Answering the Phones

NOTE: The steps outlined on this page are also provided in a workflow.

1)     Wear your headset so you are ready when the phone rings.

2)     When the phone rings, start to create a new ticket.

3)     Answer the phone by saying “Thank you for calling the IT Help Center. This is ___________. How may help you?”

4)     Let the client begin to describe the reason for their call and make notes in the ticket.

5)     After the client describes what he or she needs, ask for their BU login name and enter it into the ticket. This will tell you if they are faculty, staff, student, and suggests other useful information, such as which department they are affiliated with.

6)     Use TechWeb [www.bu.edu/tech] to assist the client with their issue. If you are unfamiliar with the topic or don’t find what you’re looking for on TechWeb, use the Knowledgebase [www.bu.edu/tech/fm/kb].

7)     To whatever extent is possible, we help everyone over the phone, regardless of their access to departmental support. However,

a.       If client would benefit from in-person assistance, recommend that the client come to one of our IT Help Center locations OR

b.      If client is a faculty, staff or student working in a department and is eligible for on-site assistance, offer to contact their on-site support group with a description of the problem. Finish writing up the ticket and map it, using the procedure described for that department in the Knowledgebase [www.bu.edu/tech/fm/kb]. Then, if applicable as described in the Knowledgebase, follow-up with a phone call.

8)     If you need to put the client on hold to ask a CSS staff member for help, please tell the client, “I need to speak to my supervisor about your issue. Please hold for a moment.”

a.       If you need to put the client on hold more than once, ask the client if you may put your supervisor on the phone or if you could call them back once you have more information.

b.      As needed, take down a preferred method of contact from the client or transfer them to a CSS staff member. For either case, update the ticket and assign it to the CSS staff member you are working with on the ticket.

9)      Once you have completed the call, thank the caller for contacting us. Be sure to finalize any notes you put in the ticket toward resolving the issue and either:

a.       Resolve it OR

b.      Keep the ticket open and escalate it to the appropriate support group, as described in the Knowledgebase [www.bu.edu/tech/fm/kb]