What happens when you log a call

Service level agreement

• Service provision

  IT support comprises of three main elements.

  1. IT Service Desk (also known as first line support) where you can log a call. Where possible, the IT Service Desk will attempt to resolve the call. If this is not possible, the IT Service Desk will pass the call to another IT team for resolution.
  2. Specialist IT Teams (also known as second line support) these staff maintain centrally supported services (such as email, telephony or networks) and can fix problems and answer more detailed questions about those services.
  3. Computing Officers are located in a number of Schools and some Units. Computing Officers provide support for School/Unit specialist software and systems. These staff/teams are not part of IT Services.

  Calls that we receive are classified by type:

  1. Incident refers to situations where something is broken, e.g. mouse, laptop or statistical software and it is preventing or impacting a customer from doing their job. In this case our aim is to get the customer back working as quickly as possible.
  2. Service Request refers to situations where something is required, e.g. password change, permission to access a file share, or a request for a new Finance system. Some service requests are straightforward and are easily dealt with, e.g. a password change only takes a few minutes. Other service requests may require system development, capital expenditure or significant amounts of resource, therefore approval to proceed would be required by either the Business Transformation Board or the IT Services Senior Management team.
     IT Services Generic Service Level Agreement V1.7

  Logging a call with the IT Service Desk

  • You can log a call online, by email, phone or face to face;
  • Your call will be logged in UniDesk, our call management system;
  • The system will automatically send you an acknowledgement when your call has been received. Your call will have a unique call reference number and a date by which we expect to complete the work. If you need to provide us with further information after you’ve logged a call, please reply to the acknowledgement email, so as to include the unique call reference number;
  • You can log and track the status of your call using IT Self Service.
  • Some calls can be answered by first line support (IT Service Desk); however others will need to be escalated to our Specialist IT teams (e.g. Desktop Support, Networking, Systems Support, etc.);
  • Your call will be prioritised depending on the urgency and impact of the incident (see section 3 below);
  • If we ask you to provide further information in order to resolve your issue, we would ask you to do this as soon as possible. If we don’t hear back from you within 10 working days, we shall assume this is no longer an issue for you – and close the call.

  Remote access

  In order to help diagnose and fix faults, IT Services staff may use remote access tools to connect to your computer. This will only be done with your agreement.

  Self Help

  IT Services are working to improve their web pages in order to ensure the answers you need to common queries and problems. 

• Priority allocation and resolution targets

  The following impact and urgency criteria are used to determine the priority given to a call that is logged with the IT Service Desk.

  Impact definitions

  University	A core IT service has failed or is degraded, affecting a significant number of users, or; Significant damage to the University may result from the incident, e.g. loss of revenue, reputation or security issue.
  Department	A core IT service has failed, or is degraded, affecting a number of users, or; A non-key service has failed, or is degraded, impacting multiple locations or users, or; A user’s university owned desktop has failed.
  Individual	A non-key service has failed or is degraded, affecting a few users

  Urgency definitions

  Highest	Critical University deadlines are at risk, no workaround is available
  Higher	No workaround is available, but there is no immediate University deadline, or; A workaround is available, and there is an immediate University deadline
  Normal	A workaround is available, and there is no immediate University deadline

  Resolution targets by priority for incidents

  Urgency	Impacts Individual	Impacts Department	Impacts University	Resolution Target
  Normal	Low priority Target: 10 working days	Normal priority Target: 8 working days	Medium priority Target: 5 working days	90%
  Higher	Normal priority Target: 8 working days	Medium priority Target: 5 working days	High priority Target: 1 working day	90%
  Highest	Medium priority Target: 5 working days	High priority Target: 1 working day	Critical priority Target: 4 hours	90%

  Resolution targets by priority for service requests

  Urgency	Impacts Individual	Impacts Department	Impacts University	Resolution Target
  Normal	Low priority Target: 20 working days	Normal priority Target: 8 working days	Medium priority Target: 5 working days	90%
  Higher	Normal priority Target: 8 working days	Medium priority Target: 5 working days	High priority Target: 1 working day	90%
  Highest	Medium priority Target: 5 working days	High priority Target: 1 working day	Critical priority Target: 4 hours	90%

• Closing a call

  When we believe your call is resolved, we will normally ask you to confirm you are satisfied that this is the case. If you do not feel that your issue has been resolved, you can reply to the email and the call will be re-opened.

• Communication

  Unplanned service downtime

  We will contact our School and Professional Service Unit key contacts if a service becomes unavailable. We shall also alert the Business Owner of that service, along with the IT Senior Management Team.
  You can check the status of key services on service status.
  If appropriate, we shall post a Twitter alert notifying users of our service status.

  Planned service downtime

  We will communicate with key users directly about planned service downtime (for example, for maintenance and improvements). Planned service downtime will also be communicated via our Service Status page.
  In addition, we carry out regular maintenance during our ‘change window’ – each Tuesday and Thursday between 0700-0900 hours. Services during this time should be considered ‘at risk’, however, any interruption to service is usually for a short period. If service is likely to be impacted during this period, the Service Status page will be updated.

  Feedback about our service

  We welcome feedback about all aspects of our service.
  One Minute Survey: Once a call is closed, we will also ask you to complete our IT Services One Minute Survey. Your feedback allows us to review the service we provide and make improvements where necessary. As a thank you, we’ll include you in our monthly prize draw to win a £10 gift card.
  Suggestion Scheme: We value your ideas and would like to hear how you think we could improve our service. Complete the online suggestions form – and as a thank you we will enter you into our quarterly prize draw to win free hot drinks for a month at any of the University’s coffee shops
  https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/itservicedesk/suggestions/
  Complaints Procedure: IT Services takes pride in delivering a high quality services to its University customers. We do acknowledge that from time to time our customers may feel that our normally high standards are not being met.
  If you feel you need to raise a complaint, please email itservicedesk@st-andrews.ac.uk, with the subject heading ‘Complaint’. This will generate an IT Service Desk call with a unique reference, which will be allocated to an IT Manager for action.

• Expectations

  User responsibilities

  All IT users are expected to act responsibly in their use of their IT equipment, storing files in a centrally provided file space, and following university advice on information security and data use:
  http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/policy/computer/

  Basic checks before you contact the IT Service Desk

  1. If the service you are accessing does not appear to be working, please check the IT Service Status web page, in the first instance.
  2. Ask your colleagues if they have a similar problem.
  3. Check if the problem is still present after the device has been restarted.
  4. For power, network, mouse or keyboard problems, please make sure the cables are connected at both ends (do this when the power is switched off).

  Information that will help us deal with your issue more quickly

  The following minimum level of information (where relevant) will help us process your incident more quickly:

  1. Asset Number: this is a five digit number found on a red and silver sticker. The sticker is titled ‘Property of UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS’.
  2. Location of device: e.g. room number and building name
  3. Computer name: these can be found as follows
     Windows 7:: Click the Start button > right-click Computer > click Properties
     Windows 10: In the Windows search box beside the stat button, type ‘about your PC’ and click the resulting icon. Your computer name will be displayed under ‘device name’.
  4. If something is not working, what are the specific symptoms and/or error messages? What triggers the error?
  5. Is there a deadline for your query? (we need to determine the impact and urgency of your call);
  6. Which of the basic checks (listed above) have you tried?
  7. Additional contact details (e.g. mobile number).

  Self Service Forms

  There are online forms available for some IT requests, for example requests for hardware and software.

• Exceptions

  Expected delays

  Often calls can be resolved more quickly that the target time, but there be may occasions where resolution takes longer. In particular:

  • During very busy times of the year (such as the few weeks of a new semester) when we anticipate a very high volume of calls;
  • Where a resolution requires information or support from a third party;
  • Where a resolution requires more information from you.

  Support restrictions

  Support, and therefore resolution times, will only apply to University owned equipment (within warranty), supported software, hardware and operating systems.

  Requests for help with unsupported services may be undertaken on a ‘reasonable endeavours’ basis.

  Change requests

  Some calls may represent a ‘request for change’ in an IT Service, which would be beneficial, but does not stop staff from working. In such cases IT Services will negotiate directly with you an estimated time for completion.

  Reporting and monitoring

  Performance against targets is monitored on a monthly basis. User satisfaction will be monitored through a variety of methods, such as surveys, service availability and targeted engagement with staff and students.