Getting Help at IT Services

Information Technology Services
Wardman Library, Ground Floor
562.907.4287
helpdesk@whittier.edu

Operating Hours:
Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. 
Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.  
Sunday, 1:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Summer and Winter/Spring Break Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Urgent problems during normal work hours: 
During normal business hours, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., urgent problems should be reported to IT Services by calling x4287. If no IT staff member is available, leave a voice mail message or email  helpdesk@whittier.edu. Urgent problems will receive a response within four hours.

Urgent problems are defined as:

  • Primary workstation down (including basic functions down - e.g., no network)
  • Critical business function down (including faculty teaching/classroom issues)
  • Indication of possible widespread (building/campus) problem
  • A call indicating we missed our agreed-upon callback time (see Service Level Agreement below) Other issues determined to be urgent by the Help Desk in concert with the caller

Urgent problems during extended support hours:
On Sundays, 1:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. and Monday through Thursday, 5:00 p.m.  - 10:00 p.m., if your situation is urgent and needs to be handled immediately, please call x4287 and ask to speak to an IT staff member. If the Help Desk is unable to resolve the issue and the problem is an outage of a critical service (please see list below), they will contact an on-call IT staff member. If the Help Desk cannot resolve the issue and the problem is not covered by our extended coverage, the problem will be addressed the next business day after 8:00 a.m. We cannot provide extended support for desktop problems affecting an individual. In these situations, the Help Desk will attempt to find a temporary workaround solution. 

Course of business (not urgent) problems and issues: 
Non-urgent issues may be reported by calling x4287 or by sending an email to helpdesk@whittier.edu. 

After Hours Support Services Covered 
The following are all the services that are covered by After Hours support; those hours beyond Normal Business Hours and Extended Support Hours. After Hours support for other services is not provided by IT Services. For things not on this list, the Help Desk will do their best to help or suggest a workaround. For example, you can often find another computer or printer to use until the next business day by visiting a nearby lab or classroom. If the problem is covered under our extended support, the Help Desk will contact a member of the IT staff. 
After Hours Support is for the following Critical Services only:

  • Banner Administrative Systems
  • my.Whittier Portal
  • Email Systems (Faculty/Staff/Student/SMTP)
  • Blackboard Card System
  • Campus Phone Service
  • Campus Network (not individual connections)
  • Other Services
  • Internet Connection
  • Domain Name Service (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Servers (DHCP), Clean Access

Moodle support is provided by the library (x4247) during Normal and Extended Hours. After Hours support for Moodle is not provided.

Methods of Getting Help

Phone Calls 
If the problem can be solved by the Help Desk on the phone they will help you immediately.  

If problem can be solved by the Help Desk, but not on the initial call:

  • The Help Desk will explain they will need to get back to you and will verify your contact information.
  • If the Help Desk does not give you a expectation on when you will hear back from them (e.g. 1 business day, 4 hours, 1 hour, or other negotiated time frame, often called a Service Level Agreement or SLA), ask for one.
  • The Help Desk will contact you within the agreed call back time and either solve your problem or provide you an update on its status. 
     

If problem needs to be solved by IT Services staff:

  • The Help Desk and caller will together assess the Urgency (see above for criteria)
  • The Help Desk and caller will agree upon when you will hear back from IT Services (callback)
  • Callback for Urgent calls may range from 30 minutes to 1 hour, though we will attempt to call back as soon as possible
  • Callback for non-urgent calls may range from 4 hours to 1 business day.
  • IT Services will contact you during the callback period and help resolve your problem or provide you an update on its status

Exceptions

  • At the start of a semester, particularly fall, the Help Desk will use its best judgment on adjustment of realistic SLA callback times, due to the increased work load of IT Services staff.

Voice Mail 
Voice messages will be checked by the Help Desk within 2 business hours and handled following the phone call procedure above. The Help Desk will contact the user by phone call after listening to the voice message to help solve the problem. Leaving a voice mail for the caller or responding by email is acceptable if no one answers the phone. However, if the problem is Urgent and it is necessary to talk to the caller, the Help Desk will contact their department in an attempt to track down the caller.  

Email 
During normal business hours, email will be checked by the Help Desk within 2 business hours and handled following the phone call procedure above. On weekends and at night, emails may sit until the next business day, please call x4287 with anything Urgent. The Help Desk will contact the user by phone or email after reading the email. Contact by phone, email, or other method is acceptable, depending on the situation. 

One-on-one Assistance 
IT Services provides walk-in computer assistance by appointment on the ground floor of the library. Student or IT technicians staff the center Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Sundays 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Walk-in service without an appointment is provided on a first-come, first-served basis and is dependent on if a technician is available.