Get Help

It's important that everyone at Miami knows who they can call for help when they are using technology in a learning space.

The information below can also be found in every classroom either on the teaching station or on a whiteboard—make sure to check before you call.

• In the College of Engineering and Computing, the first responders are CEC's IT staff, led by Scott Campbell. If you need help during normal business hours or after 5 pm please call 513-529-0790, which forwards to the cell phone of one of the staff.
• For Miami University Libraries, your first responders are the library IT staff, led by  Stan Brown. If you need help during normal business hours or after 5 pm please call 513-839-6391.
• In the Farmer School of Business, your first responders are the FSB IT staff, led by Michael Edwards. If you need help during normal business hours or after 5 pm please call 513-529-4940.
• In the College of Education, Health and Society, the first responders are the EHS IT team, led by Hitesh Naik. If you need help during normal business hours or after 5 pm please call 513-529-3720.
• In the College of Arts and Sciences, your first responders are CAS IT, led by Paula Fogt. If you need help during normal business hours or after 5 pm please call 513-529-9227.
• For Enrollment Management and Student Success, your first responder is Glenn Ellerbe. If you need help during normal business hours or after 5 pm please call 513-529-2725.
• For the College of Creative Arts, your first responder is Chris Herrmann. If you need help during normal business hours or after 5 pm, please call 513-529-1506. If that call is unsuccessful, call 513-529-7900.
• In the Marcum Conference Center, after normal operating hours call 513-529-6911 for technology assistance.

For all other spaces and times, please call IT Help at 513-529-7900 Option 9 at any time, 24/7, to be forwarded to an IT Help representative.

After hours, normally 8 am to 5 pm EST, the best effort will be made to address any issues you experience. However, there is a possibility that you may not receive a response until the next day.

Question: Where can you find information about what technology is in each learning space?

Answer: the Knowledge Base!

In the KB, there is an entire category devoted to classroom technology. You can find it by searching "Classroom Technology" in the KB at MiamiOH.edu/KnowIT or by using this link to view the category directly.

The KB guides in this category provide links to various ways of using a technology-enabled classroom, including (but not limited to) how to get after-hours support, what happens when you request support, and how to use a multi-projector room versus a single-projector room.

What is the learning space support process? What happens between when you call IT Help using Option 9 and when your issue is resolved?

Depending on your division, your support path may differ slightly. But in general, if you call IT Help from a classroom or technology-enabled administrative space, you will speak with an advisor that is trained to do a few things:

1. If your issue is one that could potentially be solved via some light troubleshooting, the advisor will attempt to do that with you.
2. If your issue is one that requires the help of on-site support staff, you will be transferred to your area's first responder (FR) (Tier I), who will help get your problem resolved.
3. Then, your FR will initiate steps to restore service. If after these steps are followed issues persist, your ticket will be escalated to Technology Support Services (Tier II/III).

When you call 513-529-7900, you will speak with an IT Help advisor from our support partner, Blackboard. When you call using Option 9, IT Help will move your call up the queue (because classroom-based issues often require first responders (FRs) on the scene as soon as possible). The IT Help advisor will then ask you a few important questions:

• Who are you?
• Where are you?
• What is your problem?

Just remember: The main function of IT Help is to provide support. The advisor may do some light troubleshooting before transferring your call. If that doesn’t fix the issue, they’ll route you to the appropriate FR.

For about one-third of all technology-enabled classrooms and administrative spaces on campus, you will call 513-529-7900: Option 9 for support.

So what does choosing Option 9 do? In short, it lets IT Help know you’re calling for a classroom issue and effectively moves you up the queue so you can receive help quickly.

The IT Help advisor will ask you a few important questions: Who are you? Where are you? What is your issue? Gathering this information allows them to route your concern to the appropriate FR, so it’s important to be clear and accurate when describing your location.

Next week, we’ll give a brief overview of the folks answering your calls when you press Option 9.

The most important question to ask when you need tech support is: Who supports this classroom?

And now, the best answer is: Look at the sticker!

In general, the numbers on the stickers placed in each supported room will connect you with:

• Your area’s first responder (FR); or
• IT Help at 513-529-7900, Option 9

Some stickers instruct you to contact the FR groups directly, and other stickers instruct you to call IT Help - who then contacts the appropriate FR. Determining who supports your classroom - whether it be a divisional representative or IT Help - will help get the right ears and eyes on your issue and will lead to a quicker resolution.

That’s it for this week! Next week, we will talk about what happens when you call IT Help and choose Option 9.

Throughout the years, our teams have been hard at work making sure support numbers are displayed clearly in each room. Some of them look like this:

These stickers reflect how to obtain the quickest help for each space. Depending on the classroom, the phone numbers may differ, so please double check before calling IT Help.

• Gartner: IT Glossary
• Knowledge Base