After almost a year of preparation, significant improvements are on the way for the Nebraska Medicine and UNMC Information Technology Services Help Desks. The improvements revolve around three areas: consolidation of calls and help desks, utilization of one tool (instead of four) for tracking and a service request tool.
Colleagues will notice a change in the way we request IT support. For years, we’ve used Project Work Requests (PWR) and Technology Requests (TR) when needing IT support. Beginning June 16, we will begin using a service request system called “IT Helps.”
“Our team has done a great deal of research, preparation, process development and standardization for this transformation,” said Marc Ferguson, systems director, enterprise technical services. “Using this new integrated system, our support teams will be able to provide faster resolution, better coordination and more timely communication on problems and service requests.”
When the changes take effect June 16, colleagues will still call the help desk (9-7700) and will press 1 for UNMC systems and services, or press 2 for Nebraska Medicine systems and services. The new tool and enhanced processes will:
- Reduce hold time on phone calls;
- Provide better status updates on projects;
- Reduce misrouted phone calls;
- Improve communication between IT and colleagues requesting support; and
- Resolve issues more quickly.
The Service Desk Transformation Team formed nearly a year ago as part of the numerous Performance Improvement (PI) projects taking place during the clinical integration. Team members surveyed feedback from colleagues who used Help Desk and PWR/TR services to get a sense of the improvements they wanted to see.
“Using one tool to manage problems and requests for IT support makes perfect sense,” Ferguson said. “It’s also another example of how we’re working more closely with UNMC to improve what we do across the entire organization.”
More information will be coming in future issues of UNMC Today and Nebraska NOW, including a “How To” video demonstrating how to use IT Helps service request tool as well as real time sessions for those wanting more in-depth training. Future issues also will include information for employees to register for enhanced self-service options.