Help Desk

Volunteers in the OpenMRS Community support a help desk (at help.openmrs.org or via helpdesk@openmrs.org) for the community. The goals of this help desk are to support newcomers to the community, help new volunteers find ways to productively contribute to the community, and to help troubleshoot problems that may arise with community infrastructure. This wiki page and its children are intended to help introduce you to the help desk processes and, if you are interested, help guide you to way you could help in supporting the amazing OpenMRS community.

Documenting what we have now

See the Inventory of Types of Help Desk Cases

Overview

The Help Desk is used to manage all inquiries to OpenMRS and technical support, which is set up to filter and assign the appropriate individuals automatically.

Opening a Ticket

A ticket can be opened at https://help.openmrs.org/ or https://openmrs.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portals. Log in using your OpenMRS ID for faster service.

Each inquiry for new volunteers is automatically responded to using Drips, which happen the same day and one day later. These Drips answer most of the common questions asked and also point the user to the correct resources for learning and mobilization. When a Help Desk member begins working on an inquiry, or 'ticket', they assess requirements for response and then assign themselves or the appropriate individual to the case. If help is required, see the list of Help Desk Leaders below.

When you begin opening a ticket, start by looking in your respective folder or the 'Unresolved Cases' folder and begin by addressing the most recent items first and see if you can handle the cases quickly. If not, then please look into resolving back-logged cases that are one week old or more. There needs to be a balance between answering new and old cases in order to keep up-to-date.

Following Up

Many times when you resolve a ticket, the user may never respond back simply because they are also very busy and you've helped them get back on task. If you don't receive a reply, check back one-week later just to make sure everything is working smoothly.

Example email: "Dear _____, I wanted to follow up and ensure that everything we worked on is resolved. Let me know if there is any other way I can assist you!"

Help Desk Roles

• General Help Desk
• Community Guide
• ...
• Tier 1 Support
• Infrastructure Support

Community Guides

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT:

Members of the Application Developement team will respond to tickets and inquiries sent to them through the helpdesk. For any questions, or if you'd like to get involved as an Application Development Manager, please contact Sri Maurya Kummamuru, Burke Mamlin, or Jan Flowers.

Summary of volunteer: The OpenMRS Community depends on the helpful hands of many developers around the world. Whether you're able to dedicate time to extended tasks, or would rather help with quick, simple projects, we have a need and a place for you. We've prepared a short e-book for you to check out to get started. A web version is available at http://go.openmrs.org/newdev-web and a PDF at http://go.openmrs.org/newdev-pdf. Also, check http://openmrs.org/help/developers/ for some other starting tips.
 

APPLICATION TESTING:

Members of the Application Testing team will respond to tickets and inquiries sent to them through the helpdesk. For any questions, or if you'd like to get involved as an Application Testing Manager, please contact Sri Maurya Kummamuru,  Burke Mamlin, or Jan Flowers.

Summary of volunteer: Healthcare systems demand reliable software, so testing OpenMRS code is very valuable. If you're a more advanced technical resource and have experience with application testing and quality assurance (QA), we have a real need for people with your skills. Start here for more information: https://openmrs.atlassian.net/wiki/x/1U1YAQ
 

DOCUMENTATION/WRITING:

Members of the Documentation/Writing team will respond to tickets and inquiries sent to them through the helpdesk. For any questions, or if you'd like to get involved as a Documentation/Writing Manager, please contact Theresa Cullen, Jan Flowers, or Jeff Neiman.

Summary of volunteer: Do you have experience and skills with technical writing? OpenMRS needs assistance maintaining its documentation and resources. We're a big project, and it's very important to keep everything up to date and well-organized. Read http://openmrs.org/help/document/ for information about how to get started.

TRANSLATING:

Members of the Translating team will respond to tickets and inquiries sent to them through the helpdesk. For any questions, or if you'd like to get involved as a Translating Manager, please contact Ismael Batista. For specific details on being a Translation Manager, click here.

Summary of volunteer: OpenMRS is used around the world, and we always have need for skills in the languages where our software is deployed. You don't have to be a big geek to make a big impact. To learn more about how to start translating our software, check out: http://openmrs.org/help/translate/

WEB/SOCIAL/GRAPHIC DESIGN:

Members of the Documentation/Writing team will respond to tickets and inquiries sent to them through the helpdesk. For any questions, or if you'd like to get involved as a Web/Social/Graphic Design Manager, please contact Jeff Neiman.

Summary of volunteer: As the OpenMRS Community grows and builds more influential technologies, we need to be actively communicating this information so the public is aware. If you have any experience with website development both back and front-end, social media platforms, or graphic design projects then we can use your help!

Other roles...

...

Tier 1 Support

(define role, common tasks involved, how to get involved)

Infrastructure Support

(examples of types of roles, where to go to learn more and get involved)