The Office of Information Technology (OIT) recently merged the phone numbers for two of its contact centers, 8-HELP (688-4357) and 2-UNIT (292-8648). Now customers need only to call 8-HELP for all information technology services provided by the Offices of the Chief Information Officer (CIO).
8-HELP is now the primary customer support number and will be advertised to the campus community as such. While the 2-UNIT number will remain in service, all calls to this number are now routed through a centralized point. This merger was implemented to provide the campus community with a single point of presence for quality, information technology services and assistance.
8-HELP callers now hear a fresh welcome greeting and new menu options, which were revised to address the merged phone numbers. Callers are given the following menu options:
For email, Internet and Carmen support, press 1.
For telephone, cellular, and cable TV support, press 2.
For ResNet support, press 3.
For Classroom Services support, press 4.
For OIT office hours and web addresses, press 5.
For assistance with all other services, please hold for a representative.
2-UNIT callers now hear an informational message that states, UNITS is now OIT. The message is followed by the same menu options listed previously.
OIT's Brian Zieber, Telecommunications and Networking (2-UNIT), and Kevin Balogh, of Applied Technology Support (8-HELP), are leading a CIO team to address contact center needs. The team has worked to identify common processes, tools and procedures between the two contact centers and then taken steps to merge common areas when it was feasible.
Over the past few years, the two contact centers have realized a number of synergies and made significant improvements in customer service. Some of those achievements, in addition to the phone number merger include: improved communications, a shared Knowledge Base, Remedy System and OIT System Status web page, as well as increased after hours support. All of these changes have been made under the common goal of providing the university community with superior customer service.
Moving forward, the team will continue looking for new synergy opportunities in support of the common goal. Questions regarding these changes should be e-mailed to 8help@osu.edu.
