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A Year-End Look at Desktop Computer Support at the Lab

Although Y2K came and has almost gone with barely a ripple of the predicted computer-based disruptions, keeping Lab computers up and running is an ongoing challenge. As the year draws to a close, Lab Desktop Support Manager Charlie Verboom offers the following observations on the state of computer support at the Lab.

Lab employees often wonder how they can get help with computer related questions. As it turns out, there are a number of ways, depending on the situation at hand. To give you an idea of what a typical month consists of, we will use the averages over the past 11 months (January through November). We will also describe some of the ways we are trying to do a better job with the requests we receive.

How many requests for help do we get?

In an average month, the Help Desk Answers 1,367 calls, responds to 317 voice mails, and mourns the loss of 449 callers who hung up when they could not get a live person on the other end of the line. Quick referral questions are not logged into our ticket control system (referred to as Remedy), but most are. An average of 1,380 tickets are created from phone calls and returned voice mails each month.

Besides phone calls, we create tickets from several other sources. In an average month, 404 tickets are automatically created from electronic mail sent to help@lbl.gov, 184 are created from Web input, three come from walk-in traffic, and 91 are created by employees within CIS or ISS based on calls, emails, or meetings they might attend. Occasionally, someone in CIS will be working on a problem and be approached by soemone with another problem that is subsequently documented with a ticket. (Of course, the work might have to be done at another time if the day has already been fully scheduled.)

What is the preferred method?

Well, it probably depends on how big the problem is, or how urgent it is that it be solved quickly. The Web method (used almost 9 percent of the time) is really appreciated because it provides some of the initial information that would normally take time on the phone to collect. It can be reviewed, solved on the spot, or forwarded to the correct support group without requiring any other effort on our part. Email is convenient for the user (used over 19 percent of the time), but is more difficult for us. We almost always have to call the user to get more information before we can successfully attempt a solution or forward it to the right group. Phone calls are the method preferred by most people (66.8 percent of the total) and to the extent that we have staff, this method seems to be the most appreciated.

Where are we doing to improve service?

Better response to voice mail
Well, we know that we have to do a better job of listening to all voice mails and getting back to the customer as soon as possible. We are starting to pilot test a student intern program at the Help Desk. One of the responsibilities of the student will be to collect voice mails, ensure that a record is made of the request, solve the problem if it is straightforward, and get back to the caller so he or she knows what is happening. Of course, our full time staff does this as well, but life can be pretty hectic when a new piece of software is being deployed. We have found it hard to keep up at times. For example, the implementation of SSH/LETS and the new parking program caused a huge spike in calls over a couple of weeks, and we are pretty sure that increased numbers of call volumes and abandoned calls came from these two events.

Increased training of Help Desk staff
We are also progressing very well in the area of "first touch" resolution at the Help Desk. We strive for a 60 percent resolution rate and have come close or exceeded that level most months. The key is to keep the Help Desk informed about new technology, new initiatives (Janus, the parking permit program, new versions of IMAP email and calendar applications, for example), and to occasionally retrain on older material. To that end, every support group at the Lab has come to our aid with a training and information exchange process that occurs at brownbag seesions attended by the Help Desk and related support staff. Network Services, Computing Infrastructure Technology Group (email, calendaring, etc.), application developers in ISS, the Computer Protection Program, and support staff in every group within CIS have all been of great help in this regard.

Recently, Engineering rolled out a Web-based interface to an engineering notes application. The Help Desk was invited to a product review meeting where we could gain an understanding of what was happening and how best to answer a user's request for help. We are willing to do the same for other large computer initiatives that will impact a significant group of users at the Lab.

We are also going to invest in a Windows 2000 troubleshooting class for each member of the Help Desk, as we will see more activity in this area next year.

When will everyone at the Help Desk be able to answer questions equally well?

The short answer is, never (although we always do our best). Industry statistics suggest that companies experience a 20 percent turnover in staff each year. This is consistent with what we see at LBNL as an average in Computing Sciences, but the Help Desk number is much higher. We have a full time staff of four people, and one team leader. The support staff as a group has experienced 100 percent turnover in the past year. Promotions, a retirement, job opportunities with other Bay area companies, and the nature of the work itself often cause changes. Although not every Help Desk staffer left, one position had three different people in the past 12 months, accounting for the aggregate turnover figure. This presents a challenge to us, in that we constantly have to train new employees in what has become a very complicated computing environment. We are very grateful to the rest of the Computing Science Division for their support of this need to repeat training sessions periodically.

And, while we are on the subject of turnover, we are pleased to welcome Cindy Tiburcio to the Help Desk, replacing Jim Stucker who is moving on to a different set of duties in CIS. Cindy has experience with Customer Support Organizations in three other companies and will be starting the learning curve on Lab systems now.