Helpdesk procedures

Helpdesk procedures

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Helpdesk procedures
Contents

Introduction...................................................................................................................................................... 4

Purpose of document...................................................................................................................................... 4

Helpdesk service definition ............................................................................................................................ 5

Incident handling ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Recording call details.............................................................................................................................6

1st level resolution .................................................................................................................................7
Negotiate priority....................................................................................................................................7
Assign technical resource......................................................................................................................7
Call updates ...........................................................................................................................................7
Closing the Incident ...............................................................................................................................7

Call priorities & service levels........................................................................................................................ 8

Call escalation.................................................................................................................................................. 9

Helpdesk process .......................................................................................................................................... 10

Call volume reports ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Appendix A - Example reports of helpdesk/event calls ........................................................................... 12

List of figures and tables

Figure 1 - Job record data entry screen ............................................................................................................ 6
Table 1 - Call priority definitions ........................................................................................................................ 8
Table 2 - Technical support escalation routes .................................................................................................. 9
Figure A-1 - Helpdesk calls logged ................................................................................................................. 12
Figure A-2 - Helpdesk calls logged per Directorate ........................................................................................ 12
Figure A-3 - Helpdesk calls logged per Directorate by call category .............................................................. 12
Figure A-4 - Events supported ........................................................................................................................ 13
Figure A-5 - Top 10 users for technical support ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Change History

Author Version Description Date

Errol Knight Draft Initial Draft 12th April 2002

Errol Knight Draft v0.2 Amendments made following 15th May 2002
feedback from
S Lucey

Errol Knight 1.0 Initial Release 21st May 2002

Errol Knight 1.1 Minor amendments 28th May 2002

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Distribution List

Name Title Date Role

Stephen Lucey Director, Educational Technology 15th April, 2002 Reviewer

Ian Piper Associate Director, Educational 15th April 2002 Reviewer

Technology

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Introduction

The Technical Support department provides a range of IT services to over 150 users across sites in
Coventry and Derby. Its remit includes the following:

• The development and maintenance of Becta’s corporate IT infrastructure and telephony systems
in line with the IT strategy
• The provision of an effective customer driven IT support service to internal users
• The maintenance and development of Becta’s corporate IT Strategy and its alignment with
Becta’s corporate plan
• The provision of technical assistance, advice and guidance in support of Becta’s corporate
information systems
• The provision of technical support for events and projects undertaken by Becta
• Research and development with the view to advising Becta on improving its operational
effectiveness
• Hardware and software procurement in support of corporate services.

Purpose of document

This document focuses on the technical helpdesk service delivered to Becta users. It provides the technical
support team with procedures for recording and responding to calls logged with the Helpdesk, from internal
users.

The main purpose of the document is to help ensure that the technical support team delivers an effective
customer-focused helpdesk function to Becta users. To do this also requires users to log their calls via the
helpdesk. This will enable the technical support department to prioritise the calls received which will also
help to ensure that a high quality service to given to all Becta users.

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Helpdesk service definition

The helpdesk serves as a primary interface between the technical support department and Becta’s internal
users. Its function is to record and respond to user requests for assistance with queries/problems regarding
computer systems and peripherals, Becta’s internal network and telephony systems.

This service is provided between the hours of 09:00am and 05:00pm, Mon- Fri.

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Incident handling

Recording call details

Users are instructed to log calls with the helpdesk via telephone or email. The internal email address used is
‘Technical Helpdesk’.

Once a call is received, the helpdesk administrator is required to record the details in the Jobs Record
application. The Jobs Record application consists of a SQL Server database, and a Microsoft Access client
front-end. The client application is located in T:\Sys Admin\Job Record.mde. In instances where users have
contacted a technician directly, that technician must ensure that the call details are logged in the Job Record
database.

Call information entered into the Job Record database must include the following:

• Job Number
• Call Status
• Open date and time
• Problem/query reported
• Details of the user who logged the call with the helpdesk
• Name of technician assigned to the call.

When all the call details have been entered in the Job Record database, the user should be supplied with a
Job Number that provides a reference for the call logged. This should be done via the Job Record
application which provides an email function to supply the user with call details including the Job Number
and the technician assigned to the call. Figure 1 – Job Record Data Entry Screen, illustrates the user
interface for entering and updating helpdesk calls.

Figure 1 - Job record data entry screen

The user should be supplied a Job Reference Number once the call is logged. The Job Record application
provides a mechanism to e-mail the call details to the user which includes the Job Number.

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1st level resolution

On occasions when the helpdesk administrator is able to resolve a call immediately without assigning the
call to a technician, that call must be recorded in the Job Record database with details of the fix/advice
given.

Negotiate priority

The helpdesk administrator should assess what impact the problem being reported is having on the user and
negotiate a priority for the call with the user. As part of this process, the user should also be given an
approximate time for when the problem will be addressed. This can be obtained from Table 1 – Call
Priorities & Service Levels, which defines call response and fix times according to the priority of the priority
of the call.

Assign technical resource

Once the basic details of a call is taken and recorded in the Job Record database, it needs to be assigned to
an appropriate technician (if not resolved at 1st level) within the technical support team for resolution. The
helpdesk administrator must ensure that the technician assigned is notified of the call via email. Again, there
is a provision for this within the Job Record application. Calls may be transferred between technicians. In
such instances, the Job Record database must be updated to reflect the new technician assigned to the call.

When a technician receives notification that he/she has been assigned to a new helpdesk call, that
technician should make a follow-up telephone call to the user. The technician should ensure the nature of
the problem is understood and should also give the user some indication of when that problem will be
resolved. Table 1 Call Priorities & Service Levels, shows target response and fix times for helpdesk calls
according to the call priority. Technicians should adhere to these service levels or escalate the call as
described in section Call Escalation of this document.

Call updates

Each call should be updated on a daily basis to indicate the progress made to date. Details such as
attempts made to resolve the problem, information that is required from the user or a third party and any
agreements made with the user on how to proceed should be included the Progress field of the Job Record
database. Each entry in the Progress field should include a date/time stamp to indicate when the last update
was made to the call.

Closing the incident

Call closure occurs when a satisfactory resolution has been applied and agreed between the user and
technical support. The Job Record database should be updated with the following details:

• Date and time when the call was closed

• Description of the fix applied or the advice given should be entered in the Closure Details field.

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Call priorities & service levels

Each call logged with the helpdesk should be assigned a priority that has been agreed with the user. This
will provide users with some indication as to how quickly the call will be dealt with and allows the technical
support department to plan the helpdesk’s workload more effectively.

Calls will have a targeted response and fix time associated with it according to its priority. Table 1 – Call
Priority Definitions, shows call priorities and the associated service levels.

Priority Description Target Target fix/work around time

Level response
time

1 System failure, user unable to work 15 minutes to 4 working hours to resolve or

respond to call provide a workaround solution

1 working hour
to initiate
diagnosis

2 Software or peripheral failure, user unable 30 minutes to 8 working hours to resolve or

to perform some key tasks respond to call provide a workaround solution

4 working
hours to
initiate
diagnosis

3 Intermittent hardware/software problem, 30 minutes to 3 working days to resolve or

user still able to perform key tasks respond to call provide a workaround solution

12 working
hours to
initiate
diagnosis

4 Information request, no impact on the user 30 minutes to 1 working week to provide

respond to call information/advice

2 working days
to provide
initial update

Table 1 - Call priority definitions

Responding to a call involves the assigned technician contacting the user to acknowledge the call and to
indicate to the user the likely timescale for dealing with the request.

A workaround solution provides a temporary fix when additional time is required to implement a permanent
fix. If the problem re-occurs, a new call must be logged.

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Call escalation
Escalation procedures are defined here for use within the technical support team should problems arise
when dealing with helpdesk calls. Table 2 – Technical Support Escalation Routes, shows the route to be
taken during particular circumstances.

Incident First escalation Second escalation

Unable to assign call to a Technical Support Manager Director, Educational Technology

technician

Technician unable to respond Technical Support Manager Director, Educational Technology

within SLA

Technician unable to resolve Technical Support Manager Director, Educational Technology

call within SLA

User complaint made Technical Support Manager Director, Educational Technology

Unacceptable behaviour from Technical Support Manager User’s Line Manager

user

Workaround solution not Technical Support Manager User’s Line Manager

accepted by the user

Table 2 - Technical support escalation routes

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Helpdesk process
A flowchart diagram is shown below that illustrates the processes that should be followed when handling
calls made to the Technical Support helpdesk.

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Call volume reports

Weekly statistics should be produced and published on the Becta Intranet to provide information about the
volume of calls opened and closed during a period. A breakdown of the types of calls being placed to
technical support on a weekly basis should also be published.

Reports should be in the form of a graph/table. The information provided will include:

• Number of support calls logged/closed and the percentage of calls closed

• Total number of calls logged per directorate
• Total number of calls logged per directorate and the call category
• Total number of events supported
• Top 10 users requesting technical support
• Notice period given for events per directorate1

Examples of the graphs to be published are shown in appendix A.

N
Events database system will require minor changes to accommodate report

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Appendix A - Example reports of helpdesk/event calls

Technical Support Helpdesk Calls Logged During

April 2002

100
Total Number of
Helpdesk Calls

80
Logged Calls
60
Closed Calls
40
% Closed Ratio
20
0
25 - 29 02 - 05 08 - 12 15 - 19 22 - 26
March April April April April
2002 2002 2002 2002 2002
Weekly Reporting Period

Figure A-1 - Helpdesk calls logged

Helpdesk Calls Logged by Directorate

(29th April - 10th May 2002)
Total Number of Calls

30
25
20
Logged

15
10
5
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Becta Directorate

Figure A-2 - Helpdesk calls logged per Directorate

Breakdown of Helpdesk Calls Logged by

Directorate (29th April - 10th May 2002)

Chief Executive Office

Total Number of Calls

7
6 Corporate Services
5 Evidence and Practice
Logged

4 Lifelong Learning
3 NGfL
2 NGfL Infrastructure
1 Schools
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Call Category

Figure A-3 - Helpdesk calls logged per Directorate by call category

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No. Of Events Supported During April 2002

20
18
16
14
12
10 No. Events Supported
No. Of Events
8
6
4
2
0
1-5 April

8-13 April

15-19 April

22-26 April
Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Date Support Given Week 4

Figure A-4 - Events supported

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