Goal 2 – Robust Support System

Flickr photo by Katiew

Flickr photo by Katiew

Goal 2 –  Research and implement district wide help desk system.

This goal has been on my “to do” list for a while.  Right now, the way we provide support is somewhat fragmented.  There is no systemic process of how problems/solutions are communicated.  Email is the primary way of staff making “requests” but there are also phone calls, sticky notes, instant messages, text messages, and the friendly f2f “Hey Jen?”.  Well, as you can imagine – and I have come to realize – is that the way we prioritize and actually provide the support can also be fragmented.  Of course it is easy to prioritize big issue items like Internet, Network, Email, ect – because of the amount of users it impacts.  But the smaller requests, are more difficult especially when we are getting requests by so many different methods.  So what am I looking for?

  • Something EASY.  The last thing I want is some big complicated system that is difficult for our end-users or difficult for us (techs) to support.
  • Something CHEAP/FREE. In light of our financial status we need a system that is economical.  Is it possible to develop a system with Google Apps? Is there an open source option?  I just really need to get the bulk of my requests OUT of my inbox and into a centralized system! Which leads me to…
  • Something CENTRALIZED with ROBUST REPORTING capabilities.  Right now I can’t tell you how many issues we fix in a day, month, year –  nor can I  tell you if we have systemic “small” problems across our buildings.  Is the support load of one of our techs unmanageable?  Are their problems that consistently come up that training or support materials need to be created to support? Is there a knowledgebase of “fixes” where our end users can find their own answers?

I would LOVE to hear what your district uses and how it has helped your district!