WashU IT is committed to being a customer service organization with IT expertise. We deliver an integrated, responsive, and secure technology environment that advances and supports exceptional learning, research, innovation, and patient care.

Support Model

WashU IT has established technology services and systems to meet customer objectives in support of the University’s mission. To ensure IT services and systems meet customer needs, WashU IT has established the following support model:

General Support

  • One Point of Contact – to initiate any support or service request call, email, or make a web request. Always call for urgent issues.
    phone: (314) 933-3333
    email: ithelp@wustl.edu
    web: ServiceNow

    Learn about What Happens When You Contact IT for Support.
  • All Requests are Documented – a support or service ticket is created for each customer request. All support and service requests are tracked in one service management system (ServiceNow) for easy tracking and resolution across WashU IT.
  • Virtual and Onsite Support – standard support and service requests (85%) will be handled via routine procedures by service center staff via virtual support technologies like phone, remote desktop assistance, and instant messaging. Standard support and service requests that cannot be resolved by the service center will be routed to technicians who will meet with the customer to bring the request to resolution. Non-standard support and service requests will be routed to WashU IT managers for consultation with the customer to address the request.
  • Service and Process Owners – individual WashU IT staff have been named as Service Owners or Process Owners to ensure accountability for WashU IT services and processes. Service Owners work with established WashU IT Governance committees and customers to ensure WashU IT services are scoped, resourced, and supported in a manner that allows the service to stay healthy across the lifecycle of its use at the University. Process Owners work with WashU IT managers and Service Owners to ensure WashU IT has established procedures for meeting customer support and service requests.
  • Customer Relationship Management – regular meetings will be established with each customer department by WashU IT’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) team. These regular meetings will address quality of services provided, identify new customer projects and initiatives requiring WashU IT services, and inform customers of any planned changes to existing IT services. Reports from these meetings are reviewed by WashU IT leadership on a regular basis to ensure customer satisfaction is met and to identify customer needs that should be addressed via new technology services or enhancement of existing services.

Support Hours and Initial Response Times

WashU IT has established the following general support hours and initial response times to meet customer support and service request needs. 

Note: P1 support and service requests are defined as technology issues affecting the customer’s ability to perform urgent university business without an acceptable technology workaround in place.

Standard

Business Hours: 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Monday – Friday, during regular campus business days

Initial Response Times: Support or service requests will be responded to within the following times

  • Calls to 314-933-3333 – 80% answered within 20 seconds
  • Emails sent to ithelp@wustl.edu will be responded to as outlined in the Support Request Resolution Targets section below. (Always call for urgent issues.)
  • Web Requests made via the ServiceNow report an issue form will be responded to as outlined in the Support Request Resolution Targets section below. (Always call for urgent issues.)

Extended

After Hours: any time or day not within standard business hours

Initial Response Times: P1 support or service requests will be responded to within the following times

  • Calls to 314-933-3333 after hours calls will be answered by the WashU IT Network Operations Center (NOC). The NOC will either resolve the issue or page on call staff to resolve the issue. On call staff respond to the after hour page within 30 minutes, on average.

Support Request Resolution Targets

Support Escalation & Resolution Procedures – all support requests will be escalated from the initial general support team to a specialized support team based on the priority of the support request or if the general support team cannot resolve the issue within 20 minutes.  Once the request is escalated to a specialized support team, the customer will be notified and the specialized support team may contact the customer for further information and testing.  Once the specialized support team resolves the request, the general support team will review the resolution to ensure quality control.  Once the general support team confirms the resolution has met the customer’s needs, the request will be closed.  Communication with the customer will be via email.  If the customer does not reply within 7 business days, the ticket will be automatically closed.

Prioritization – all support requests will be given a P3 priority unless the customer indicates an impact or urgency that requires a different prioritization.  Impact is defined as the affect to which a technology service or system is inhibiting the customer’s ability to conduct University business.  Urgency is defined as the timeframe in which the customer needs the technology issues resolved or a workaround put in place.

Customers can expect a response and resolution based upon the priority of their support request. Response and resolution targets are outlined in the Target Resolution Times table.

Specialized Support