Information Services & Systems at King's College London has launched a new virtual online help service, Ask ISS, using OCLC's Questionpoint.
The provision of IT and information services at King's College London has entered into a phase of major transformation and innovative development. A significant multi-million pound investment has been made by the College to achieve the vision of a state-of-the-art 'virtual campus' that connects people, information, services and knowledge; supporting mobility and enabling reliable 24/7 access and enhanced opportunities for collaboration. The portfolio of key activities includes: refurbishing the core IT infrastructure, providing seamless 'anytime anywhere' access to a diverse range of resources, applications and services and improving research, teaching and administrative processes using the latest web technologies. In line with this mission ISS has implemented Ask ISS to provide their students with a real-time, on-line information and IT support service.
Kings College London's Information Services Centres are located at five main campuses, Strand, Waterloo, Guy's (London Bridge), St Thomas' Hospital and Denmark Hill, and deliver a range of services to a diverse community of staff and students. Ask ISS enables the Information Services and System (ISS) enquiry team to respond to student and staff enquiries in real-time using QuestionPoint's on-line chat functionality. Students can access the online service directly from their PCs in the College or from home. The service is operated by a team of 22 and is currently available from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. The plans are to increase these hours significantly sometime early in the next academic year.
Rodney Amis, Deputy Director of Customer Services, Information Services & Systems, King's College London commented "After an extensive review of virtual reference solutions available in the market we found that OCLC's QuestionPoint offered the functionality we required. In the first three months of service the help desk has had 400 ‘on-line chats' with students and feedback from both staff and students has been extremely positive."
About King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher 2007) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has 20,000 students from more than 130
countries, and 5,000 employees. King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research.
For more information on QuestionPoint visit www.oclc.org or email UK@oclc.org
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