Blackboard Help Services
ED TECH SPOTLIGHT
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![A smiling man with a telephone headset is happy to help an instructor with Blackboard. Support services include: Chat live with Blackboard support from UIC, Submit a support request through a form, Speak with us over the phone, Request an instructional design and blackboard consultation, and Learn more about Blackboard at UIC.](https://teaching.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/683/2022/10/blackBoardHelpServices1.png)
New support options were made available in August for getting answers to Blackboard questions. UIC students and instructors started using live text chat with specialists, who were able to handle many concerns on a 24×7 schedule. They were also available over the main LTS support phone number. This simpler and faster access to support resources resulted in fewer medium and high priority tickets as compared with August of last year.
In August 2021, we recorded 921 medium and high priority tickets. In 2022, we received only 297, despite receiving 10% more total requests. The new approach to handling the swirl of the semester startup led to shortening response time on average from 7 to 4 hours. Handling more requests and doing so in shorter time likely underscores the importance of easy access to live text chat and open phone lines that were picked up on average in just 17 seconds.