Project Description

RESA

The RESA Administrative Technologies division serves 65 school districts, public school academies and other intermediate districts throughout the State of Michigan that are members of the Wayne RESA Computer Consortium.

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Wayne RESA is a regional educational service agency that provides services and support to Wayne County’s 34 school districts aimed at improving student achievement and maximizing economies of scale in staff development, purchasing, and administrative services. Services range from curriculum consulting and staff development, helping districts maximize technology use in the classroom, software applications for district student and administrative services, group purchasing and more.

Wayne RESA also provides state-mandated functions including pupil accounting and special education monitoring and compliance. RESA is the largest regional educational service agency in Michigan and among the largest in the nation.

The RESA Administrative Technologies division serves 65 school districts, public school academies and other intermediate districts throughout the State of Michigan that are members of the Wayne RESA Computer Consortium. RESA’s Computer Consortium provides training, support and application development in specialized areas of study. The Consortium relies heavily on computer software and hardware components, and these systems that support the training must be in peak performance.

The IT department was using a help desk software tracking system to log requests for repair and maintenance issues. However, the previous system was not effective because the software had to be loaded on every workstation throughout the entire support department. When the technicians were out on a service call, they could not view new or urgent tickets coming in. Support calls were falling through the cracks, tickets were getting lost and service times were delayed.

An additional burden to the IT department was the requests that came into the office for instructions on how to perform common tasks. Each request was managed in person by telephone and email. The staff had to take the time to personally respond, and the requester had to wait to get the information.

RESA saw the need for a web based system to manage their support requests. After evaluating several vendors they chose the Novo Customer Support Suite (CSS). The Novo CSS combines a web based help desk with a powerful knowledge base system.

After a speedy set-up, the Novo help desk was a simple transition for the technicians. As a result tickets could be viewed remotely when the techs were in the field. RESA administrators set up the business rules feature to track ticket times – now if a ticket is not responded to within a defined time period the administrator is alerted so that the ticket is addressed in a timely manner.

RESA also put in place a knowledge base system to provide quick and easy access to information addressing common issues. Articles include procedures and best practices for resolving common problems, instructions for the help desk, etc. What’s more, utilizing the “permissions” feature, RESA is configuring portal views so that the knowledge base content is dispensed based on the end users predefined roles.

RESA now boasts a much more organized help desk system. IT staff are using their time more efficiently, tickets are not falling through the cracks and knowledge base visitors are getting the information they need on demand, without having to interrupt the IT department. In addition to the functionality, RESA is especially pleased with the quick set-up, ease of use and configurability of the system. RESA states, “The support this software has given our staff has been invaluable – it has been a feather in my cap since I made the decision to purchase the Novo Solutions software.”
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