OIT Announcements Latest OIT Announcements OIT Announcements Archive OIT Home OIT Announcements OIT Newsletter NLU Home Print This Page   02.17.04 EXPANDED HelpDesk Hours 24 Hours a day, 7 days a week. NEW Helpdesk number (toll free): 866-813-1177 [Or you may continue to dial x4357 from on campus] Why is NLU doing this? NLU launches student email March 8. We expect that adding 12,000 or so new users to the email system1 may increase the call volume to the Helpdesk. We also expect that students work "student hours" - nights and weekends. To provide the service the students need and deserve, we must expand the helpdesk capacity and hours of operation. Although the expansion is designed to handle the extra student load, we are extending the extra hours of assistance to all NLU faculty and staff as well. Using the pooled resources of a shared Helpdesk provides 24x7 services at a small fraction of the cost of providing that service for NLU alone. What you CAN expect: A competent and well trained HelpDesk staff Fewer calls going to voicemail Shorter "time to answer" [average time to answer in 2003 was 30 seconds] A service that can handle 80-90% of the calls immediately and will escalate the remaining calls to specialized staff promptly. Resolution of the calls that typically involve password, login, network or internet connectivity, basic email, portal, Banner self-service, basic Office application questions and similar issues. An always-available point of contact to notify if you believe there is a significant system failure (who in turn will contact the appropriate on-site person to address urgent problems immediately). Flexible staffing - we will increase staff numbers at peak times of the year to handle extra call volumes. Verification of your identity as needed for security. If you need help changing your password or PIN, the staff will request your name and the last 5 digits of your SSN to verify your identity in Banner. What NOT to expect: The 24x7 Helpdesk is staffed with Helpdesk specialists, not network or systems administrators or Banner support staff. They cannot resolve every call. They will assign unresolved calls to the appropriate specialist using our online work order system. If such a call comes in after normal NLU office hours, it will be waiting in the Inbox of the assigned staff member at the start of the next business day (unless the problem falls into the URGENT category - a system wide outage or other significant crisis). We will continue to handle topics such as consultation on purchasing technology items, new user account setup, and project consulting on-site. Will these off-site HelpDesk staff know all about NLU? One of the off-site Helpdesk team spent 4 ½ weeks on the NLU Helpdesk, working with our on site staff and learning the nuances of the NLU technical environment. The off-site Helpdesk uses an extensive data gathering system, involving in depth interviews with the key technology support groups on campus (network, administrative systems, management protocols, web, security, desktop assistance, etc.) to collect the essential support information. The off-site Helpdesk uses a web based knowledge base that grows as new issues arise or old procedures change. If you have any questions about this transition, or if you experience any problems, please contact Ken Wittig, x5333. 1 Students will have their own email server and system (Luminis) so they will not impact the response time or capacity of the faculty and staff email system (Exchange/Outlook).