New Help Desk Team!

Monday, September 16th, will be the start of our 3-month trial with outsourcing our Help Desk. Above is a photo of the team from TNS who will be partnering with us in this effort. Benson, Jerry and Bill took a little tour of our No. CA offices to kind of "get the lay of the land" and meet some of you. They couldn't take a tour (yet!) of our So CA offices, but all of you in So CA will be getting to know them, too, through technology.

Anne Pham, our fearless Technology Support Administrator, will be working to bring Benson, Jerry and Bill up to speed on our software, hardware, infrastructure....and our wonderful end users! We'll send more details as needed, but for now, don't be surprised if sometime in the near future you get a call, email or IM from one of the TNS team members in response to your requests for help.

Technology Survey Results - Part 2 - Your Help Desk Experience

All in all, the ratings for your help desk experience were positive. "Good" and "Excellent" were neck and neck. Ticket resolution time, although mostly favorable, was one place where there were less "Excellent" ratings, so that is definitely one place we will focus some more attention. There were several "poor" ratings in this section, too, and we don't like to see that. We'll work hard to improve your experience overall.

We received lots of kudos for Anne and Jason (and some for Ted and me, too). We agree that Jason does an excellent job when he fills in or helps out. We love his helpful, patient attitude. And, of course, we also agree that "Anne rocks," she is "awesome," "amazing," and "excellent in knowledge and response time" (all quotes from comments).

Comment samples:

"Frequently it's quicker and easier for me to google a solution to my IT problems than to wait for a response through help desk. For example, a couple of co-workers (and eventually myself) were having issues with Crystal in IE. I heard through the grapevine that some one else had had similar issues as a result of the IE 10 update. So rather than submitting a help desk ticket and have them attempt to troubleshoot from afar, I just googled how to revert back to IE 9 and performed the steps on my and everyone else's computers."

Great comment! It does often make sense to see what you can do on your own to solve your problems. Googling is a great tool, searching in help documentation is another, and as this comment also references, co-workers can help each other, too. With the information that's available to all of us, and the fact that computers are a tool we all need to be able to use, being self-sufficient for solving some of your problems is a good thing -- pretty much a necessary thing.

We understand, though, that it doesn't always make sense for each individual to spend the time it may take to solve every issue. It's wonderful that this person shared their learning with others. We want to do more in that regard. This newsletter/blog is one way we distribute knowledge, we send out tips & tricks, we send out emails with instructions when there are widespread issues. We hope to soon have more vehicles for this sharing of knowledge. Please let us know when you figure something out and you think we should spread the word -- we love that!

"I understand the need for a help desk ticket system - just a bit cumbersome especially when we might not know the issue or how to describe it."

Totally get that. We often do need some specific information in order to troubleshoot, but if you'd rather wait until you have one of us "live" before you give all the specifics, please feel free to ask for that when you send in your help desk request. You can ask us to IM or call you, you can even give us available appointment times if you'd like us to reserve some specific time, whatever makes sense.

"There have been times when I couldn't begin my work until IT resolved an issue.  These issues should be considered HOT and handled immediately."

We agree! If you're at a standstill, please call or IM. I know it's a judgment call. Sometimes you're at a standstill with a particular program but, although it's an inconvenience, you can do other work while waiting for help. Sometimes you're truly dead in the water.

We have a similar balancing act in IT. Right now, for example, there are 75 tickets in the help desk system. If someone comes to us with what may actually be a small issue, is it "fair" for us to ignore those 75 other requests and do that one first? Plus, at least right now, we don't have staff members who are just devoted to help desk requests -- we all have many other projects we are responsible to complete -- so dropping everything for each request is not always the smartest thing for us to do, depending on the situation. We're hoping that partnering with TNS for help desk services will get us closer to being able to act more like a true, "on call" help desk center, "with operators standing by." :)

"You are the BOMB!" "The IT team is very friendly and pleasant to work with." "When I have opened tickets for help I have always received an email within an hour to let me know who it was assigned to and have received a call or email same day to fix the problems." "We like you."

Ending on a positive note again. We like you all, too! Thanks for the encouragement.

More to come on other topics and sections. As always, please let me or Ted or Anne know if you have questions, suggestions, issues, whatever.

Technology Survey Results - Part 1 - Your Technology Tools

As promised, I'm going to give you an update on the survey results. We're planning to send out this survey twice a year. Last year we sent it for the first time and I've taken a look to compare the results. Long story short, there's not very much of a change. Since the goal is to improve our results, this could be taken as a negative, but the good thing is that in both cases, the ratings were quite positive in general.

I'm going to try to briefly summarize the results for each section/topic, and also address some of the written comments. Thanks again to all who participated!

Pivot Office Location (graph & data below)
Not surprisingly, the highest number of participants came from San Jose. The other offices had good representation, too, especially San Francisco, Irvine, and LA. Last year we had a total of 93 participants and this year 94. We've grown quite a bit in that year; I hope we can get more participation next time.

Your Technology Tools (graph & data below)
We have significantly more in the Good to Excellent range than in Poor/Unacceptable to Fair, but of course we'd prefer none in those lower ranges.

As you are most likely aware, we have given new computers to nearly everyone, and are now in the process of going back and issuing 64-bit computers to those who have 32-bit. We hope that will make a noticeable difference as far as hardware.

Our recent circuit update has made a difference in our connectivity to the internet and between offices, plus the ability to handle the new videoconferencing capabilities. There were glitches and delays along the way, but we do definitely have improved connectivity.

Comment samples:

"I would love a dual monitor arm and two monitors." "Dual flat screens have really helped. More efficient and better posture while working."

For some positions, dual monitors is a standard. If you don't have dual monitors and want them, be sure to talk to your manager.

"I hear a lot of frustration when new computers are received about missing programs, or problems." 

It took us a while to detect that trend, but we have been trying to come up with ways to ensure that new computers have all the programs and setup that they should. We have a checklist that we continually update as we notice anything missing, and we're standardizing the base image we use for all computers.

"Not sure where the SmartBoards or the video/audio conferencing falls - but need more training and need for this to work consistently. ...Would really like to know that I can walk into a room and count on it working...I love the idea of the technology and feel like it needs to be dialed in so that it works every time easily."

Believe me, we agree! It's been a journey, but we're all learning and we're getting closer all the time to consistency. We're not there yet, we know. We've sent out some updates in our IT Newsletters and will continue to pursue both consistency and training with the audio-visual technology.

"I've had problems with with some people within the office having different versions of software..." "We seem to have several versions of Adobe pdf." 

We do have several versions of Adobe or Adobe-wanna-be's out there. We thought we had found a good, less expensive program to standardize on. We had several users from various departments test it. But as we rolled it out more extensively we found people either just did not like it or they needed features it did not have. We're working on a new scheme with the right program for the different needs. There will be inconsistency for a while but if you have specific issues, be sure to let us know now and we can address them. Same with any compatibility issues. We try our best to keep everyone up to date and consistent, but where we miss it, let us know.

"I frequently receive compatibility notices - with Excel especially." "I always have issues with Outlook." "With proper software I could be much more efficient. Things that take marketing a week to turn around I could do myself in 10 minutes." "My laptop is obviously a third or fourth generation hand-me-down. The fan vent is obstructed by a piece of metal, and several keys are falling off." "My computer is not so quick, and my "n" key hasn't worked properly since I first received my computer...That said,..in fairness to the IT department, I've mentioned the "n" key issue but never taken the time to bring my computer in to get the problem fixed." 

What do these comments have in common? As the last one hints at, we can't fix problems we're not aware of, and we typically need you to allow us time on your computer in order to work on the issues. I often say that our computers have become like our cars -- they're great when they work but it's a huge pain when they don't. And even more than with cars, a loaner computer is not an easy thing to provide -- so many of us have very different, specific needs. We are trying to make the loaner piece of this challenge a little better. We have loaner computers in each location, with all the programs required by nearly any position. But even with that it's going to be inconvenient to give up your computer for repair. We understand that and we are doing all we can to make the process as quick and painless as possible.

"Internet speed has improved. Thank you!" "So far no issues." "Everything I need in order to do my job has been provided." 

Thought I'd end on a positive note. :)

More to come on other topics and sections. As always, please let me or Ted or Anne know if you have questions, suggestions, issues, whatever.

The Technology Survey

Our technology survey closed last Friday. We received 94 responses. Excellent work, Pivoteers! We'll be analyzing and publishing the results in the near future. As we mentioned, we plan to send this out twice a year. Getting your feedback and suggestions is a great way for us to improve.

ClickShare - Coming to a Conference Room Near You!

In our last newsletter, we let you know that ClickShare was coming. All conference rooms with SmartBoards will have ClickShare installed. All rooms should be complete by the end of next week. One click to share your screen! See our last newsletter for more details.

New in the Help Desk

You may remember that we have been talking about outsourcing our Help Desk. We will begin a 3 month trial with a company called Triware Networld Systems (TNS) in September. We'll send details out soon. The IT team has been on a search for several weeks now to find a good fit for providing support to all of you. TNS came to us highly recommended by a vendor who has used them for over 20 years. We really like the founder, Benson Yeung, and we think you will, too, as well as the rest of his team.

Using someone else for help desk support will be a significant change -- and something new to all of us, too. We believe that if we find the right partner, it will be a great benefit. Some benefits we hope you'll find are:

• Quicker response time - There will be a larger team available to answer your emails and phone calls more quickly.
• More consistent availability - Similar to the above, since there will be a larger team, more people will be available. Beyond that, if one or all of us are tied up in projects or meetings, out of the office, or unavailable for whatever reason, the TNS team will be there.
• Shorter lead time for new or replacement computers - TNS will, as we build up the partnership with them, become our provider of new and refurbished laptops. They have a system that enables them to provide new computers within just a couple of hours -- instead of the days it currently takes.
• More onsite support - We plan to work out a way that the TNS team members can be onsite at all our offices (in No. CA only, at least to begin with) either on some kind of schedule, or an as-needed basis.

We're counting on your cooperation and patience as we explore this new model of technical support. It will be a learning experience. We'll keep you in the loop as we move forward!

Expensify - Expense Reports That Don't Suck

Expensify is our expense report system, as you know by now. Paul, Anne and Ted provided training on Expensify at each location. If you missed the training, Ted is doing one more via Lync (phone & web) on Wednesday, Sept. 4th. Email him if you haven't signed up yet!

Soon we will be automating the input of all the expenses into Khameleon - saving a bunch of time for those who have to enter it all in manually right now. In order to do that, there will be some changes on the process. The main one will be that each expense will need the appropriate department code (such "Corporate IT" or "East Bay Customer Service." Each of you will need to complete a short process to set the default of your own department. Watch for an email with details and instructions soon. That small process by each of you will add up to big efficiencies over all!

For "Getting Started" instructions go to this page, which includes a link to a video. More videos here.