This article reports the latest Staff / Student Desktop ICT Support Policy approved by the University.

This policy is designed to:

•  Provide a clear understanding, for our community, of what they can expect from iSolutions and what are iSolutions expectations of the community.
• Describe the level of service that will be provided by iSolutions to each of these categories.

Purpose

iSolutions, on behalf of the University of Southampton, provides computer and information systems support for all staff members, postgraduate researchers, authorised visitors and undergraduate students. The purpose of this Policy is to describe the level of service that will be provided by iSolutions to each of these categories.

Scope

"ICT support" is defined as any enquiry made to iSolutions regarding any failures, problems, issues, questions, and other matters relating to the operation and continuity of service for University provided or managed ICT services.

This policy is focused on desktop ICT and therefore currently excludes AV, meeting rooms, CLS spaces and digital signage.

The support provided will vary depending on the nature of the service, the agreed service level targets and its criticality to the business of the University. 

Policy Statement

The following policy statement includes University provided or managed computing equipment, peripherals, software, and services. Applications used in the teaching and research processes will be supported by the relevant Academic Unit(s).

1. Software Support: Support is offered for all iSolutions’ provided core software packages and operating systems. 
   
   Hardware Support: iSolutions will facilitate support for all University owned ICT equipment. For details on levels of support please refer to the Hardware Provision Policy.
   
   
2. Support approach: To ensure a responsive service, support can be accessed either remotely the Service Line or by in-person visit to one of the Tech Hubs. Issues that are called in but cannot be resolved remotely will be passed onto the Tech Hub team to deal with in-person either at the customer’s location or in the most convenient Hub.
   
   
3. Compliance: iSolutions conducts periodic audits to ensure staff and students are complying with the University's IT Regulations and policies.
   
   
4. Support of Personal ICT: iSolutions will offer support to the personal devices of students in order to enable them to access University services and complete their coursework effectively. Any work carried out will be at the customer’s own risk. All staff should be equipped with the necessary University owned ICT devices to carry out their work wherever they are required to work. iSolutions will provide support for staff personally owned devices if they find themselves temporarily unable to work any other way. For full details see Reasonable endeavours IT support policy.
   
   
5. Support when working away from the University: iSolutions will provide remote support and advice but if it is not possible to solve the issue remotely, the user will be asked to bring the device to one of our Tech Hubs for further investigation. If this is not possible, the faculty or department to which the device is assigned is responsible for shipping the device to us and any associated costs.
   
   
6. The Knowledge Base (accessible via the Service Portal) will be kept up to date with useful self-help information to enable all staff and students to help themselves. 

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Support workflow

Alternative description of the image above

Starting point

Customer has an issue or request. How is this issue reported?

Scenario 1

The issue is reported through phone call, email, or the Service Portal. Can the case be resolved remotely using available tools?

• If yes: the case can be resolved remotely and then be closed as resolved  
• If no: pass ticket to Tech Hub and advise customer they can visit anytime they wish, if not they will be contacted by a Hub.

Is the 3rd line support required? 

• If yes: case resolved at 3rd line
• If no: arrange for the customer to visit a Tech Hub or for Tech Hub to visit the customer. The case is resolved after the visit.

Scenario 2

The issue is reported in-person at a Tech Hub. Can the case be resolved while the customer waits?

• If yes: the case is then closed as resolved 
• If no: the case might need to be escalated to a 3rd line team. Is 3rd line support required?

Is the 3rd line support required? 

• If yes: case resolved at 3rd line
• If no: arrange for the customer to visit a Tech Hub or for Tech Hub to visit the customer. The case is resolved after the visit.

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Summary of the support offering

Device	Type	Support	Additional information
Hardware All procurement must go through iSolutions	Standard provision with standard build	Full Hardware Support
	Standard provision without standard build	Full Hardware Support
	Non-standard provision purchased through iSolutions	Full Hardware Support
	Non-standard provision not purchased through iSolutions	Reasonable endeavours	Requestor may be advised to replace or purchase an additional standard solution (which may incur a cost to the faculty/psg)
	Personally owned	Sufficient efforts at customer’s risk	3rd party advice may be suggested as a solution
Operating System All procurement must go through iSolutions	Any device with standard build	Full Software Support
	Standard provision without standard build	Reasonable endeavours	Requestor may be advised to use a standard build
	Non-standard provision not purchased through iSolutions without standard build	Reasonable endeavours	Requestor may be offered a standard build if it is possible
	Personally owned	Reasonable endeavours at customer’s risk	3rd party advice may be suggested as a solution
Software All procurement must go through iSolutions	Core software on standard build	Full
	Core software on non-standard build	Reasonable endeavours
	Non-Standard software	Partial	iSolutions will ensure the software is installed correctly but requestor may be advised to seek 3rd Party/external advice for troubleshooting/usage issues
	Personally owned	Reasonable endeavours at customer’s risk	3rd party advice may be suggested as a solution
Printing All procurement must go through iSolutions	Apogee Managed Print Solution (staff)	Partial	Faculties / PSGs to replace toners, paper and other consumables.  iSolutions will repair Hardware faults, print queues, paper jams and card registration issues
	Apogee Managed Print Solution (students)	Full
	Personally owned printing devices	Reasonable endeavours	iSolutions will do their best to support staff or students with their own printer if they urgently need to print but are away from any managed print devices. 3rd party advice may be suggested as a solution
Peripherals All procurement must go through iSolutions	Standard Devices in standard equipment	Full
	Non-standard devices in standard equipment	Partial	iSolutions to verify the PC is working correctly and advise how to proceed
	Standard Devices in non-standard equipment	Partial	iSolutions to verify the device is working correctly and advise how to proceed
	Non-standard devices with Nonstandard equipment	Reasonable endeavours	Requestor may be advised to seek 3rd Party / external advice and support
	Personally owned	Reasonable endeavours at customer’s risk	3rd party advice may be suggested as a solution
Email Clients	Supported clients on standard build	Full
	Supported clients on nonstandard build	Reasonable endeavours
	Unsupported clients	Reasonable endeavours
Tablets/Smartphones All procurement must go through iSolutions	University provided	Full
	Personally owned	Reasonable endeavours at customer’s risk	3rd party advice may be suggested as a solution

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Related content

University's Hardware Provisioning Policy