By Meredith Howard | Staff Writer
Baylor’s new HelpDesk+ is now open in the garden level of Moody Memorial Library to assist students with technology help and providing services and information.
Prior to HelpDesk+ opening this semester, Baylor’s IT support was primarily offered online. There were also physical on-campus options, such as ITS and a desk called Tech Point, but the services were spread out over different locations, and employees often had to refer students to other offices.
This new HelpDesk+ “combines the resources of the phone-based ITS Help Desk with hardware repair, AirBear answers, audiovisual technology and laptop checkouts and creative services like the Libraries’ maker space,” according to a recent ‘What’s New BU’ email.
Houston junior Anna Clark works at HelpDesk+, and she said having a centralized location to help troubleshoot technical issues will benefit students.
“The idea is that we are joining together with ITS to make it more easy for patrons at the library to get connected. For example, if someone comes over with a software issue that we can’t help, we don’t have to send them to a whole other location,” Clark said. “We can work closer together and if we have issues, we can just walk over and talk to them— they’re right here for us.”
Another improvement that HelpDesk+ hopes to bring is that it offers an easier way for students to get face-to-face help instead of having to go online when their needs intersected between the previous desks.
Houston senior Nikki Testerman said she has used HelpDesk+ for printing and scanning help, and that she prefers in-person assistance to online options.
“It’s more personal, and even though it might not feel the greatest going up and saying you need help, it’s a lot better than a computer because they can actually see what’s wrong,” Testerman said.
Dallas junior Peyton Robinson has also used HelpDesk+ for assistance with scanning documents, and she also said she preferred the desk to previous online options.
“I’m the type of person who likes in-person help better than online because I get more confused trying to figure it out on my own online. Sometimes it’s nice just to have someone right there to help me out,” Robinson said.
Although HelpDesk+ is currently functional, their “formal kickoff campaign” will occur in early November.
Help Desk+ is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. More information about the new service can be found on the Baylor website.
