HelpSU for Consultants
Best Practices
HelpSU is Stanford University's online request tracking system, and used by schools, departments and central offices as the principal way to track user service requests. Other support groups at Stanford also use HelpSU to help them track their work. The system currently used is Remedy Help Desk 5.5.
Remedy Help Desk cases are managed from the time a request is submitted by a client to the time the request is resolved.
To achieve the goal of a consistent use of the application across the entire campus, this document sets forth a common set of expectations. Many of these expectations are enforced by the application itself in order to ensure consistency.
Each Individual User of HelpSU will:
Understand how to use the Application
- Be familiar with the basic features of the system, via a training session or by accessing the user job aids on the HelpSU for Consultants site
- Be aware of and use the specified case statuses (see below)
- Be aware of the various notification options (see below)
Manage Cases Appropriately for Excellent Client Service
- Update cases daily
- Use the Work Log box to record what is being done/what actions are being taken (summarizing conversations with the client, actions taken, suggestions given)
- Use "Reminders" to communicate with the client via email
- Use the Time Spent field to record work time. Time spent should include all aspects of the time spent resolving the issue: phone time, research time, consulting-with-others time, time to record actions in the case, etc.
- Check Category-Type-Item (CTI) to ensure it is appropriate to the request, as those fields are designed to reveal appropriate support Groups and any specified Solutions.
- Make sure CTI is accurate when a case is set to Resolved or Closed status as it is used for University-wide activity reporting.
- Use the Solution field to provide a brief explanation of the resolution to each case. NOTE: "See work log" is insufficient - a recap of the actual resolution should be placed in the Resolution section.
- To request a new CTI, contact your Remedy Advisory Group member
- To request a Bulletin Board message be posted, contact your Remedy Advisory Group member
When Necessary, Re-Queue A Case
- When reassigning a case to another Group:
- Indicate the reason for the re-queuing in the Work Log field, along with any additional information, troubleshooting or actions taken.
- Place a "See Work Log" note in the "Description*" field to alert the next group of this additional information placed in the Work Log.
- If appropriate, re-set the Category-Type-Item (use an Item of *General)
- Remove any Group name from the Group field
- Remove any name from the Individual field
- Re-set the case status to "New" and SAVE the changes
- NOTE: It is not necessary to assign a case to a particular Group or Individual. The application will perform specified auto-assignment based on the CTI combination. Specific cases can be assigned to specific groups as appropriate.
- NOTE: Always place it in "New" status for all members of the Group to see.
Each Group will:
- Develop and use Category-Type-Item to categorize work
- Respond to escalations when they are sent:
- Assign the case to a particular staff member and ask them to handle
- Contact the user, explain the delay, and confirm that they will be helped, with a time frame
- Review the case, and make sure it is in the right Group queue. Re-assign as necessary. Advise the client.
HelpSU Case Statuses:
Cases are NEW when they are in the process of being created.
Cases become ASSIGNED immediately after creation, when a specific Support group has been assigned to the case. Case are also ASSIGNED when an individual takes responsibility for handling the request. They put their name on the case and commit to resolving it.
Cases are WORKING when the Consultant begins active effort.
Cases are put in PENDING when work is awaiting 1) client availability, 2) a future scheduled visit, 3) a hardware part, etc. Consultants can use "Reminders" to set a date when the case should be reviewed or the status updated.
Cases are RESOLVED when the Consultant has fixed the problem or advised the client of the answer to their question.
Cases are CLOSED when the client acknowledges that the problem is resolved, or (automatically) 7 days after being marked RESOLVED.
HelpSU Case Notification Options:
Individual notifications when a case is assigned to a Group/Individual:
None (user must login to HelpSU to see cases)
Email
Email text sent to Pager
Email text sent to Cell Phone
Any combination of Email/Pager/Cell Phone
Notification options are also available based on case Priority, e.g. "Send me email notifications for Low Priority cases, but page me for Urgent Priority cases."
Individuals or Groups should submit a HelpSU request for changes to notification options.
Questions and Comments:
Any questions or comments about this document or about the HelpSU (Remedy Help Desk 5.5) application should be submitted via a HelpSU request at http://helpsu.stanford.edu
