University of Waterloo | Library | Community Needs Assessment Process Group

REPORT OF THE HELPDESK SURVEY

Shabiran Rahman
for The Community Needs Assessment Process Group

Helpdesk service was initiated in January 1995. Members of the Systems Department are responsible for the delivery of the service. It was felt that an exploratory survey be conducted to assess the satisfaction of the staff with the service and make changes as necessary. A very simple questionnaire was designed to elicit the opinion of all Library staff, except those who were delivering the service.

Survey was conducted between July 5 and August 7, 1996. One hundred and forty surveys were distributed in the hardcopy to all Library staff. Surveys were also made available for completion by e-mail and on the WWW. Seventy-two surveys were returned for a response rate of 51.4%. Seventy-one of the seventy-two respondents had used this service, either personally or for their departments.

ANALYSIS

FORMAT OF RETURNED SURVEYS

	NUMBER	PERCENT
HARDCOPY	55	76.4
E-MAIL	12	16.7
WWW	5	6.9
TOTAL	72	99.9

Surveys were made available in three different formats; hardcopy, e-mail and WWW, 76.4 % of the returns were in hardcopy. 16.7% of the staff chose to complete and return the e-mail version. 3.4% (5 respondents) used the WWW in spite of the fact that return would ensured anonymity when compared to the other two methods of response

HOW OFTEN SERVICE WAS USED

	NUMBER	PERCENT
OFTEN	31	43
FEW TIMES	40	55.6
NEVER	1	1.4
TOTAL	72	100

All of the respondents, but one ,had used the Helpdesk service with 43% reporting that they had used the service often , and 55.6% reporting they had used the service a few times.

TIMELINESS

	NUMBER	PERCENT
EXCELLENT	22	30.6
GOOD	36	50
SATISFACTORY	9	12.5
UNSATISFACTORY	3	4.2
VERY UNSATISFACTORY	0	0
TOTAL	72	100.1

80.6% of users rated TIMELINESS from excellent to good. 2.0% ( 3 respondents) considered the response time to be unsatisfactory and NO ONE considered this to be very unsatisfactory. This shows the general satisfaction with the timeliness of the response by the Helpdesk staff.

PROBLEM RESOLUTION

	NUMBER	PERCENT
EXCELLENT	26	36.1
GOOD	30	41.6
SATISFACTORY	11	15.3
UNSATISFACTORY	4	5.6
VERY UNSATISFACTORY	0	0
NO ANSWER	1	1.4
TOTAL	72	100

Responses to PROBLEM RESOLUTION ranged from 36.1% as excellent to 41.6% as good. 7.5% (11 respondents) considered this to be satisfactory and 2.7% (4 respondents) found it to be unsatisfactory.

CLARITY OF EXPLANATION

	NUMBER	PERCENT
EXCELLENT	19	26.4
GOOD	33	45.8
SATISFACTORY	11	15.3
UNSATISFACTORY	6	8.3
VERY UNSATISFACTORY	1	1.4
NO ANSWER	2	2.8
TOTAL	72	100

The responses with regards to CLARITY OF EXPLANATION ranged from 26.4% in the excellent category to 45.8% in the good category. Responses for this question in these two categories are lower than for any other question. Comments made on the ques tionnaire suggest that staff prefer the explanation to be simple and jargon free.

COURTESY

	NUMBER	PERCENT
EXCELLENT	45	62.5
GOOD	21	29.2
SATISFACTORY	4	5.6
UNSATISFACTORY	0	0
NO ANSWER	2	2.8
TOTAL	72	100

All respondents consider COURTESY to be excellent to satisfactory. Majority, that is 62.5% responded to courtesy to be excellent. This was reechoed in the comments made by the respondents.

CONCLUSION

Altogether Helpdesk service is considered to be a very valuable service that is greatly appreciated. No major changes to the service were suggested. Comments to open-ended questions are included with the report. It is recommended that for the next evaluation of the Helpdesk focus group technique be used to get more in-depth information

COMMENTS

Sometimes using less "jargon" would help, because we are not all as technically proficient as help desk staff.

The explanations sometimes assume we know more than we really do.

The quality of the resolution and explanation often varies from excellent to unsatisfactory depending on who deals with the problem and what the problem involves.

Excellent support, respect and explanations. I am never embarrassed to call the help desk.

I have personally found Help Desk very useful. However, wonder if we need to make a distinction between help for one's personal PC and help requested for public workstations. I have been informed to use the o ne number for both types of service.

Systems Staff are always very nice and as helpful as they can be

I have always found all the staff very courteous and very helpful. Keep up the great work.

Staff have always been very helpful.

Feedback is not always provided to the individual/location (e.g. Information Desk).

I really appreciate the question - What priority is this? Also appreciate the follow up e-mail when the problem is resolved.

Excellent support, respect and explanations. I am never embarrassed to call the help desk.

I think that I have developed an (unrealistic?) expectation that I will receive immediate assistance from a completely knowledgeable helper. Therefore, I am quite disappointed when I get voice mail or am referred to someone else. For the most part, however, I do believe that the Help Desk is far better than calling everyone in the System department - like we used to do!

I think that we need people with Computer Science background working in systems department when it comes to trouble shooting most of them are useless.

Very good job with a very difficult variety of problems.

The wait can be maddening. When the assistance arrives, all my priorities become secondary - not an easy task.

The service is excellent and problems are handled right away. Occasionally there are delays because of staff time constraints to look into a problem. When the help desk is contacted you should be able to give information like - this affects the work of x number of people and should be priority level 1. The same should apply to installation or replacement of equipment. Those that stop the work of an area or a staff member should be higher priority than something which is inconveniencing one person but not preventing them from doing the majority of the work

Need updates to system in ILL, always on waiting list. Still waiting for CAROM access from local medline in office, for example.

I would like to suggest one person (with a back-up) to handle help - desk. The way it is now sometimes it takes 2-3 people or more coming to solve the problem. This would create better stability. As well I think Help Desk should be maintained from 8:30-4:30 every day. Other than a weekly meeting to organize schedules I find that too often all the Systems staff attend meetings on or off campus and leave no one to cover. i.e. why did the whole Dept. Have to attend Assoc. Librarian's Presentations. At each meeting they did not ask any questions anyway. Surely, one or two members could have attended and then communicated with the rest of the staff.

I really appreciate the question - What priority is this? Also appreciate the follow up e-mail when the problem is resolved.

I was thinking of responses on personal office computer problems rather than equipment for public use in the ratings given above. Response time for public equipment seems generally slower.

Very prompt. Usually have solution in short time.

I'd like to see the lunch hour sessions return. I attended a number of them and learned something at even the basic courses. Coming away with just one thing makes it worth the time. OR perhaps attendance would be higher (a better use of your time) if offered during working hours.

A valuable and much appreciated service.

Its been a really great service so far!

Overall, it is an excellent service concept.

A wonderful service.

This service is nice to have.

Keep up the good work!

The Help Desk is an excellent service especially if you need short, quick answers.

Hang in there folks, you are doing a good job.

Are an important service, well organized and very useful.

Good.