Session 7 - Prioritising the service desk requests

An average service desk can get many calls/requests coming in. How do you determine which ones need immediate action and/or which ones are more important?

Service Desk request life-cycle

Ideally, a job or request coming into the service desk should follow these steps:

1. Request/job comes in
2. Request/job is assigned a ticket or job number
3. Request/job is resolved or escalated and then resolved
4. Request/Job is closed

 

Step 1 is receiving the call and getting all of the information about the caller, the equipment details, and the problem or issue that they are having.

Step 2 is allocating the job a "ticket". A ticket is a unique reference number for a particula call or job. It allows the job to be tracked from start to finish. A ticketing system can be automated or it can be a manual system.

Step 3 is the resolution stage. If the issue can be resolved on the spot, then you should do so and close the ticket. Unfortunately, not all requests can be resolved on the spot, but there does need to be some system or process that will allow the job to be prioritised.

Step 4 is closing the job. Once the issue has been resolved, the ticket can be closed.

It is STEP 3 that we will focus on in today's lesson.

Prioritising/Escalating the request/job

What criteria do we use to decide which request is more important?

Read the following articles:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-systematically-prioritize-your-support-calls/

http://www.superoffice.com/blog/how-to-handle-an-increasing-amount-of-support-requests/

http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/cism/Call%20Prioritisation.htm

https://www.lynda.com/Network-Administration-tutorials/Prioritization/184459/188292-4.html?org=chisholm.edu.au

Class Activity - individual or small groups of 2 or 3

1. You are IT Support for the Mysty River Regional Library Service. The following Tickets are in the system:

• One of the computers in the main library area is unable to connect to the Internet.

• The computer that is usually used for people to search the catalogue has an error and will not start properly.

• Printing within the library is not working - jobs are sent to the printer, but the print queue does not acknowledge them

• The Library Management System is down 

• The Library's Main webpage is down

• The CEO has placed a call indicating that her computer "freezes" when she tries to access her emails

How would you prioritise these tickets? What Criteria would you use? Using your responses to those questions, prioritise the above tickets.


2. You are IT Support for South East TAFE. What criteria would you use for prioritising jobs that come in to the service desk? Who would get priority from the following:

• The CEO unable to upload their weekly newsletter to staff

• A potential (new) student unable to complete their online enquiry/enrolment

• A current student who can not access moodle for an assessment due today

• A member of the teaching staff who is having a problem with the projector/datashow

• Student support services staff who can not access the student management system to update disability support information

• Customer Engagement team member who can not access our student management system to complete an enrolment

• Academic Administration team leader unable to start his computer

Session 6 - Questioning and Listening

Types of Questions

The type of questioning you use, will depend on the detail of information you require. For example, use open questioning when you want the person to provide you with detailed information.

Read the following article on Types of Questions:

https://toughnickel.com/business/Questioning-Techniques

This article breaks questioning down into the following main categories:

• Open questions
• Closed questions
• Funnel questions
• Probing questions
• Leading questions
• Rhetorical questions

SO how does this work with a servicedesk?

Questioning and listening on a Servicedesk

https://www.lynda.com/IT-Infrastructure-tutorials/IT-Service-Desk-Customer-Service-Fundamentals/518163-2.html?org=chisholm.edu.au

From Chapter 1 watch:

• Contact greeting and Validation
• Contact investigation and diagnosis: Close ended questions
• Contact investigation and diagnosis: Open ended questions
• Contact investigation and diagnosis: Probing questions
• Contact investigation and diagnosis: Confirming questions

Class Activity 1

You are working on the servicedesk at South East TAFE. A call comes in from one of the administration staff. You use your basic script to get her name, department, location and the barcode of the computer that she is having an issue with. You now need to get more information about her problem or her reason for calling the servicedesk today. The general description of her problem is "I can't print my document."

Using the above questioning techniques, as described in the article, come up with 2 questions for each category. You may work in pairs. Report back to the class with your questions.



For a more extensive listing and information of types of questions, see the following link:

http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/questioning.htm

Building Rapport

From the Lynda.com tutorial above, watch the following clips from chapter 3

• The value of building rapport with customers
• Building rapport over the phone part 1
• Building rapport over the phone part 2
• Building rapport through writing: style
• Building rapport through writing: tone
• Building rapport through writing: words
• Building rapport face to face
• Refining our message

Class Activity 2

Complete the question sheet for chapter 3 (Handout)

Listening Skills

Watch the following introduction on listening skills

Class Activity 3

Rank your listening skills

Session 5 - Basic Helpdesk Communication

What is a Helpdesk or Servicedesk?

Helpdesk Defined

In a business enterprise, a help desk is a place that a user of information technology can call to get help with a problem. In many companies, a help desk is simply one person with a phone number and a more or less organized idea of how to handle the problems that come in.

http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/help-desk

Servicedesk Defined

A service desk is a communications center that provides a single point of contact (SPOC) between a company and its customers, employees and business partners. The purpose of a service desk is to ensure that users receive appropriate help in a timely manner.

http://searchwindowsserver.techtarget.com/definition/service-desk

Is there a Difference?

Read the following article

http://www.bmc.com/blogs/help-desk-vs-service-desk-whats-difference/

http://www.joetheitguy.com/2014/04/10/are-you-an-it-help-desk-or-an-it-service-desk/

Discuss

Personal Experience - Help Desk Operator

Has anyone worked on a Servicedesk or Helpdesk (doesn't have to be IT)? What things did you learn about communication?

Is it different communicating with people over the phone?

Personal Experience - Help Desk Client

Have you had to call a help desk at any time?

How was the experience? What were the good points (if any)? What were the bad points?

Helpdesk Communication Basics

Watch the following video on Help Desk communication.

What do you think about his techniques?

Read the following articles:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/five-easy-steps-to-boost-help-desk-communication/

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/use-effective-questioning-to-deal-with-confused-chatty-users/

http://www.buchanan.com/2015/12/09/5-tips-to-improve-your-help-desk-communication/

Discuss:
What were some of the main points from these articles?
Are the points valid?
Is there anything that you read that you disagreed on? Why?

Clients and the Helpdesk

You work for the Helpdesk at a large TAFE operating in the South eastern suburbs of Melbourne. South East TAFE has a number of campuses, but all IT problems are dealt with centrally at the Cranbourne Campus.

Who are the clients that the Helpdesk could be assisting?

Are they internal or external clients?

Class Activity

You may do this in small groups of 2 or 3 people.

TIP: Keep a copy of what you have done today as it may help you down the track with an assessment.

Write a basic script for SE Tafe’s Helpdesk to:

1. Get their name, location, department
2. Find out what equipment they are using and get Barcode ID
3. Get the details of the problem/issue that they are having
4. Inform them of the next step

Test out your script with students from another group.

Some lighter videos to finish off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAjzvy94JsM









AND FINALLY - An Oldie but a Goldie




There are English versions of this, but I prefer the original