Paulding County SchoolsBackgroundPaulding County has been listed among the top ten fastest growing counties in the United States for the past four years. Paulding County Schools has over 5,000 employees among its 30 schools. The technology department consists of 40 individuals whose responsibilities include the maintenance of the Schools’ 8,000 personal computers. The ProblemPaulding County Schools’ IT department was in the unfortunate situation of trying to coordinate maintenance of its huge network of 8,000 computers without the convenience of an effective Help Desk. While working with a system that can barely be described as a database, PCS techs were at a great disadvantage when trying to fulfill their user’s needs. The system they were forced to operate through was essentially nothing more than a big pool to dump problems into; providing no means of accurately recording or tracking problems. Within the Paulding County School system each school has its own Local School Technologist. These technologists represent the first level of assistance for any technology related need. When a situation would arise that was outside of the LST’s area of expertise that particular request would be delegated to one of five specialists to handle the problem. The fact that there was no accessible database available to the entire IT department meant the ability to communicate and coordinate problem resolution in an effective and time-efficient manner did not exist. As a result the IT department was wasting time and resources in dealing with the smallest of technology related needs.The SolutionGroupLink’s HelpDesk provides IT staff with a full functioning and easily accessible database to assist with their various responsibilities. The convenience associated with a web-based tool has transformed the way PCS’s IT department operates. Anthony Lesink is the Financial and Data Information Systems Specialist for Paulding County Schools. “As a result of having no substantial system upon which our IT staff could operate, throughout the course of last years entire school schedule our entire department logged only 300 completed work / service orders. This year with the addition of GroupLink’s HelpDesk in only the first four months of the school year we have already documented 5,500 completed orders!” said Mr. Lesink. Due to the fact that their prior system was completely inefficient it was impossible for problems to get the attention that was needed. Mr. Lesink said, “In addition to the fact that the old system was virtually inaccessible, what little information that did get inputted was impossible to track and update. The fact that GroupLink’s HelpDesk provides easily accessible history notes, as well as automatic notifications to all parties involved has increased productivity as well as moral throughout the department. By keeping everyone up to speed with what is happening the result is that everyone feels more involved with the resolution process.” “Right now all of our IT staff has access to HelpDesk, we are really looking forward to further implementation that will allow all of our 5,000 end-users to generate work orders to be assigned to the appropriate person along the appropriate channels,” said Lesink. “I can safely say that every one of our techs is very pleased with HelpDesk. This tool has met and exceeded each of our original needs, and as a result our department runs much, much more efficiently.”Conclusion Paulding County Schools has eliminated an outdated and ineffective IT support tool and transformed the way in which they operate through the implementation of GroupLink’s HelpDesk. With the addition of HelpDesk, PCS IT staff is now able to track and record crucial information pertaining to every task they encounter. The ease and availability of information and operation that comes with GroupLink’s web-based HelpDesk has transformed the way in which technology related issues are handled for Paulding County Schools. “This tool allows us to do our job better,” said Mr. Lesink. “We are definitely very happy!” |
