Service Desk Guide

Log into the ISS Service Desk using the first part of your email address (everything before the @swansea.ac.uk) and your usual password.

After logging in, you will see this on your screen.

You should log a call if either:

• You need to request access to a service / system, for example, access permissions to a shared mailbox or need some software for your role (“I need something”), or,
• something you usually use is not working as expected (“Something is broken”).

The something is broken icon will create an incident and generate a reference number preceded by INC. The I need something icon will create a request and generate a reference number preceded by REQ.

Tip: Incidents and requests are individually triaged so logging something as an incident does not necessarily mean it will be resolved more quickly.

The My Activity icon allows you to see any / all calls you currently have open and their status.

Tip: When completing the online form, you do not need to enter your email address in the Alternative email address field as the system will know it is you from your login to the system. If you do add your email address here, you will receive two email notifications every time you are contacted.

Form entries in red are mandatory and must be completed or you will not be able to submit the form.

Complete a ‘summary’ of your request / issue. This should be succinct, representative of your issue or requirement and relevant to you. When you receive call updates, the summary and reference number will feature but the details will not.

Provide more details. Here you can expand on how the problem is impacting your work or exactly what you need. The more information our technicians have, the more efficiently they can help you.

Tip: Try not to paste long email threads into this section as it can make it difficult to read the call. If you need to attach a lot of information, please add a note or attach a file to the call which contains any additional information or error messages.

You will need to provide a preferred contact telephone number. Please only put numbers into this field.

Tip: this field is useful if you require a colleague to receive updates on a call. For example, some requests require line manager authorisation so including their email address here will allow them to update the call more easily.

Tip: More than one person can be added in this field but remember to separate each email address with a comma.

You can choose files to upload to support your request or provide additional information about the issue.

After you have finished, please make sure to press the Save & Close as this will allow your call to be picked up and triaged to the appropriate technical team by the Service Desk team.

After you submit your call it enters a queue for triaging. Our Customer Service team will look at your call and will either pass it to a technical team for action, provide advice or contact you for more information.

When your call has been triaged you will receive an email notification from the Service Desk which contains your call reference and a summary of your call.

The subject line of the email will have your call reference and more information required if you need to respond.

This email will be sent to you from a no-reply email address so it is important not to reply directly to the email. Please be aware that if you do reply directly, your update will not be added to the call. Instead, you should use the link to ‘update via email’ in the Service Desk notification. A new email will open and you should add your reply in the body of the email, taking care not to edit the subject line.

Tip: when replying via email, you may find it useful to remove your email signature so the call is not populated with more information than necessary.

Alternatively, you can update a call by logging into Service Desk and choosing My Activity. You can then select the call from the list and use the Add Note function to type in your update. You should press Save & Close when you have provided your update.

Tip: logging into the ISS Service Desk to update your call will allow you to view all the updates to your call in one place.

Tip: if you do not respond to a request for more information, the system will send further emails asking for an update. If there is no response the call will resolve automatically in 4 weeks.

As part of helping to resolve your call an analyst may need to send you documents. This may be instructions or forms that should be completed. These attachments will not be attached to email updates from the analyst but are held within the Service Desk platform. If an analyst indicates they have sent you an attachment you will need to login to Service Desk.

You will be able to see your current calls after clicking on the My Activity icon.

Click on the call the attachment has been added to. This will open the call and allow you to interact with it.

At the bottom of the call you will find a series of tabs. If there are notes added to the call you will also see a Notes tab. If the Attachments tab is visible this means that attachments have been added to the call.

Please note: if a call is updated by email any images from signatures may be contained in this section. These will have Email update in the Created By field rather than the name of an analyst.

Clicking on the attachment you want to see will open to a new section. The Attachment Document will be a hyperlink. Clicking this link will download the file to your device and allow you to open it.

If you need to add an Attachment to your call you can click the Choose Files button.

Clicking Choose Files will allow you to search your device for the document you need to upload. Select the file and click Open.

After you have chosen the document it will appear under the Choose Files button. You should then Save and Close your call so the analyst is able to access it.

Please note: once an attachment has been added to a call it cannot be removed. Please do not attach sensitive information related to personal information or passwords.

You can use the same method to update your call even if you have not been asked to provide an update. For example, if an error message changes while you are waiting for a response, you can use a link in your confirmation email to add that update.

If you receive a notification that your call has been resolved but you are still experiencing the issue or believe that your request has not been granted you can ‘unresolve’ the call within 5 working days of the call being resolved. You cannot unresolve the call by email so will need to login to the ISS Service Desk.

Tip: if you have another unconnected issue, please place a new call as adding additional problems or requests to the same call may result in delays to a resolution.

If you receive a notification that your call has been resolved but you are still experiencing the issue or believe that your request has not been granted you can unresolve the call within 5 working days of the call being resolved. You can not unresolve the call by email so will need to login to the Service Desk.

Tip: if you have another issue, please place a new call as another issue may need attention from another team and could delay work by passing to a different team.

The email notification that your call has been resolved also contains a link to a short survey. Clicking on the link to the survey will ask you to login to the Service Desk. There are three questions related to the helpfulness of staff, time taken to resolve and your overall happiness with the service. There is also a box for comments.

Please view our Service Desk Self Service Guide.