University of Hartford Builds a Better Help Desk
- By Evelyne Haldimann
- 05/20/04
When it comes to computers, Murphy’s Law prevails: anything that can
go wrong will, and usually at the worst possible time. Systems freeze, viruses
attack, printers misbehave and Internet connections go on the blink, seemingly
on cue as project deadlines near. As the University of Hartford discovered,
creating a centralized help desk and equipping personnel with automated systems
to record, prioritize and track trouble calls can make an enormous difference
in the ability to respond to these emergencies efficiently.
With two help desk dispatchers fielding phone calls and Help Desk Technology
Corporation’s HelpSTAR software managing service requests for the university’s
computer technicians, UofH has simplified computer troubleshooting for users
and technology staff alike. SOS calls now come to a central location for screening
and assignment to a technician, and all information related to each service
request g'es into a common database for easy reference and reporting.
Result: faster fixes, fewer lost requests, better use of technical resources,
greater technician accountability, a complete audit trail on all service work,
and less computer-related downtime for end users.
Help Desk Setup
Until 2002, UofH accepted computer malfunction calls from some 8,000 faculty,
staff, and full-time and commuter students at six different support numbers.
Users called any or all of these numbers hunting for a technician, sometimes
leaving voicemails at each location. This led to problems ranging from lost
or ignored messages to duplicated effort as multiple technicians unknowingly
responded to different voicemails by the same user.
Beyond those issues, there was no system for prioritizing requests, assigning
jobs by technician specialty, entering calls into a database for tracking and
accountability, or documenting job status and details. If a technician who began
work on a given request was unavailable, no one was able to determine what work
had been completed.
To eliminate these deficiencies, UofH established a help desk with a single
phone extension, two full-time dispatchers answering the phones from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and student workers filling in at night and during limited
weekend hours.
Faculty and staff can contact the help desk to remediate problems with university-issued
computers, home machines unable to access the university’s Internet dialup
service, or departmental hardware or software. Students can ask for help if
they are experiencing virus or Internet connectivity problems with their own
computers.
The two dispatchers screen all requests, resolve simple problems directly with
the requester, and assign more difficult issues to technicians. Student workers
document all service requests they receive for later handling by dispatchers.
Help Desk Management Software
With a current average of 600 service requests per month at UofH and an increase
expected when telephone and administrative system problems are added to help
desk responsibilities, automation is essential to ensure that no requests fall
through the cracks, technicians can instantly see the work in their queues,
and so on.
The university selected HelpSTAR help desk software to handle these tasks because
it was relatively inexpensive, could be deployed quickly, provided the flexibility
needed to accommodate UofH’s organizational structure and work processes,
and offered an easy-to-understand user interface requiring virtually no training.
The HelpSTAR client software is installed on 20 desktops, including those used
by the two help desk dispatchers, eight service technicians, eight systems analysts
involved in maintaining the university’s administrative applications,
student support staff, and the department supervisor. The server software is
deployed on an HP NetServer PIII 8000 using a Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) database.
(HelpSTAR is also available as a Web-based client and in Microsoft Access and
Microsoft SQL editions.)
Handling Service Requests
When end users phone the help desk to report a problem, dispatchers log the
request in the HelpSTAR system and assign any request requiring technician intervention
to the appropriate support rep based on his or her skill set – a vast
improvement over the serendipitous "I’ll take this call" approach
of the past.
Dispatchers also assign a priority level to ensure that requests are handled
according to need, and place each request in one of 176 UofH-defined problem
categories for reporting purposes, simply by selecting from drop-down menus.
End users also have the option to email their requests to [email protected]
(the software can automatically convert the email to a trouble ticket) and soon
will have the additional option of submitting service requests and checking
job status through a Web interface that is included with the HelpSTAR software.
All three options are designed to free help desk staff from unproductive activities
by reducing phone call volumes.
Each support rep can consult his or her personal "My Workspace" screen
to quickly determine what jobs are on his or her plate, overdue, or in need
of follow-up. Reps are given the option of receiving alarms when new service
requests are placed in their queue or under other circumstances to ensure timely
responses to specific developments.
The software also expedites problem resolution by enabling the help desk to
build a database of common problems and their solutions for ready reference.
In UofH’s case, the "Best Solutions" database currently includes
entries for issues such as how to create an out-of-office response for emails,
how to apply a mail-merge to envelopes, what to do when a battery on an IBM
laptop is not charging, and the 11-step process required to enable Mac users
to interface with the university’s administrative systems.
These and other features significantly reduce the time it takes to resolve
requesters’ problems. UofH dispatchers estimate they have referred end
users to the instructions pertaining to creating an email out-of-office response
at least 50 times in the past year, for example, eliminating the need to reconstruct
the explanation every time the question arises.
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.
