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Help Desk Broadening Expertise, Handling More Calls, Getting Good Marks

To keep up with an increasing number of calls for assistance covering a wider range of computer problems, the Computing Infrastructure Support (CIS) Help Desk has increased its staff and expertise. With the retirement of longtime Lab employee Marty Morimoto and the hiring of Terry Patterson and Nat Stoddard to complement Henry Couden, Susan James, and group lead Josie Galvan, the Help Desk is well staffed to handle the growing number of calls. Bill Nabhani of the Mac/PC Support Group will serve as backup when needed.

The volume of help requests continues to increase, when compared to the same period a year ago. For example, in February of 2000, the Help Desk fielded 1,968 requests, up from 1,153 in February 1999. For a month-by-month breakdown of requests, click here. Not only are the number of calls increasing, but so is the range of subjects. Because of the Novell and NT qualifications that some of the staff now have, the Help Desk, working in partnership with other computer support groups, is taking on some of the Novell container management and NT administration duties for the Lab.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best), employees are asked to rate their satisfaction with how their problem was resolved. For the past nine months, the ratings have consistently been 9-plus, with the highest rating ever being 9.65 in February 2000.

"We are changing the scope of work to better reflect the kinds of problems we are being asked to solve," says Desktop Support Manager Charlie Verboom. "Our goal is to increase 'first touch' resolution to common Lab computing problems. We're doing this by hiring the most qualified staff we can find, investing in training in Lab-specific software, and enhancing the level of service by focusing on high cost/high volume problem areas."

The approach is paying off. Overall levels of satisfaction with CIS services in general continues to rise. As the department resolves a problem, either at the Help Desk level or by one of the support groups, the person making the request is asked to complete a survey evaulating the service provided.

"We are continuously looking at ways to improve our services, and customer feedback is the best way to identify priorities," Verboom said. "We take suggestions made in surveys seriously and encourage all of our customers to let us know how we're doing."