Building the Future of Higher Education

Based in LA, CA, The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is one of the nine campuses of the University of California. UCLA’s Department of Psychology, one of the largest and most productive departments in the nation, boasts state-of-the-art facilities and numerous resources that provide abundant opportunities for innovative research. The renowned faculty members have received over $14 million in annual extramural funding, and are acknowledged leaders in their fields.

Supporting the University Staff’s IT Needs

Like most universities, UCLA seeks to run its campus services efficiently so that it can devote more resources to teaching and research. The Department of Psychology is no exception, maintaining a core Help Desk staff of just two employees who handle support requests from more than 200 staff, instructors, and researchers.

“For years, we’ve received support requests in a variety of ways—by email, by phone and in person—with needs that range from simple password requests to complex issues,” says Cathy McCann, Help Desk Supervisor, UCLA Department of Psychology. “While we strive to be available, it became clear to me that we would be more efficient if we had a simple trouble ticket system to track everything centrally. We also wanted a web-based help desk, so we wouldn’t have to spend resources on internal IT.”

Finding ease-of-use, sophisticated features, & flexibility

“Zendesk’s price, convenience and ease of use were unbeatable,” McCann explains. “The solution delivers loads of features, but at the same time, it’s really easy to use—both for me and for our users—and highly configurable.”

“When someone on the staff stops by my desk to report an issue, I kindly explain that they need to log the request in our help desk software and I show them how to use it,” says McCann. “If users get a better, faster response and can track progress on their own we get better user buy-in.”

Resolving Issues Quickly With Triggers

As a small team servicing a large user base that varies widely in technical aptitude, McCann needs to be sure that there is tight communication when it comes to resolving issues. Zendesk’s triggers—automatic actions that take place when certain conditions are met as defined by an organization’s support workflow—take discussions that used to happen in the hallways or over multiple emails and consolidates them into a single, trackable conversation.

“Zendesk’s triggers are ideal for helping a small staff communicate effectively with users,” says McCann. “With Zendesk, every time the trouble ticket system is updated, the user receives a status update by email and they know we haven’t forgotten about them.”

Staying Motivated & Happy

“Zendesk’s reports help motivate us,” says McCann. “We like knowing that we’ve increased our productivity by a certain percentage month-over-month. The reports are highly configurable, so that I can get exactly the data I need to show my colleagues and superiors on a regular basis.”

McCann has a smooth experience dealing with Zendesk’s staff. Receiving prompt answers to her questions has enabled her to keep her productivity high—and her users happy.

“Normally, when you call a company with a question, you get transferred all over the place,” remarks McCann. “Whenever I’ve called Zendesk, I’ve connected with the right person very quickly. I’m delighted at the partnership we’ve formed.”