking system.
At the same time, end users clearly appreciate the fact that one phone call or email produces results. No time is wasted in chasing a series of technicians who may or may not be at their desks. One UofH staff member who initially resisted the help desk arrangement eventually wrote a letter to the president of the university praising the operation.
Evelyne Haldimann (ITS@hartford.edu) is Manager of Client and Customer Services
for the Information Technology Service Department at University of Hartford
in Hartford, Connecticut.
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