Enhancing Trust in the IT Department with Progress Transparency

Last Updated：

2026-03-27

Expected completion date notifications kept requesters informed and reduced phone inquiries.

1. Issue: The Burden of Phone Calls to Verify Progress

The Information Systems Department, serving as the help desk supporting the company’s IT infrastructure, handles between 20 to 30 inquiries daily with a team of 20 staff members.

Some inquiries can be resolved with a single email, but more complex issues requiring investigation or an internal review often need a two-step response: sending a provisional initial response first, followed by a definitive final response later. This can take several days to complete in some cases, causing the department to be overwhelmed by frequent phone calls from requesters seeking progress updates.

2. Solution: Pre-Notification of Estimated Completion Dates

To better manage inquiries that require extended response times, the process owner enabled the inquiry response staff to enter either the final response or an expected completion date. Specifically, if an expected completion date is entered, the project status is automatically updated to “Second Response in Progress (Notification Sent)”, and a notification email with the estimated date is sent to the requester.

Notifying requesters of expected completion dates reduced phone inquiries by keeping them informed.

Before

View details of the workflow diagram

Inquiry Input [FORM]

The requester inputs the details of their inquiry into a form.

Inquiry Received

They receive a notification that an inquiry has been submitted.

1. Enter First Response

The internal help desk staff member enters the initial response.

Status: Noise

If “Noise” is selected in step 1, the case status will be set to “Noise.”

Status: Completed

If “Final Response” is selected in step 1, the case status will be set to “Completed.”

Status: In Secondary Response

If “Reply & Secondary Response” is selected in step 1, the case status is set to “Secondary Response in Progress.”

First Response (Final)

The requester receives the initial response by email, and the process is complete.

First Response (Provisional)

The requester receives the initial response by email, and the process is complete.

2.Enter the second response

The technical support representative will enter the text for the second response.

Status: Completed

If “Secondary Response” is selected in step 2, the case status is set to “Completed.”

Second Response (Final)

The requester receives the secondary response by email, and the process is complete.

After

View details of the workflow diagram

Inquiry Input [FORM]

The requester inputs the details of their inquiry into a form.

Inquiry Received

They receive a notification that an inquiry has been submitted.

1. Enter First Response

The internal help desk staff member enters the initial response.

Status: Noise

If “Noise” is selected in step 1, the case status will be set to “Noise.”

Status: Completed

If “Final Response” is selected in step 1, the case status will be set to “Completed.”

Status: In Secondary Response

If “Reply & Secondary Response” is selected in step 1, the case status is set to “Secondary Response in Progress.”

First Response (Final)

The requester receives the initial response by email, and the process is complete.

First Response (Provisional)

The requester receives the initial response by email, and the process is complete.

2. Enter Second Response or Estimated Completion Date

The technical support representative enters the secondary response, or if the investigation will take time, they enter the estimated completion date.

Status: Completed

If “Secondary Response” is selected in step 2, the case status is set to “Completed.”

Status: Secondary Response in Progress (Estimated Date Entered)

When “Secondary Response” is selected in step 2, the case status is set to “Secondary Response in Progress (Estimated Date Entered).”

Second Response (Final)

The requester receives the secondary response by email, and the process is complete.

Notification of Estimated Completion Date

You will receive an email with the estimated completion date.

2b. Enter Second Response Text

The technical support representative enters the secondary response.

Second Response (Final)

The requester receives the secondary response by email, and the process is complete.