How do you run your helpdesk?

[markman]

I am interested to see how other schools run helpdesks (if they do at all).

 

The head of ICT here is pushing for one of us to always be at the 'helpdesk' (which is in a store room off an ICT suite with no windows) all morning. As there are only two of us this loses 50% of us out straight away. He also gets quite upset if one of us isn't there, which can be frustrating when you are busy.

 

How do you all work this?

[kmount]

We all carry radios which staff can contact us on via the reception/other means.

 

Typically we have someone in the office the majority of the team so it's not such a big deal but if we're planning on being "elsewhere" for a long period of time (ie, new computer suite etc) we just put a sign up.

 

We find that 95% of calls are not urgent and therefore staff can email in and we'll deal with it asap.

[Domino]

DUh?

 

thats ridiculous.

 

How about a online helpdesk, where everyone logs their tickets - an email anabled phones for all of you. No matter where you are you can see what tickets are coming in - and if anything mega urgent comes up you can be right on it.

 

Maybe look at sharepoint/spiceworks/mylittlehelpdesk as a starting point?

 

if he has a problem with it, tell him this is how things work in the business world.....

[markman]

We carry radios, I think we are just expected to be there whenever he needs us. We do tend to be there when we can though.

[strawberry]

online helpdesks, pdas for email updates, phones for emergencies. Remote desktop/logmein/vnc/gotoassist for the person that gets left on the desk.

[CyberNerd]

Even an online helpdesk has to be manned, or someone has to be at teh end of a telephone. This is all documented in FITS, to have a single point of contact.

 

We always have someone 'at' the helpdesk, who is responsible for escalating problems to other techs, or to deal with anything that can be done remotely.

[markman]

PDA's, phones!! Not a chance, we have these great big brick radios to cart around.

 

How many techies fdo you have CyberNerd?

[Hightower]

We carry radio's which have a poor signal, so we even use our personal mobiles if we need to.

 

I'm sure I can remember Bossman saying something about Twitter - where it can send you the helpdesk updates to your mobile via text. Quite handy to have - that way you can keep your eye on the helpdesk wherever you are and it doesn't cost (I don't think).

[Joedetic]

We've got an online helpdesk, phones in the office (which is usually responded to with a "generate a helpdesk ticket" style response and two way radios that we carry around site for contacting one another.

[plexer]

Twitter cuts mobile service - vnunet.com

 

Ben

[TimTech]

We use Sysaid by Ilient. Each member of staff has a user ID on there and they email the issues to us. We in turn decide which should have priority. If anyone has a problem while i'm not at my desk, i get an email from the system to let me know about when i return. Any updates to the jobs are automatically emailed out to the member of staff who requested the work done:cool:

[Psymon]

We have a Sharepoint site that works as a ticketing system (all in-house) which is pretty much a smart filtered list where IT staff can view all Tickets, and assign them to themselves.

 

The user-end is a sharepoint window that allows the staff to log a job, add the error code (if there is one) and assign it to "Reprographics", "Telecoms" or "IT".

 

Jobs are first-come basis unless its something that stops the teaching. We can add messages (Work Log) to the jobs so people know whats happening about there task.

 

Further developments for me could include security group linkins, so if 1 member of the ICT Dept logs a job, the other can see it to stop diplicate jobs popping up.

 

Edit - we have radios to communicate with each other if needed, and my iPhone is on the Exchange push, and we have each others mobile no's of course.

[Sirbendy]

We're just implementing TopDesk helpdesk...and we have radios which are rarely used.

 

We each have a phone, and there's a "log a call" button on our intranet for staff to drop a mail to us both simultaneously about problems.

 

We're going to push away from the so called "corridor mentality" and make people use Topdesk for calls and requests. I personally am sick and tired of "can you justs" and not being able to walk the corridors without someone grabbing me.

 

Both of us have Windows Mobile devices with Wifi for mail on the move as well. It's not too bad - if they call and can't get through, they mail. I've given thought to forwarding my phone (Cisco 7912) to my mobile as well.

 

My last trick is that I've set my outlook to forward to my googlemail for home..I'm reachable unless I'm asleep, pretty much.

[AngryTechnician]

We primarily use an in-house ticketing system, but we do generally maintain an office presence (there are four of us in total so it's not that difficult). When no-one is in the office, three of us have wireless IP phones that we can be contacted on anywhere on site using the school's internal phone system.

 

We also have 'hotline' IP phones next to the whiteboards in IT labs for urgent problems (with strict instructions not to use them for non-urgent queries!), which saves the teachers sending their usual 3 kids trapsing off across the school for a password reset.

[markman]

IP phones in ICT suites, mmm! Interesting idea. That would be a possibility, if they didn't get nicked that would be a great idea.

[Psymon]

which saves the teachers sending their usual 3 kids trapsing off across the school for a password reset.

 

Our ICT Teachers have a MMC console that allows them to reset passwords in the Students OU in Active Directory.

 

Saves a lot of work

[Sirbendy]

Ours did have, but deemed it too hard. So I wrote a script to do it for them. All they do is get kiddies in question to type in their login name into the box and press enter - resets to 123456, and unlocks their accounts. Much quicker than our old MMC console, and pretty teacherproof..

[Joedetic]

I would have my iPhone on exchange push but i can't get the damn thing to work

[AndyD]

Intranet based help desk (in case our reliable internet service goes down!), they can come and get me if it's urgent or can ask the office to radio me.

[tech_guy]

I would have my iPhone on exchange push but i can't get the damn thing to work

 

 

[srochford]

IP phones in ICT suites, mmm! Interesting idea. That would be a possibility, if they didn't get nicked that would be a great idea.

 

go for a soft phone? Much less to steal with that :-)

[Joedetic]

Softphones are all very well and good but then you've got to make sure that the headsets don't go walkabouts or get vandalised.

 

@tech_guy....who you calling a troll!

[deanc]

All jobs have to be e-mailed to helpdesk from which a works number is produced and e-mailed back to you, the rule is quite simple if you dont have a works number the work doesnt get done, this includes password resets and the NM is very strict on this.

 

have to say on the whole it works well and i have no complaints with the system and as long as it is used correctly the problems are resolved quite quickly.

 

Dean

[AngryTechnician]

IP phones in ICT suites, mmm! Interesting idea. That would be a possibility, if they didn't get nicked that would be a great idea.

We find that the locking wall mounts help with that little problem.

[garethEds]

We have two systems....

 

1. Yellow forms - which teachers can fill in and put in my pidgeon hole for non-emergency stuff. These then get dealt with by myself and passed onto the technicians to deal with

 

2. 'Dial 300' - on our phone system staff can dial 300 and it gets forwarded to one of the technicians mobile phones.

 

GJE