The Information and Process Management (IPM) team provides the first point of contact to customers for facility related issues and supports internal FM departments through central planning, business application support, process improvement and strategy implementation.

What We Do

The IPM team is divided into the following three areas:  

• Customer Service Center - The Facilities Management Customer Service Center (FMCSC) is the university’s one stop shop for 24/7 facilities service and support.  The FMCSC has two major functions. 
  
  
  • The Call Center is our customers’ first point of contact for maintenance requests and general facilities needs.  By calling 624-2900, customers can be connected with a representative 24/7 who will coordinate response to facility related issues.
     
  • The Building Systems Automation Center (BSAC) provides campus-wide alarm monitoring services for over 60,000 alarm points.  A weekend supervisor provides on-site coordination to ensure facility support for teaching, research and special events that take place on weekends.
     
• Business Application Support (BAS) / Central Planning & Scheduling - The Business Applications Support (BAS) team is responsible for the functionality and on-going support and upgrades to the computer applications used in FM and other University Services departments. The primary application, Compass, is used for asset management, work order management, inventory control and labor management.  Through the customer self-service web site, customers can access the Compass system directly. Business analysts perform project management, application support and customized training.  BAS also provides internal reporting capability through management of the web reporting system.  Visit the Training page for more information.
  
  Central Planning & Scheduling is responsible for Compass data oversight and administration.  The group manages parts records, the preventative maintenance program, customer contact information, and data quality reports.
   
• Process Improvement and Strategy Implementation - The goal of the team’s Process Improvement effort is to provide direction on improvement methodologies as well as to lead cross functional teams to accomplish departmental objectives. The Strategy Implementation component involves helping to lead and coordinate the FM senior leadership team in developing strategic and operational objectives, aligning and prioritizing initiatives and measuring progress against established goals.   An annual strategy map helps FM define long-term priorities.  Every month, a scorecard tracks progress against FM’s operational goals.
   

How We Do It

As the University’s one stop resource for facility related issues, the Customer Service Center strives to quickly respond to customer needs and system-generated alarms.  Agents are trained on a variety of systems to swiftly diagnose the issue and then route critical information to the appropriate team for resolution.

As part of our commitment to service, whenever a new service request is initiated we are able to generate an e-mail notifying customers immediately that the request has been processed, who to contact in case of additional questions and a date by which you can expect the work to be completed. A follow-up e-mail will also inform customers of when the work has been finished.

To support FM’s unique computer applications, work scheduling needs and reporting requirements, the Business Application Support (BAS) and Central Planning teams are constantly looking ahead. Upgrades and improvements are identified, tested, and installed through a methodical process to ensure system reliability is maintained.

FM uses a variety of methods to promote Process Improvement, including application of quality principles such as Lean Sigma, Baldrige and Balanced Scorecard.  Recent efforts have focused on using one to five day Lean Kaizen events to quickly identify and implement improvement opportunities. The goal is to build a continuous improvement culture.