GroupLink

Hudson Valley Developmental Disabilities Services Offices

Background

The Hudson Valley Developmental Disabilities Services Offices is a branch of the New York State Government. The organization oversees 150 separate programs geared for the benefit and welfare of those with developmental disabilities. It spearheads, maintains, and oversees services for the mentally retarded. HVDDSO has 2,200 employees, five of which make up the IT staff. This IT staff maintains 600 workstations, 100 laptops and 900 network accounts.

The Problem

With such a vast network of computers and users HVDDSO’s IT department was constantly inundated with user queries and requests. Without a help desk to facilitate its needs, IT was relegated to fulfilling user requests by telephone, email, and most commonly in person. With no established system of response or delegation the IT department would handle problems by just having whoever was around go and handle the problems as they arose.

With such a system it was virtually impossible to keep records of what had or had not been done, who had the problem, or where they were in the problem’s resolution. Without any history to refer new users to, IT was answering the same questions and solving the same problems again and again. In addition to its helter skelter mode of technology related problem resolution, HVDDSO was without any central electronic database to log and maintain what issues it had seen and their eventual status; the IT department was simply printing out a copy of what was being done and keeping it in a binder. This system was just not working.

The Solution

With the implementation of GroupLink’s HelpDesk, HVDDSO has been able to help its IT department and its end users with one seamless integration upon their Novell platform. HelpDesk takes the guesswork out of system maintenance and allows end users to be a part of the solution (not just part of the problem). Marc Ackerman, Information Services Coordinator said, “HelpDesk lets users handle their own issues when that is a possibility. Too much time is often spent doing hands-on instruction for the smallest of issues; we now have a vehicle that eliminates a lot of those instances.”

GroupLink’s HelpDesk provides various levels of assistance for the user. “With HelpDesk our users have options. If someone gets stuck or needs help this tool allows them to first go here—their immediate access to problem resolution, if they are still unable to handle the issue they then submit a ticket which is delivered to the appropriate individual automatically. While the ticket is in resolution both the initial user and the IT department have access to see the status of the situation and its estimated closure date. This has been working wonderfully for all involved,” said Ackerman.

Conclusion

With GroupLink’s HelpDesk, HVDDSO has not only enhanced its end users problem resolution abilities, but also provided its IT staff to more effectively and efficiently do their job. HelpDesk provides various levels of support and direction for the simplest to the most intricate of user queries, allowing systems to operate more smoothly and productively. While solving all of its help desk needs HVDDSO was able to capitalize on its existing Novell investment; tying in GroupLink’s HelpDesk with Novell GroupWise thus maximizing its operating capabilities.