Facilities Customer Service Center

Why am I put on hold when I call the Customer Service Center?

The Customer Service Center is generally staffed with three customer service specialists who are responding to and dispatching your requests as they come into the system. While the Customer Service Center processes approximately 11,000 calls for service every month, the busiest hours of the day are between 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Each call takes an average of 63 seconds to process. There are times of peak demand or when pending emergencies may take precedence over other calls and at these times that you may be asked to hold on the line. We continue to do our best to keep your wait to a minimum and appreciate your patience and understanding.

At times, a mechanic shows up in my area for a call that I did not place. Why does that happen?

The University has the technology to monitor environmental conditions and equipment. Approximately 11,000 alarm points monitored through the Customer Service Center. This computerized system is composed of many sensors that measure equipment operation. These sensors record the readings and ring any abnormality back to the Customer Service Center. Once the alarm is received, the customer service specialists dispatch a mechanic to respond to the alarm.

I have established my user ID and password for your Website, but have lost my password. What should I do?

Facilities offers members of the University Community the ability to enter work orders and service calls directly into our information system using our Website. If you lose your password, please contact the Facilities Technical Support Staff at extension 3-5740.

I submitted a work request on your website, the mechanic came and did the work, but when I look up the work order, it does not show the charges. Why is that?

The data files that contain the labor and material charges for each work order are updated monthly. This monthly update coincides with the University production of ledgers. This update usually takes place close to the last working day of the month.

How do I know what is a routine service call and what is third party work?

A general rule of thumb would be to think of yourself as a tenant in a rental situation. All utilities and building issues, are the "landlord's" (Facilities) responsibility. If you have no hot water, are too cold, or if a door lock doesn't work, that would be Facilities responsibility to repair at their cost. A third party responsibility might be having your office chair repaired, or building a new cupboard in your office. These would be the "tenants" responsibility to pay for from their Department account.

When I have submitted a service call, why don't I see the service mechanic in my area?

Often times, especially for issues that deal with room temperatures, the mechanic needs to make the adjustments and repairs in the mechanical room where the actual heating and/or cooling equipment is located. Ideally, we would like the mechanics to talk with the customers who have called in service call. At times, the volume of calls is too heavy to allow for this personal communication. Although this is not always feasible, we are striving to improve our face-to-face customer communications after resolving a service call.

Why does the Customer Service Center operator ask me for so much detail about my call?

The Customer Service Center operator needs to obtain as much information as possible to pass on to the mechanic responding to the call. There are many different service mechanics assigned to many different areas that have different areas of expertise. The more information that the Customer Service Center Operator can elicit from the customer, the more efficiently they can dispatch the service call.

Is Facilities Supervisory Staff available around the clock?

The Medical Center Supervisors are on site Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The River Campus Supervisors are on site from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. All of the Facilities Operations provide a "Supervisor-on-Call" when there is no supervision on site.

Why don't I ever see a snow plow or salt truck in the parking lots when I am arriving at work in the morning?

There are a large number of vehicles moving around University roadways and parking lots during the rush hour. It is not efficient for snow removal equipment to be out on the roads and parking lots when so many vehicles are on the roadways. Facilities Snow Removal Staff generally start very early in the morning (3-4 a.m.), depending on the snowfall, and later, during peak traffic hours, will focus on hand shoveling. They then return to plowing and salting after the rush hour.