Now more than ever, running an effective help desk is vital to classroom success. As schools increasingly implement mobile devices like iPads into the classroom, educators increasingly need help with running these systems.
At the recent annual conference Texas Computer Education Association, Valerie Wilson, the Help Desk Manager at Klein ISD (Independent School District) in Texas, a district with more than 45,000 students, offered her best practices for running a successful IT help desk.
1. Hire Competent Staff:
Strong communication skills are a must, and listening more important than talking, says Wilson. And while technology knowledge is important, the ability to listen and to communicate is more important — personality can outweigh experience.
2. Invest in Help Desk Tools:
Find a software system (Klein ISD uses Eduphoria) that fits your needs and use it effectively to record incidents electronically, publish a knowledge base of common issues for all users, and to survey customers. A system that has a VNC setup for remote desktop computing will be particularly helpful in troubleshooting problems. A system that includes a district directory and a search engine for users helps as well.
“Getting the information of what’s out there and who handles it is one of the critical pieces of the puzzle,” Wilson says.
3. Be Available:
That sounds obvious enough, but if your customers can’t contact you when they need you, you can’t help them, Wilson says. Klein ISD’s help staff are available 24/7 online through the Eduphoria help desk and Monday-Friday 7am to 5pm via phone. Non-emergency after-hours voicemails are returned the next day.
4. Organization:
This is particularly key as new systems are installed. Key players must be identified and educated as these systems go live. From the help desk standpoint, organization includes
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