Desk.com
Desk.com, commonly referred to as Desk, is where we handle most of our support interactions. Emails sent by faculty, staff, and students to one of our shared email accounts (listed below) are pulled into Desk and put into one of our groups (also listed below).
Working Cases
When you login to Desk (you login will be provided to you by your supervisor on your first day at ITS), you can use either the Classic Agent or the Next Gen Agent (which is nicer, but slightly less reliable than the Classic Agent) to work the cases. An orientation for working cases can be found on the Desk.com Support Website.
Escalating Cases
Sometimes cases require attention of a lead student or a full-time staff member. Rather than assigning the case to a specific user, you can add the red label Escalated to the case, and update the case. Once this is completed, Full Time Blackboard staff and the Lead Student will be notified via Slack and will handle the case from there.
Macros
For frequently asked questions, we have what are called macros, which allow a workflow to be performed on the case, with the click of a button. We have over 60 macros in Desk, that can be easily accessed either via the Apply Macro box at the bottom of the Classic Agent, or by typing ## in the Reply Field, followed by the first letter of the name of the macro you would like to apply. If you find yourself answering the same question repeatedly, let either your supervisor or your lead know and a macro can be created for that particular issue. Most macros will do more than just include a message in the reply field, may will automatically apply labels to the case, but you should check to make sure that the labels accurately describe the case in question, since sometimes cases deal with more than one issue.
Splitting Cases
Occasionally clients will reply to a case with a completely new issue, in instances like this, it is advantageous to create a new case, using the "Create New Case" dropdown option in the Next Gen Agent, or the "New Case" button in the Classic Agent to split the ticket and create a new case from the desired response from the client. This way we can keep track of the number of issues we are receiving and what those issues pertain to. Shorter cases (ones with fewer back and forth) are easier to hand off, since they require less context to understand the issue at hand.
Labeling Cases
We have a few labels that can be assigned to cases. Labels are used both to categorize cases and to automate actions. Labels can also provide other agent a summary of the case, without needing to open the case and read through al of the interactions (messages). Most labels assigned to Blackboard Cases will begin with BB to indicate their association with Faculty Support Cases.
Other Labels
The list above covers all of the labels typically assigned to Blackboard Cases. However there are some other labels that are used, which are listed below.
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