Email Expectations

Email is one of the most widely used communication tools within the Customer Service Center.  It’s vitally important that each employee check the ticket queue(s) regularly and respond to all inquiries in a timely fashion.  Here at the CSC we try to get all emails answered within 30 minutes of them being in the queue.  It is the expectation that you will constantly work on email tasks during your shift.  This level of responsiveness is crucial to ensure problems are resolved quickly, and that we don’t become backlogged with service requests which would result in additional delays. 

Personal Email Expectations

Email is the best way for us to quickly communicate with the entire team.  It is vital to our success and yours to read your Exchange email regularly.  Please be sure to read everything written to the team from the Rep Supervisors, Specialists, or Managers very carefully because you are responsible for the information contained there in.  We also need you to respond promptly to questions that are asked in email so that we can quickly accommodate change.

Email Etiquette

It is important to maintain a professional image when representing yourself and ITaP to our customers and fellow university staff. One challenge can be the volume of email we receive.  Leaving clients ‘hanging’ without a reply for several days is unprofessional and reflects very negatively on ITaP.

It is easy to misinterpret tone in electronic communication.  If you need to give someone negative feedback or want to communicate about something that concerns or frustrates you, please make every effort to communicate face-to-face. If electronic communication is your only option, please make an extra effort to word your message in a way that will not offend the recipient and clearly state your meaning.

In summary, we ask that you please always:

• Respond in a courteous fashion.
• Use sentence case formatting with all external customers (avoid writing in all lowercase letters).
• Use correct punctuation and grammar.
• Address peers by their first name.
• Address all others by their title and last name (i.e. Dear Chancellor Berdahl).
• Respond to questions, requests, etc. thoroughly and promptly.
• When responding, be sure to indicate whether the ticket remains open or is closed.
• Avoid “passing the buck” to another help desk, person, or organization.  Often people will call you about a topic that is not ITaP related, but as a customer service agent you might (or should) know the answer.  If you know the answer go ahead and provide it.  If the question is beyond the realm of collective Customer Service Center knowledge, do everything possible to direct them to the group or person who supports that area.  In these cases, it is a good idea to follow up with the user.  

Threatening Emails

When a threatening email comes in, notify a member of the Management team immediately, even if you believe the person is just blowing off some steam.  If a member of the Management team is unavailable, then send an email to cscteam@purdue.edu and inform all of them of the email.  Please be certain to include the threatening email in the body of the message.

The following is what we would concern a threatening email:

• Violent act is stated – example: implying death or killing
• Destruction (breaking, bombing, etc.) of equipment, application, department or person
• Hatred towards an application, department or person
• Offensive language