HelpDeskComputing HelpDesk Says, "Hasta La Vista™" to Long Waits! The start of this academic year has come and gone with a click of a mouse - a computer input device that is, but the preparation for the year started many months prior. The Computing HelpDesk staff started preparation back in April by attending Windows Vista and Office 2007 training. This knowledge was documented on our Vista and Office 2007 website then shared with our frontline student staff at our annual Computing HelpDesk Bootcamp, held August 15-17th. As always, the "bootcamp" concentrated on teamwork, problem solving, basic computer troubleshooting, specific technical knowledge, customer service skills and a continued focus on the Fish! Philosophy. But this year's training posed some daunting challenges - a new Windows operating system and a very different looking Microsoft Office suite. Windows Vista and Office 2007 were completely new to the majority of the 30+ frontline staff. With only a few days until the Freshmen "splashed" on to campus, the staff had quite a large educational task to complete! HelpDesk Analysts, Team Leads, and IT Training staff worked hard to create hands-on training and interactive presentations to prepare the frontline staff. In the end, our staff had some great things to say:
While technical training is very important, learning to work well together as a team may even be more important when it comes to solving all of those complicated computing problems. Each morning of the bootcamp began with group discussions on topics varying from the Fish! Philosophy to Customer Service. To keep it all fun and engaging, games were also incorporated such as "Project Gunway"; "Elves, Giants, and Wizards"; "Snort!" and our annual "unfairly scored" game of Helpdesk Jeopardy to assess our staffs' technical and customer service knowledge. On the last day of the "camp" all of the staff put their heads together to survive an Australian Bushfire. The Human Resource Development staff noted this was the first group to come through this survival training with all 7 groups demonstrating positive synergy! 
The fun, hard work and training paid off. From Freshmen move-in through the first week of
classes, August 21-31th, the Computing HelpDesk responded to 2,903 questions, requests
and/or problems with phone abandonment rate of less than 8% - more contacts with less
dropped calls than last year! We can attribute this success to optimal staffing, no major
virus outbreaks, and properly educated staff.
Random customer satisfaction surveys sent out during that time demonstrate the Fish!
Philosophy in action with high customer satisfaction and quick response times provided by
the Computiing HelpDesk and the other areas of Information Technology working behind the
scenes: average ratings of 3.8 for courtesy, 3.7 for skills, 3.8 for resolution, 3.8 for
timelines, and 3.8 overall (scale 1=Poor, 2= Fair, 3=Good and 4=Excellent). Here are some of
the comments faculty, staff and students listed on their surveys:
The call, e-mail and walk-in volumes to the HelpDesk are starting to slow down as everyone is settling into their classes and daily work routines. We wish to thank everyone for their part in making this a great start to the academic year. Note: if you are interested in learning more about the Fish! Philosophy and Bushfire Survival course, see JMU's Training and Development Department's Schedule of Classes and Team Building site. |
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