The purpose of the CSR program is to augment current IT services. The following describes the processes for initiating IT Services or reporting computing problems.

A. Phone the IT Help Desk (Ext. 2910)

IT User Services maintains the IT Help Desk as the primary way of receiving requests for computing service and assistance. The IT Help Desk will perform the data entry tasks necessary to initiate a Help Desk incident. The IT Help Desk will assign all calls from the College (1) to the appropriate consultant within one hour of receiving the request. The IT Help Desk will provide the College (1) user with the incident number assigned to the call.

The consultant assigned to the request or problem will call or visit the user to either 1) answer the question, 2) review the request and arrange the scheduling for an onsite consultation, or 3) discuss alternative recommendations for getting the request resolved, such as providing documentation so that the user can satisfy his or her own needs if possible.

If during a walk-around, the CSR visits a user with an open incident that might be resolved at that time with the CSR’s assistance, then the CSR will perform the work, resolve the call in the Help Desk system (or if the problem or request is not completed, provide status information in the system as to the work performed), and then notify the consultant assigned to the call to let him/her know to check the status of that incident before proceeding further.

B. Using Other Request Methods

Also, other ways of initiating requests are available to College (1) users, such as leaving Voice Mail at x8770, sending email to IT-HELP@indstate.edu, faxing a form to x4361, completing a print form and handing it to the CSR or Liaison (copies of the form will be available from the Help Desk or the CSR), or using the IT web form. All of these requests will also be entered into the tracking system by IT staff and assigned and dispatched to the appropriate consultant. Attempts are made to review the requests received by these methods at least once per day in order to dispatch the request within 8 working hours. (Often during peak periods, e.g. at the beginning of semesters, this objective may be difficult to meet due to heavy demand.)
 

C. Walk-in Screenings

Often, College (1) users may have quick questions or problems requiring only quick answers. Because the CSR will be more visible to these users, it will often be easier to find the CSR during his/her work period and to obtain information on the spot. 

For such assistance, the CSR will track the service as a ‘quick call’ in the Help Desk system, which requires less data entry than a normally dispatched call. For assistance requiring more follow up service, the CSR will need to enter that request as a normal incident to be assigned to an IT consultant and worked on at a later time.
 
 

The primary objective of the CSR program is to provide faculty and staff with faster and more effective access to central and campus computing resources, to increase IT’s sensitivity to the School’s service requirements, and to increase user self-sufficiency. The role of the Client Service Representative (CSR) students is to offer some brief technical assistance and/or informal training to users as they visit office to office, as well as to augment communication and followup activities regarding IT services.

This program was initiated due to the desire of the campus community for increased face-to-face contact with a familiar person who will better know their particular computing environment and their needs. 
 
 

II. Participants

IT - Information Technology, (primarily User Services). The following departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, referred to as College (1): Dean's Office, Africana and African American Studies, History, Family and Consumer Sciences, Communication, Social Work and Military Science. Client Service Representative (CSR) - Jerry Watson. (Check with your department secretary for currently scheduled onsite hours or check the onsite website).  College (1) Liaison, Tom Sauer.

III. Service Approach

Types of Services Included

All current and/or future IT services provided centrally will continue to be provided to the College (1). This primarily includes software trouble-shooting and consulting on “supported software,” AME and ERS hardware and network repair for “supported hardware,” information dissemination regarding campus computing training and documentation resources, and statistical system support.

Types of Service Not Included

The following services will not be included: 
 

no non-negotiated, non-standard software assistance; no monitoring support for “private labs” provided by CSR; no system software back-ups, except in cases of impending hardware failure or operating system upgrade (normal, routine backups are still the responsibility of the user); no applications development or debugging of existing code; no project assignments with expected completion times over 5 hours without prior agreement by IT to ensure minimum impact on routine troubleshooting and support services to the College (1).

Evaluation

Please Help Us Evaluate the Services Provided by IT

Submit IT User Survey

The role of the CSR is to be assigned 15-20 hours per week to the College (1) . The CSR has been briefly trained in the aspects of User Services (Help Desk, tracking system, consulting and troubleshooting, ERS and AME hardware and network activities, Web resources, the public labs, etc.)

The CSR may be contacted for the following activities: 

To assist with low priority (and generally less complicated and less time-consuming) computer troubleshooting and questions; To assist in the initiation of Help Desk problem reporting and/or requests; To request the latest status of an incident opened for a user; To enter new information about an incident into the Help Desk tracking system (such as that the problem has already been resolved...);

All calls placed to the Help Desk for the College (1) are designated as either very high, high, medium or low priority based upon IT's priority guidelines. Copies of the current guidelines are available from IT or the CSR.

The Liaison will meet weekly with the CSR to receive any user feedback concerning priorities and to review incidents and their priorities initially entered by the IT Help Desk to determine whether any priorities need to be considered for change to better meet the needs of the College (1).

The CSR will update the Help Desk Incident indicating the advice of the Liaison regarding the priority and escalating that incident to the Help Desk Manager to make the decision whether to change the actual priority. The Help Desk Manager may then need to request further information regarding the incident from the CSR or the Liaison before making the final decision on the priority change. IT hopes to use this advice to further improve the definition of priorities for the entire campus.
 campus.