Distributed User Support
and the
Gemini Observatory HelpDesk
Simon Chan and Phil Puxley
SPIE
March 2000
Overview
 Gemini user support model and rationale for the
HelpDesk


Division of responsibilities
Desirable features of a HelpDesk
 Implementation model



HelpDesk tiers and structure
Remedy AR system
Workflow
 Life cycle of a request
 Knowledgebase
 Metrics and user support performance
Shared Support
 Operational context:


Gemini Observatory operates two geographically separated
8m-telescopes (Hawaii and Chile)
Gemini partnership includes nine user groups:
• 7 partner countries (US, UK, Can., Chile, Aus., Arg., Bra.)
• University of Hawaii
• Gemini staff

Each partner country has established a National Gemini Office
(NGO) to support facility development and users
 Principal issue recognised was that NGOs would not
have adequate staffing to cover all areas of expertise
and Gemini staff could be overwhelmed by large
volume of queries
Distributed User Support
Responsibilities
Gemini Observatory
 Observation execution and
on-site support

Including Contact Scientists
assigned to each classical or
queue program
 Expert support for user
queries

Distribute to support
network as necessary
National Gemini Offices
 Before and after observations
 First point of contact for user
queries

Distribute to support
network as necessary
Challenges for Distributed
Support Model
 Open access and fairness to all potential users of
Gemini
 Efficient and reliable distribution of queries to
designated responsible staff and of responses to
users





Any metric must recognize time zone dependency
Accountability to funding authorities
Staff training
Communications bandwidth
Implementation and infrastructure maintenance
HelpDesk Solution
to User Support
 Leverage commercial “help desk” (a.k.a. knowledge
database) technology.

Undergoing major investment in software, electronic hardware
and service industries.
 Evolutionary step forward from static web page
solutions to “problem and knowledge management”:
“goal is the control and reduction of calls per person”
 Provides call management...
“the ability to accurately and effectively log, track, hold, forward and
escalate calls as necessary, preventing any call from being lost or
forgotten”
...and problem resolution tools:
“the timely discovery of an accurate solution to a help desk problem”
(PHD White Paper)
Desirable Elements of a
Help Desk : I
(NB: all are featured in existing commercial help desk products)
 User-friendly web GUI

Easy user access
 Filter and route queries to designated support
individuals

“Send all GMOS queries to person X in country Y”
 Accounting and analysis tools

Assist management of user support, generate usage reports,
efficiency metrics etc.
• “How many queries about GMOS gratings?”

Feedback for updating static web information
Desirable Elements of a
Help Desk : II
 Audit tracking and history

Track changes to database information; identify who answered a
specific question
 Integrate existing web-based documentation

Complement to primary information resource
 Intelligent language interface, options include:

Natural language queries
• “What is the best GMOS grating for Ha?”

Expert or rule-based systems
• Efficiently moves through stored set of rules

Fuzzy logic
• Guesstimates a solution when no exact match can be found
Desirable Elements of a
Help Desk : III
 Experience-based learning

Resolved problems stored in the database and available to future
queries…the system learns!
 Distributed read and write access to database

Support staff located at NGOs (and in some instances more
widely)
 Simultaneous access by multiple users and scalable.

Peak access around telescope application deadlines
 Multimedia capabilities

Use video files, sounds and pictures to make complex issues
clearer
User Support Model and
the 3-Tier HelpDesk
 User self-support


Aim for majority of queries to be addressed by [1] use of ‘static’
web info or [2] Help Desk solutions database (via search engines)
Those that can’t are handled by the [3] HelpDesk
 Tier 1: Front-end support


NGO staff field requests for information from their own
community
Queries that cannot be answered are escalated to Tier 2 support
 Tier 2: NGO-designated experts and Gemini staff


Respond to queries from entire community
Queries that cannot be answered are escalated to Tier 3 support
 Tier 3: Gemini staff
puzzled
user
local
NGO
phone/email
web
interface
Remedy AR system
help desk interface s/w
solution found automatically
from existing database information
no solution found
- route to NGO
another NGO
local
NGO
Tier-1
Tier-2
Tier-3
Gemini
resolution
request resolved
and entered
in database
enlightened
user
HelpDesk Structure
 Queries are categorised into three broad subject areas:



Instrumentation
Telescope performance and capabilities
Proposal and observing process
 Subjects are sub-divided further:
Helpdesk Responsibilities
 Each NGO has assigned support staff personnel to
each subject sub-category in Tier-1 look-up table

Includes other staff to be notified
 NGOs with community-wide responsibility and
Gemini have assigned support staff in Tier-2 table


Generally, partners that are providing the instrument or
facility provide tier-2 support
Gemini provides tier-2 support for visiting instruments,
telescope capabilities and observing process
 Gemini has assigned support staff in Tier-3 table.
Remedy AR System
 Remedy Action Request system selected for Gemini
HelpDesk





Very robust and flexible toolbox of HelpDesk components
that is readily customised
Possesses many of the features of a desirable system
Has a large share of commercial market
Deployed elsewhere in astronomical community (Keck,
STScI, ESO) for various functions
Used for internal Gemini Fault Reporting System
Implementation of Remedy
AR System
remote users &
support staff (any
modern browser)
user interface
server
AR system hosted
at Gemini North
queries and
knowledgebase
Example
supportstaff form
Helpdesk Workflow Design
Tier-1, -2 and -3
escalation
New
Assigned
Work
in progress
Resolved
Closed
 Requestor logs on to helpdesk (or registers if a new user).
 Request is routed to their local NGO using Tier-1 table.

Staff member is e-mailed that a request has been assigned to them; uses
web tool to resolve.
 Support staff member can escalate the request (using Tier-2 or -3 table)
to the responsible individual (within an NGO or Gemini).
 Requestor can check status on web and is e-mailed on each action or
resolution.

Resolution is copied to previously-assigned staff in lower tiers.
Knowledgebase
 The knowledgebase (a.k.a. solutions database) is a
self-help database

Provides a searchable repository of solutions to common
requests
• 2nd stage in user-support model



It’s purpose is to reduce the number of similar requests
being submitted to the HelpDesk
Entries in the knowledgebase are derived from existing
HelpDesk requests
Currently a simple free-text search engine is used with the
knowledgebase
• Search by sub-category or keywords
Knowledgebase Search Screen
Help Desk Metrics
 Remedy system time-stamps status changes
corresponding to key events:

Submission of request, assignment to responsible
individual, changes to work-in-progress log, resolution of
the request, closure
 System also records:

User contact details, assigned group, subject category etc
 These data provide feedback for ‘static’ web pages

Update / improve existing primary information
Example User Support
Performance Metrics
 The system data can be analysed in a multitude of
ways; some examples:

Measurement of load and balance:
• Number of requests received per NGO
– per subject category, per country of origin etc.
• Number of requests escalated (e.g. to Gemini)

Measurement of performance:
• Number (fraction) of responses and response time

Measurement of fairness:
• Distribution of response times
– by country of origin, by subject category etc.
Integrated User Support
web user interface
‘static’ web
info
knowledgebase
populates
HelpDesk
feedback improvements
Integrated User Support
web user interface
‘static’ web
info
knowledgebase
populates
HelpDesk
feedback improvements