In addition to handling more than 25k IT support requests annually, the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) administers the same Request Tracker (RT) software used by nearly all campus service departments via the myUMBC help menu (the campus hit 1M tickets in 2018 and counting). Given the challenges of responding to such volume, DoIT also pioneered and curates the campus’ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) knowledgebase, to help users help themselves. As a result, support phone calls to our Technology Support Center (TSC) have been reduced 30% and DoIT’s overall RT ticket volume has decreased 3% (since FY10) or remained relatively flat while many other campus support requests have skyrocketed.
Selected Articles, Case Studies, Presentations
- Why Campus Offices Should Use FAQs to Improve Support — especially during COVID-19 Campus Closure?
- “Why & How to Develop FAQs for User Support” (3/29/18 TechFest Presentation)
- “Demonstrating Value Through IT Service Management in Higher Education,” 8/29/16 EDUCAUSE Working Group paper.
- “Using FAQs to Help Users Help Themselves,” 4/8/16 SIGUCCS webinar.
- “Using FAQs to Help Users Help Themselves,” 11/10/15 SIGUCCS presentation and ACM Digital Library publication
- “It’s Not Just the IT Help Desk Anymore,” EDUCAUSE Review Online (8/5/13)
- How Good FAQs Can Help Change the Culture of IT Support (Inside and Out), 11/8/12 Educause Presentation
- IT User Support Success Stories
- Annual User Support Metrics Presentations