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Log Me In Program Boosts Help Desk Productivity

Submitted: Mon, Mar 30, 2009 02:53 PM

Since its introduction one year ago, a remote connectivity tool called LogMeIn has enabled the ITS Help Desk to assist more than 1,000 Eastern faculty, staff, students, alumni and annuitants.

LogMeIn allows Help Desk technicians to view and access, in real time, the computer desktop of an end user seeking assistance, and to resolve a problem, load software, or provide instruction — over the Internet without ever having to actually come to the end user’s location.

The result: faster response time, higher customer satisfaction and better productivity for both the Help Desk and end users alike.

“If they can get to the Web, we can help them,” said ITS microcomputer support specialist Cheryl Crowdson. “If they can’t get to the Web, we can still help them... it just might take a little longer.”

A LogMeIn session typically starts when a faculty or staff member encounters a problem with their PC or Macintosh computer, has a question or needs assistance with a software program. They call the ITS Help Desk at 581-HELP and connect with a technician who determines a solution.

If the issue is one that lends itself to LogMeIn, the end user is told to connect to the Web site logmein123.com. There, they see a log-in screen, and the technician tells them a PIN code to enter. They do so and make a connection. (Screen details may vary among IE, Firefox and Safari browsers.)

Once the end user authorizes the connection — and only then — the Help Desk technician can see the user’s computer desktop on the technician’s computer screen. The technician then is able to access the user’s computer just as the user and can move the user computer’s mouse pointer, open windows, access files, etc. The end user, however, maintains control over the session.

At the time the technician-end user connection is made, a chat window opens on the user’s desktop. There, an “end session” button is located. “If the technician goes someplace or does something the end user doesn’t like, or the user changes his or her mind for any reason, all they have to do is click the button, and the connection is broken. We’re done,” said User Services Manager Max Swango, who oversees ITS Help Desk operations. Unlike another remote access software program, LANDesk, utilized by ITS several years ago, LogMeIn is Web-based. No software client is ever permanently loaded onto the end user’s computer. Each LogMeIn session stands on its own and is network dependent.

That network connectivity not only leaves control of each LogMeIn session in the hands of end users, it also allows them to get assistance no matter their location.

“If we have faculty on the road, even out of the country, we can help them,” Swango said. “If we have students taking classes off campus, or retirees at home, we can help them. All they have to have is access to the Internet.”

While LogMeIn has been a boon for end users, it also has helped the Help Desk itself.

By being able to connect to users’ computers remotely, Help Desk technicians can work with more callers without ever having to leave their own desks. That cuts down on time spent walking or driving to users’ offices on campus and lets technicians get more work done. “Our response time is more real time than ever,” Swango said.

Because both end users and technicians can see the same screen at the same time, LogMeIn is proving to be a valuable teaching tool, too. Technicians can not only rectify problems, they also can show users, step by step, how to fix them themselves, load software or better understand their own computers.

Its potential as an online training tool is substantial, too: A single technician can connect with multiple end users at once and even “draw” illustrations on users’ screens.

And because LogMeIn is visual, users and technicians are able to exchange information about a problem more efficiently than they could just by talking by phone. “Sometimes you can’t make a problem clear verbally, but when you can point to it on the screen, you can really communicate better,” Crowdson said.

Reaction to LogMeIn has been very positive, she said. “There haven’t been any negatives at all. Once people use it, the next time they need help with something, they just say, ‘remote me.’”