dwaldron February 8th, 2007
In conjunction with our initiative to enhance our help desk operation, User Services has adopted a proactive lab maintenance program. Student technicians now visit each of the 28 campus lab spaces on a weekly basis. During these visits the technicians clean all keyboards and displays, run routine maintenance programs on the lab computers, and check for a variety of technical problems. Any problems uncovered are reported back to the help desk for resolution. We hope that these efforts will uncover problems before they impact instruction and other activities in the labs. If you experience problems in one of our lab spaces, please report it to the help desk at 330 287-3000, extension HELP (4357).
dwaldron February 8th, 2007
Back in October, IT launched an initiative to improve the quality of help desk service. Our initial focus has been on improving phone coverage throughout the business day. We are pleased to report that we have significantly reduced call abandonment rates. Over the last four months over 90% of incoming calls have been answered by a technician. During the week of January 29th technicians answered 98.9% of incoming calls. In the past, it was not uncommon for 40% or more of incoming calls to go to voicemail. This improvement is the result of a significant reorganization of our help desk operation.
In an effort to provide easier, more convenient, access to our services, we have also developed a new help desk phone tree. The next time you have a technical question or problem, please call us at 330 287-3000, extension HELP (4357).
We are proud of these improvements, but we believe that additional improvements are required if we are to provide the campus community with the kind of service that it needs and deserves. To this end, IT will pursue this initiative throughout the balance of the academic year. Additional service-enhancing steps are already in the planning stages. Updates will be posted regularly to the blog.
Our goal is to serve you better!
dwaldron December 12th, 2006
IT is very pleased to announce that Mary Schantz has been appointed Manager of User Services. Mary has served as Interim Manager of the department since May of this year. In her short time as Interim Manager, Mary oversaw the installation of over 300 computers on campus, the installation of four new computer labs, and the replacement of six others. She also launched an initiative to improve the effectiveness of the IT help desk. While ongoing, this initiative has already resulted in significant improvements in the quality of service. Also during her short time as Interim Manager, Mary hired three new User Support Specialists- -this represents three quarters of the department’s professional staff. Prior to being named Interim Manager, Mary served as User Support Specialist and as User Services Intern. Mary majored in Political Science at the College of Wooster and graduated in 2004.
Throughout her tenure in User Services Mary has provided excellent service to the Wooster community and, as Interim Manager, she has demonstrated that she is very well-equipped to lead that department. The Office of Information Technology is very grateful to Mary for accepting the responsibilities of this position on a permanent basis.
dwaldron November 20th, 2006
This summer three new employees assumed the position of User Support Specialist within the Department of User Services.
Leslie Worcester recently graduated from Oberlin where she majored in Psychology. Throughout her student years at Oberlin, Leslie worked for both the campus computer store and client services. This provided significant experience with computer installation and troubleshooting, user training and customer service. At Wooster, Leslie provides general user support, specializing on the Mac operating systems and applications. She also concentrates on the production of user documentation.
Michael Naylor graduated from Bowling Green in 1997 with a B.A. in Education. He then spent four years teaching Music and Band in grades 6 through 12. After this he spent four years at PPG Industries, first as Helpdesk Analyst and then as Business Systems Analyst. While at PPG Michael provided support for personal computers, printers, networks and software applications. He also developed training materials and conducted training for technical staff. At Wooster, Michael provides general user support, specializing on Windows operating systems and applications. Michael also concentrates on Windows computer imaging.
Robert Rybicki also comes to us from PPG Industries. He worked there as Systems Support Analyst from November, 2002 until joining The College in the summer of this year. In this role he provided technical support for both end users and helpdesk staff. He also developed documentation and provided training for new employees. At Wooster, Robert has assumed primary responsibility for help desk phone support. He also administers Track-It, the College’s new help desk call tracking software, and is responsible for tracking all incoming problem reports through to resolution.
IT is very please to welcome these folks to Wooster and to their new responsibilities. Each plays an important role in User Services’ initiative to improve the effectiveness of the help desk.
Leslie Worcester, Michael Naylor and Robert Rybicki
dwaldron October 19th, 2006
IT has launched an initiative to improve the quality of help desk service. Our initial focus is on improving phone coverage throughout the business day–and we have already significantly reduced call abandonment rates. This summer we began the implementation of a professional help desk call tracking system. This system will allow us to track each problem through to resolution, will facilitate communication between the user and the help desk, and will provide metrics to help us evaluate our performance. In an effort to provide easy access to our services, we have also developed a new help desk phone tree. The next time you have a technical question or problem, please call us at 330 287-3000, extension HELP (4357).
IT will pursue this initiative throughout the balance of the academic year. As we make new services available in conjunction with this initiative we will announce them here on the blog. Check back often.
We look forward to serving you better!