Please read for some important announcements, reminders and updates. At the bottom I have included some kudos from our customers. Keep up the great work, everyone!
Duo Mandatory Announcement
The announcements are going out today from the Provost’s office to campus: Duo will soon be required for all employees and associates.
For talking points regarding this change, see:
Adding Contacts in TeamDynamix
We now have the ability to add a customer as a contact on a ticket, enabling them to view the ticket even if they are not the requestor. It is okay to add an IT Pro or an LRP to a ticket as a contact if they request it.
For steps to add a contact to a ticket, see:
Note: everyone in Information Services has access to login to TeamDynamix and view tickets, but IT Pros outside of IS and LRPs do not have this level of access. They need to either be the requestor on the ticket, or be added as a contact.
Help Customers Backup Data
Help our customers avoid data loss by making sure they get a backup of their data before we work on their computer. For personal devices (and CN computers) we can help the customer transfer their files to cloud storage or removable media. We should also make a backup to \\sd-backups, but that is to help us do the work, and is not a guarantee to the customer.
Let me know if you have questions about this.
Keep ‘Em Moving
Recently we have had a couple computers that sat on technicians’ desks waiting to be built or worked on. If you start a job and don’t complete it, please try to hand it off to another tech. If you sit at a desk and there is a computer already there, check the ticket and continue the work.
Reporting Phish
When customers report phishing emails to us, please help them forward the original message as attachment to phishing@oregonstate.edu. Please do so even if we have seen the same type of report several times.
When replying to a ticket about phishing email, please use the appropriate response template under “Spam / Phishing”. 
Avoid Long Hold Times
Before you put a customer on hold, ask them. If you need some time to research an issue, the customer may prefer to end the call and have you call them back, rather than stay on hold for several minutes. Give the customer the option.
Remember, it is okay to AUX out after a call to do research or wrap up a ticket.
Before the Customer Leaves…
We are still having issues sometimes where customers leave with their computer and then have to call back because they can’t login, didn’t get their data, or are missing power adapters, etc.
Always review the ticket before the customer leaves. Make sure they can login, that they have everything they need, and that they know what we did to their computer.
Write Good Ticket Updates, and Read Them Carefully
The ticket is like a medical chart in a hospital: it needs to say what the current status of the computer is, and everything that has been done.
Watch out for tickets that have lengthy, complicated ticket feeds. When that happens, summarize the current status and next steps (“Done”, and “To do”) in the Tech Notes field.
When reviewing a ticket, make sure you know what the status is. If you spend some time reading it to figure it out, summarize that in the ticket to save time for the next technician.
Service Desk Training Update
Several of you have asked me what is currently being covered in our training for new technicians. The short answer is: not a lot yet. We have a full-day orientation, and then shadowing for several weeks. We don’t have a clear checklist of things that a trainee should learn during their shadowing time. We are working on building that in Canvas right now.
Max and I met with Weiwei Zhang last week to discuss using Bridge for Service Desk technician training. The Bridge platform is probably the best option for us, but is not yet ready for our use case.
If you have identified a training need that you feel is important to address right now, and you are willing to create the training content, please come talk to me or Max about that.
My general recommendations for building training are as follows:
- Focus on a single topic area and don’t try to cover more than 10 key points. Really think about what you want people to know.
- Refer to documentation in the TDx KB as much as possible, and avoid duplicating information that is already documented there. In many cases, you will find you need to update documentation as you create training.
- Training format can be a one-on-one session with you and the trainee, small group instruction, videos, or written instruction with assignments and a quiz. The format is not too important. Videos can be hosted on media.oregonstate.edu under the TSS account (see Keepass), and other content can be hosted in the TDx KB or in the ISCS All folder on Box. When the content is ready, Max and I can add it as a training module in Canvas.
- Let Max know if you train someone so he can record it in Management. This will allow us to keep track of who has been trained, and who still needs to be.
KCS Update
Some of you may be wondering what happened with the KCS initiative, and many of you have probably never heard of it.
Very briefly: KCS stands for Knowledge Centered Service and is a framework for support based on documentation. One of the key ideas of KCS is that as knowledge workers, we all create knowledge every day, and leveraging that knowledge effectively can help us provide a higher quality, more consistent and more efficient service to customers while reducing our own frustration.
At the heart of KCS is the KB article, which includes the customer’s request and environment, and the resolution. Ideally, every request would have a matching KB article linked to it.
We have taken small steps towards KCS so far. Lucas Friedrichsen and I are KCS trained and certified. We have configured the TeamDynamix KB as best we can for now to make it KCS-compliant, and have provided feedback and feature requests to the vendor to improve TDx on that front. In the CN Accounts queue, we have started creating a KB article for each request type, and using this as a method to help train technicians on accounts processes.
While I believe KCS is the next important thing we need to do, the training program is the more pressing need so I do not have a road map for KCS adoption yet. I will provide more updates on this in the near future.
Kudos from Customers
The following is a sampling of comments from customers on surveys submitted last week:
“Staff advised me of the issue, then were patient to allow me time to make the necessary corrections on my end to resolve the issue. Had I been unable, they would have graciously stepped in to assists. OSU’s IT Service Desk staff are A-#1 in my book and always have been! :-)”
“Kind and supportive staff who was able to get me squared away quickly. Thank you!”
“Tech provided excellent service!”
“The young man who helped me was very polite. When I told him what I needed he told me he was pretty sure he could help me but he would like to check with someone to ensure he was correct. I appreciated that he would let me know he wanted to confirm rather than just try something and be wrong. He answered my question.”
“Many thanks for a quick and effective response.”
“The team was energetic and responsive”
“Everyone was very friendly and willing to help. The first person couldn’t figure out a solution so he brought me to someone who was more familiar with macs but stayed so he could learn. I thought that showed a lot of dedication. Great job!”
“Really nice and helpful.”
“He assessed the situation and quickly was able to resolve it.
Thank you.”
“The staff were very helpful and kind, and helped me with fixing my computer.”
“Nice job ladies and gentlemen! Thanks for the assistance. Since I’m now going to be a distance student in Arizona, after attending the physical campus in 83-86, I thought it would be wise to post a photo so people I’m speaking with can match a voice to a face. Thanks again. Go Beav’s!”
“The staff member was very patient and kind and seemed eager to help!”
“Very helpful staff and excellent service”
“I always receive great service from CN”
“The person helping me was very patient!! She guided me through it patiently and, unfortunately, several times. I so appreciated the help. Doing all this is certainly different than when the internet on campus was Mosaic or even when we had the first web sites. I appreciated her help as I still use the onid account for the library and I get a number of food industry publications that prefer university e-mails. Thanks AGAIN!!!!! ”
“When the first person answered the phone they didnt really understand my issue. Then he asked his co-worker who told him to ask me a question. Afyer which they understood my problem and fixed it right away. Awesome teamwork!”
“Your staff is always very helpful, courteous and professional. They’ve always talked to me while they’re helping me with my issue so I don’t feel like I’m just kept hanging out there. I also appreciate that they don’t talk ‘over my head’ with the computer/program jargon.”
“I always so appreciate all help and support with my questions and IT issues that you provide. Thank you”
“I gave very little notice of my need for the new CN account, but even so the request was honored very quickly. I really like the email I receive with next steps. It is easy for me to give this to the new employee and I don’t have to do a lot of explaining. I’m always very happy with the service I get from CN.”
“I had a wealth of small items to get squared away upon switching positions. The various Service Desk staff members who helped made everything go quite smoothly.”
“Keenan is the best.”
“they knew what they are doing, its fast and thorough!”
“Very patient!”
“As always, the service was quick and excellent. Thanks for your good work!”
“Michael Boe was spot on— knowledgeable, practical, and considerate advice. Also the IS person who took my initial inquiry (Peyton) was professional and able to triage effectively. Kudos to them both. Problem solved quickly. You are lucky to have such engaged team players.”
“Super helpful staff member!”
“Everyone was super helpful and kind. My computer rebuild was done in one quick day – I appreciate the speedy work. Thanks so much!”