Single Point of Contact Helpdesk

Goal

Help was split four ways, and people had to know which one to contact before they could ask: a student helpdesk in the Innovation Center with no single owner, where staff took turns answering; a staff helpdesk in IT; classroom and office technology support, run by the library; and campus police. Some requests went to one person. Learning management system questions came to a single inbox, and if that person was not checking email, the issue sat. The goal was one place to ask, and help that did not depend on any one person.

Audience

Students, faculty and staff who needed help, and the teams who answered.

Process

One phone number for the whole campus, with a phone tree to every place a person could get help. Email changed at the same time: addresses that had gone to individual people by name now went into helpdesk software, introduced alongside the new number, and were routed to functions, not to individuals. Learning management system questions went to all the LMS specialists, student issues to student support, staff issues to staff support. Earlier, at the University of Michigan College of Engineering, the same idea at smaller scale: helped roll out the Center for Professional Development’s first ticket system, then developed the training and trained all staff on it.

Technology

• One campus phone number with a phone tree.
• A shared help email address in place of individual inboxes.
• Helpdesk ticket software.

Outcomes

Completed. Faster, more consistent IT service delivery, recognized with an OIT technology award.