Student Helpdesk Blog

WOW - A customer service initiative ....

2011-10-18T10:05:00.007+01:00

Customer service is really important to us, as we are participating in a pilot for the WOW awards. We are asking our students to tell us when we get it right, so we can recognise the staff who do a fantastic job, learn from their excellence and make sure we keep delivering a service that meets the needs of our students.

The WOW awards site has only been live a short period of time and there have been 3 nominations so far, two of these have been for the same member of the Student Information Desk Team at Luton.

If you would like to nominate a member of staff from the Libray or Student Services teams visit our website and make a nomination now ...

www.beds.ac.uk/wow

Customer Services Awards for SiD

2011-07-28T09:04:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to the SiD team who were awarded the Customer Service Award at the 2011 University of Bedfordshire staff awards.

The individual prize for Customer Service was awarded to Safina Kausar, the Senior Student Information Adviser in the SiD Team, and 4 other memeber of the SiD Park Square team were also nominated for this award.

Thank you to all of the SiD staff who have worked hard to deliver excellent customer services across the sites in its first year.

I will be using feedback from students gathered in the focus groups to produce a Customer Service Charter for SiD for 2011/12 as a way to continuously improve customer service.

SiDOnline survey - the results are in ....

2011-06-17T08:48:00.008+01:00

Thank you to all students who completed the SiD Online survey, last month.

This is what students said they liked about using SiDOnline.

Students like the self-service nature of SiDOnline, and that they did not have to come into University to get help. In the words of one student: " SiDOnline is easily accessible, we can get information by sitting at home. Moreover, I really appreciate the immediate response by SID to emails"

Read the full survey results for yourself in the report.

Congratulations to Nikhil Malik who completed the survey, and was the winner of the prize draw to win a £15 iTunes voucher.

May is student feedback month for SiD

2011-04-27T09:58:00.005+01:00

This month we are focussing on student feedback.

Have you completed our online survey about SiDOnline yet? We want to find out what you think of this self-service support tool. Do you like it? Is it easy to use? What do you think of the FAQs? And most importantly ... how can we make it better?

We are also holding some student focus groups, to find out your experiences of visiting your Student Information Desk on your campus and the service we offer. We want to find out what you need from your campus Student Information Desk, and how satisified you are with what we do.

The focus groups will take place on the Bedford and Luton campus between the 18th to 20th May, we are giving £10 pront credit to all students who attend. If you would like to take part email us.

SiD student survey on using SiDOnline

2011-04-18T14:52:00.002+01:00

Our student survey on using SiDOnline is now live .... Fill it in and you could win a £15 iTunes voucher. Take the survey

SiD shows you How to .....

2011-04-12T14:44:00.005+01:00

SiD has noticed that many students ask "How"? questions. There are lots of enquiries from students asking "How do I get my timetable?" or "How do I change my address?".

Well, SiD has created some "How to" guides for students, and has started a new section for these on the website click here

There are video clip guides, and now we have created some guides to download.

Have a suggestion for another How to guide? Contact us

Student Feedback counts

2011-04-05T13:56:00.003+01:00

Students tell us lots of things, some things they are happy with, some things they are not, other students suggest things they would ike to improve.

You don't have to make a formal complaint to be heard .... just speak to SiD.

The Student Information Desk teams are now using SiD Online to record informal student feedback, as there is now a new enquiry category called Student Feedback.

The Student information Desk team is now logging enquiries to record informal student feedback on their views and issues with their University experience.
Feedback is logged and passed to the Customer Services Manager who can raise this with the right person.

So far SiD has logged informal feedback from students about …
• Re-registration
• The experience of registering with a GP
• Part time students
• The way students are notified of cancellations of classes

It is hoped that we will be able to use this feedback to know what we are doing right, and also to monitor and improve the student experience.

If you are a current student and would like to leave feedback, log an enquiry on SiDOnline and select the student feedback option.

An apology

2011-03-31T10:19:00.003+01:00

Due to exceptionally high volumes of telephone enquiries, students are finding it hard to get through on the SiD Phone lines.

In the meantime you can log into SiDOnline and log your own enquiry, or update an exisiting enquiry, or view the status of your enquiry ....

See previous blog on userguides for how to use SiDOnline ...

If you are unable to get through, your other option is to email sid@beds.ac.uk. Your email will be turned into a SiDOnline enquiry by the email harvester, and a member of the SiD team will respond.

We are aware of the issue and steps are being taken to address this, so that we can employ more staff to answer the phones, leaving the front of house staff free to focus on face to face student enquiries.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience.

SiDOnline user guides for Students are now available

2011-03-21T09:28:00.003Z

Did you know that UoB students have a self-service support tool at their fingertips?
SiDOnline is system which lets students log enquiries for support and information for a wide range of staff and services across the University and its sites.
Students can log their own enquiry if they need help or information, and their enquiry is allocated to someone who can help.

Students receive email updates on the progress of their enquiry. Students can update their own enquiry at any time; to upload documents or scans of information to share with the member of staff or provide additional information, rather than having to come into Campus.

SiDOnline also contains hundreds of Frequently Asked Questions, with relevant attachments and links to more information to help students find the answers themselves. There is an option for students to rate our FAQs and tell us what they think of the information we provide.

Student can log in to SiDOnline via links on the e-Vision/Student record Home page, in BREO, and on the footer at the bottom of the main website or you can log in through the SiD web page www.beds.ac.uk/sid.

To help students get the most out of SiDOnline we have produced some short video clips help students. You can view these video user guides on our website

How to log an enquiry on SiD online

How to view and update an existing enquiry

How to search the Frequently Asked Questions

E-Vision and SiDOnline downtime

2011-03-16T12:51:00.003Z

The University's student record system will be unavailable from 8am on Friday 18th March until 8am on Monday 21st March in order for an essential upgrade to be carried out. Students will not be able to use the student record system, e vision or SIDOnline over this period.

Students who have assignments to hand in on Friday, should ensure that they print off their top sheet before Friday.

With SiDOnline unavailable, the Student Information desks will be running a reduced service. We will not be able to print letters, reset passwords, book appointments or access any information in existing enquiries. You can still hand in Access to Learning Fund forms and CAAS forms at the Student Information Desk on your campus.

Please be advised that without access to these key systems the following services will have an impaired service delivery:

Campus Centre Services , Park Square
Level 1
• Student Information Desk – Will run a limited service from 9am to 1pm
• PAD drop in will run as normal
• Careers drop will run as normal
• International Student Advice Drop In – Level 1 – the international student advice team cannot give advice on your individual immigration issue without access to the student record system. They will run a limited drop in service from 2-4 on Friday.

Level 2
• Student Information Desk – Will run a limited service from 9am to 1pm
• Pre booked appointments for level 2 services will still go ahead, unless otherwise advised.
• Welfare & Pastoral Support Drop in will run from 10am to 1pm
• Payments and Refunds desk – open as normal to take manual payments. Will be unable to remove blocks on accounts until the student record system is available again on Monday 21st March.
• Credit Services – without the student record system they cannot access any student account information, and therefore will not be running the credit services drop in.

The queuing system will also be unavailable, but we will have helpers on hands with clips boards to record your position in the queue on Friday.

The services will be open as normal on Monday morning, and the systems should be up and running as normal.

Student Information Desk launches at Butterfield Park

2011-02-11T14:53:00.003Z

Today Butterfield Park health site has a branded Student Information Desk. The SiD services are delivered by staff on the LRC and reception desk on the ground floor of the campus. Students at this campus can now book appointments with central services, hand in exctenuating circumstances claims, submit Access to Learning Fund applications. The staff are using SiD Online software to connect to services and teams on other sites and ensure student enquiries get a prompt reponse.

This is the last of the SiD desks to come online, there is now a Student Information Desk on each of the five campuses.

Email Harvester Launched today

2011-02-04T11:22:00.003Z

This morning I have activiated the email harvester function on the SiDOnline software. This means that all emails to the SiD email account are harvested every 10 minutes, and transferred into SiD as new enquiries. The new enquiries are then allocated an "awaiting first reponse" marker and the sid team work to a service level agreement of a response within 48 hours. Previously we were logging all the emails enquiries manually onto SiD and then responding. Now that we have launched this component we will be able to offer students a faster response time to email queries ....

This seems to be working well, and I hope to encourage other teams to use this function ...

Our Queueing system ...

2011-02-02T17:43:00.003Z

Just back from the University of Wolverhampton where I was showing our queueing system to representatives from a variety of UK Universities.

We developed the Queue management component of the SiD Online software with Tribal. We use this system in the new Campus Centre, Luton.

Find out more in this video clip:

SiD Student Information Desk: Introduction

A SiD for Oxford House

2011-01-31T09:33:00.002Z

This morning the Student Information Desk at Oxford House, Aylesbury launches. This site is home to students studying nursing and midwifery courses. Now students on this site can access a range of support on site. The Student Information Desk service is being delivered by the staff at the reception and LRC desk.

Many students studying on this campus, are on placement, so they have very little time, and by opening a Student Information Desk on their own campus, we hope that more students will be able to get convenient access to the support available.

Students can now hand in their Access to Learning Fund forms, apply for extenuating circumstances and make appointments including dyslexia screening tests, mental health support, CAAS appointments or an appointment with a PAD study skills tutor .... all at their own campus.

All enquiries will be logged on SiDOnline and students will receive email updates, and can access and update their own enquiry 24/7.

Watch our SiD YouTube Video Clip

2011-01-21T16:47:00.009Z

We have created a video about the cross campus Student Information Desk (SiD). See the new Campus Centre and the SiD team at Work. Find out more about how we can help, and the self-service tool SiDOnline ...

SiD Student Information Desk: Introduction

Happy New Year

2011-01-10T16:39:00.002Z

The Student Information Desk would like to wish you a Happy New Year. Thank you for all your help support and feedback in 2010.

2011 will see the opening of Student Information Desks on the health sites, Butterfield Park and Oxford House ... and the promotion of SiD Online to students

All settled in

2010-11-09T10:09:00.007Z

The Campus Centre has been open for 4 weeks now, and it is already a hive of student activity. The building has developed its own culture, students have found favourite places to sit. Staff and students have sampled the different coffee shops and found their regular haunt.
The Student Information Desks on Level 1 and 2 have been busy with student enquiries.
The student services teams have now moved in and are seeing students in the second floor advice booths and confidential rooms.
Careers and PAD who operate daily drop ins on Level 1 have seen a surge in demand from students for their service, since moving in to their new home.
The Finance payments desk is still having some finishing touches applied, and we eagerly await it's opening ...
The building is a great asset to the University ... it is a vibrant beating heart to the campus ...

Student Information Desk moves into the new Campus Centre

2010-10-11T06:26:00.004+01:00

On Friday, SiD packed up the desk in Costa Coffee, and has set up in the new Campus Centre. From Monday 11th October SiD will be open for business on Level 1 of the Campus Centre, Park Square. We are all ready to go when the doors open.

Careers and the PAD Pals will also be operating from Level 1 from the 11th. You can come and speak to one of the careers team wihtout an appointment for a drop in careers session.

SiD 0300 connects to 3 sites

2010-10-04T10:10:00.001+01:00

When you call the 0300 300 0042 telephone number for SiD, students can now chose which SiD team they want to speak to ...
Bedford SiD, Putteridge Bury SiD or Park Square SiD

SiD welcomes new Students at Bedford

2010-10-04T10:06:00.005+01:00

The Bedford Student Information Desk has set up a temporary desk from Monday 27th September to help new students during registration. Using a laptop and the SiD Online software they are able to use the FAQs to answer questions, and also log enquiries for new students:

SiD is Tweeting ...

2010-09-10T07:11:00.003+01:00

Please follow the Student Information Desk on Twitter, for updates across Student Services and news of the latest SiD developments:

http://twitter.com/UoBSiD

SiD will be there to help you at registration...

2010-09-06T06:51:00.003+01:00

Welcome to all new students starting at the University of Bedfordshire this year. There are registration sessions scheduled for all our courses throughout September and October, and the first one starts today.

If you are registering at Park Square today, then the SiD team will be there to help you if you have any questions or need any bank or council tax letters once you have registered.

Student Information Desks (SiD) on 3 sites from today

2010-09-01T12:49:00.003+01:00

Today the Student Information Desks (SiD) launched at Putteridge Bury Campus and also at Park Square. There are now 3 Student Information Desks open for business:

SiD Bedford - located in the Registry Front Desk
SiD Putteridge Bury - located in the Social Learning Space - room 33
SiD Park Square - located in Costa Coffee until the Campus Centre opens

Student can contact Sid via SiD Online
or on
0300 300 0042
sid@beds.ac.uk

Come along and meet SiD

2010-08-25T11:32:00.001+01:00

From Wednesday 1st September 2010 there will be a Student Information Desk (SiD) by the main entrance of Park Square, by Costa Coffee. A member of the SiD team will be there from 10-4 to help students and to deal with any enquiries.
Come and see the SiD team ...

SiD Team help out at Clearing

2010-08-19T06:54:00.004+01:00

Today the A-Level results are released and students everywhere are either rejoicing or rethinking their best laid plans. If you have not been accepted then there are lots of places available through clearing.

Call the University of Bedfordshire Clearing Line 0800 013 0925
Or
See the places available

A Student Information Desk has been set up in our Clearing Centre to provide advice and information to students who have got a place through Clearing. The SiD team will be on hand to advise on accommodation, student funding including the University of Bedfordshire bursary, and the range of services available. They will be using the SiD software to log enquiries, and drawing from the wide range of information in the knowledge database to provide an informative and supportive response to students.

SiD Contact details are live

2010-08-18T09:19:00.004+01:00

Students can now contact the SiD team on 0300 300 0042 or email sid@beds.ac.uk

Students can also log on to SiD Online via E-Vision or BREO and log their own enquiry for the SiD team.

From 1st September students will be able to go to a Student Information Desk on Park Square, Putteridge Bury and Polhill Campus and speak to one of the SiD team.

Student Information Desks will be opening on the health sites in January 2011.

Student Information Adviser post available

2010-08-17T16:26:00.002+01:00

If you would like to be part of the SiD team we have a part time post available.
Check out our website for more information. The deadline for applications is 31st August 2010. Join SiD

SiD Online software goes live

2010-08-02T11:01:00.003+01:00

The SiD Online software went live on Monday 19th July.

The following teams have received training to respond to and receive enquiries using the software and the majority of teams have already dealt with enquiries on SiD:

Student Information Desk staff, CAAS, Counselling, Disability, Mental Health, PAD, central finance, Student Welfare and Pastoral Support, Student Finance Officers, Careers and Employment Service and International Student Advice.

Students can log an view their own enquiries via e-vision www.beds.ac.uk/sits

Since launch 399 enquiries have been logged. 5% of these have been logged direct by students using the SiD ONline link in E-Vision.

This a fantastic start ...

More and more trained users will start to use SiD Online this month to prepare them for using the software for the new academnic year 2010/11.

Meet the SiD Team so far ...

2010-07-27T16:52:00.002+01:00

Thank you to all the teams and members of staff who have delivered a training session for the new SiD team. The SiD Team are enjoying their training.

Welcome to the Park Sqare SiD team

2010-07-06T12:34:00.002+01:00

This week the Park Square SiD Team started in their posts.

Welcome to:
Elaine Fanin, Caroline Lomas, Mark Patterson and Anam Waqar.
Lynda White also took up her new role as SiD Superviser this week.
Samantha Stredder and Safina Kausar will be joining the team later in the summer.

The staff are embarking on an exhaustive training programme over the summer, they will learn about all the services and departmenst as well as receiving training on the SiD Software.

The SiD team is based in F101a, until they move into the Campus Centre in September

PLease make them feel welcome.

Let the training commence ...

2010-07-01T15:50:00.003+01:00

Training of staff on the SiD software starts next week. The software will enable the Student Information Desks to log all student enquiries and filter them to the correct services.

Students will be kept up to date on the status of the enquiry, and can manage and log their own enquiries via SiD online. They can search Frequently Asked Questions and upload forms and documents for the relevant teams. SiD Online will be launched in July and students can access this self-service tool over the summer holidays via BREO, E-Vision and www.beds.ac.uk

The SiD software is schedued to go live on 19th July 2010 to tie in with the launch of the first Student Information Desk in Bedford.

A SiD update

2010-06-25T12:41:00.005+01:00

I am delighted to announce that the first Student Information Desk will be launched on 19th July 2010 on the Bedford campus.

The name SiD the Student Information Desk, was the winning suggestion put forward by Moira Hampson. Moira won the competiton and here is a photo of her at the recent prize giving ceremony. Thank you to 2 year old Archie for presenting the prize.

Have you tried out the furniture yet?

2010-06-09T12:24:00.005+01:00

This is me trying out the proposed desk type for the staff open plan office area in the Student Centre during the furniture showroom visit.

Did you know that you can try out some of the furniture proposed for the new Campus Centre. The chairs are located in the corner of Costa coffee at Park Square. There is a suggestion box for your feedback.

I am currently road testing the office chair that has been proposed for the teams that will be based on the second floor.

You will be pleased to know that the project is still on schedule for the building to open on 20th September. Not long now .....

The visuals of the SiD desk

2010-05-28T16:24:00.003+01:00

Thought you might like to see the visuals of the SiD helpdesks for the new Park Square Campus Centre:
First floor

Second floor

Look out for SiD in the Blend magazine this month

2010-05-17T20:08:00.003+01:00

There is an article on SiD aimed at students in the May issue of the Student Union Blend publication. The article contains 3D images of the SiD desk in the new Campus Centre ....

Join the SiD team

2010-05-13T12:49:00.003+01:00

We are currently recruiting for Student Information Advisers to work on the Student Information Desks in the new Campus Centre. There are part time and full time positions available.
Click here to apply

Dyslexic student feedback on SiD self service

2010-04-19T15:40:00.004+01:00

From this summer students will be able to access SiD online to view information and log enquiries for the Student Information Advisers. Students will be able to search the knowledge bank and frequently asked questions any time anywhere, and book appointments with different services. Students will be able to access online SiD 24/7 through BREO, E-Vision and also through the main website.

I would like to get student feedback on the colours and font used in the brand customisation of the software, to ensure it is easy for dyslexic students to read the information. The feedback gathered will be fed back to the consultant.

I am organising a focus group session for dyslexic students to try out the system, and give us their feedback. The session will be held on Wednesday 19th May at 2pm. Particpants will receive £5 print credit for taking part. Places are limited to 8.

If you are a dyslexic student and are interested in attending please email me: amanda.krebs@beds.ac.uk

To find out more about the Student Information Desk project visit the blog http://bedsbegin.blogspot.com/

Places are limited so if you are would like to attend please confirm your place by email.

The chosen logo ...

2010-04-07T08:58:00.003+01:00

Thank you to everyone who voted for their preferred logo. This logo had 39% of the vote and will therefore be used to brand the helpdesks.

Student Information Desk logo

2010-03-26T16:23:00.008Z

Here are the proposed designs for the Student Information Desk SID. Use the voting buttons on the side to vote for the one you like ... or post a comment ...

Design 1.

Design 2.

Design 3.

Design 4.

Design 5.

Design 6.

And the winner is .....

2010-03-25T12:03:00.003Z

The student Union have chosen the name for the helpdesk from the shortlist, and the winner is:

SiD, short for Student Information Desk

Congratulations to Dr Moira Hampson, Faculty Manager for Health & Social Sciences who came up with the name.

The design of the helpdesk logo and branding is underway.

The shortlisted entries for a helpdesk name

2010-03-22T08:00:00.001Z

The following entries have made the shortlist:

HELP - It ties in with the publication for students offered by the university, and could stand for "Hearing Every Learner's Problems".

UoB Info desk - Inside the O of the UOB there is an i for information. The rationale behind this info incorporates the University logo and the letter I. The I stands for information and also links to the personal "I" which will engage the students as it is their help desk. My UoB for information, creating a sense of community amongst the staff and students.

BedsDesk - The University is located in Bedfordshire, and is referred to as Beds. It will provide the notion that the University is specific to the university and not a generic help desk.

SID - Student Information Desk

Help Point - The point you go to for any help

Post a comment and let me know which one you like best ... it's now over to the Student Union who I have invited to chose the name of the student helpdesk.

Hope to announce the winning entry by the end of the week, so watch this space ...

The latest photos

2010-03-19T14:39:00.002Z

Here are the latest photos from inside the Campus Centre ....

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The student voice

2010-03-16T15:43:00.007Z

I have just given a briefing to a group of final year Human Resource Management students on the helpdesk project. They are doing a consultancy module and will now go away and prepare proposals on how they think this should be done. I am really looking forward to seeing their proposals, based on their experience and knowledge of being a student at the Univerity.

The competition is closed and we had a fantastic response with over 53 entries, of which 22 were student entries. We will be drawing up a shortlist and the shortlist entrants will be notified by the end of the week.

I have asked the Student Union sabbatical officers to have the final vote, and I hope that some of the newly elected SU staff will come along and have their say.
Watch this space for details of the shortlisted entries ....

Group Exercise Feedback

2010-03-10T13:48:00.004Z

Only a few days remain to enter the competition to name the helpdesk as the competition closes on Friday 12th March 2010. For details on how to enter see Blog from 1st February below.

Visit the link below to view the flip chart notes containing the issues and questions that were generated from the group discussion in last week's Registry briefing.
Group discussion feedback

Registry briefing session

2010-03-04T10:58:00.011Z

Thank you to everyone who attended the registry meeting yesterday. I hoped you found the session as useful as I did. I hope the presentation answered some of the questions that had been floating around, and thank you to everyone who asked questions. I will share the issues and questions raised during the group discussion activity with you, so watch this space.

Here is a copy of the presentation in case you missed it.

Enter our competition ...

2010-02-01T09:00:00.005Z

Today we have a launched a competition to find a name for the student helpdesk. The competition is open to all current students, staff and alumni of the University of Bedfordshire. All you have to do is suggest a name for the helpdesk, explain why you have chosen it and you could win a Red Nintendo DS Lite.
To find out more or to apply click here.

A Student Helpdesk System

2010-01-18T10:10:00.007Z

Last week was a week full of meetings with software suppliers demonstrating their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Case Management software.

The student helpdesks will use software as a central knowledge database to hold the Frequently Asked Questions and information from the wide range of sources and systems currently in use. The knowledge database function will enable helpdesk staff to respond to student queries, and could also be used as a self service portal so that students can search for answers.

The student helpdesks will log all the enquiries and information given to the student on the CRM software, enabling us to analyse the types and volumes of queries received. The CRM software would enable us to follow up and monitor the progress of any outstanding queries that have been referred to different teams around the University; keeping students updated on the progress of their queries.

The information recorded in the system would allow us to monitor and continually improve the quality of information and service we provide to our students.

I was really impressed with the functionality of some of the systems, and came away buzzing with ideas. I will keep you updated on the progress on the software.

A new home for Student Services

2010-01-08T09:35:00.017Z

I am really excited about the new Luton Campus Centre that is being built. It will house all the student services and has great social space; having all these facilities in one place is going to give the University a real Community feel. There will be two student helpdesks in the Campus Centre, where students can go for access to a wide range of information, advice and services.
Check out the Fly Through of the new Campus Centre below ...

You can also view progress of the building of the Campus Centre on our live webcam. Although, there does seem to be rather a lot of snow inside it at the moment, not sure that was on the plans!