Computer service support at Glenview hospital

Abstract

This case focuses on the challenges of managing a help desk that supports computer users. There are two main technologies that the Information Center (IC) uses to provide this service: the call distributing system and the knowledge base, which is also available on the Web. The choice of technologies affected the service provided by the help desk staff. Specifically, the call distributing system was unable to provide enough information regarding the number of calls answered, dropped, and allocated among the different staff members. The hospital knowledge base, on the other hand, is created based on people's documentation of the problem and selection of keywords, which has led to inconsistencies in the data entry. One of the management challenges for the Information Center is to foster self-help and minimize the number of requests to the IC staff. This case presents the difficulties and some of the initiatives that the IC has considered to solve these problems.