Desk.com, commonly referred to as Desk, is where we handle most of our support interactions. Emails sent by faculty, staff, and students to one of our shared email accounts (listed below) are pulled into Desk and put into one of our groups (also listed below).
| Email Address | Assigned Group |
|---|---|
| [email protected] (alias of [email protected]) | Blackboard |
| [email protected] | Course Capture |
| [email protected] | Events (Used for Special Events) |
| [email protected] | General (Used by Department Staff) |
| [email protected] | Smart Classroom |
When you login to Desk (you login will be provided to you by your supervisor on your first day at ITS), you can use either the Classic Agent or the Next Gen Agent (which is nicer, but slightly less reliable than the Classic Agent) to work the cases. An orientation for working cases can be found on the Desk.com Support Website.
Sometimes cases require attention of a lead student or a full-time staff member. Rather than assigning the case to a specific user, you can add the red label Escalated to the case, and update the case. Once this is completed, Full Time Blackboard staff and the Lead Student will be notified via Slack and will handle the case from there.
For frequently asked questions, we have what are called macros, which allow a workflow to be performed on the case, with the click of a button. We have over 60 macros in Desk, that can be easily accessed either via the Apply Macro box at the bottom of the Classic Agent, or by typing ## in the Reply Field, followed by the first letter of the name of the macro you would like to apply. If you find yourself answering the same question repeatedly, let either your supervisor or your lead know and a macro can be created for that particular issue. Most macros will do more than just include a message in the reply field, may will automatically apply labels to the case, but you should check to make sure that the labels accurately describe the case in question, since sometimes cases deal with more than one issue.
Occasionally clients will reply to a case with a completely new issue, in instances like this, it is advantageous to create a new case, using the "Create New Case" dropdown option in the Next Gen Agent, or the "New Case" button in the Classic Agent to split the ticket and create a new case from the desired response from the client. This way we can keep track of the number of issues we are receiving and what those issues pertain to. Shorter cases (ones with fewer back and forth) are easier to hand off, since they require less context to understand the issue at hand.
We have a few labels that can be assigned to cases. Labels are used both to categorize cases and to automate actions. Labels can also provide other agent a summary of the case, without needing to open the case and read through al of the interactions (messages). Most labels assigned to Blackboard Cases will begin with BB to indicate their association with Faculty Support Cases.
| Label | Label Color (if non-default) | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| BB - Add/Remove User | Cases asking how to add or remove a user from a Blackboard Courses. | |
| BB - Assignments not Turnitin | ||
| BB - Blocked User | ||
| BB - Blogs/Discussion Boards/Journals/Wikis | ||
| BB - Browser/View Issues | ||
| BB - Build Content | ||
| BB - Captivate Issue | ||
| BB - CES related | Cases related to the College of Extended Studies and the courses they offer. Students with CES inquiries should be referred to CES Support. | |
| BB - Collaborate | We do not use Blackboard Collaborate anymore as it has been replaced by Zoom, but occasionally receive cases in regard to Collaborate and retrieving old lectures. | |
| BB - Course Availability | ||
| BB - Course Copy | ||
| BB - Course Merge | ||
| BB - Course Organization | ||
| BB - Course Restore | ||
| BB - Create DEVEL/Similar Course | ||
| BB - Create GUI Account | ||
| Bb - Down | Cases related to an outage, or reported outage of Blackboard. | |
| BB - Eesysoft | ||
| BB - Email | ||
| BB - Enrollments | ||
| BB - ETS related | ||
| BB - Events | ||
| BB - GradeCenter | ||
| BB - Groups | ||
| BB - HelpDesk Info | Yellow | Cases marked with this ticket should not be resolved, as they contain useful information for YOU, the agent. Often these may be planned service outages, or other timely notifications. |
| BB - Homeroom | ||
| BB - iClicker | ||
| BB - Import/Export/Archive | ||
| BB - Learning Spaces related | Cases related to Learning Spaces services, like Classroom, Equipment Checkout, etc. | |
| BB - LockDown Browser | ||
| BB - Login/Password | ||
| BB - Merge Approved | Green | Part of the Course Combination Process. |
| BB - Merge Pending Approval | Orange | Part of the Course Combination Process. |
| BB - Mobile App | ||
| BB - Other | ||
| BB - ParScore | ||
| BB - Permissions | ||
| BB - PhoneCall | They call, we answer. Usually applied to emails from the VoiceMail System. | |
| BB - Qwickly | ||
| BB - Reports | ||
| BB - Respondus | ||
| BB - Rubrics | ||
| BB - SDSUid | ||
| BB - Student User Question | ||
| BB - Test Feedback Options - STUDENT VIEW | ||
| BB - Tests Surveys and Pools | ||
| BB - Training | ||
| BB - Turnitin | ||
| BB - Turnitin/For Carol | ||
| BB - Vendor Integration | ||
| BB - Video Projects | Cases related to Learning Media, and the production of videos, etc. | |
| BB - Webportal | While we do not provide support for WebPortal issues, we occasionally receive issues in regard to the WebPortal, that is what this label is for. | |
| BB - Zoom | Cases in regard to Zoom and its integration with Blackboard. |
The list above covers all of the labels typically assigned to Blackboard Cases. However there are some other labels that are used, which are listed below.
| Label | Label Color (if non-default) | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Escalated | Red | Applied to cases needing special attention from a lead or full-time staff member. Use this label in situations described above. |
| Feedback | Cases which include feedback from a client in regard to either our services or product we support (either good or bad). | |
| FIT Center | Cases relating to the FIT Center, services, hours of operation, etc. | |
| From Website | White | Automatically applied to cases originating from the ITS Website contact form. |
| Lead / Supervisor Issue | Purple | This case will be handled by a supervisor or team lead. |
| Security Alert | Red | Cases dealing with Information Security issues. These should usually be escalated and referred to ITSO if necessary. |
| Software | Inquiries in regard to software licenses and such. These are usually handled by ETS. | |
| SPAM | Used to mark messages that are not actual support inquiries, like bulk messages. | |
| User Error | Not actually a problem on our end, rather the user is making a mistake here. | |
| VR | Green | Virtual Reality related cases. |