Faculty frustrated with IT? 3 ways to make them happier
Faculty is one of your institution’s greatest assets. Are you doing everything you can to ensure a better user (IT) experience and give them a reason to stay?
How often do you hear your faculty complain they had an issue while they were teaching a class and it took too long to resolve their problem? Or “The class is starting in 10 min and this projector is not displaying anything on the projector screen. How am I supposed to conduct the class?” or “The microphone just went off in between the session. I need immediate assistance, as my class will not be able to hear what I am teaching them?”
With a comprehensive IT support strategy and constructive tools in place, you can help your faculty be more effective in and outside the classroom. Here is a look at the top 3 ways to sharpen the IT support services:
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- App for Classroom Emergency
One of the major sources of frustration for Faculty is reporting classroom emergency issues and then getting someone over immediately to resolve the emergency. The agent must follow steps of escalating the ticket to the onsite team, by the time the onsite technical representative picks up the ticket and then follows up, 30 minutes are gone by, and by then the faculty is frustrated to the point of utter disdain. At BlackBetHelp, we have seen this happen repeatedly, so we developed an App that could eliminate this delay. The Classroom Emergency App allows the faculty to reach out to the onsite technician with a tap of a button. - When they call – Know who they are
While we have addressed the issue of eliminating delay for emergency situations for faculty, it’s imperative that we have a system in place that can instantly identify your faculty users that require the most assistance. This can be done by making use of smart and Intelligent ticketing tools and telephony systems. Imagine a situation wherein your faculty dials your help desk number and the agent on the other side straight away says, Hi Joe, are you in a classroom, and is there an issue? At BlackBeltHelp, we do this by making sure that our agents have the capability of pre-identifying the user and pre-empting the name and the issue. This process is called Automated Number Identification, this entails the VOIP system tightly integrated with the CRM and provides your callers’ details to the agent. This not only reduces the time to identify the user, however, it also allows the agent to assist the user better by getting access to the historical view of the caller’s issues. - Faculty Development
As such, many educators need to expand their skills in instructional technology to become more effective and innovative integrators of technology into the learning experience. We can help your educators develop their instructional technology skills by taking advantage of our online learning programs. These programs provide the top-tier curriculum and instruction that prepares your faculty to successfully incorporate the use of the latest technology in their sessions:
- App for Classroom Emergency
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- Instructional Design and Curriculum Development
- Scholarly Activity including writing, conducting research, presenting at conferences, etc.
- Leadership, Administration, and Organizational Development
- Personal and Professional Development
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Anything we can do to minimize their frustration helps encourage them to utilize the service of your help desk more and stay happy
Anthony Banford is an esteemed executive with 19 years of experience in technology, consulting, and education. He begins his latest chapter as Chief Revenue Officer at BlackBeltHelp, aiming to innovate in the higher education support industry. His move follows a successful stint as Head of Revenue at StudentBridge since March 2023, where he significantly contributed to the company’s merger with Full Measure Education, enhancing its service offerings.
Todd Hollrah joins BlackBeltHelp bringing 25+ years of experience managing service delivery operations for several Fortune 500 clients around the globe. After a distinguished career as an executive in the BPO industry, Todd will provide critical insight into building an exceptional customer experience combining both live voice and automated solutions.
Inspired by a family computer that always needed fixing, Chris Uthe has submerged himself in business and technology for the last 20 years. His first company, a PC repair and networking business, was started at just 16 and successfully fueled a deep interest in solving problems as he helped business customers throughout his hometown adopt technology into their business. He would go on to successfully run a media & managed IT company before joining the Ed Tech industry with a successful 13-year tenure within an ERP/SIS company leading the Student Portal & Learning Management division. His last startup, EdSolio, helped to fuel the winds of competency-based education by providing a comprehensive view of a student’s work and achievements. Chris is now focused on creating successful learners by ensuring the highest quality help and support through the use of AI backed toolsets spending the last 3 years in the student engagement and support markets.
Quaiser Absar is the Chief Technology Officer and Director of Institutional Computing at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
Bringing in over 2 decades of experience with him, Manish has ensured seamless operations in terms of client delivery, reporting & analytics, quality, training, and transitions with a special focus on technical integrations to help reduce costs and improve the bottom-line.
Anthony has served higher education in diverse, leadership roles for over 30 years and has helped organizations thrive through his expertise in developing, analyzing, and executing growth strategies. Prior to joining BlackBeltHelp, he served in College Administration as well as in leadership roles within Blackboard Student Services and Ellucian, Inc.
Accomplished IT Specialist and Manager with extensive experience in a higher education setting and demonstrated abilities to effectively manage both student and professional staff. Self-motivated problem solver, who is skilled in managing many issues and prioritizing their importance to find resolutions in a timely and effective manner. Possesses strong abilities to adapt to new technologies by extrapolating from existing experience. Possess first-rate communication and collaboration skills to work with diverse groups effectively.
Lila Buytendorp has been serving as the Director of User Services at Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC) since 2000. In this role she is responsible for staff & lab desktop computing and end user support. She guides and supports technology based on the curriculum needs and ensures technology is implemented to support the emerging needs of the college. She builds and supports integrated systems to improve efficiencies and uses technologies to support data-driven decision making. Lila is a member of the Capital Projects Planning and Design Committee to ensure new or remodeled facilities have appropriate technology.