IT Center Blog

The IT Center Blog serves as a platform on which current information is posted in a user- and target group-specific manner. The comment function also enables an exchange between customers and the IT Center.
Source: Own illustration

The last post of our EUNIS 2019 series presents the paper by Sarah Grzemski and Bernd Decker. It evaluates the experiences of introducing and using social media as communication channels in support, focusing on chat support and giving an outlook on planned extensions of social media activities of the IT Center.

The “Chat Support” button allows users of RWTHmoodle or IT Center Help to contact the IT-ServiceDesk directly.
Source: Own illustration

Millenials – also known as Generation X – as well as Generation Z rely increasingly on fast digital communication and information channels. The digitization strategy of RWTH considers this, calling for further development of essential communication channels within the university, in line with the target group’s requirements and new trends. The shift in expectations has also been noticeable in the feedback of past user satisfaction surveys conducted by the IT Center.

In 2015, the IT Center met this shift by introducing the IT Center Blog as a means of distributing information quickly and target-group-specifically, while also allowing for interactions with users via the comment section. Additionally, several feasibility studies and analyses were conducted resulting in the decision to introduce a support chat as the first of the surveyed universities. The goal was to offer a fast, modern and simple communication channel to users as well as reduce the number of inquiries by e-mail and telephone.

The support chat was implemented as an in-house development using the audience response system (Direct Feedback) already developed for RWTHApp (Politze & Decker, 2014). It was first integrated as web chat into the documentation portal. At the end of the test phase during the summer semester 2016 it was implemented in the RWTHApp. Since July 2019, users have been able to use the chat via the learning management system RWTHmoodle. Users can log in using their university credentials or use the chat without authentication to keep barriers for using it low.

The IT Center Blog and support chat are being developed continually in line with user requirements and feedback. The users’ positive feedback encouraged continuing along this path. At the same time, it called for additional social media channels as means of providing information and offering communication. Various social media platforms are currently being evaluated to see which might be suitable for expanding the customer- and service-oriented approach to communication.

As this topic is very close to our blog, you can be sure that we will keep you informed about the further developments of our communication channels.

Responsible for the content of this article is Sophia Teeuwen.