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Customer Service and the Help Desk

Customer service is a responsibility of every ISS employee.

Technology problems can prevent students from learning, faculty from teaching, and employees from completing essential College work. How ISS responds to those problems is part of the service we provide.

The ISS Communications Standard establishes expectations for timely responses, clear communication, professionalism, documentation, and escalation.

The Help Desk Is the Front Door to ISS

The Technology Help Desk serves as the primary point of contact between customers and ISS.

In ITIL terminology, this closely aligns with the function of a service desk. ISS continues to use the familiar name Help Desk, but its function extends beyond troubleshooting individual computers.

The Help Desk helps customers interact with the services ISS provides and represents a central part of the Operate function of the ISS operating model.

Customers should not need to know:

  • Which ISS team owns a service.
  • Which employee administers an application.
  • Which service offering is involved.
  • Which vendor provides a component.
  • Whether their issue belongs to Infrastructure, Administrative Systems, Cybersecurity, or Customer Support Services.

The customer contacts ISS.

We determine what happens next.

Resolve, Route, and Refer

ISS uses a Resolve, Route, and Refer model for handling customer needs.

Resolve

Whenever practical, resolve the issue at the point of contact.

Resolving an issue during the initial interaction generally provides the best customer experience and allows more specialized employees to remain focused on work requiring their expertise.

Route

When another ISS employee or team has the knowledge, access, or responsibility needed to complete the work, route the request internally.

Routing is an ISS responsibility, not the customer's responsibility.

Customers should not be required to determine which internal team or employee owns their issue.

Refer

Sometimes a customer's need falls outside the services provided by ISS, requires another College department, or needs to become a larger project or institutional decision.

In those situations, help the customer understand the appropriate next step.

Whenever practical, provide enough information that the customer knows where to go, who to contact, or what needs to happen next rather than simply telling them that ISS cannot help.

We Own the Handoff

Sending a ticket to another queue or assigning it to another employee does not complete the handoff.

The employee transferring the work should document:

  • What the customer needs.
  • What has already been attempted.
  • What has been discovered.
  • Why the work is being transferred.
  • What is believed to be needed next.
  • Any deadlines, urgency, or customer commitments.

The receiving employee should be able to continue the work without requiring the customer to explain the entire issue again.

Customer Experience Is Part of the Service

Technical resolution alone is not enough.

The customer should also understand:

  • What happened.
  • Whether the issue has been resolved.
  • What happens next.
  • Whether additional action is required.
  • When another update should be expected.

Good technical work and good customer service should happen together.

Ticket Closure

The customer confirms when the requested work is complete and the ticket can be closed.

When ISS is waiting for information or confirmation from the customer, the ticket system automatically sends follow-up notifications indicating that a response is needed.

If the customer does not respond within the established period, the ticket system automatically closes the ticket due to lack of response.

This automated process is the exception to customer-approved closure.

If assistance is still needed later, the customer may reopen the request when possible or submit a new request.

Customer Feedback Drives Improvement

Operate is not simply where ISS solves today's problems. It is also where we learn how well our services are working.

Tickets, customer questions, repeated incidents, satisfaction information, and Help Desk experience can identify the need for:

  • Better documentation
  • Additional Help Desk training
  • Improved self-service
  • Automation
  • Configuration changes
  • Process changes
  • Service improvements
  • Larger projects

Managers and Service Owners should use this information as feedback for Plan and Build activities.

This reflects our College values. People Matter because our services exist to support people. Communication Matters because customers deserve to understand what is happening. Integrity Matters because we should make clear commitments and follow through on them.

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