Working Relationship Between Computer Technicians and Their Campuses

My #1 goal is customer service and satisfaction, even though we have a "captive" customer base.

Guidelines for tech activity on your campus

They should be dressed appropriately, this includes an AISD name tag.

They should not give you their cell phone numbers. If you need them, call 806-326-1111.

They should "clock in" upon arrival, and "clock out" when they leave.

They should be on campus no later than 8:30 am (or 1:00pm, for split days). IF you have no work orders entered into the system, they will get with the contact to verify that no visit is needed and then proceed to another campus.

They should check in with the campus contact immediately if possible. I would also like them to check in with the principal at some point, every time they are on campus. This varies by principal.

They should not be software police. If they ask for licensing information (and they will) and the campus representative says that it is there, they are to install the software. The responsibility for illegal and pirated software lies with the principal at that campus, NOT WITH THE TECHNICIAN! This includes software brought from the teacher's home, or downloaded from the Internet (see attachments), even Napster-like sites.

They should not be used for software support and trouble shooting, except to determine that it is not a hardware or operating system issue. We have a 5 minute rule. If it takes more than 5 minutes to trouble shoot a software problem, then the next level of support should be initiated, which would be the campus or cluster software support person(s). We have not been trained to do much more than install and configure much of the specialized softwares that many departments, and campuses use (i.e. Quicken, Math Blaster Accelerated Reader, Plato). This is a very gray area and while we will not turn our back on the problem, I encourage the techs to get the Campus Facilitators involved as well. Many times they would work as team to solve the problem.

They should make every effort to save the user's data and documents when they are making a repair, changing Hard Drives or changing machines. The user should warn the tech of any specialized software that is installed on the computer (i.e. PDAS, CLASS, textbook tracking, fundraising tracking), as these packages do not always store the data in the documents folder and they have their own backup routines. However, the ultimate responsibility for the data lies with the user.

They should "check out" any equipment taken off campus for repair. This protects the campus and the technician and helps locate missing equipment when the fixed asset office comes to your campus to scan items. This includes third parties who do some contract work for us, like MicroAge and Amarillo Computers.

They should not fix any computer problems that have not been entered in as work orders. This means that a teacher cannot grab them in the hallway. If they do, the tech should ask them to let the campus contact know about the problem so that they can get back to it when the entered calls have been completed. We use the work order system to track problems on particular types of machines as well as the kind of work done by the technician. It gives me reports on productivity and lets me know the level of campus support that is taking place. The work order system also allows me to track turn around time and check for any long standing work orders.

There is one exception to this rule. If the principal OR the campus contact has an "emergency" or other urgent need, the techs have been informed to do those tasks regardless of whether or not the work order has been entered. The work order still needs to be entered, BUT it can be done later by the tech or the campus contact.

Word of warning - if your campus has zero work orders the tech should make other plans. If your campus has only a few work orders, I encourage the tech to plan only a half day, and reschedule the rest of the time. If your campus ALWAYS has an urgent need that did not get into the work order system, I will be calling!

My #2 goal is communication between all parties. These are the barest of guidelines and you may or may not be concerned with any or all of them. But if you perceive a problem with Technology or the Technician, I need to know what that problem is and I will try to get it resolved. I cannot fix a problem I do not know about.

Thank you,

Jerry Steen 
Phone: 326-1255