The Helpdesk supports you and your day-to-day work. Whether your report isn’t printing, you can’t log in to your computer, or your laptop won’t connect to the projector—we’re here to help.

Here are some tips to help us help you faster:

Write a Descriptive Summary

Use wording in the subject of your email or the summary of the web form that states the specific problem and what you are seeing.

Instead of:

Help, computer problem???

Try using something like this:

Cannot log in to computer. Says account is locked

The first example requires the helpdesk team to open the ticket and read the details. The second example allows the helpdesk team to immediately route it to someone who can assist you with a login or account issue.

Examples of descriptive summaries:

  • Speakers are not working in A 223
  • Phone is not working in room SS 254
  • Cannot log in to my computer in room B119
  • I cannot access Jane’s calendar today. It worked yesterday.
  • Website X is loading very slowly. Others seem to work.

Put Details in the Details Section

In the body of the email (or the details section of the web form) put all the relevant details to the problem, such as the room the problem is occurring in, the specific computer, printer, desk, projector, etc., and the time the problem occurs. Anything you may know that is relevant will help our team get to this faster.

Try to include:

  • What you were doing when the problem happened?
  • When was the last time this worked (if ever)?
  • Does this happen every time you do X?
  • The room number.
  • The specific computer or telephone.
  • When did you first notice this?
  • What was supposed to happen, but didn’t?

It’s a good idea to include your contact information such as your email or a phone number where we can reach you. Having this information ready makes it easier for the helpdesk team to contact you.

Follow Up

We do our best to answer tickets as they come in. We may need to contact the ticket creator for clarification. A good way to follow up on your ticket is to log in to the helpdesk system and update your ticket. You can also email us with the ticket number. Please do not create a new helpdesk ticket requesting an update to another helpdesk ticket. Doing this takes extra time for the team members to look up the information.