• Do you use a commercial helpdesk package?

A: Yes - Remedy (now supplied by BMC) Remedy Service Desk

  • If so, what platform does it run on?

A: Solaris

  • How much did it cost? How many other resources (computer hardware, disk space, web server software, database software, etc.) are required? and how do you manage the software and installation updates/upgrades/maintenance?

A: ?

  • How much customization was needed, i.e., how much programming was necessary?

A: They customized a lot, but regret b/c it stops them from using updates, b/c they don't have the main-power to transform customizations into upgraded system

  • Are you happy with the present system? Would you use the same solution if you had to do it again?

A: Not terribly. Would not have done so much customization.

  • Have you done a survey of your users to solicit changes? How do the users like the system?

A: ?

  • How many people are involved in the triage process?

A: I believe 3 at any one time from a pool of 10 people

  • Does the triage person spend a lot of time on each ticket, or quickly assign it to someone else?

A: I understand that the triage person is encouraged to answer the question directly if possible.

  • How do they decide who to assign the ticket to? By specialty, or round-robin, other?

A: ?

  • Does the system provide diagnostics that the manager/triage person can use to assess performance? e.g., no. of tickets per support person, average time to respond, etc.

A: ?

  • How do support personnel communicate with users? Personal email accounts? Webpage? Phone? Combination?

A: Through email, which is captured by the system

  • How much other (automated) transaction is done via regular email?

A: ?

  • Does all correspondence go through helpdesk? Is all logged? If so, how and why?

A: Yes and Yes.

  • If yes, can you provide concrete examples of when having the entire email chain has been useful?

A: ?

  • How often do users get email notifications? Do the users consider it too much/too little?

A: ?

  • How many tickets do you get per day?

A: 70-80

  • How many people are needed?

A: I understand a total of 20 people (10 user support and 10 back-room providing backups, etc.) with additional help from 15 scientists who provide answers to detailed science queries.

  • Do you also have any face to face support? How much?

A: No. If people come to the building, they usually work with collaborators. If they need other help, they file a helpdesk ticket.

-- JohnHibbard - 13 Dec 2007
Topic revision: r2 - 2009-08-03, JohnHibbard
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