How to answer an Enquiry allocated to you or your Team

Once you have selected an enquiry to answer there are a number of actions that you can take or a number of options available within the Enquiry.

1)In the enquiry screen click on the “Select an action” drop down list to show a list of possible actions

All actions will open a screen to allow advisors to complete the action. There will be a number of consistencies in the actions screens with only a few specifics depending on the actions. The next section will deal with the standard fields shown in the screens and will be followed by a section outlining explanations of each action and the fields relating to each.

Enquiry Settings.

  • Set enquiry to private – ticking this box will hide this enquiry from all other advisors. The enquiry details can only be viewed by the allocated advisor and the enquirer. This will be mainly used by the Wellbeing and AccessAbility teams.
  • Set enquiry to hidden – if you require to log an enquiry and keep all actions hidden from the enquirer this box should be ticked. This will be used to log administrative changes that enquirers do not need to be informed about as it has no bearing on their study.
  • Hide this action from enquirer – ticking this box will keep the action from the enquirer. It will appear on the staff side of Student Information Desk Online only. Should be used for internal notes and exchanges. Please be aware that students are entitled to request all documentation relating to them under the Freedom of Information Act so this should be used professionally.
  • Mark this action as – this will be populated depending on the action undertaken but can be amended through the drop down list options if so required.
  • Files to upload – you can select the number of documents that will be uploaded to this enquiry and select the” Attach files to enquiry” action to upload documents. Any documents uploaded can be seen by the enquirer and staff.
  • External Reference – if an external reference number is required for this enquiry this should be added in this field.
  • Reply by Date – advisors can specify a date that enquirers, third parties or other advisors should be reply by in order to keep in SLA deadlines by adding a date into this field.
  • Cause of enquiry – should an advisor wish to specify the cause of enquiry this can be populated here – as a default it remains blank.

The email options will allow the advisor to select how the action/response is sent.

  • Include full enquiry text in email – the standard email templates for updates to enquiries will send details of the enquiry number and the enquiry title so this box does not need to be ticked unless you require all details of the enquiry to be sent.
  • Hide email link to enquiry – this should remain unticked if you are sending an update to an enquirer or an internal service. If you are sending information to an external party who does not have access to Student Information Desk Online this can be ticked.
  • Email Enquirer – this should be ticked unless you want to hide an internal action from an enquirer
  • Email Self – only tick this box if you require a copy of the action sent to yourself
  • Email Student Information Desk Advisor – if you require your action to be alerted to the Advisor who is allocated to this call tick this box, as the data remains in the Student Information Desk Online system this is not essential and should be used as an FYI only
  • + Click here to select...... – if you are sending an update to a third party, an alternative email address for the enquirer or to a number of other advisors use this box to populate email address details.
  • The text box is a free text field that allows the advisor to populate as required.
  • The standard response drop down list will have a number of standard responses, the text of which will be included in the text field once the action has been logged.

List of Actions.

  • Send Update to enquirer – this allows to send an update to the enquirer to keep them informed but keeps the call open.
  • Request Information from Enquirer (stops clock) - should you require more information from the enquirer about what they require or more information to allow you to answer the enquiry. Once this action has been selected the SLA clock stops ticking.
  • Request Information from Team/Individual (internal) - this allows you to request information relating to the enquiry or enquirer from a team or individual who is a Student Information Desk Online user. Select a specialist from the “Pop up Select...” option
  • Request Information from other service or College – as Colleges and some services are not yet users of Student Information Desk Online this allows you to request information from these teams by sending an email to them, whilst keeping the information thread within Student Information Desk Online. Enter the email address of the service or College in email field and enter your request in the free text field.

  • Request information from External 3rd Party – as above, this allows you to send an email to a third party requesting information and allowing the information thread to stay within the system. Enter the email address of the third party in the email address field and enter your request in the free text field.

  • Add Information from Enquirer – should an enquirer phone or see an advisor in person with information relating to their enquiry, the information can be manually entered.
  • Attach file to enquiry – should an enquirer, third party or advisor have a document that will relate to an enquiry, such as a form that requires completion the document can be uploaded and attached.

  • Assign to Team or individual – if an enquiry cannot be answered by the advisor it has been allocated to and another specialist or team can assist the enquiry can be handed on to another team or individual and the enquiry will appear within their Summary grid.
  • Book an appointment with Team or Individual – should the enquiry require an appointment with a team or specialist the appointment can be made and this action logged against the enquiry.You will be taken to a diary screen, click on the Add button which will take you through to a screen allowing you to select a room or staff member to book the appointment with. Further information relating to the Diary screen will be covered in the Diary section of this manual

  • Add a Note – Advisorscan add an internal note to an enquiry that will only be seen by staff and not by the enquirer. Please be aware that enquirers can access all information stored about them through the Freedom of Information Act which includes internal notes and memos.
  • Link this enquiry to another Enquiry – Should there be a number of enquiries from the same enquirer about the same issue enquiries can be linked to ensure all information is kept together. These are called “Parent” and “Child” enquiries. The “Parent” enquiry is the initial enquiry and any linked enquiries will be labelled as “child” enquiries. Any linked enquiries will still show as separate enquiries and should be dealt with as separate entities – ie if a “parent” enquiry is closed the “child” enquiry will stay open until closed by an advisor. Add the other enquiry number into the Parent Enquiry field to link the enquiries.
  • Provide Solution and Close – select this action to provide a solution to an enquirer and close the enquiry. Enquirers can re-open enquiries if they are not happy with the solution.
  • Provide Solution requiring confirmation (stops clock) – if for any reason you can provide a solution but require confirmation of this solution from the enquirer this action will send the details to the enquirer and will stop the clock until confirmation is recieved.
  • Close Enquiry because of No enquirer response – if you have requested further information from and enquirer or a solution has been provided pending confirmation and the enquirer has not responded the advisor can close the enquiry manually.
  • Critical – Escalate to Senior Management – this should be used sparingly and only in case of an emergency. It will send an email to the members of the Senior Management Team but should also be followed up with a telephone call to a member of the team to ensure that someone is aware of the situation.

Enquiry Options