Module CC3002

Post Implementation IssuesLecture for Week 4

AY 2013 Spring

SUPPORT

• Help Desk

Support Issues

•What do we need from System Support?• IS Support Service: The Help

Desk• Service Level Agreements• Enhancement Request

Help Desk – Characteristics

• Purpose• Roles• Skills• Structure• Issue Tracking• Escalation• Customer Responsibilites

Help Desk – Titles

• Computer Support Center• IT Response Center• Customer Support Center• IT Call Center• IT Support Desk

Help Desk – Purpose

The help desk is essentially a central point though which

problems or issues are reported and subsequently managed and coordinated.

Help Desk – Purpose

From a general or wider perspective, it is an integral part of the service function,

responsible for bringing resources together to address a

problem or other issue.Help Desk World(2012)

Help Desk – Roles

• Help Desk Manager–Coordinates and controls help desk–Allocates resources

• Front Line Staff /Operators–Deal with customers reporting issue

• Back Line Staff/ Technicians–Deal with specialist issues

Help Desk – Skills

• Proactive• Focus• Problem Solving• Communication• Technical Expertise• Customer Service

-Czegel, 1999

Help Desk – Action• Customer identifies

difficulty/problem/issue• Reports concerns to Help Desk• Help Desk receives and logs items• Items referred to different support levels

until resolved

Help Desk – Action

• Support Levels–First, Second and Third Level–Front Line and Back Line

Help Desk – Action

• New issues logged in a dedicated Help Desk Management IS–Unique reference number is generated

for each issue• Help Desk Management IS is used to

track issues until resolved

Help Desk – LondonMet

Help Desk – LondonMet

Help Desk – Known Issues

Help Desk – Structure

Front Line

Second Level

Third Level

FRONT LINE

BACK LINE

Can’t be resolved by Front Line

Requires special expertise

Requires special expertise

Issues

Help Desk – Support Models

• Tourniaire and Farrel, 1997–Front Line – Back Line–Touch and Hold

• Czegel, 1999–Resolve or Dispatch

Front Line – Resolve or Dispatch

• Resolve – try to solve first– Attempts to deal with problem– Passes to next stage if not resolved within time

frame

• Dispatch – refer to problem immediately– Support issue received and logged– Immediately passes to second or third level group

Front Line – Resolve or Dispatch

• Back Line Staff – divided to specialist groups–Hardware/OS/Application Software

• Each group has support queue• Front Line Staff–Dispatch issue to appropriate

support group

Front Line/Back Line Model

• Front Line– Team of Junior Support Staff– Try to resolve issues within a set time period

• Back Line– Senior Support Staff– Take on issues not resolved by front line

Front Line/Back Line Model

• Advantages– Utilizes staff effectively– Provides training/career path– Predictable customer model

• Disadvantages– Issues require hand over– Takes time– Risk of information loss– Customer interacts with many people

Touch and Hold Model

• Front line retain ownership of the issue• Supported by more experienced

back line staff• No handover from front line to

back line

Touch and Hold Model

• Advantages– Fewer handovers– Front line staff more skilled– Smoother work flow

• Disadvantages– Better qualified staff required for front line– Requires tighter management of back line staff

Support Issue – Life Cycle

• Activities need to be logged–Contacting customer/user–Escalating the issue–Recording results–Resolving the issue–Update support issue achieve

Contacting the Customer

• Ring customer with progress report• Send customer email updates• Attach screen shots/error messages• Arrange visits to resolve issue• Inform users about known problems

Contacting the Customer

• New call logged• Update• Nearly resolved• Arrange visit• On hold• Resolved – Successful• Resolved – Unsuccessful

Contacting the Customer

• Mailbox too large• Planned down time

Contacting the Customer

• More down time

Escalating the Issue

• Escalate issue to another level–For technical reasons–Issue not resolved in given time–Greater level of authority required

Escalating the Issue

• Escalate issue to another level–For technical reasons–Issue not resolved in given time–Greater level of authority required

Escalation

Reassigning an incident to a new resource that may have more specific expertise, available time, authority to

resolve issue.Microsoft,1997

Escalation raises the profile of an issue and is triggered by certain criteria

Recording Results

• Nature of issue• Nature of investigation• Solution approaches• How resolved• Writing background notes

Issue Tracking

• Need to keep track of support issues• Specialist Help Desk Mgmt IS used• Record details of each support

issue• Information used to manage– Individual issue/overall performance

Issue Tracking - Initial

• Identify issue–Unique reference number

• Who logged the issue–Personal details

• When was issue logged?–Date and Time

• What is the priority of issue?–High/medium/low

Issue Tracking – In Progress

• Current Status–Open/In Progress/Resolved

• Who currently owns the issue?–Support person working on the issue

• What has happened to date?–History of Events

Resolving the Issue

• Communicate resolution to customer• Check the solution worked• Confirm closure of the issue

Update Issue Achieve

• Recording details of support issue• Recording details of resolution• Update knowledge base–Help solve similar problems in

future

Support Plan

• Sometimes called–A customer care plan–A service level agreement• Defines levels of service

customer can expect

Support Plan – Defines

• What is supported–Scope of support, category of issue

• Who is supported–Support users/managers

• How is it supported–Help Desk procedures

• When is it supported–Hours of Service

Customer Responsibility

• Who can report support issues• What information must be provided• How to contact Help Desk

Support Plan – Agreement

• What the Help Desk will do–Target for responding and resolving

issue• What the Customer will do–Reporting support issues appropriately

Summary• Purpose• Roles• Skills• Action• Support Models• Support Issue Life Cycle• Issue Tracking• Escalation• Support Plan

Thanks Y

Thank You.