Either Click: OPEN A TECH SUPPORT TICKET

Or call the E1B/WNYRIC Service Desk at 215-3650, option 2. 

All staff must contact the E1B/WNYRIC Service desk to open a ticket for support requests via email or at 215-3650, option 2. They may be reached on business days between 7:00am and 4:30pm. The Service Desk will record the incident in ServiceNow and resolve it when possible. E1B will "send" unresolved incidents to NW or the appropriate E1B team. NW technicians will see the incident in their ServiceNow system and, if available, the technician assigned to this type of incident will begin resolution. Staff may also use the ServiceNow system to file new tickets, live chat with support, or monitor existing requests. Use the same Username & Password that you used to log onto the computer.

For urgent issues, staff may contact the internal NW Help Desk Receptionist at 215-3667. Some urgent issues may be able to be resolved over the phone. Other urgent issues will be recorded as incidents in the ServiceNow system. If a technician is momentarily away from their desk - working on another issue or project - the Help Desk Receptionist will verbally notify them about this urgent issue. The technicians will review the issue and begin resolution if possible.

Only by contacting the Service Desk (or the Help Desk for urgent situations) can technology incidents be assigned to the appropriate technician in a manner that is equitably prioritized.

Please do not reach out directly to technicians for technology support. Technicians will reroute direct requests for technology support back to the Service Desk or the Help Desk for appropriate prioritization and efficient resolution. 

For all other issues, including unresolved technology issues, purchasing, and training, staff should communicate with their supervisor.

Although every tech issue is "urgent" from the perspective of the person calling it in, as is the case with all organizations that rely on the support of a technology support team, each incident must be prioritized to ensure needs are being met in an equitable fashion. Some issues do indeed take priority over others! The following prioritization (with some typical examples) is utilized for internal guidance.

• Safety, Security, and related Communications issues: Network infrastructure, hardware, or software issues related to Cameras, Door locks, Emergency Notifications to the Community and so forth
• Business Office: Network infrastructure, hardware, or software issues related to payroll and financial operations
• Computer Based Testing
  • State and National Computer Based Testing (NYSAA, SAT, Grades 3-8 CBT, for example)
  • Local Computer Based Testing (Computers and software that supports student benchmark assessments)
• Scheduled presentations and performances: (Guest Speaker Assemblies, Concerts, etc)
• Other issues, although frustrating, are not as high of a priority and may not be addressed immediately.

Niagara Wheatfield counts on the integrated support of both staff and Eire One BOCES Managed Services to ensure that tech-reliant operations continue to function efficiently. The brief outline below provides a high level sketch of some of the staff and service responsibilities.

Erie One BOCES Service Desk (716-215-3650, option 2)

• Provides immediate first-line technology support for teachers and staff
• Can reset most passwords over the phone and provide some support for minor tech issues
• Most Importantly: Creates “tickets” for all other tech incidents

Niagara Wheatfield Help Desk Receptionist (716-215-3667)

• Provides urgent first-line technology support to teachers and staff
• Can resolve some minor tech issues
• Implements Supervisor’s rubric to assign “tickets” to technicians

Technicians (2.8 Full Time Equivalent Staff)

• Resolve technical support incidents as directed by their supervisor or assigned by the Help Desk Receptionist
• Review ServiceNow throughout the day for new technology support incidents.

Network Administrator (0.2 Full Time Equivalent Staff)

• Maintains and troubleshoots internal Local Area Network, communicating with E1B Wide Area Network personnel as needed
• Collaborates on internal network security issues as requested
• Receives NW-site related direction from Supervisor and Director, including providing support for external contractors on issues related to the internal network

Naturally, there are questions that come up from time to time concerning processes and procedures. The following outline provides some responses and context for procedures that have been developed over the years.

• Why should I call the E1B ServiceDesk when I can just call, email, or grab the sleeve of my “building technician”?
  • Technicians have been directed to address technical support incidents logged in Service Now, as assigned by their supervisor. 
  • At most, only two-three of the five technicians are present, district-wide, on any given day, and as with all employees, technicians take time off and are not expected to provide technical support after hours. Texting, calling, and emailing technicians directly (when they may not be working) needlessly delays resolution when there could be technicians, onsite, ready to resolve incidents as they are reported in ServiceNow.
  • Although technicians may be loosely assigned to a building, they are expected and scheduled to be available to engage in technical resolution and project work district wide. Projects and other district-wide assignments - to which they have been assigned by their supervisor - are not completed in a timely fashion when they are pulled off task by direct requests for support.
  • Directly communicating with a technician prevents data from being recorded on the type of technical incidents NW is commonly experiencing. This prevents the supervisory staff from being able to make informed decisions about training, purchasing, and budgeting. Expecting technicians to complete incident reports after the fact takes them further off task, reduces the amount of their time available to provide technical support, and is fiscally imprudent as we already have staff and services to handle this work. 
  • Reaching out directly to a technician is essentially the same as “cutting to the front of the line” and puts the technician in an uncomfortable position to choose between resolving an incident that was properly reported through ServiceNow and an incident about which they were communicated directly.
• Why should I call the E1B ServiceDesk when I can just call the NW Help Desk Receptionist?
  • Niagara Wheatfield pays for the E1B Service Desk and it is the expectation that NW staff utilize that service. It is a large, well staffed department and one that can efficiently manage the large influx of typical technical support calls.

  • Although it is expected that the Help Desk Receptionist handles urgent calls and tech support, the volume of non-urgent calls would pull them off other important tasks far too frequently.

• Why should I call the NW Help Desk Receptionist for an urgent issue when I can just call, email, grab the sleeve of my “building technician”?
  • Handling urgent technical support calls is an expectation of our Help Desk Receptionist. Communicating urgent technical support incidents directly with technicians prevents the Help Desk Receptionist from fulfilling their role.
• What if the Help Desk Receptionist does not answer when I call with my urgent issue?
  • If the Help Desk Receptionist does not answer the phone, then they are not available to address / assign your urgent issue. You may leave a message, but note that if they are out for a period of days, your message will not be addressed until the following business day. This is why it is important to call the Service Desk to ensure that your incident appears on technicians’ ServiceNow system and is brought to their attention immediately.
• How long will I have to wait before a technician begins to solve my problem?
  • If you contact the Service Desk, then all technicians who are working at that time will see the incident pop up on their screen. If they are not already working on another incident or project as directed by their supervisor, then they will begin to resolve the issue immediately.
  • If all technicians are currently addressing other equal or higher priority incidents, yours will be addressed in turn.
• How are issues prioritized?
  • Safety and Security issues - including public communications are prioritized first, followed by Business Office / financial issues (payroll for example). Other issues are assigned and addressed once these priorities are resolved. This is described in greater detail here.
• What if I can’t teach without immediate technical support?
  • Given best practice technology incident prioritization, and 400+ staff spread over seven physical sites, most incidents will not be resolved immediately in-person - nor would this be the expected protocol for any organization. However, quite a number of typical issues can be resolved over the phone by E1B. NW is continually working with E1B to increase the types of incidents that they can address. NW is also working on increasing self-service support options for staff.
• Who do I contact with additional questions?
  • For purchasing, training, and ongoing unresolved support issues, staff are most welcome to speak with their supervisor who will communicate in turn to the Elementary or Secondary Admin Technology Liaison. For anything else, staff are most welcome to reach out to the Director directly.