Information Services Helpdesk
This article covers the basics of how to get technology help from the KPBSD Information Services Helpdesk. Note that the last section of the article includes some elements that may only be visible or available to logged-in users.
Telephone: internal x8878, external 907-714-8878
The Helpdesk phone line is always an available option to get help during normal business hours. It is extension 8878 from internal phones, and 907-714-8878 from outside phones. A very simple menu should cover the initial routing of your call to the most appropriate one of us from the beginning, but there is a fall-through option and we are perfectly happy to transfer calls among ourselves as might be appropriate to what you need. (Note: before calling, please see the below section "Tips For Getting the Right Help Faster".)
If you do call, we try first to resolve things directly over the phone, if possible. One common scenario is that if you are having trouble or confusion with your Windows machine, we may remote in to your PC while we're on the phone together, to see if we can get it sorted out immediately, or at least well-understood enough to remand to the ticket system.
Support Portal at go.kpbsd.org/support
The other entry point for the Helpdesk is to go to the KPBSD support portal, at https://go.kpbsd.org/support.
This portal is the place to start, in order to:
- access the knowledge base, a searchable, growing repository of Helpdesk support articles covering common technology topics
- raise a Helpdesk ticket for a trackable, managed conversation about a problem or request you have
- make a Service Request from our growing set of standardized services
Our current practice favors directing any problem we can't immediately solve on the phone, into our ticket-tracking application. We encourage this practice all the time for consistency, and especially during the busiest crushes of the year (e.g., when semester terms begin, during testing windows, etc.), the ticket system helps to ensure both that requests are not lost (e.g., buried in one person's email or voicemail), and also that they can be prioritized and shared among us most appropriately. Ultimately, it's not just in our best interests to lean on the ticket system; it's in yours as well! :-)
The knowledge base (KB)
There is a separate article about the knowledge base, but for the purposes of this article, you should know that we already lean on the KB heavily ourselves, both internally for our own team, and also to help you with tickets. We'll sometimes link you to KB articles while working tickets, if the problem you're having is already understood and documented.
The ticketing system
Create a new ticket with the Report an issue link on the Support Portal's home page.
We have made submitting a ticket as simple as possible; in the end, it is nothing more than an email to the address helpdesk@kpbsd.k12.ak.us. The subject line becomes the "title" of the ticket, and if you state your request as clearly as possible in the message body, it will minimize the amount of back-and-forth we need to complete the task. (Note: please see below, "Tips For Getting the Right Help Faster".) You further interact with your ticket by responding to the emails the ticket system generates and sends back to the email address from which you requested the ticket; your responses go to the correct ticket number based on the ticket number being included in your email's subject line.
For logged-in users, there is a video demo of creating a ticket out on Microsoft Stream.
Service requests
Some processes are not so much "problem tickets", as they are requests for an understood, structured service; examples might include a request to set up or move a network printer, or to install software titles from the catalog onto specific devices, or to manage your building-access keycard, etc. Eventually, we want to have you think of the distinction as "if I have a problem, I create a Helpdesk ticket; if I have a non-problem request, I make a Service Request". Since we're not all the way there yet, if you don't find the service you need among the available Service Catalog, you should just create a Helpdesk ticket instead.
Tips For Getting the Right Help Faster
However you may contact the Helpdesk, it helps us both if you have as much critical information at the ready as possible. The ticket system tries as much as possible to do some automatic routing based on what it "knows" about the incoming request. For example, if you send the request from your District Microsoft email (your "@kpbsd.k12.ak.us" address), the system automatically "knows" your school/department, and if you include certain key words in the subject/title of the request (e.g., "iPad", "PowerSchool", "Chromebook", "Canvas", etc.), the system may route the ticket to a more specialized queue. (If a ticket lands in the wrong place, we simply move it to the right one, but this does not impact how you interact with the ticket. Easy for you, flexible for us.)
At the Helpdesk, we cover a pretty broad range of topics, and it really helps us to be able to quickly figure out what "box" we need to think within to help you out. So, please consider in advance things we might need to ask you, such as:
- What is the fundamental nature of the problem? Obviously if you're not sure, we'll talk it through with you, but sometimes you can characterize it broadly among these common problem types:
- Hardware (e.g., machine won't turn on)
- Software (e.g., there's a problem with an app you're using)
- Cloud service or system (e.g., you're having trouble with Canvas)
- Network (e.g., wireless is down in one half of the building)
- Cabling or physical setup (e.g., need additional wall port for phone)
-
Who is impacted by the problem?
- Just you?
- A few people, not obviously connected?
- Multiple people sharing an obvious connection (e.g., "those of us using Seesaw today")?
- A whole school or beyond?
- How can we identify the device(s)involved in the problem? Try to have the right device information at hand:
- What is the impact and time frame?
- Do you have a workaround, or are you "dead in the water"?
- Is this a class in session now, or upcoming today, or is it for testing next week, etc.
Additional resources and links
Note that some of the following may be restricted to logged-in students or staff.
Helpdesk video on Microsoft Stream. There is a somewhat deeper-dive, 15-minute video overview of the Helpdesk:
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Note that in the video there is a demo of creating a ticket at 11:15 on the timeline.
Other links. In no particular order: