UoN Quick Tour – 17000

Team leader Luke Shaw answers some hot-topic questions as he takes In the Loop on a quick tour

We average about 250 phone calls in a day
This equals about 4000 a month.  In addition, we average 1500 requests a month through the 17000 portal.  All up, we answer over 35,000 requests a year, and this increases every year.

Calls come from all campuses and across the world 
UoN always has students overseas or travelling staff who still need to access their email or other University systems.

Only 6-8 people staff the 17000 desk
A number of staff provide support in the field and at other campuses as well.  Staff rotate between field work and time on the desk, to keep their skills current and builds ongoing rapport with the people they assist.

We handle a range of calls
We handle a range of calls including general IT help, networking and telephony, software requests and so on.

Most calls are answered within less than two minutes, even during peak times.
We experience our highest demand at the start of semesters, but we rarely have a long queue of calls, so don’t hang up!

Our most common calls are for password resets
This happens particularly at the start of semester and after a break. Self Service Password reset, navigate to https://identity.newcastle.edu.au/idm/user/login.jsp and click ‘forgot password’.

We support many hundreds of unique systems across the university in addition to staff and student desktop environments
We have a ‘Wiki’ that records essential support information about new or updated systems to help us share knowledge across the team.  We also have an extensive training program spanning several months to get a new 17000 staff members up to speed.

Calls are logged through our tracking system, LANDesk 
Over half of all calls are resolved on-the-spot, without a need to go to second or third level support.  LANDesk keeps records for each user so we can track recurrent problems.  We run also monthly audits on the number of calls, where they originated from, and the amount of time they took to resolve.

We work closely with Organisational Development to refer staff to training if required
We also direct users to online training, such as ITSkills within Blackboard, or local training within faculties or divisions.

Support has become centralised over the past ten years
Previously, support was scattered across faculties and schools, but now we can deal with and track everything from one location.

The internet has changed how we work
We can control a user’s computer remotely to resolve issues, and software can also be installed remotely.  Many of our enterprise systems are also online.

Over the next two years we may see more virtual environments
We may see further development of virtual desktops: students sitting down anywhere on campus, logging in and having a complete simulation of our computing lab environment. Technology will also become more mobile.

Variety is the part of the job I enjoy most
We do bits and pieces of everything, and we actually get to see the customer and their requirements and provide a solution.  It’s quite rewarding because we do get feedback from customers, and no day is ever the same.

Thanks to Luke and the 17000 team for their time.  Like your unit to be featured in UoN Quick Tour?  We’d love to hear from you.  Just email Deb Lewis at deborah.lewis@newcastle.edu.au