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Research and Instrument Analysis Branch
Triage Help Desk

The goals of the STScI Help Desk are strongly tied with those of the institute as a whole:

"We are dedicated to excellence in all our endeavors especially in our service to the community."
- Principles for the Space Telescope Science Institute

"Our mission is to enable excellence in astronomical research by optimizing the science from state-of-the-art observational instruments in space."
- A Strategic Plan for STScI

We ask you to take this responsibility to users seriously and to respond to users professionally.

GOAL: Route call to teams within 2-3 hours. Respond to non-team specific calls within 1 business day.

On duty?

Footprints Login

To Do Checklist

  1. Your shift is from 9am - 5pm M-F.
  2. Notify your backup or the STScI Help Desk Lead if you will be away from your email for more than 3 hours
  3. Use the autogenerated report to determine which calls to carry over from last week
  4. Check the quarantine summary each morning.
  5. Check the phone messages once per day.
  6. Periodically check Footprints for any open 'Requests'. (Please don't rely completely on the email alert system.)
  7. Enter any missing fields such as PI First and Last Name & email address (if someone other than the user sent the call).
  8. If the call spans multiple teams, add both teams as assignees.
  9. If the call spans multiple workspaces, assign to the team in the help workspace and dynamically link to the other workspace.
  10. If the call belongs in a different workspace, move the call to the other workspace.
  11. Remember to check the Send Email To User box or click Send to User button when you send a reply.

Have a question?

Have an idea?

If you think something would be useful for the group and want to see it here, email it to the STScI Help Desk Deputy, Rachel Anderson.

Triage News