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Inside eRA, April 7, 2006

This news update from the NIH Office of Research Information Systems (ORIS), provides the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and its partners with pertinent information about the plans and progress of the NIH Electronic Research Administration (eRA). Through its eRA and information services, ORIS supports the Department's research grants programs by using technology to reduce the costs of grants administration, to analyze and report on grant data, and to synthesize grant information into knowledge for guiding the NIH research portfolio and improving the Nation's health.

Contact the New Web Site for Helpdesk Inquiries

Customers now have a new method to reach the eRA Commons and IMPAC II Helpdesk. In addition to email and telephone, users now can submit requests and view the status of their open tickets through a new form-based Web site. This new site will improve the response time of the Helpdesk and allow staff to resolve issues more efficiently.

All requests that enter the Helpdesk receive a ticket number for tracking. For telephone and email inquiries, a staff person must manually enter the inquiry into the system. Requests submitted through the Web site, on the other hand, are ticketed automatically. By eliminating the step of manual ticketing, the Helpdesk will be able to respond more quickly to Web inquiries.

To access the Web site, go to http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/era/. Click on the link, Submit Service Request, in the left column under “Online Service Requests.” Be sure to bookmark the page for quick access to the Helpdesk.

The Helpdesk can receive thousands of calls a week. Its system allows staff to answer the inquiries in order, and to escalate issues that need more technical information. Helpdesk staff wants to accommodate all customers with quality and timely service, and now offers a more efficient way for customers to submit their requests.

New Changes Enhance Support from the NIH eRA Commons/IMPAC II Helpdesk

Over the past year, the NIH eRA Commons/IMPAC II Helpdesk implemented several key operational changes to provide its customers with a higher response level and to improve communications throughout the grantee community, the ICs and within the Office of Research Information Systems (ORIS).

To improve the timeliness of responding to the eRA user community, the NIH eRA Commons/ IMPAC II Helpdesk was reorganized into two teams—Commons Team and IMPAC II Team—each led by a Team Lead. This team approach has allowed for better specialization to increase the rate of first-line responses to user inquiries.

After experiencing a substantial increase in requests through the initial Electronic Submission period and observing improvements in service by creating the two teams, the Helpdesk decided to apply the same concept to Commons by creating sub-specialty teams. Commons’ inquiries requiring more focused attention now are assigned to members of specialty teams who have been trained to handle specific issues, such as Electronic Submission and Internet Assisted Review (IAR).

The IMPAC II team has focused on increasing the Helpdesk’s involvement within the entire eRA project. By attending Project OPDIV Integration and Focus meetings and participating in testing for the release of applications upgrade, the IMPAC II team promotes communication between the Helpdesk and the eRA project. To improve support to their user community, each IMPAC II team is taking the same specialty team approach as Commons, with each member become the “expert” in different IMPAC II modules.

The NIH eRA Commons and IMPAC II Helpdesk is contracted to RS Information Systems, Inc. (RSIS), a federal systems integrator specializing in technical and business solutions in information technology, systems engineering, telecommunications, scientific support, and management consulting. The team is led by Project Manager Tina Faunteroy, with Karen Trowbridge as the Deputy Project Manager, Angela Smith as the Commons Team Lead, and Vanett Wagner as IMPAC II Team Lead.

Tina Faunteroy joined the NIH eRA Commons/ IMPAC II Helpdesk in April 2005. Before joining the NIH eRA Project, she worked at the Department of Energy (DOE) as the Client Support Services Manager for the Yucca Mountain Project. Prior to joining RSIS, Tina worked as the Manager, Support and Services, Management Information System for a large Washington, D.C., law firm for 14 years. Tina’s management style fosters an environment of supportive teamwork encouraging members to stretch their skills and find opportunities to develop new skills. Her project management skills range from managing small to large projects.

Karen Trowbridge recently joined the team as Deputy Project Manager. Karen has a degree from Centre College in Kentucky, and has been with RSIS for nearly two years where she has gained valuable experience in multiple functional areas including Operations, Business Development and Marketing, Quality Management, and Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts.

Angela Smith is also a contractor for RSIS and has worked on the eRA Helpdesk project for three years. She has an MSCE and has worked many years in the Customer Support industry in the Washington metropolitan area. Prior to joining eRA, Angela was the Technical Support manager where she specialized in training.

Vanett Wagner is a contractor with RSIS, and has an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Onondaga Community College. She has more than 15 years’ experience in the Call Center/Helpdesk environment. Vanett is originally from Syracuse, N.Y., where she gained the bulk of her experience. She relocated to this area in 2003 to serve as Phone Manager for the Transportation Security Administration call center for 2 ½ years with a call volume exceeding 1,500 call per day.

Customers can contact the Helpdesk in three ways: telephone, 301-402-7469 or 1-866-504-9552; email helpdesk@od.nihgov (IMPAC II) or commons@od.nih.gov (Commons); or a new Web site recently launched for entering service requests http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/. Each inquiry receives a ticket number and is tagged for either the Commons or IMPAC II team. During peak periods, such as near application deadlines, the Helpdesk can receive more than 15,000 inquiries per day. At non-peak periods, the Helpdesk receives an average of 3,000 inquiries per day.

The eRA Commons/ IMPAC II Helpdesk will continue to analyze lessons learned to make enhancements to improve the quality and level of service provided to the eRA user community.

GM Redesign on its Own

The GM J2EE Redesign has been available to all Grants Management users since last October. However, until February 20 of this year, it always had the safety net of the client-server version should something go wrong. No longer. The client-server version of GM was turned off once and for all on February 20 putting GM J2EE Redesign in the forefront of the conversion project.

The GM JAD (Joint Application Development) group was instrumental in developing the user interface and requirements for the Redesign. Its final version, though, was dependent upon the commitment of the GM users group and GM users who ventured to use the new version and worked with the design team to correct inconsistencies and make sure all functionalities were included and worked.

“We knew that we could depend on the Grants Management constituency to make sure the new Redesign lived up to their expectations and could surpass the old client-server version,” said Cathy Walker, technical project manager for GM Redesign.

Looking ahead, the May release will include a number of enhancements that the operational divisions (OPDIVs) requested so that they can better use GM Redesign. Also, and very importantly, the release will include OneView, which allows the user to enter GM Redesign through one screen that also shows every other eRA module to which the user has access (see article in the March Inside eRA).

GM Redesign is leading the way for the conversion of most of the client-server modules in the eRA System to J2EE architecture.

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