vESD new way to fix e-issues

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Cory Gossett
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Air Force cyber support is changing. No longer will users call the Enterprise Service Desk and wait for a technician to solve their issue. Starting early November, Air Education and Training Command base computers will have a Virtual Enterprise Service Desk application installed which can be used to fix users' and Information Assurance Officers' electronic issues.

"vESD is a software application that will be placed on everyone's computer that Air Force Network users will use to fix information technology issues such as computer, network, printing, mobile, or telephone problems instead of calling the ESD like they do now," said Maj. Raymond Chester, 56th Communications Squadron commander. "It will empower users to resolve some of their own issues as well as get status updates on existing tickets."

Previously, the ESD received an overwhelming volume of calls which created unacceptable caller on-hold times before a technician could respond to their call. The new vESD app will be able to automatically fix users' issues or submit an electronic trouble ticket without a phone call.

"With vESD, the user simply clicks an icon on their desktop, answer some questions and the software attempts to repair the problem," Chester said. "Similar to the human technician, vESD will attempt a repair based on the user's response to questions and it will perform its own 'health check' of the user's computer. If it can't resolve the problem, vESD will automatically initiate a ticket and route it immediately to the appropriate office at the 561st Network Operations Squadron or the local communications focal point, depending on the problem identified."

Users will not need to know how to run specific actions or require technical knowledge of the problem, they only need to follow the steps and answer the questions the app asks, Chester said.

The 690th Network Support Squadron oversees the ESD and recognized the need to improve effectiveness and response time for troubleshooting IT issues. They came up with a three-phase plan to improve efficiency and effectiveness and solve the most common issues people were having such as Global Address List changes, network account modifications and actual computer problems. The final phase of this program is vESD.

Earlier this year 690th NSS implemented MyGAL, a program allowing users to update their personal GAL information through the ESD website rather than submitting a ticket and waiting for a technician to do it for them. The 690th also partnered with IAOs across the Air Force by providing them IAO Express which allows IAOs to submit network account requests through the ESD website, eliminating the need to call in the issue. With different methods available to users and IAOs, hold-times have been reduced. Coupled with delegating permissions back to the local base communications squadrons, the ESD backlog of user tickets has been reduced from 13,000 tickets in February 2014 to just 105 tickets by June 2014. The average call time also dropped from 20 minutes to 4.6 minutes.

Users and IAOs who are still unsure about the new app can still contact ESD directly with their cyber issues during the rollout of vESD in addition to using options such as MyGAL or IAO Express, depending upon the IT issue.

Lt. Col. Mark Reith, 690th NSS commander, said the ESD will continue to take phone calls for incidents during a burn-in period after vESD has been fully deployed.

With these new tools in place, the 690th NSS and base communication squadrons have been able to address cyber issues more quickly while reducing user stress. With the release of vESD just around the corner, the 690th NSS can address more IT issues faster, putting the solution at the fingertips of the user.

"It is time effective," Chester said. "Users can control how fast their problem or need is addressed. Currently, users have to find that hour they know they might be tied up on the phone waiting for the next ESD technician to become available. vESD can solve most user issues automatically, something an ESD technician might have had to hand off to the 561 Network Operation Squadron or the local communication focal point technician to fix. This saves time for the user and the technician."