The Service Counter

 

Lam Kei Yun

Whenever you visit the Service Counter inside the Computing Services Centre's (CSC) Student Terminal Area, you are either demanding some kind of services or looking for help from the people behind the Counter. But have you ever thought of what their everyday tasks are? In this article, we would like to let our readers obtain a better picture of the day-to-day operations of the Service Counter.

Scope of Services

The Service Counter provides the following:

1. Front-end Services
   Front-end services to students and staff include advising the use of all computer equipment, solving technical problems, answering enquiries, supervising laser-printing services, handling loan & return of accessories, selling various types of printer paper, and taking care of the Centre's Hotline Services during lunch time.

2. Terminal Rooms Administration
   The Service Counter staff check up furniture, computer equipment as well as presentation tools such as BARCO projectors in all teaching studios from time to time in order to ensure that all facilities are readily available for use. They help staff in class booking, collect utilization statistics, enforce CSC rules and ensure tidiness in the Student Terminal Area. They also support special functions conducted by the Centre, such as CSC Forum and CSC Small Talk.

3. Hardware Maintenance and Installation
   The Service Counter staff are responsible for repairing hardware, providing routine maintenance of computer facilities, and ensuring all equipment installed in the Student Terminal Area are set up properly.

   They also co-operate with staff of various sections in CSC to perform application upgrade and new hardware installation. These projects usually take place during semester breaks.

Organization and Distribution of Jobs

The Service Counter is manned by the staff of Operations Section. Besides working at the Service Counter, this same team is also responsible for performing duties in the Computer Room such as routine system backup, user account maintenance and large volume printing. Each member of the team requires to work in a two-shift roster, either on the day or on the night shift. The Senior Computer Operators are in charge of the team. Normally, seven to eight staff are scheduled to work in each shift in both working places.

Present Difficulties

1. Time Constraint
   Everyday, before opening the Student Terminal Area, the Counter staff have to carry out routine checks on 600 workstations, 130 printers, and hundreds of communication devices both in the terminal area as well as in the computer room, and if necessary, to perform trouble-shooting, hardware swapping, or repairing, all within a short period of time. When any service disruption is reported during the opening hours, the Counter staff on duty must try all means to resume that service as quickly as possible in order to minimize the impact on our users. Knowing that it is difficult to have make-up classes, the Counter staff therefore often have to work in a very stressful environment in a situation where remedial action has to be taken in the middle of a lecture while the whole class is waiting.
   

   Moreover, as all hardware/software upgrade, and set-up changes have to be initiated and completed either during term breaks or summer time, the Counter staff often have to work within a very tight schedule.

2. Limited Manpower
   As the Counter staff , a task force of 17, are responsible for manning the Service Counter as well as the Computer Room, their working hours therefore stretch from 8:00AM to 11:00PM in two shifts. They also have to report duty on Sundays and public holidays. With such a long servicing hour and heavy utilization of CSC facilities but supported by a minimum number of staff, the Counter staff often have to face and deal with impatient users waiting eagerly for immediate help. Moreover, it is now increasingly difficult for the Counter staff to find the time to attend training courses and to improve their technical know-how.

3. Resource Allocation
   Due to heavy utilization at the Student Terminal Area and a wide service scope, careful planning (e.g. when to perform hardware/software upgrade, contingency plan when a service is disrupted, etc.) and proper allocation of equipment and human resources are therefore essential to ensure good quality of service. However, there are always other factors, besides the time constraint and limited manpower, such as: budget not always come in time or keep up with users' needs, equipment delivery problems, insufficient counter space to serve more users which are all beyond our control and may therefore affect our quality of service.

4. Communication with Users
   The Counter staff must enforce CSC rules within the Terminal Area. To carry out their duties smoothly, they must have good manners, good communication skills and the technique to handle conflicts. They also need users' understanding and cooperation. However, from their past experience, there are lessons to be learnt from both sides.

Challenges Ahead

As the Service Counter is committed to provide quality services to its users, the Counter will need to evolve in order to deal with the aforesaid difficulties more effectively and be able to adapt to further changes. The Counter will constantly seek and appreciate users to provide feedback so that its services, procedures, and productivity can be improved accordingly to meet their needs. At the same time, the Counter will make its operation more transparent to users. By working closely with users, CSC hopes that both lecturers and students will find our Student Terminal Area a good place to exchange ideas and knowledge, and more importantly, a place where they can obtain the services they want.

Computing Services Centre City University of Hong Kong ccnetcom@cityu.edu.hk