In response to the rapid changing computing environment and increasing demand for services, the Computing Services Centre (CSC) set up the Help Desk in September 1997 with dedicated human, hardware and software resources to help users resolve their day-to-day usage problems. (see Network Computing, Issue 12 - September 1997 for details). Since its operation in 1997, the Help Desk has been well-received. As the Help Desk is the single point of contact for first-line technical support, the incidents give us valuable information related to user experiences and settings of our current computing environment.

As all incidents are recorded in the database of the Help Desk system, generating statistical reports is at our fingertips. The Help Desk supervisor can easily generate a comprehensive monthly report for management's review. By studying the report, we can:

Help Desk report is produced on a monthly basis. The following is a few screen captures for reference.

Throughout the years, we have made use of the Help Desk reports to improve performance of our campus network, secure the desktop environment, polish the launching process of new applications, streamline the computer account creation process, announce virus/hacking alerts, empower users with updated computer skills, implement measures to solve root cause of various problems, and so on.

When combining the Help Desk incidents with the service type requests submitted through the on-line CSC Work Request interface, we have a complete way to improve our internal efficiency. As the service time and solutions of incidents/requests are in place, we can look for better solutions and shorten the service time. In conclusion, the Help Desk report is a very useful tool for service quality enhancement.

If a department would like to obtain regularly the statistics on what kinds of problems its staff having been facing, or what kinds of services had been rendered by the Help Desk, etc, please raise an on-line CSC Work Request for it.