Faster help through the use of helpdesk functionality and no downtime during vacation or illness

Prior to implementing OTRS as the district's help desk system, team members were managing requests from multiple external sources through a shared email box. Requests were coming from other departments, other agencies and even other technology teams. As the demand for technology increased, so too did the number of requests for help and service.

It was easy to become overwhelmed: Who was working on which request? What was the status of each request? What would happen if someone left for vacation? What if all these tasks couldn’t be completed today?

Managing the growing influx of requests and the complexity of the Information Technology department required the introduction of help desk software. Help desk software allowed the requests to be centralized in a one location, providing transparency and better workload organization.

From the perspective of the agencies, schools and other organizations who were requesting support, they were able to get help quicker and more easily. They could still simply request service by email. Once received, however, the email instantly got to the person who could fulfill the request. Plus, when someone was on vacation or out sick, work on the requests could continue as all prior actions and conversations had been documented directly in the ticket.

"There's so many possibility within OTRS, but even simply using the help desk functionality has made such a difference in terms of how quickly and thoroughly we're able to help people,” said Karla Brown, Information Technology Computer Operations Supervisor with PCPS.

OTRS also solved the challenge of reviewing what had been done previously on requests for help. By using the help desk software, it was much simpler to understand the history of any situation or to find related requests that had been made by the same person.

OTRS made it easy for customers to get in touch. By simply sending an email, people throughout the district were able to reach the centralized technology team.

By using automatic routing, tickets could be generated and sent to the people who were responsible for handling the request without extra intervention and administrative effort. For instance, if someone needed student information, a request would be automatically triggered in the student information queue; whereas, if someone had a question about the website, the website team would receive the request.

Supporting the education of tomorrow's leaders is a tough job, filled with complex coordination and a practically immediate need for information to be provided. Fortunately, at Polk County Public Schools, it's a job that's been made easier by OTRS.