Purpose

• The objective of the HELP DESK is to facilitate the resolution of end users concerns and problems as quickly as possible. The HELP DESK provides a central point of contact to ensure that all calls are followed up and problems resolved.
• HELPDESK’s effectiveness is in providing rapid responses to user queries. HELP DESK provides support for all SSMC staff in production and will assist in troubleshooting System, Application, Network connectivity issues, New requests(Software and Hardware).

Policy Statement

1. This procedure provides the steps which need to be followed by SSMC staff when facing any IT related issues or while making a service request.
2. Key areas covered in this procedure are:
   1. Initial Contact (Methods of reaching IT Service Desk)
   2. Assign Priority Levels
   3. Create/Respond to Tickets
   4. Diagnostic and Escalate of Incidents/Service
3. Help Desk is the single point of contact for all IT services and issues.

Responsibilities

• IT Director: Ensure procedure is followed by all staff in their department
• IT Help Desk Senior Officer:
  • Ensure Help Desk Workflow is up to date and followed by SSMC staff.
  • Assign service tickets to IT staff.
  • Help Desk Senior Officer will manage the IT help desk system and team and coordinate with internal IT teams to ensure the completion of the reported issues /services within the defined service levels.
  • Help Desk would follow a defined escalation matrix.
• IT Help Desk team: Ensure Help Desk procedure is followed and acted upon timeously.
  • Facilitate the rapid resolution of problems through a single point of contact.
  • Maintain a historical log of the support provided to each request.
  • Identify user sites that are having trouble with a particular application or hardware.
  • Track the type of problems encountered for each request.
  • Uncover recurring problems and assist in planning a corrective course of action.
  • Generate statistics, such as the number and type of calls by application.
• Users: Users are expected to understand and follow the proper procedure when interacting with IT for any of the services offered.
• IT Technicians or Administrators: Responsible for support, setup, administration and maintenance of SSMC systems and networks. Administrators are responsible to set up the systems and networks access rights of the user according to the approval.

Procedure

Escalation Process and Procedures

Escalation occurs when an amount of time has gone by without an adequate solution to the trouble ticket. This amount of time varies based on the priority of the trouble ticket. It should be noted, however, that while a ticket is in a stalled status (that is, a status that is waiting for special considerations) the time is not increasing. Once a ticket has lapsed beyond its escalation window, an email is sent out to the submitter and the assigned IT staff member. The timer is then reset, and the priority is raised to the next level.

Call Priority and SLA

Priority Calculation Method

1. Extensive/Widespread - Critical Service Impact Issue critically affects the primary business service, major application, or mission critical system, it includes:
   1. Business service is not operational.
   2. Production system crashes
   3. Data integrity at risk
2. Significant/Large - Service or Implementation Impact

The business service, major application, or system is seriously affected, or implementation stopped. No acceptable workaround is available.

1. Moderate/Limited - Moderate Service Impact

The business service, major application, or system is moderately impacted, no data has been lost, and the business service, application, or system is still functioning. The issue may be temporarily resolved using an available workaround.

1. Minor/Localized - No Service Impact

Non-critical issues, general questions, enhancement requests, or documentation issues

1. Critical: This should be reserved for only the most catastrophic of problems, data corruption, complete inability to use the system/produce
2. High: A serious problem, effecting many areas, with no workaround
3. Medium: A problem that effects a more isolated piece of functionality, has a workaround
4. Low: Minor problems or errors that do not affect the use of the system/product in any substantive way.

References

Abbreviations and Definitions

SSMC-DKP: SmartSalem Medical Centre Dubai Knowledge Park

SSMC-IMC: SmartSalem Medical Centre Index Mall

SSMC-CW: SmartSalem Medical Centre City Walk

SSMC-HQ: SmartSalem Medical Centre Head Quarter