When we receive a support request the better the information provided, the better we can manage the issue and resolve it effectively and quickly.
It's often easier to provide these details in an email, which for less urgent support requests is better than a phone call, which should only be for more urgent issues.
Here are a few basic guidelines that should be followed in all support requests:
Subject Line, [Where is the issue occurring] - [Type of issue / Error type]
Here’s a poor example and a much better one:
Poor Subject Line: Need Password Reset
Better subject line: Microsoft 365 – Need Password Reset (locked out of account)
Your details. Sounds simple, as a minimum this should include an email and phone number. Also consider if additional contacts like your line manager need to be kept updated of the ticket progress.
Issue/Request details, give us a clear explanation of the request and how you would like it fulfilling. For IT issues follow these guidelines for what to include:
Who does it affect? just you, the entire office, the entire street (each gives a different context to the issue and would dictate where we look for problems)
The affected device name (e.g., “DESKTOP-12”, instead of “Sally’s PC”)
When did the issue start happening and is it intermittent or permanent?
Steps we need to take to recreate the issue?
Can you provide a screenshot or photo of the issue?
Steps you have taken to troubleshoot? It’s a safe bet we’ll ask for a restart in most cases so this should be a first step you can take yourself.
Can you give an idea of how urgent your issue is (use the guide below)
Tell us the full story, many people won’t tell the whole story when they ask for help. This only makes a resolution harder to come by and slower to achieve, remember we are not here to judge your technical expertise, just to fix your problems! If you follow the basic guidelines above, you’ll find that the helpdesk will be better informed and more than willing to go above and beyond for you.
Prioritization
Not all helpdesk requests are created equal. Different issues require a different response. The examples below give you an idea of how we prioritize tickets and illustrate how important it is to have all the information in the support request.
Our Priority categorization looks like this:
Low: Has minimal impact to work. Will likely be addressed within 3-5 days. (e.g. Need larger display monitor)
Medium: Has some work impact. Will likely be addressed within two days. (e.g. Need access to a shared mailbox)
High: Has significant individual work impact, meaning you or another single employee cannot work. Will likely be addressed within 2 hours, during work hours. (e.g. Your Windows user profile is corrupt and you can’t login)
Urgent: Has significant team-wide work impact, meaning multiple employees are unable to work. Will be addressed immediately. For outages and emergencies only.