Technology Advisory Group

At today’s IT Forum, Jim Franceschelli and Jason Wimmer presented on Footprints, the software that IT Services uses to track service tickets.  The U has been using Footprints for about two years, logging about 12,000 tickets so far.  This summer, IR has rolled out a new end user interface for Footprints, which is intended to help IT Services staff serve users more efficiently.  My notes on what faculty should know:

• To date, there have been three ways you can report a problem or request a service from the Technology Support Center – you could call  (941-4357), email them, or walk up to the TSC desk in AMH.  Now, you can still use those three methods, but you also have the option of reporting a problem electronically through Footprints.
• To get to Footprints, go to my.scranton.edu > University Links >  Footprints (under Administrative Links).
• You’ll see three main options in the Footprints “Service Catalog”:

1. Report an IT Problem. Use this when something’s wrong and you need it fixed.  Pick the category of your problem (computer, phone, enterprise applications, audio/video, Royal Card, or cable tv), choose a subcategory from the options listed, fill out the form with as much information as possible, and then save it to submit the ticket. If you’re not sure exactly what category or subcategory to choose, just do your best – the TSC staff member reviewing the ticket can change the category to reroute the ticket if needed.

2. Change Management. Faculty probably won’t ever really need to use this option – it’s for modifications to existing University applications (changing Banner forms, querying Banner, etc).

3. Request an IT Service. This is for things like requesting multiple PCs for a special event, moving a VoIP phone, etc. You can also use this section to request installation of special software on a University PC. Just like #1, fill out the form with as much information as possible, and “save” to submit the ticket.

• You can also use Footprints to check the status on a ticket, whether you called/emailed in a problem/request to the TSC or entered it into Footprints yourself.  Click on “Home” and choose from the dropdown menu of “My Requests” to see active and closed tickets. You’ll be able to see TSC staff members’ notes on what’s going on with your request (e.g., if you’ve reported a problem with ANGEL, Jason might leave a note that says that he’s waiting for a call back from ANGEL support staff).
• Footprints also holds a Knowledge Base (see the link on the top of the page, next to Service Catalog), which holds keyword searchable solutions to common problems, written out by IT staff members.  Solutions are posted either in Q&A format or as step-by-step instructions.  The solutions are reviewed every six months to make sure they’re still accurate.  There are already 80 solutions posted, with more on the way.
• Any University community member can contribute to the Knowledge Base – so TAG can use it to share technology shortcuts or tips that might be helpful to other faculty or staff.  Just write up your instructions and email them to ITServices@scranton.edu.

Hopefully, the end-user interface of Footprints will resolve some of the faculty concerns about communication with IR that TAG heard back on our Fall 2010 faculty questionnaire – so please give it a shot and let us know how it goes!

I’ll link to Jason and Jim’s slides when they go up, but in the meantime, post in the comments if you have questions.