Switchboard Operator IT Services

Salary Grade 3 - £15, 303 to £17, 503 per annum

Open Ended Contract

Ref: CSE00733

At Leicester we’re going places. Ranked in the top 12 universities in Britain our aim is to climb further. A commitment to high quality fused with an inclusive academic culture is our hallmark and led the Times Higher Education to describe us as “elite without being elitist”.

You role will be to greet external and internal callers and connect them to the appropriate extension and provide information on a wide range of issues appropriate to a telephone exchange. You will also be required to assist internal callers with making calls and provide advice on the correct or most effective use of the telephony system, using a Realtis AC-Win Window based software system.

The University There’s never been a more exciting time to join us. At the University of Leicester we are enjoying research success on a world stage and gathering the awards and plaudits to match. We are described as “elite without being elitist”. We are proud to be elite. But we are at least as proud to be an inclusive and progressive university. This commitment to high quality, an inclusive academic culture and belief in the synergy of teaching and research are our hallmarks. We believe that teaching is inspirational when delivered by passionate scholars engaged in world-changing research that is delivered in an academic community that includes postgraduate as well as undergraduate students. Our approach to research yields great rewards. Our research impact, measured by citations per academic, is ranked in the UK top 10. Our success in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise saw Quality Related research income rise by 18% placing us firmly amongst Britain’s top 20 research universities by this measure. The RAE also revealed that Leicester is home to Britain’s top-rated research department – Museum Studies – which has the highest concentration of world class research of any department of any discipline in the UK. We believe that teaching and research are synergistic, and the National Student Survey demonstrates that the quality of our teaching is amongst the highest in the country. Since the launch of the survey in 2005, Leicester has consistently featured amongst the top-10 universities in England for student satisfaction. The Sunday Times described Leicester as "top... amongst mainstream multi- faculty universities for student satisfaction". Currently a University of 23,000 students, with a turnover in excess of £260m and 3,300 colleagues, our future is bright. Our Strategic Vision describes our plans to invest a billion pounds in our estate as we transform our campus. Ranked 13th out of 120 universities by the Guardian, by 2015 we aim to rise further to become top-10.

Leicester is the most inclusive of Britain’s top-20 universities with the greatest proportions of students from under-represented groups. As a group of talented individuals we are more diverse than ever and stronger for it. At Leicester we are proud of our distinct approach, our achievements and our ambitious plans. If you share our approach join us. Please see http://www2.le.ac.uk/about/facts for more information about the University.

IT Services The purpose of IT Services is to create a digital campus in which students and staff can be as creative and productive as possible as they learn, teach, undertake research and run the organisation.

Many of our services are typical of the corporate world and offer similar challenges: managed desktops and laptops, storage, email, printing, web content management, data and voice networking, multimedia design and production, and the ERP business applications underpinning finance, HR/ payroll, marketing, facilities management and a range of commercial enterprises.

Other services are specific to the University and create an interesting range of challenges for the IT function. Here the creation, sharing, analysis and dissemination of information are defining activities. Both students and researchers tend to be demanding, innovative users of technology and we aim to provide them an information environment in which they can be as creative and productive as possible. We provide them with a Virtual Learning Environment, High Performance Computing services and a huge range of specialist software. Our researchers produce vast amounts of data and need tools to manage, mine and generate information from it. Many of them collaborate with others across disciplinary and organisational boundaries. Our students have grown up with internet technologies and expect to be constantly connected using their mobile devices. A technology rich experience is what they expect from University life. We provide equipment in teaching rooms, PC areas, wireless everywhere, and internet services in the halls of residence. We also run specialist business applications to support our students’ journey through the institution, aiming to provide them with a professional service through the application process, while they are studying and after they graduate. Similarly, we run systems to underpin the life cycle of each research project as it moves from grant application through to publication and dissemination.

Background IT Services was established in January 2007 by the current Director of IT by merging a range of previously fragmented organisations. The emphasis was initially on the creation of an effective, customer focussed organisation with an appropriate governance framework, ITIL based service support disciplines and project and portfolio management processes. The focus then shifted to modernising the IT infrastructure, widening the service portfolio to provide comprehensive support to all areas of University (particularly to underpin research activity) and implementing the standards and service management tools needed to deliver service to 23,000 students and 4,000 staff in a cost effective manner.

With this infrastructure modernisation programme substantially complete IT Services is ready to move to the next stage in its development. The goal now is to be perceived by all as the institution’s trusted IT partner. We aim to help researchers do more effective research and students derive more value from their University experience. We aim to play a leadership role in business process transformation. In these various ways, we will create value for the University rather than simply serve it.

University of Leicester 2 08 July 2013 A key step in realising this goal has been to develop the first institutional IT Strategy. This envisages IT Services scaling up its operation so as to provide for the majority of needs across all departments, even those which have historically employed their own IT professionals (mainly within the college of Science and Engineering and the college of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology). The aim is for all IT professionals to be treated as part of a single team.

Your Role You role will be to greet external and internal callers and connect them to the appropriate extension and provide information on a wide range of issues appropriate to a telephone exchange. You will also be required to assist internal callers with making calls and provide advice on the correct or most effective use of the telephony system, using a Realtis AC-Win Window based software system.

Principal Accountabilities  Receive incoming external telephone calls in a prompt manner, providing helpful and professional support in accordance with the University’s agreed service standards.  Connect callers to the required extension or the most appropriate department to meet the caller’s requirements.  Provide information or advice as appropriate from the ‘reference file’ or general knowledge of the University and its activities.  Receive calls from internal callers in a prompt manner, providing helpful and professional support in accordance with the University’s agreed service standards.  Provide suitable advice or guidance on the correct or most effective use of the telephony system to internal callers, including directory advice, connecting calls and general information.  Activate the appropriate processes to enable internal and external conference calls.  Use the telephone management computer system to make alterations to permissions and barring features attributable to individual telephone extensions. On direction from the Supervisor instigate moves and changes to the telephone system. Log and report faults to the appropriate person.  Maintain the telephone directory in consultation with the Telecoms Administrator and IT Services.  In the future, if required, be prepared to operate a ‘help desk’ facility; logging calls on a computerised facilities management system and forwarding them to the appropriate person for resolution.

Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience

Essential  Basic IT skills – familiar with MS Office (primarily Excel and Word).*  Knowledge of the Data Protection Act and its implications and relevance to a call handling operation.*  Relevant experience in a call handling organisation, meeting performance objectives.*

University of Leicester 3 08 July 2013

Desirable  Experience working in a telecoms/switchboard environment.  Operating a switchboard using a realties AC-Win software package or similar.  Knowledge of an academic organisation, ideally in a university or further education context.

Skills, Abilities and Competencies

Essential  Excellent interpersonal skills - customer focussed, polite and helpful with clarity of speech and understanding of spoken English on the telephone.*  Calm and considered approach when dealing with multiple calls and priorities.  Able to prioritise and provide clear and accurate advice and support to callers.*

(* Criteria to be used in shortlisting candidates for interview)

Informal Enquiries Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Jenna Shaw at [email protected].

Applications For further information and to apply on-line, please visit our website: www.le.ac.uk/joinus The closing date for this post is midnight on 07/08/2013. We anticipate that interviews will take place on week commencing 12/08/2013. Candidates short-listed for interview will be contacted by the University. If you do not receive a communication from the University within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful.

University of Leicester 4 08 July 2013