Combating Support Challenges

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Combating Support Challenges

• A look at the laptop support infrastructure of
  Framingham State College, Bridgewater State
  College, and Worcester State College

Framingham State College Corey Hobbs
Bridgewater State College Dan Cooley
Worcester State College Joyce Danelius and Pedro
Toro
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Agenda

• Keys to success
• Where do I go for support?
• What is supported?
• Choosing vendors
• Custom images
• Providing support

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Keys to success

• Solid onsite support and defined areas to seek
  help
  
• Reliable computer designs and vendor support
• Communication with students, faculty and staff
• Having a knowledgeable staff of both full time
  and student workers
  
• Proper and accurate software licensing
• Stable and easily accessible network
  infrastructure via wireless and Ethernet
  
• Accurate and detailed call tracking system

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Where do I go for help?

• Tiered support helpdesks
• FSC has two distinct helpdesks for student
  support
  
• Defined levels of support and duties
• Student Support Center first level
  troubleshooting for hardware and software (Tier
  1)
  
• Laptop Repair Depot Advanced software support
  and hardware/warranty parts processing (tier 2)
  
• Limited support for Non-Recommended computers

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What should we support?

• Provide support for licensed software that is
  included on recommended computers
  
• Limited support for non-academic software and
  hardware (best effort for example on web cams)
  
• Full hardware and warranty parts support on
  recommended laptops, with availability of a
  loaner computer
  
• Limited hardware diagnosis for non-recommended
  machines. Users with non-college recommended
  machines do not have access to loaner machines

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Tracking problems

• Detailed trouble tickets provide the ability to
  catalog your repairs
  
• FSC uses HEAT for our trouble ticket system
• When we receive systems for repair we can easily
  see previous services that the department has
  provided

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Picking a vendor (support perspective)

• Choose a vendor who has a good reputation with
  other schools that have laptop programs
  
• Laptop quality and longevity is very important to
  students
  
• Does it break all the time?
• Flimsy design?
• Solid warranty replacement program
• Accidental damages?
• Duration of warranty?
• Customizable image support (more on this later)
• Price (best value)

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Preventing problems before they occur

• Make the sure the specifications of your laptop
  can withstand use for at least four years.
  
• Choose quality components whenever possible (ex.
  Pentiums vs Celerons)
  
• Make sure to test units for structural flaws and
  weaknesses for example weak hinges or plastics
  that provide little protection

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Custom Images

• A custom image is a recreation of a hard drive
  that was prepared by the school for students
  use.
  
• Include all necessary software that your school
  has licensed for students
  
• Make sure proper maintenance tools are also
  included so that students can maintain their
  software on their own. Anti-virus and spyware
  removal programs that are reliable and easy to
  use
• Include a driver folder on the system of all
  available drivers for the laptop.
  
• Do not be afraid to include freeware tools (ex.
  Spybot SD)
  
• Conduct rigorous testing for your image, you
  wont be able to correct mistakes later

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These laptops will break

• Choose a vendor with the best warranty parts
  program available.
  
• Onsite support and next day delivery are key to
  success
  
• Make sure part ordering is always available and
  takes as little time as possible
  
• Good warranty parts flow leads to less downtime
  and therefore happier students
  
• Have a supply of commonly replaced parts
  available at all times for easy repair turnaround

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Laptop loaners

• Investigate with your vendor the possibility of a
  loaner program
  
• Loaners are given to the school by the vendor for
  a certain number of sold units
  
• Loaners are given at FSC to students who have
  purchased a college recommended laptop and their
  computers will be unavailable for more then 24
  hours
• Make sure you have an adequate inventory control
  method to keep track of loaned out computers.

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MassAdvantage Program

• Bridgewater State College

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Support

• Created Two Support Centers
• One Full Time Staff Manages Student Consultants
  at Each Center
  
• Defined Support Operations
• Provide Educational Software
• Limited Support for Non-Program Notebooks
• Loaner Laptops for Short Term Repair
• Notebook.bridgew.edu Web Site

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Support Assessment

• Software Licensing
• Campus-Wide Network Capacity
• Network Security
• Image Creation
• Handling the Opening Rush
• Handling Repairs
• Location of Support

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Proactive Approach

• Created Citrix Farm
• Enhanced Wireless Capacity
• Cisco CleanAccess Agent
• Standard Image Test Test Test
• Contracted Additional Support Staff
• Dell Certifications
• Mirrored Support Centers

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Challenges of Laptop Support

• Worcester State College

Joyce DaneliusPedro J. Toro
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Who is Supported?

• Any student/employee with a College recommended
  laptop (Dell Latitude D600/D610) as long as it is
  covered under the Dell Warranty.
  
• IT will make a good faith effort to correct
  software problems for all other laptops and
  desktops at a flat rate of 20 per incident.

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Support Background

• 540 Student Laptop Purchases From Dell Since June
  2005
  
• Laptops Delivered Directly to Student Home
• Campus-Wide Wireless Service
• Includes campus green areas
• 802.11b/g supported
• Wireless Printing
• Only available to students who join the domain

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Workforce For Laptop Repair

• 6 Students Working Approximately 90 Hours/Week
• Dell Certification for a Minimum of Two
  Employees
  
• Ability to order parts online
• Single Day Turnaround Time
• May be longer to an increased influx of required
  repairs

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Support Changes

• Improved Repair Room Organization
• Increased Detail on Help Desk Repair Tickets
• Provided Student Workers with Help Desk Repair
  Ticket Access.
  
• Detailed description of problem
• Description of resolution

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Future Support Changes

• Parts Replacement Listing in Help Desk Repair
  Ticket
  
• Separate Laptop Drop Off/Pick Up Location from
  Main Help Desk

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Most Common Laptop Repairs

• Hard drives
• Keyboards
• Motherboards
• Operating System (OS)
• Includes virus and spyware problems

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Reasons For Repair

• Hard drives
• Mechanical failure
• Laptop dropped while power is on
• Keyboards
• Liquid spills
• Missing/Broken keys
• Motherboards
• Power connections
• Audio connections
• OS
• Adware/Spyware
• Viruses

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Suggested In-Stock Parts

• Hard drives
• Keyboards
• For each of the supported laptop models
• Optical Drives
• Batteries
• AC adapters