This special edition of Spotlight on IT focuses not on a trend, but on the great work done in our IT department to prepare for the new academic year.

In addition to the services below, we have also published aÌýÌýto help students become familiar with the IT services they will come in contact with during their time at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´. For a complete list of services, students are encouraged to check outÌý, a transition guide provided by the Office of the Vice-President (Students and Enrolment).

Service Desk

Last September Stats
It’s no surprise that September is our busiest time of the year, as is the case for many departments on campus. You could say that our staff have been preparing themselves mentally for the influx of requests. Last September the ITS Service Desk created 3496 tickets with 48% of the requests coming in via email.Ìý They had a 60% first call resolution rate and our satisfaction survey results reported a 97% satisfaction rate.

Service Desk Bookcamp
Our student Service Desk employees are integral to our service offering as they enable us toÌýprovideÌýsupport outside of university business hours –Ìý till 10:30 pm Mon-Thurs, till 10 pm Friday, and from 12-8 pm weekends. ÌýTo prepare them for the types of requests they will receive, 16 students attended a three day ‘bootcamp’ withÌýpresentation from subject matter experts from across ITS covering everything from passwords to wireless.

Residence Move-In Support
This weekend thousands of students will be moving into residence.Ìý Housing and Residence Life Services haveÌýstreamlined their processesÌýto ensure a smooth transition for students, and a number of service departments from across campus will be there to help, including our own ITS staff.Ìý We’ll be there to support students with onsite network (wired and wireless) setup, account access, software access, and hardware support.

Classroom Support

Wireless Screen-Sharing
Following successful pilots in Tory 446/7 and Southam 306, wireless screen-sharing unshackles instructors from the podium, allowing them to roam their lecture room, while transmitting the video of their iPad to the classroom projector. WithÌýInstructional Media Services (IMS)Ìýassuming technical support, another dozen classrooms in Tory are being targeted for updating this fall.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) provides students with the option to access course-specific software directly from their laptops, which are often used in class with guidance from the instructor.Ìý VDI was introduced at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´Ìýin 2014Ìýand there are now almost 100 classrooms that are VDI-ready. In these classrooms, Wi-Fi capacity is specially engineered to allow every student to open a VDI connection

Free MS Office for Students
Microsoft is offeringÌýstudents in select educational institutions, including ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University, the MS Office software suite, at no charge while they are at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.Ìý For information on how to download the software, visit ourÌýMS Office page.

Systems

cuLearn Upgrade
ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´â€™s Learning Management System, CuLearn,Ìýwill be getting its annual upgrade on Sept 3, going from Moodle version 2.8.7 to version 3.1.1, withÌýimprovements to the gradebook and the overall system performance.ÌýPlanning for the upgrade generally utilizes theÌý, from the Initiation phase to the Closure Phase. Schedules and test plans are developed and actioned upon for respective areas of responsibility by both theÌýÌýand ITS. An upgrade of the LMS roughly takes about three months to complete (start to finish).

Windows 10 Deployed to Student Labs
Over 1000 campus lab computersÌýwere updated over the summer with the latest image which includes 64-bit Windows 10 Enterprise, along with roughlyÌý. To ensure software students need for their class work was included, the image was built with feedback from faculty and Computing Support Units (CSUs) across campus.

Next Edition

We will resume our regular format next month with a spotlight on IT security, just in time for Cyber Security Awareness Month

The infographic below highlights some of the activity we saw in the month of FebruaryÌý Click on the image for a larger view.Ìý The accessible transcript is below the image.

Transcript

February Happenings in Information Technology Services

Our team of 120 professional services staff provide enterprise information technology solutions and services to support the learning, teaching, research and administrative goals of ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University.

Public Lab Stats

In the month of February 541 ITS managed pcs were logged into 20,274 times.
The busiest public lab was on the 3rd floor in the Library with 5,290 logins to 76 computers.
The last busiest public lab was 507 South Hall with 157 logins to 11 computers.

ITS Service Desk

In the month of February the ITS Service Desk answered 1873 service requests.
94% of incidents were closed in the time promised.
94% satisfaction rate
25% of requests were solved at first contact with the Service Desk. Low number was due to high volume of firewall requests this month.

Web Stats for carleton.ca

Chrome – 57%
Safari – 16%
IE – 13%
Firefox – 11%

one in ten people visit carleton.ca on their mobile device

Wireless on campus

85% of total indoor campus space has wireless coverage.
100% coverage in academic buildings.
54,172 unique devices connected to the wireless network in February
30,254 people connected to the wireless network in February

But how do we measure customer satisfaction?

One way is through the Customer Satisfaction Surveys conducted by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning (OIRP). ÌýWe’ve been involved in these since 2002 (back when they were telephone surveys) and although the survey has changed over time – it’s now shorter and more direct in an attempt to increase the response rate –Ìý these results remain important in setting baselines for service delivery and uncovering opportunities for improvement.

These surveys and the like are important for asking questions like:

• What services and resources are important to our clients?
• How successfully are we delivering these services?
• How effectively do we communicate our services? Is there a disconnect between perceived service delivery and actual service delivery?
• What benchmarks can be established for excellent delivery of technology services?

ITS is once again participating in the annual Student Customer Satisfaction Survey by asking for feedback on the following topics cuLearn, Wireless, and Public Labs and eKiosks.

We thank OIRP for assisting us to statistically analyze the data that with the intent of identifying those areas that will provide the best opportunity to further improve customer service delivery.

By matching responses to strategic initiatives, we can match resources to the work that will help to deliver better services to the community.

In October alone, the ITS Service Desk opened 3,528 service request tickets.Ìý This was 399 more tickets than last October.

45.8% Of Service Requests come in via Email

Email is the most popular means of contacting the ITS Service Desk. ÌýSecond to email is phone, at 26%, followed by drop-in to the Help Desk at 19%. The remainder are internal ITS tickets, on-site visits, and voicemail.

92% commitment rate

Commitment rate is the amount of time that is designated to complete a ticket request.Ìý When a ticket gets passed to a department outside of the ITS Service Desk (ie: to Web Services or to the Network Services team), it gets assigned a ‘time to complete’.Ìý This time is determined based on the type of request and how long it generally takes to complete this type of request.

96% Satisfaction Rate

Satisfaction surveys, implemented February 2012, go out to a number of clients who have submitted a request to the ITS Service Desk.Ìý In October, Clients report a 96% satisfaction rate with the service received. ÌýThis is based on a 20% survey response rate.

11, 977 Logins to the 2nd Floor Library Lab Computers

There are 47 PCs in the second floor Library computer lab. ÌýIn October, this was the most popular computer lab on campus seeing 11, 977 logins.

In September alone, the ITS Service Desk opened 4,302 service request tickets.Ìý This was 230 tickets more than last September.

62% First Call Resolution

62% of all calls made to the Service Desk in the month of September were handled directly by the Service Desk, on that first point of contact, and not passed on to another department for resolution.

94% commitment rate

Commitment rate is the amount of time that is designated to complete a ticket request.Ìý When a ticket gets passed to a department outside of the ITS Service Desk (ie: to Web Services or to the Network Services team), it gets assigned a ‘time to complete’.Ìý This time is determined based on the type of request and how long it generally takes to complete this type of request.

92% Satisfaction Rate

Satisfaction surveys, implemented February 2012, go out to a number of clients who have submitted a request to the ITS Service Desk.Ìý In September, Clients report a 92% satisfaction rate with the service received, based on an 18% survey response rate.

If you’re having a technical problem, or notice that a service is down, ITS is here to help.

First Check our Service Alerts page

Planned maintenance will be posted on our along with any unforeseen outages.Ìý We try to update it as soon as we know of the outage/issue.ÌýÌý If you see it there it means we know about it and are working to fix the issue.

If the issue that you are experiencing is not posted on that page, you then have a few options:

Email the ITS Service Desk

The best way to report an issue is via email.Ìý In the subject line include the service that’s affected.Ìý The more detail you provide in the body of the email, the less follow-up required, the quicker the Service Desk team can respond to your request.

Visit us on theÌý4th Floor of MacOdrum Library

During office hours we have a team available to help you.Ìý If you are having issues or something’s not working, they will be happy to assist you.

Call the ITS Service Desk

Call 520-3700.Ìý If we are aware of the outage, you will hear an automated message stating the status of the issue.Ìý If you want to speak to someone you then follow the prompts or leave a voice message (after hours).

A Note ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ our @carleton_it Twitter Account

is great for sharing news, tips, and asking general questions.Ìý We post updates to any known outages, IT security tips, and any IT related things that we think youÌý might find interesting.

It is not so great for reporting outages and issues.Ìý Why? For one, we do not monitor Twitter 24/7.Ìý If you tweet at us at 10 pm, we will respond, it just won’t be until the next day.Ìý Also, we do not troubleshoot over Twitter.Ìý If you are experiencing an issue and you Tweet at either us or at the main ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ account, chances are we will tell you that 1) the outage has been reported and posted on our service alerts page and that we are working to fix it, or 2) to contact the Service Desk.

Our team of experts will be at for the remainder of the week.

• Dates: Tuesday Sept 6 – Friday Sept 9
• Time: From 10 – 5
• Location: 224 Stormont

A team of ITS experts will be on site to consult with students and to help with various IT services such as wireless connectivity, IT security, and PC diagnostics.

For information on Student Computing Accounts, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ Email, lab locations, wireless internet and more check out our guide for new students.

• 
  The introduction of RCA has been a success in eliminating repetitive problems that come into the Service Desk.

• 
  Every four years Client Services renews the equipment in the student computing labs, ensuring standards are met by replacing old PCs, installing new software images and replacing damaged or worn hardware.

• Minimizing service disruptions
  The Change Advisory Board (CAB)Ìý reviews and approves all technological changes and outages. The Board meets weekly and outage notifications are sent out to the segments of the ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ community. Every effort is made to perform such planned activities within the already established ITS maintenance windows.

• 
  Communicating the targeted turnaround times to clients via e-mailÌý has fostered a team approach across ITS as we strive to complete the request within the stated time frame.

• 
  This year Client Services participated in Student/Employee Satisfaction Surveys, which showed an increase in satisfaction levels compared to last year.

But how do we measure customer satisfaction?

One way is through the Customer Satisfaction Surveys that the Office of Institutional Research and Planning (OIRP) conducts. We’ve been involved in these since 2002 (back when they were telephone surveys) and although the survey has changed over time – it’s now shorter and more direct in an attempt to increase the response rate –Ìý these results remain important in setting baselines for service delivery.

These surveys and the like are important for asking questions like:

• What services and resources are important to our clients?
• How successfully are we delivering these services?
• How effectively do we communicate our services? Is there a disconnect between perceived service delivery and actual service delivery?
• What benchmarks can be established for excellent delivery of technology services?

This past year, three areas were surveyed – IT Service Delivery, Websites and Labs and Kiosks. Both qualitative and quantitative data is collected.Ìý In all three areas we have exceeded our goal of 7.Ìý Here were the results compared to previous surveys:

For full reports, please visit the .