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Instructional Labs
Urgent Requests
Examples: entire or substantial percent of lab down,
application error, printer down
- Call 5486 and report the problem as specifically as possible; try
to determine if it is just your machine or office or if other machines
in the area are down, too.
- If you do not get a live response at 5486, page one or more Tech Team
members by:
- Paging Center - where you can describe the problem.
- Direct Dial pager (be sure someone stays by the phone for a response).
Rotuine Requests
Examples: individual machines down; software problems; mouse missing, etc.
- Call 5486 or email North Harris Helpdesk.
- Report the problem to your departmental coordinator for follow up.
- Requests that cannot be readily addressed, or requests for unscheduled
upgrades or additional services, will be prioritized for action on the
campus-wide service request schedule.
Proactive Actions, Follow-ups, and Reporting:
- An assigned technician or student assistant is charged with walking
through each of the labs several times each day to check on general
functionality.
- All calls and their disposition will be recorded in the master call
log available for viewing on the network.
- Calls generated that appear to be user error will be responded to
with an explanatory note to the program coordinator for that program
so that information can be distributed to prevent frustration for the
students and faculty in the future.
Individual Offices
General Instructions
- Our response plan is separated into Urgent, Priority, and Routine requests. Please use discretion in assigning a priority to your need. Although every effort will be made to get to you promptly, our ability to properly prioritize the requests will make the system more functional for everyone.
- When you request service, please fully identify yourself. There will often be student assistants or new personnel on the phones, and a request from "Ellen" or "up in A250" often leaves someone hunting for clues as to who actually needs help.
- Identify your problem as specifically as possible. Quickly ask around and see if anyone else is having a problem. If not, before you call, check the network cable wire for a good connection into the wall, reboot the machine, and pay careful attention to where the process halts. Where your machine stops in the bootup/login process is valuable information to the technician and may allow a successful "fix" over the phone.
Urgent Requests
Examples: entire office suite down; office printer down;
machine will not log into network
- Call 5486 and report the problem as specifically as possible; try to determine if it is just your machine or office or if other machines in the area are down, too.
- If the problem is after hours and truly constitutes an emergency, page from the paging center.
- Consider the possibility of moving to another nearby machine to complete the task.
Priority Requests
Examples: need a reasonably quick, but not instantaneous
response
- Call 5486. If you get a live response, you may be able to work through the problem on the phone. If not, you will get an indication of when to expect help. Should you get voicemail, either leave a detailed message or move on to the next step.
- If email is available from your machine or another, email the request to North Harris helpdesk. This broadcasts your request to all campus technicians and facilitates a coordinated, quick response. Technical support personnel have email active all the time and process the bulk of their communications in that manner. Your written message allows us to rapidly determine the priority and best course of action to address your need.
- You should receive a written or phone response to your request within a few hours during normal work hours.
Routine Requests
Examples: minor problems, software installs, machine
upgrades, "How do I...?"
- email your request with full details to Tech Support.
Proactive Actions, Follow-ups, and Reporting:
- Our system is designed around two-way communication -- you effectively
communicate your need and Tech support will acknowledge that request
and give you indications of what to expect.
- Work schedules and additional help are going to be designed to provide
maximum live coverage of the Help Desk, 5486. When possible, many calls
will be solved over the phone.
- After Tech Support considers the job finished, you will be sent an
email to verify that you are aware of the work that was done and are
satisfied with the results. Only then will the call be closed out on
the log.
Conflict Resolution
Despite the best of intentions on all sides, differences of opinion on priorities, timeliness and quality of service will occasionally occur. In such instances, the following procedure is requested for speedy resolution:
- recognize that in most cases everyone is acting in the overall best
interest of the College and the students, acting on truth as they see
it.
- if you have a problem, the first step should be a direct contact with
the individual involved explaining your view of the problem. Please
listen to their view, and hopefully the two of you can reach agreement.
- should there still be a problem, please call or email the Dean
of Technology. A discussion at that point hopefully will either
open up additional understanding or develop a compelling case for action
of one type or another. The rest of the world should not be involved
at this point (no need to copy the entire campus in your email).
- should resolution not be agreed upon at that level, it needs to move
up a level with the appropriate division head or dean involved.
- in rare instances, the issue will be taken to one of the vice presidents
for direction.
Hopefully, articulation and distribution of the response plan and subsequent communications will greatly eliminate the need for such conflict resolution.
Feedback Plan
Informal feedback will come in a variety of ways: email
notes, phone calls, visits in the hall, and sometimes confrontation when
things don't meet the plan. These methods of feedback are essential and
are always welcome, not only on specific issues but the general technology
support scheme in general. Additionally, the barometer of frequent smiles
vs. upset stomachs lets each of us know how things are going.
More formally, though, a monitoring mechanism is needed. As an important
part of this plan, a periodically faculty/staff written survey will be conducted.
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