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By Hervey Allen (hervey@oregon.uoregon.edu)
Over the past two years, Microcomputer Services has seen a dramatic increase in the number of users calling its main consulting line at 346-4412. Last September we received 3,400 calls (an average of 170 calls per day) during our business hours, and on several peak days during fall term we logged over 300 calls.
To respond to the mounting demand, Microcomputer Services has increased its student staff. We have also increased our full-time staff from two people to three. And to become even more efficient in serving the campus community, we will add a hold queue to our consulting line by July 1999.
Currently, if our staff can't answer our support line at 346-4412, customers are routed to our Audix voicemail system where they can leave a message. The more calls there are, however, the less efficient this system becomes, as it requires quite a bit of staff time to transcribe messages, return calls, and keep track of the entire process.
Every member of our staff has had occasion to call technical support for help, so we fully understand how frustrating it can be not to get someone on the line. We're hopeful that giving our customers the option of waiting for a consultant instead of leaving a message will alleviate some of the frustration, and increase the number of people we can assist.
When the new hold queue is installed this summer, we'll be accepting calls in the order in which they arrive. We generally have two or three people staffing our main consulting line during our business hours (9 am - 5 pm, Monday through Friday). Our experience has been that calls rarely arrive in an orderly fashion. Instead, they tend to come in clumps, with spaces of quiet in between. During our peak times (10:30 am - 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm) we attempt to staff our lines with additional people.
Note that use of a hold queue will prevent us from accepting voicemail messages.
As computer use continues to increase, so will the number of requests for help. Microcomputer Services asks that you do your part by reading the documentation included with your software. Most of our software installers include documentation that contains troubleshooting sections. Because of the increased consulting load, our student staff may request that you perform complex software installations or reconfigurations on your own time; at that point, we can help troubleshoot any particular problems that may arise.
If it's not convenient to call us, you can always drop by Computing Center Room 202 during business hours, write to microhelp@oregon.uoregon.edu, or visit our web site at http://micro.uoregon.edu