7.4. Support Requirements

An MLE is likely to place new demands on the user support and systems support provided by your institution. An MLE is a gateway to essential systems and information, so there will be pressure to solve any problems quickly. As an institution-wide service, it will have a relatively large and diverse user population. A significant proportion of usage - and therefore some of the problems and enquiries - will occur outside standard working hours and off-campus. Also, because it links together a variety of systems and increasing the range of institutional data that is available, an MLE will generate various types of enquiry - some relating to the system and its interface, and some relating to the information that it is displaying. The following list of support-related issues was compiled following discussions in De Montfort University's Information Services and Systems division (ISAS).

7.4.1. Exercise Supporting the MLE/VLE

The following were identified under 'What type of problems might our customers come up against':-

Key:

D

relates to data issues

H

relates to Help

T

relates to technical/ISAS issues

7.4.2. Planning for support

De Montfort University took a number of steps to try to ensure that adequate support was in place before their MLE was launched to users. These are listed below:

Examples

1. Simple design, with standard, easy-to-use, interface. The uPortal interface to De Montfort University's MLE contains many elements which can be made user-configurable, but DMU currently only allows users access to a very limited subset of these - to avoid possible confusion amongst users and support staff.

2. User testing - the results can inform both the design of the system and the help and guidance provided. User testing showed that the logging in process caused the most problems for users, and so special attention has been given to this in the online help pages and in printed leaflets about the MLE.

3. Determining on the level of service which can be provided with the resources available, and clearly specifying this to the Institution and to the users. The on-line Help pages include a service level statement for users (see below).

4. Provision of comprehensive on-line help. The on-line help pages for the MLE include information on all the functions available, plus a special section on logging on, an FAQ section, and a statement on the level of support provided.

5. Ensuring that appropriate levels of support staff are in place. DMU has implemented a collaborative approach to the provision of user support, involving central and departmental IT Support staff, and Academic and Administrative staff. This has taken a considerable amount of preparation and time.

6. Providing opportunities for user training. Drop-in sessions are organised for students in the first few weeks of the academic year.

7. Allocating the responsibility for supporting each hardware and software component. Agreement between the MLE Project Manager and the Systems Support Manager over who supports what.

The GIMIS Project approached the question of user support in the following ways:

'As new routines come online (e.g. Student Identification Card System), the support needs of the end users become all too apparent. As GIMIS is a highly complex series of independent logical constructs that constantly evaluate variables and then perform conditional processing based on the values, there are not enough experienced staff with the software skills necessary to support users. In order to address this foreseen situation, the GIMIS team has been expanded to accommodate training and support services.

The need to provide very simple instructions, as users are often perplexed when confronted with a new system for the first time. At no point have the GIMIS Development Team assumed a high level of knowledge and understanding, all too often users do not follow the instructions and have assumed what 'it' is, rather than literally following the onscreen instructions. The approach has been to pitch user information at the lowest common denominator, without any prior assumptions being made.' (GIMIS Management Report 5.)

7.4.3. Innovative approaches to user support

Some Institutions have found innovative methods of extending their IT support cost-effectively. The London School of Economics has a joint arrangement with three other Universities at different time zones to provide full 24 hour Help Desk coverage. The scheme was awarded the UCISA Teaching, Learning and Information Group's Good Practice Award 2003 (see Key Resources.):

London School of Economics:

Follow the Sun- the three continents helpdesk

Three years ago a revolutionary idea was launched: why not provide an out-of-hours email-based helpdesk support service by exploiting the differences between various time zones around the world? In a joint initiative the London School of Economics and Political Science and Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) set up a Remote Email HelpDesk Service (now known as 'Follow the Sun: the Three Continents HelpDesk'), with Colorado (USA) and Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia) as two further partners ensuring full 24 hour coverage divided into four equal six-hour shifts.

In essence, the concept is that queries emailed to one institution during unsocial hours when no local helpdesk staff are on duty are picked up by staff at the other institution during their normal helpdesk duties. This allowes partner institutions to provide a near real-time email support desk stretching the limits of conventional 9-5 local IT Support. The service initially focused on general software, email and internet queries where intimate knowledge of the partner institution was not required and emails were forwarded automatically. The service currently utilises IMAP technology, thus further reducing the need for active administration and increasing effectiveness of tracking particular queries and responses.

The service is designed to be able to address time-sensitive problems: perhaps the best illustration of this is an LSE student who was working overnight on her own PC and realised that her computer was infected with a virus but was unable to clean it herself. She emailed LSE IT helpdesk and her query was picked up by Macquarie staff who got back to her with instructions on how to disinfect that particular virus. The student was very happy and continued to work through the night.

Another scheme shortlisted for the UCISA award was University of Wales Aberystwyth's arrangements for online support.:

University of Wales Aberystwyth:

Towards an integrated, effective 24-hour support service

The Advisory team is currently undertaking a project to update the content and simplify the structure of the computing FAQs, to weed out obsolete and repeated material and to build in automated procedures to ensure regular future updates. New pages will be filed and linked by a named staff member, to ensure consistency in style and storage. A comprehensive keyword list, and procedures for the use of metatags, will provide more accuracy in keyword searches. A new and more versatile database, written by and Advisor in PHP with an SQL-compliant language, is also in development.

Library enquiry specialists in the Advisory Team, in conjunction with Academic Liaison, have also begun a review of the Library FAQs. Further development of a Virtual Information Desk (VID) using a decision tree structure is being investigated.

In 2001 the department re-launched Help Desk Live (HDL), a virtual help facility consisting of a text chat tool which allows users to chat on-line to the Advisor on duty, and incorporates the facility for the Advisor to take over the desktop of the caller and demonstrate a solution to their problem. This service is accessed by another shortcut on the public service desktop. HDL is currently staffed 9-5, but may be extended to cover evenings and weekends as demand for support grows at times when minimal staffing cover is available.

Follow this link for key resources for this section (these open in a new window)