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 School of Technology to the appropriate consultant within one hour of receiving the request. The IT Help Desk will provide the School of Technology client with the incident number assigned to the call.

The consultant assigned to the request or problem will call or visit the client 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 their own needs if possible.

If during a walk-around, the CSR visits a client with an open incident that might be able to 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 will then notify the consultant assigned to the call to let them know to check the status of that incident before proceeding further.

B. Using Other IT-Provided Request Methods

Also, other IT-provided ways of initiating requests are available to School of Technology clients if they choose to use them, such as leaving Voice Mail at x8770, sending email to IT-Help@indstate.edu, or use 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. beginning of semesters, this objective may be difficult to meet due to heavy demand.)

C. Walk-in Screenings

Often, School of Technology clients may have quick questions or have problems requiring only quick answers. Because the CSR will be more visible to these clients, it will often be easier and/or necessary to just find the CSR during their work period and just get some brief, momentary assistance.

For quick 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) student is to offer some brief technical assistance and/or informal training to clients 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 campus community desire 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). School of Technology. Client Service Representative (CSR) - Frank Tseng. (Check with Tim Schwibbe for currently scheduled onsite hours or check the online website.) School of Technology Liaison, Tim Schwibbe.

III. Service Approach

Types of Services Included

All current and/or future IT services provided centrally will continue to be provided to the School of Technology. 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 School of Technology.

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 School of Technology. 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 (due to CSR's class schedule). To assist in the initiation of Help Desk problem reporting and/or requests To request the latest status of an incident opened for you. To enter new information about an incident into the Help Desk tracking system for you (such as the problem is already resolved...) To escalate a client's concern regarding a request to the Help Desk Manager or Consulting Supervisor To discuss a priority change for a client with the Help Desk Manager

All calls placed to the Help Desk for the School of Technology 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 client 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 School.

The CSR will update the notepad 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.