October 2009, Issue 3, Volume 11

Off to a good start ...

Trends: Web form or phone call? / Department in focus: Consultancy /
Running like clockwork: IT support in education / All about TOPdesk 4.2

Editorial
Want to comment? Go to www.topdeskmagazine.com

...is still just the beginning

When I was eight, every boy dreamt of having his very own Nintendo. At the end of the 1980s, this 8-bit game console brought smiles to the faces of young boys everywhere. One day, I saw one at my neighbours house. So, whats it like?, I asked him. Dont know; havent used it yet, he responded. This was beyond my comprehension. There was a Nintendo, connected and ready to go, and next to it lay a stack of games, just waiting to be used. It seemed like such a waste. Nevertheless, you encounter these kinds of situations at work even today; only now, the programs are rather more expensive than game consoles. All too often, an organization purchases a random application, along with a stack of modules; they implement and connect it all up and thats the end of the story. After a brief trial period, the application is put to one side and considered unsuitable, unmanageable or not compatible with our procedures. After all, getting off to a good start is still just the beginning. In this edition of TOPdesk Magazine, we examine the period after the implementation; which is just as important, if not more. What do you do with the application and processes once the service desk is up and running? How do you explain the new procedures to your clients? How can Incident management and the Reservations management module help you to save time? We also take a look behind the scenes of TOPdesks Consultancy department and share one clients story about their unique way of using TOPdesk. Enjoy reading! Niek Steenhuis

TOPdesk Magazine, a service management platform, discusses subjects that are topical in the world of professional service desks in IT, facilities and other service providing organizations. TOPdesk Magazine is intended for managers, service desk employees, facilities organizations and electronic city councils - anyone who is involved with supporting customers on a daily basis. This concerns both the processes and the technology behind these services.

COLOPHON
TOPdesk Magazine is a TOPdesk publication tel: +31 15 270 09 00 email: editorial@topdesk.com Chief Editor Niek Steenhuis Editors Joop Bindels, Carrie Brandt, Amanda Dirkse, Claudia Funk, Brenda Heeringa, Henrieke Korten, Nicola van de Velde Contributors Kirsten Crown, Caroline Kleijer, Mike de Ruiter, Lydje Snieders, Iris Fehse, Nienke de Wilde Lay-out Dutch Designers Collective, Cathy van den Berg, Louise van der Laak, Jimmy Goedhart Photography Ted Erkkila, Ton van der Vorst, GoogleMaps Website David Blom, Erik Pols, Ted Erkkila

Dutch Designers Collective

Part of the TOPdesk group of companies

20

? Contents October 09
4 News 6 Trends: Web form or phone call? 9 Column: Pretty useful, that Self Service Desk! 10 14 16 18 20 23 24 Department in the Spotlight: Consultancy TOPdesk 4.2 Up close: Incident Management TOPdesk 4.2 Up close: Reservations Management Client in focus: Planning in TOPdesk, with a difference Running like clockwork: IT support in education TOPdesk On-Site Application Management Tips + Tricks

News
TOPdesk Symposium - a great success!
On 18 June, 715 TOPdesk enthusiasts representing a range of organizations from across the Netherlands and Belgium attended the eighth edition of the TOPdesk Symposium in Hilversum, the Netherlands. The event was a great success with a new record of number of visitors up 67 percent compared with the Symposium in 2006. Visitors were invited to take part in a range of workshops and activities and attend a variety of TOPdesk-related presentations. One of the highlights of the day was the presentation of the TOPdesk Service Management Awards. The lucky winner was GGD Amsterdam, due to its outstanding presentations on the topics of Processes, Tools and People. Soon after, TOPdesk conducted a survey to measure the success of the Symposium. Seventy-four percent of visitors considered the event to be between good and outstanding. An even greater number of visitors confirmed that the Symposium met their expectations, while many said that the day had motivated them to work with TOPdesk more extensively in the future, as well as apply all the tips and tricks they had learnt that day to their own work.
The Symposium lobby

And the winner is

Every visitor to the TOPdesk Symposium was given the chance to win a client satisfaction survey conducted by TOPdesk. To enter, each participant needed to submit a Health Check to the Consultancy stand at the Info Market. A great number of Health Checks were submitted, but there could only be one winner: WE Europe! The survey gives companies an insight into the expectations of their clients and to what extent their service meets these. The results and conclusions of the survey are illustrated in a report, which also reveals where any bottlenecks lie. For more information on this service, please visit our website at www.topdesk.com.

4 NEWS

Calendar
OCTOBER
6 - 8 IT & Business Neue Messe, Stuttgart (DE) cms.messe-stuttgart.de 13 Minicongres GGDs Grand Hotel Karel V, Utrecht (NL) www.topdesk.nl 20 - 22 Discuss & Discover New Munich Trade Fair Centre, Munich (DE) www.discuss-discover.com 26 - 27 ITSMF Jaarcongres Hart van Holland, Nijkerk (NL) www.itsmf.nl

TOPdesk System Administrator makes TOP 5 in the Netherlands

TOPdesk system administrator, Jan-Willem Chen, has made it into the top five system administrators in the Netherlands. Techworld, an online magazine for IT and system management, organized the SysAdmin competition in conjunction with the annual System Administrator Day on 31 July. Out of 285 entries, Jan-Willem succeeded in making it into the top 5. Needless to say, TOPdesk, JanWillems employer, is enormously proud of its system administrators achievement.

NOVEMBER
Visitors watch a presentation at the Symposium

4 - 5 Tooling Event Jaarbeurs Utrecht (NL) www.toolingevent.nl 4 - 5 b2d: Business to Dialog Phnix-Halle, Mainz (DE) http://www.dialogmesse.de/ 9 - 10 itSMF Conference Hilton Birmingham Metropole, Birmingham (UK) www.itsmf.co.uk 24 Minicongres Universiteiten Grand Hotel Karel V, Utrecht (NL) www.topdesk.nl 23 - 26 Service Desk Messe Rheingoldhalle, Mainz (DE) www.service-desk-forum.de

JANUARY
13 - 16 BETT Show Olympia, London (UK) www.bettshow.com

NEWS 5

Trends

Web form or phone call?

Every service desk reaches a point where it has to start considering: how do we want our customers to contact us? Should they call us, visit us personally, or contact us through a Self Service Desk? Two experts discuss the increased digital communication and the effect it has on personal interaction: Now Im working for a company which is mostly digitized, and its really quiet.

TEXT: NIEK STEENHUIS

Deciding whether customers should visit you personally, call you or email the service desk is better known as the principle of face-call-click or click-call-face. The first type is based on personal contact with the service desk; the second is geared towards digital communication. Facilities specialist Jang Mee Bosman and TOPdesk consultant Kevin Bruin have also noticed that more and more organizations are opting for digital calls. Face-call-click or click-call-face why should a service desk make the decision? Jang Mee explains. Customers often dont mind how they log calls, as long as their problems get resolved. That is why service organizations should decide for themselves whether or not they want to work digitally. The most important aspect of helping

customers is the availability of the service desk, anticipating their needs and giving feedback on calls. Reporting incidents digitally could also be the solution for your service desk. Customers no longer have to bear in mind the opening hours of the service desk, because they can log their own calls. Furthermore, they can always refer to a specific call and say, Listen, I made this call two weeks ago, but there has still been no progress. Moving towards digital communication is not only useful for customers; it can also save service desk employees a lot of time. They can deal with calls at any given moment due to the correct registration of calls, and the overview of customer problems enables them to work preventively: Bulbs are replaced before they burn out.

That sounds great. So digital registration is the way to go? Before you take the digital plunge, there are a couple of things to consider. Introducing an online platform like the Self Service Desk often means taking a completely different approach. If you force customers to log everything digitally, you might alienate certain people who will in turn see this as bad service. The end doesnt always justify the means, explains Kevin.

6 TRENDS

TRENDS 7

Trends

An approach that might work is to stimulate your customers to use the Self Service Desk in a positive way. Introduce them to the idea by distributing flyers, hanging posters in the coffee corner, placing footers in emails and so forth. It is important that you stress the advantages for the customers clearly. For example, being able to make a call at any moment of the day and the improved feedback are key selling points. Jang Mee agrees. Customers are often prepared to make the extra effort if they understand the benefits of digital calls and if making a call is only three or four clicks away. The process should definitely not be too complex, or else theyll give up. Most people would rather call or visit the office than fill out a form. Forms can be really useful for simple calls about cleaning or broken bulbs, but often enough a problem is too complex to handle in such a way, explains Jang Mee. Due to the complexity of IT calls, going digital can often prove tricky. You need enough information to resolve the call, but often the customers IT knowledge is too limited to explain the nature of the problem. The IT specialist then has to call the customer to find out what the problem is, replies Kevin. Requests, on the other hand, are

easily automated. The data in these requests is often standard and easy to put in a form which you can publish on the internet. The information is then applied to the tool and a set duration is linked to it. Not much can go wrong and it is easier than copy-pasting from Word documents, Kevin explains.

in the first place is the personal side of the job; now they have to turn down their colleagues and tell them to log their requests digitally. This might take quite a bit of getting used to. Is visiting the service desk a thing of the past? Jang Mee: The introduction of email and PDA has stimulated the use of digital and telephone contact. One of my clients exclusively uses digital communication and only has to visit customers for keys. Its really quiet there. Kevin: Everyone seems to know each other in smaller organizations, thus incidents will be registered personally. I also prefer to visit system management if I have a problem with my computer.

THE PROCESS SHOULD DEFINITELY NOT BE TOO COMPLEX.

Jang Mee Bosman

Wont digitization interfere with personal interaction? It most likely will, comments Jang Mee. But it could also work to your advantage as customers wont come running to you as soon as their rubbish bin needs to be emptied. Although they prefer picking up the phone or addressing a facilities employee in the lift, customers will have to get used to the change. The service desk employees themselves also have to make a switch, especially facilities employees. One of the reasons they started working in facilities

Jang Mee Bosman is the general manager of Fmission and advises other organizations in the area of MIS and helps them to select, implement and optimize these systems. Kevin Bruin is a consultant at TOPdesk and specializes in the introduction of the Self Service Desk and the communication that surrounds it.

8 TRENDS

Column
TEXT: AMANDA DIRKSE

Pretty useful, that Self Service Desk!

Yet, in practice, this is often not the case. Simply informing callers of a new application and set of procedures is not enough. Thats great; but what has it got to do with me? is often their response. Nevertheless, it is important to convince them that using the Self Service Desk is a real benefit and that by adapting to the new procedures their lives will become easier. From now on, callers can both log and keep track of calls easily and quickly, saving them time. They will also begin to notice that their queries and problems are being resolved in less time. To encourage callers to use the new Self Service Desk, the Dutch Designers Collective (formerly part of the Communication and Design department) has collaborated with TOPdesk to offer a unique service. The idea behind it is to draw up a communication plan together with the client in order to promote use of the Self Service Desk within the organization. This can be done using promotional material in the organizations corporate design, by producing technical documentation to explain the ins and outs of the Self Service Desk or even by organizing an official kick-off. Finally, frequent and clear communication with your clients is key to closing the communication gap and rounding off a TOPdesk implementation. Promoting the introduction of the Self Service Desk will reduce or even combat the practice of inundating service desk employees with requests during coffee breaks. Support specialists now dare to leave their workstations without fear of being chased after by every Tom, Dick and Harry with requests to resolve all their problems. They now have time to work in peace and perhaps even receive a compliment here and there about the improved service. It seems that a Self Service Desk is actually pretty useful, after all.

The end of a long and intensive implementation is in sight and the IT manager, service desk staff and TOPdesk consultants are wiping the drops of sweat from their brows. The processes have been mapped out, all the necessary training has been completed and responsibilities have been assigned; the only thing left to do now is actually begin working with the application. In many cases, this involves callers logging their own calls in the Self Service Desk. Yet the telephone continues to ring and colleagues keep dropping by with requests to fix this and that. This wasnt part of the original plan! All too often, the perception that many callers have when new software is introduced into their organization is of complex, inconvenient, slow, timeconsuming and unclear procedures. However, at TOPdesk it is of course easy for us to claim that logging calls in the Self Service Desk is actually quick, easy and worthwhile. Yet we are more than aware that the implementation of an application will no doubt bring with it numerous changes. Unfortunately, as a result, many are deterred from putting a Self Service Desk into operation during the early stages. An IT or Facilities departments good intentions are annulled by the force of habit in the remainder of the organization. This can be contested by promoting the benefits that the Self Service Desk brings. As head of the Communication & Design department at TOPdesk, I have regular contact with clients who are in the process of implementing TOPdesk and, subsequently, wish to encourage use of the Self Service Desk. It is often difficult enough to generate enthusiasm for purchasing an application in the first place, and thus one is relieved when the right support finally becomes available. Project leaders in IT and Facilities departments live for the moment of going live. Yet there remains a great big gaping hole that needs to be filled; that is, a communication portal for the callers. Generating enthusiasm towards accepting a new application and set of procedures is often considered something that will develop of its own accord.

Department in the Spotlight: Consultancy

When TOPdesk first opened its doors, the Consultancy department consisted of four consultants. Back then, they managed to install TOPdesk version 2 in a half day, followed by a brief training session. Now, 15 years later, the department consists of more than 70 consultants and 9 planners with offices in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The consultants have performed over 5000 implementations in more than 35 countries. Clearly, the Consultancy department as well as the clients have undergone some significant changes over the years. Something that has not changed, however, is their personal, pragmatic approach.
TEXT: HENRIEKE KORTEN

The early days

To get the inside story behind the evolution of TOPdesk Consultancy, we spoke to a handful of consultants from each of our offices. Sander Jerphanion began working at TOPdesk Netherlands in 2000 before the establishment of the other TOPdesk offices and is now Head of Consultancy. In describing the differences between now and then he remarks, When I started working in Consultancy, the department was having a hard time finding new people. The waiting time was getting longer and longer, despite the economic slump that arose after the internet bubble burst. At the time, just 15 people worked in the department,

and a typical consultancy project was shorter than it is now; back then the focus was on explaining how TOPdesk worked. Another big difference was that our clientele was not as diverse compared to now; for example, we didnt

have any facilities clients and the organizations we worked with were smaller. In 2002, shortly after Sander began working at TOPdesk Netherlands, TOPdesk UK started operations. In those days, they were heavily reliant on the Dutch office, as they did not yet have an actual office in the UK. Consultants from the Dutch office flew to England for implementations. A few years later, when they officially opened an office in London, Douglas Breeuwer was there to greet customers as the first official consultant for TOPdesk UK. In the beginning, I was on my own as a consultant. But weve grown since then, and now

BACK THEN THE FOCUS WAS ON EXPLAINING HOW TOPDESK WORKED.

Sander Jerphanion

10 DEPARTMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The TOPdesk consultants

IN A WAY, WE HELP CLIENTS TO HELP THEMSELVES.

Gkhan Tuna

there are four of us consultants in the London office. We travel all over the UK and the rest of the world to implement TOPdesk, tells Douglas. TOPdesk Germany shares a similar story. When the German office opened in 2005, customers were served by Dutch consultants or by consultants from

partner companies in Germany. They have since grown considerably and now have five full-time consultants that provide training and implementation services throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As the oldest and largest of the TOPdesk offices, it stands to reason that TOPdesk Netherlands has the most consultants and the most extensive range of services. All new consultants still participate

in a training programme in the Netherlands, regardless of their home office. On occasion, consultants from the Dutch office still visit other TOPdesk offices to assist with long, complicated or novel services and implementations this is particularly true for the newest TOPdesk offices in Hungary and Canada. However, as the growth of each office outside of the Netherlands continues to rise, so does their independence from the Dutch office. The German

DEPARTMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT 11

and British offices, in particular, are striving towards more independence.

The TOPdesk implementation

Regardless of where they work, all TOPdesk consultants share the same vision and mission: to assist customers in improving their support services and to help them get the most out of TOPdesk. Consultants accomplish these goals by employing a threetiered approach to their services, which includes optimizing the people, process and application in combination with each other. The software and the process must be harmonized and the proposed goals need to be realistic. Consultants, together with the organization in question, make an inventory of their goals and familiarize themselves with the company processes, tells Roeland van Rijswijk, who coaches a team of thirteen consultants. Gkhan Tuna, another consultant, explains the process further. An organizations objectives need to be applied within TOPdesk. It begins with the implementation, and is followed by the employees learning to work with the tool so that a larger goal, such as the improvement of support services, can gradually be achieved. In a way, you could say that we help clients to help themselves. According to Sander, No one knows the tool and the best practices better than the consultant; likewise, no one knows better what is important to the client than the client. Together, we look at how these two aspects can be combined in the tool. The

goal of an implementation is that the client can continue working successfully after we are gone. For this to happen, we need to make these processes as concrete as possible.

CONSULTANCY IS ABOUT ENSURING THAT PROCESSES ARE AS EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE.

Douglas Breeuwer

order. A consultant can set the configuration manager on the right track by, for example, providing tips on performing regular audits. This is exactly the opposite of what we used to do. In the past, we just explained how a module such as Configuration Management works, whereas now we are much more proactive and alert to possible bottlenecks and problem areas. Gkhan continues, Organizations put a lot of effort into setting up TOPdesk during an implementation, but often do not take the time to evaluate or improve it at a later stage. When we are done completing the intake, determining the goals, setting up TOPdesk and training the employees, it is up to the client to continue improving their processes. If they reach a standstill, we can help out with the next step or implement changes that are better suited to the organization. Even if everything is going well, a TOPdesk Audit, for example, is a good way to get a better picture of the current procedures and TOPdesk configuration, and to determine whether the selected TOPdesk setup is still the best way to go about achieving the clients goals. Every process requires constant supervision. I often see many incidents being transferred back and forth, which ends up being reflected in the clients reports. However, simply identifying a problem is not enough to resolve it. The solution lies in the adjustment of the tool or the process. For example, perhaps the manner in which people log incidents could be improved or the operator groups could be organized differently. After 5000 implementations, weve seen

Douglas points out that, Ultimately, consultancy is about ensuring that a clients processes are as efficient and productive as possible. When we begin an implementation, some people are put off by the price of consultancy which is actually quite reasonable when you compare it to consultancy fees at other organizations but they end up being very enthusiastic about consultancy when they realize just how much time and money it saves them in the long run. That is why we are invited back so frequently.

Follow-up care
Even though the implementation is over does not necessarily mean a consultants work is over. Sander explains how, Occasionally, people will enthusiastically begin setting up, for example, a CMDB without ensuring that Configuration Management is in

12 DEPARTMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

the most common bottlenecks and solutions. Thats why we are so alert to these sorts of things, and also why we are able to get the client back on the right track, adds Roeland.

New goals and challenges

TOPdesks Consultancy department continues to look to the future in a search for new ways to be of service, as Sander relates. We have been noticing that the

collaboration between various departments such as facilities, HRM and IT is becoming more and more important when, for example, a new employee is hired. At the same time, we acknowledge that the support services that these departments provide can vary considerably. We are embracing the challenge of combining their strengths to create an improved whole. Despite having grown rapidly in the 15 years since TOPdesk began,

TOPdesk has not lost sight of what clients value most. Roeland comments that, Many years ago, one of our clients told us that he thought we were very personal and down to earth, but that he expected these qualities to diminish as a result of growth and professionalization. I recently ran into him again and he told me that he had been proven wrong we are now quite big, but our personal touch and accessibility have remained intact. This is something we will maintain in the future.

DEPARTMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT 13

TOPdesk 4.2 Up close

Incident Management
(Call Management)

Many TOPdesk clients consider Incident management to be the most vital process for their organization all the more important to ensure that the configuration of this module is as efficient as possible. TOPdesk 4.2 offers you countless new features to help you to handle incidents quicker and more securely as well as run reports that are even more consistent. Below is a rundown of the benefits.

TEXT: MIKE DE RUITER

The latest technology

To optimize the Incident management process and to ensure that processing incidents is made even more efficient, the TOPdesk framework, Mango, has been implemented in TOPdesk, step by step. This new technology was first used to optimize the Supporting files module; now, Mango has also been used to rewrite Incident management. Consequently, a number of things have changed with regard to the way you use this module. For instance, you can now edit the Incident card directly, instead of having to click on the Edit icon first.

to. The date/time stamp will appear automatically in the updated Request and Action fields. The objective of this new arrangement of memo fields is to improve the speed and efficiency of dealing with new information, enabling operators to resolve incidents easily and in less time. This also gives you the option to email, for instance, only the last action to your clients.

Status
You now have the option to link the status to processing actions in TOPdesk. This means that when you set the status to Finished, TOPdesk will close the incident automatically, while selecting the status Waiting for client info will effectively put the incident on hold. Ultimately, registering incidents in TOPdesk will be made more efficient and detailed. What is more, the consistency of any reports you run will improve considerably.

Request and Action fields

The Request and Action fields in version 4.2 have been improved. Henceforth, you can now enter text in the uppermost section. TOPdesk will then display this text in the block underneath. In the bottom block you will be able to click on hyperlinks such as web addresses and links to other cards in TOPdesk, just like you are used

The new Request and Action fields in TOPdesk 4.2

14 TOPDESK 4.2 UP CLOSE

4.2
On hold

The latest version of TOPdesk, the 4.2, was recently released. This version offers you a whole host of new and improved modules and functionalities, including an updated version of the Longterm Planning module, Visitor Registration for the Self Service Desk, the CTI link and an enhanced version of the Search system. But thats not all. To give you an idea of all the options that this latest version of TOPdesk has to offer, we have outlined below the new functionalities of two particularly popular TOPdesk modules: Incident Management and Reservations Management.

Priority and urgency

In the past, a number of TOPdesk clients have requested Priority and Urgency fields to be included on the Incident card. TOPdesk Enterprise 4.2 now features both these fields. Consequently, because TOPdesk automatically fills in the priority of incidents, handling incidents becomes more manageable. TOPdesk includes a priority matrix, in which you can set up the appropriate priority based on the impact and urgency. The priority then determines the duration of an incident, meaning that your service desk employees will no longer need to determine the priority of incidents themselves.

On some occasions, processing incidents within the time agreed is simply out of your service desks control. Perhaps one of your service desk employees is waiting to receive additional information from a client, for instance. Naturally, you would prefer these incidents not to be included as breached in reports, because the cause is external. To fix this, TOPdesk 4.2 now includes an On hold functionality for those clients who also use Contract Management and the SLM module. This feature offers you the option to pause the duration of an incident. As soon as you deactivate the On hold function, the target date will be recalculated. This ensures that operators do not lose any resolution time when handling incidents, giving you a more realistic image of your service desks performance.

Renewed Caller block Authorization for closing incidents (only available in TOPdesk Enterprise) Separate Operator group field (only available in TOPdesk Enterprise) Quicker registration of Time Taken Improved method of working with SLAs For a complete list of all the new improvements and added features and functionalities in TOPdesk 4.2, please download the Release notes from the TOPdesk Extranet.

But thats not all...

In TOPdesk 4.2, a number of functionalities have been updated to improve the Incident management process. To name just a few:

Mike de Ruiter is a Consultant at TOPdesk. He collects information, feedback, and tips and tricks concerning the Incident management for the Consultancy department.

Automatic prioritizing of incidents

TOPDESK 4.2 UP CLOSE 15

TOPdesk 4.2 Up close

Reservations Management

Our experience in consultancy has taught us that reservations employees can often improve their efficiency in a few simple steps, which in turn boosts their job satisfaction. Below we have summarized a number of tips to simplify the reservations employees job. These tips have been split up according to the roles in the reservations management process: the requester, the reservations operator and the service operator.
TEXT: IRIS FEHSE

Reservations operator
The reservations operator is the backbone of the reservation process and is responsible for reserving suitable locations and making sure that the reserved services on the to-do list are assigned to the correct service operator. TOPdesk Enterprise 4.2 allows you to set up a block time for each service before or after a reservation. Using block times can be useful when, for example, the arrangement of materials within a meeting room has to be changed before the meeting. This means that when you set up a block time of 30 minutes in the Adjust arrangement service, no other person is able to reserve the meeting room during this time; the reservations operator then no longer has to take this into account. From now on, it is possible to set up a default service operator for each service, which means that the reservations operator no longer has to find out who is responsible for the service. When a service is linked to an operator, the reserved service is automatically added to the to-do list of the correct service operator. You can set up the default service operator on the Service card.

Completed Service card with block times

You can also set up a default service for each facility (location or object), which means the default service is always suggested when reserving a facility. The service is then automatically linked to the facility, and the reservations operator no longer has to link the service manually. The Service card allows you to indicate for each linked location whether the service should be offered by default.

16 TOPDESK 4.2 UP CLOSE

Planner shortcut On the Navigation tab, you can easily add a shortcut to the planner by clicking on the Set up TOPdesk Navigator icon. Click on Add new shortcut on the Shortcut tab, select For all users and tick the Open within TOPdesk box. Give the shortcut a name and enter the following in the URL: /tas/ secure/orange/showsecureplanner.

Service operator
Service operators are responsible for carrying out reserved services such as Lunch, Projector set-up or Coffee and tea, which means that they are usually not sitting behind a desk. For this reason, TOPdesk has added an easy-to-print checklist that the service operator can use. When setting up the module, we advise you to configure the to-do overview so that all relevant information such as time, amount and location appears in the checklist. The completed tasks on the checklist can then be closed in one go at the end of the day. The Checklist icon is located at the top right corner of the reserved services to-do list.
The Planner in the Reservations Management module

services. You can select one of the available services and indicate the amount and date. Requesters of services can also easily keep track of their own reservations in the Self Service Desk. If you decide to give requesters access to the Self Service Desk, it is important to inform the requester of the reservations procedure.

Training courses User training can be a great way to get people involved in using TOPdesk; the Reservations training course introduces reservation employees to the Reservations module.

Requester
The requester is the person who begins the process by making a reservation. For example, they can reserve a location and order the service coffee and tea. You can set up the reservations process in such a way that you can save the requester and the reservations operators a lot of time by letting them plan their own reservation through the Self Service Desk. The requester is authorized to view the planner, make a reservation and now TOPdesk Enterprise 4.2 allows you to easily add

Self Service Desk In the Self Service Desk you can add a link to the reservations planner in the shortcuts list, which enables the requester to plan a new reservation quickly and easily. You can set this up in the operators section through Settings > System settings > Menu settings Self Service Desk > Reservations. Add the new link using the following URL: /tas/public/reservationpublic? action=showpublicplanner. Please note: it is important that you tick the option Include in shortcuts.

Iris Fehse is a TOPdesk Consultant. She mainly focuses on Facility Management and is specialized in the reservations process.

TOPDESK 4.2 UP CLOSE 17

Client in focus: Planning in TOPdesk, with a difference

Scheduling tours and registering objects, logging calls about lost umbrellas and booking rooms for weddings are just a few of the unique ways in which the North Brabant Museum uses TOPdesk. TOPdesk as a Service offers the museum a system with which to manage internal calls, catering and reservations.
TEXT: CAROLINE KLEIJER

The museum is situated in a monumental 18th century building located in Den Bosch, in the south of the Netherlands. It houses stories of the history, art and culture of the North Brabant province and the southern part of the Netherlands. Visitors to the museum can admire the works of Jeroen Bosch, Pieter Brueghel, Vincent van Gogh and other wellknown artists from the region, while the museum also offers individuals and companies the opportunity to book historical rooms for special occasions.

A NEW CONFIGURATION IS MADE FOR EVERY EXHIBITION.

whether tours are scheduled, whether companies or visitor groups are expected and whether weddings are to be held. Consequently, much time and effort has been spent on the configuration of this module. Joost Seweuster, Facilities Manager at the museum and the person responsible for the implementation of TOPdesk, describes the benefits

that TOPdesk has introduced. Booking a group tour is different than reserving a room, because several tours can take place simultaneously in the same room. To simplify this we have created objects in TOPdesk called tour guides. We can then link a tour in the form of a service to a tour guide. In doing so we can ensure that employees at the museum have more of an insight into reservations. This also gives us the means to generate overviews of the number and type of reservations during a certain period at a later date if need be.

Central role
TOPdesks Reservations management module plays an important role in the museum. Every day, employees can refer to the modules planner to check

Lost and Found

The museum also uses Incident management, or rather Call management, to register objects that have been found. Any

18 CLIENT IN FOCUS

employee at the museum can check whether a call has been made concerning a missing object simply by clicking on a link in the Self Service Desk. The module is also used to register repairs and other odd jobs, which are then transferred to the relevant persons. In addition to its permanent collection, the museum houses a new exhibition four times a year. Currently on show is an exhibition depicting self-portraits in Dutch modern art in various forms, from paintings to video installations. For every exhibition, the museum

makes use of innovative methods. Much of the equipment used is the museums own and to register it they use TOPdesks Asset management module. A new configuration is made for every exhibition and labeled with the name of the exhibition concerned. As a result they are able to keep track of exactly which equipment is being used for which exhibition and where. They can also see when equipment needs to be repaired or replaced.

Looking ahead
The museum is due to be renovated in 2010 and is set to expand considerably as a result. We deliberately planned the implementation of TOPdesk as a Service prior to the renovation. Weve already given the employees the opportunity to begin registering calls in TOPdesk, because we want them to be used to the system during the renovations. This will be a particularly busy period, during which TOPdesk will help provide structure and insight into our work.

The North Brabant Museum

Running like clockwork: IT support in education

A large majority of TOPdesks over 3000 clients operates within the education sector. This includes both the educational licenses set aside for students who learn to use TOPdesk and the IT departments that support the students and employees at these institutions. The experiences of four educational institutions have shown that providing support for both these groups can be rather challenging at times.

TEXT: NIENKE DE WILDE

IT service providers in education support two rather different client groups. On the one hand, there are the students, a dynamic group of young people who embrace new technologies and media with open arms. The other group comprises the teachers and supporting departments who profit in particular from a so stable as possible infrastructure, to ensure that industry critical processes and applications remain reliable. The IT departments task is to provide optimal support for both target groups.

Running like clockwork

The professionalization of IT service is becoming increasingly

important in the education sector. At the commencement of 2007, the Central IT Service at ROC West Brabant, a vocational college in the south of the Netherlands, privatized. IT-workz, once a spin-off of this organization, has since grown into an organization with 75 employees. Back office manager at IT-workz, Cees Siemons, explains how the Central IT Service was already looking to join new developments. ROC West Brabant was, for instance, the first ROC to implement Microsoft SharePoint. After the implementation, other institutions contacted us with questions about the approach we had taken thats when we came up with the idea to become independent.

With 27,000 students, 2500 employees and 55 branches, ROC West Brabant is one of the largest ROCs in the Netherlands. In order for such a large IT environment to remain stable and manageable, it is essential to streamline processes, particularly with regard to automating office procedures, as Cees explains. ROC employees expect continuity in their working environment, as well as the reliability of everything running like clockwork. In order to achieve a stable IT environment, it is vital to register all the equipment that is intended for use. ROCs often work across many different locations; therefore, it can be difficult to build up a

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IT IS VITAL TO REGISTER ALL THE EQUIPMENT THAT IS INTENTED FOR USE.

clear-cut CMDB. Christel Wurtz is configuration manager at ROC da Vinci in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, a college with 18 locations. In order to ensure that this large organizations configuration management is kept manageable, she decided to offer all IT orders from one central location. The idea behind this was to ensure that registering and marking of new objects was as efficient as possible.

universities and new educational methods such as e-learning are being experimented with on a large scale. IT-workz takes this a step further; for instance, by integrating virtual reality into the curriculum and working on the development of educational games and e-fitness. Providing support for students generates many opportunities for IT departments, but its not all fun and games. At the end of March, Maurice Delbessine and Tim Strouven from Stichting Voortgezet Onderwijs Parkstad Limburg (SVOPL) began setting up Configuration management in TOPdesk. The managers at the various schools wanted to place labels on the equipment; however, they had learned from experience that students tend to pick at stickers on computers and monitors. Thus in order to distinguish between each piece of equipment, they needed a more permanent way of marking them. There are various solutions for this available on the market, such as securing metal plates containing the object data or by chemically etching a template.

make videos during their work experience period. They can reserve cameras at the service desk, which they can collect and return to the multimedia centre. Over the years, IT-workz has changed the way it uses TOPdesk, as Cees explains. We used to use TOPdesk on a much more operational basis; nowadays, many more decisions are made based on the actual data in TOPdesk. Management reports are now delivered to the management, we can now keep track of the time taken for each operator and clients can gain insight into their calls in the Self Service Desk. They are also planning to undertake a number of other matters with TOPdesk such as conducting a client satisfaction survey and implementing TOPdesk for facilities support.

Virtual reality in the curriculum

For IT-workz, IT support in education is not simply about providing and maintaining a stable IT environment; integrating the possibilities of IT in education is just as important. Nowadays, students communicate in numerous different ways: Facebook, Twitter, MSN and texting are just a few of these. It is vital that institutions continue to follow these developments in order to ensure that the education they provide is geared to the students experiences and environment. The IT department plays a central role in this. Smart boards are being implemented throughout schools, colleges and

The attraction of education

Providing support for both employees and students at educational institutions creates a number of challenges for an IT department. Every user group has different wishes and requirements and the two extremes come together in education. Yet everyone we spoke to agrees on one thing: these two extremes are what make providing IT support in education so enjoyable.

Professionalization with TOPdesk

At the Hogeschool IPABO, an institution for the training of primary school teachers, reserving and lending cameras is one of the most important forms of IT support for students. The IT department uses Reservations management in TOPdesk to manage this. A great deal of the study time of the 1400 students at IPABO is spent doing work experience at primary schools. As part of their evaluation, the students have to

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TOPdesk On-Site Application Management

TOPdesk Consultancy is always looking for ways to support clients better. That is why we would like to bring one of our more popular services to your attention. Our On-Site Application Management service is ideal for clients who would like to optimize their use of TOPdesk without having to devote time and money to maintain it themselves. With the On-Site Application Management service, our TOPdesk specialists will oversee your TOPdesk environment, take care of maintenance and provide valuable time-saving tips to users.
TEXT: CARRIE BRANDT

Why On-Site Application Management?

Your TOPdesk maintenance contract entitles you to expert support from our knowledgeable support desk. In addition to this, TOPdesk can provide periodic on-site support to handle all other maintenance tasks. The On-Site Application Management service enables you to focus on your principal tasks while our TOPdesk specialists ensure that your application is running optimally.

amount of effort required; TOPdesk users in your organization will receive professional on-site support.

TOPdesk authorizations, setting up complex reports, installing updates, supporting users and configuring TOPdesk settings. Depending on your preferences, the dedicated Application Manager will visit your organization on either a monthly or a bi-monthly basis. He or she will be available from 10 AM to 5 PM for any TOPdeskrelated work. The specialist will work together with your technical infrastructure specialists to optimize TOPdesk within your organization. We have received a lot of positive feedback from our clients about this service, which we offer at a discounted rate. It helps clients to get the most out of their tool with the least amount of effort. If you are interested in this service, please contact the TOPdesk office nearest you.

What to expect
Should you decide to take advantage of the benefits of this service, you will be assigned a dedicated TOPdesk Application Manager who will familiarize him or herself with the TOPdesk installation in your organization. The specialist will monitor your system carefully and will advise you on how you can best optimize the use of your application. TOPdesk users will receive professional support from a TOPdesk specialist who can assist with any queries or change system configurations. The specialist will adapt his or her work to meet the needs of your organization, which can include activities such as handling

Advantages
TOPdesk will ensure that your system is functioning optimally by performing periodic check-ups on your system; Your personnel will not need to spend any time on the technical maintenance of your application; Your TOPdesk system will be kept up to date with a minimum

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tips + tricks
Log actions as pop-ups
TOPdesk offers you the option to use log actions as pop-up windows. This can be useful when, for instance, an individual is authorized to close a call for an external operator only once an invoice has been received and signed. Something like this can be easy to forget. To prevent this, you can set up a pop-up window to appear as soon as someone closes a call for an external operator. You are free to decide what to include in the pop-up; we suggest something like: You may only close this call once the invoice has been signed and archived. Has this invoice already been processed? To do this you need to enable the option Show log in the system settings. You can find this by going to Settings in the menu, then clicking System settings > Functional settings > General tab > Display log in Notes tab. Once you have activated the log, you can define the trigger in the Events explorer, after which your pop-up will appear. You can then use the Action explorer to formulate the content of the pop-up window. To do this, create a new action and select the option Log. Give it the same name as the pop-up window. Under Message you can enter the message that you want to appear in the pop-up. By clicking with the right mouse button, you can insert fields from TOPdesk, such as the name of the operator or the logged in user. Tick the option Confirm before sending. Finally, activate the pop-up and link it to the event that you made earlier. The pop-up will now appear for those TOPdesk users when the trigger that you defined occurs.

Layout of fields in (email) actions TOPdesk 4

You might already know that you can copy fields from TOPdesk into emails, HTTP requests and the log. But were you aware that you have the option to define the layout of many of these fields yourself? In date fields you have many options to choose from with regard to the layout. For instance, you can choose to show only the month, to display the written date in its entirety or to show only the day of the week. Respectively, this will look as follows: July, Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 11:30 or Tuesday. For all memo fields (such as Request and Action) from TOPdesk version 4.2 onwards, you can decide whether you wish to display the date/name stamp.

TOPdesk UK limited t +44 (0)20 7803 4200 e info@topdesk.co.uk w www.topdesk.co.uk TOPdesk Netherlands t +31 (0)15 270 09 00 e info@topdesk.nl w www.topdesk.nl TOPdesk Germany GmbH t +49 (0)631 624 00 0 e info@topdesk.de w www.topdesk.de

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Copyright 2009 TOPdesk UK Limited. Although this magazine has been produced with the utmost care and attention, the writers cannot be held responsible in any way for any damages that may occur due to errors and / or deficiencies in this publication.