Service and Support

Griffith University's WLAN is supported by a three-tiered system, as described in this section.

Tier 1: Information Services

Tier 1 is the university's help desk. Part of the Information Services Division, it provides students and staff with their first port of call when requesting assistance. This team provides basic troubleshooting, including referring end users to the extensive solution web portal that encompasses comprehensive FAQs and training material. Technical problems that cannot be handled at this level can be escalated to Tier 2 support.

Tier 2: Element IT and Learning and Environment Department

Tier 2 support is segmented between staff and student support. Staff support is provided by Element IT, and student support is provided by the Learning and Environment Department.

Element IT support provides detailed technical assistance to university staff on wireless issues and on standard desktop and application support. This support includes remote desktop management where appropriate. This group is also responsible for packaging the preconfigured VPN client in all staff laptops, in line with the university's Standard Operating Environment (SOE).

The Learning and Environment Department provides daily in-person wireless support for students, which can be booked through the Wireless@Griffith web portal. This support has proven integral to the success of the rapid adoption by students, with hundreds of students training and configuring their laptops each semester. For example, in one three-week period during early 2005, more than 500 students attended training and laptop configuration sessions.

Complex or design-related issues can be escalated to Tier 3: Network and Communication Services.

Tier 3: Network and Communication Services

Tier 3 support is provided by the architects and engineers responsible for the solution. This group includes dedicated WLAN support engineers, such as David Renaud, and is managed by Bruce Scott. Tier 3 support addresses problems escalated by Tiers 1 and 2, which are usually coverage problems or issues relating to access point failures, difficult-to-troubleshoot interference problems, and the more complex RF-based issues.