AskQM FLT Staff Guidance

The Frontline Enquiry Response Team are a team of 22 members of staff.

The responsibility of this team is to support students and resolve enquiries via AskQM that are on a general nature, supported by the extensive knowledge base. 

Alongside our use of AskQM, we also offer in-person support to students and telephone line.

The Team currently consists of the following staff members: 

 

Head of Enquiry Management	Jess Henry
Enquiry Operations Manager	Maisie Downie, Sakile Martin & Emma Shapcott
Knowledge Manager	Siobhan Finney
Enquiry Administrator	Lauren Collins, Cami Foncel, Callum Hubner, Will Munro, Louise Richardson, Danny Riches, Vicky Stokes
Enquiry Assistant	Ana Brito, Waled Mohamed, Shepha Mostafa, Mohamed Osman, Jazmine Parvis, Sameenah Rahman, Imran Saleque, Jasmine Soyinka, Christum Weekes, Zakaria Yusuf

The Frontline Team (FLT) will eventually have 5 AskQM Hubs over 4 of our London campuses.

We launched AskQM with one site which is on the ground floor of iQ East Court, Mile End (previously the Student Enquiry Centre).

Our second hub on the ground floor of the Mile End Library opened in mid-May and students can be directed to visit either site on the Mile End Campus.

Other locations coming soon are:

• First floor of the Garrod Building, Whitechapel
• Third floor of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Lincoln's Inn Fields
• Ground floor of the Joseph Rotblat Building, Charterhouse Square

We expect all 5 sites to be providing a full service by early 2025/26.

Our AskQM Hubs webpage will be kept up-to-date with our physical locations, hours of service etc. 

Handing on enquiries

When the Frontline Enquiry Response Team receive an enquiry, we will first check to see if there is a Knowledge Article in existence that answers the student's question. 

If there is not a Knowledge Article that sufficiently answers the question or we believe that the enquiry is better dealt with by a specialist team, we will use the 'Hand On' function to pass the case over to the team most appropriate to resolve the query.

Please note that we will always only hand on to the main team queue (i.e. School of Business and Management). From there, your team will be responsible for triaging cases into the appropriate sub-queues or assigning them directly to individual staff members.

Creating a task

If we have ownership of an enquiry but require some information from you so that we can resolve the query, we may create a task for you to ask us that you provide us with this information. Once you have done this, we can then use the information to update the student and close the enquiry.

An example of when we may create a task for you is if we are completing a form for a student that requires information that you hold.

Creating sub-enquiries

If we receive an enquiry which is complex and requires responses from multiple specialist areas of the university, we may create sub-enquiries on behalf of the student to break their enquiry down.

We will then assign the sub-enquiries to the relevant team queue(s) for resolution. We will inform the student of what we have done and provide them with new enquiry numbers so that they can track the new enquiries. From your point of view, it will simply look like a normal enquiry. 

 

If you receive an enquiry within AskQM that you feel is better dealt with by the FLT, please use the 'Hand On' function to pass the enquiry over to the queue called 'Frontline Enquiry Response Team'.

There are currently versions of this queue labelled 1 - 4, however, please only hand on to the main queue as named above.

We utilise the extensive knowledge base to support us in answering and resolving queries. Therefore, we ask that you please review and update your knowledge articles as regularly as necessary to ensure that we are always referring to current and accurate information.

If there is an upcoming event or activity that you think the FLT need to be aware of in case we might expect to receive an influx of enquiries about it from students, please provide any prevalent information to the AskQM Frontline Management Team (askqm-enquiry-managers@qmul.ac.uk) who will be able to review this and ensure that the Enquiry Assistants and Administrators are aware of what's coming and how to respond.

The confirmed process for updating and requesting knowledge articles will be recorded here soon.

If you would like to request a new feature, capability or functionality within AskQM that will improve performance, usability or overall quality, then please submit an Enhancement request via our form.

Before submitting, please be aware that many enhancement requests have already been sent by users to the AskQM Project Team and have been reviewed and prioritised. Therefore, something that you may like to request may already be in development.

You will find the list of previously submitted enhancements that are already under review/being worked on here: AskQM Enhancements for Project Team [XLS 37KB]

Examples of enhancements include

• Changing system routing e.g. enquiries submitted under X sub-category are directed to queue 1 but you now want them to be directed to queue 2
• Changing the name of a category/sub-category, team queue, or generally changing any text within AskQM
• Changing the team queue that a member of staff is in
• Moving important student details so that they appear higher on the page and therefore easier to see

Please note that requesting an account for a new member of staff is not considered to be an enhancement and instead you can request this from IT Services via ServiceNow.

If there is an error within AskQM or something has stopped working as you expect it to, please let us know by reporting the issue via our form.

You have the ability to upload a screenshot or other document(s) via the form. This is not mandatory but you may wish to upload something to support with the investigation of your issue.

If your issue is that you cannot log in to AskQM, please log a ticket directly with IT Services via ServiceNow. Similarly, if a student has informed you that they are having an issue with logging into the platform, they can be directed to raise a ticket with IT Services: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/its/

Please note that any errors relating to Knowledge Articles should be submitted directly to the Knowledge Manager via askqm-knowledge@qmul.ac.uk rather than using the form.

Feedback about AskQM

If you have any general feedback about the system or how it's being used which doesn't necessarily require any technical intervention or amendments, but would be helpful for us to keep in mind, please do let us know by submitting feedback via the form.

Feedback about the AskQM FLT

We also welcome feedback about your interactions with the AskQM FLT. As part of our work supporting students with general enquiries, we use the Knowledge Base and webpages to provide students with answers to their questions. If the team feel that there is not enough information available to them to fully resolve an enquiry they may hand it on to a specialist area for resolution.

If you feel that some enquiries are being incorrectly handed on to you and that the FLT could have resolved the query at the first stage, please do let us know by submitting feedback via the form. This will help us to find gaps in knowledge and opportunities for further team training.

If there is anything that you feel requires escalating then please see the information under the 'escalation procedures' information tab on this webpage.

Only those with an enhanced license can send a proactive campaign via AskQM. Each area of the university should have at least one enhanced license user, however, we understand that they will not always be available to support you with sending a campaign.

Therefore, you are welcome to submit a request to AskQM FLT management team to send a campaign on your behalf.

Requests should be submitted at least one week in advance of your preferred campaign date. We will aim to assist with campaigns on shorter notice however cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate the request, particularly during peak university periods such as Enrolment.

Please be aware that you will need to provide us with information about your campaign and upload student details via the  Proactive Campaign Student Details Template [XLS 9KB]

Alternatives to using proactive campaigns

If you are unable to use the proactive campaign functionality or feel that it is not quite right for the type of communication that you wish to send, please be advised that you can send an email to your recipients using a no-reply mailbox. You can then direct students to submit any questions/responses via AskQM in your email and in the auto-reply response attached to your mailbox.

When a mailbox is harvested into AskQM, it means that the enquirer sends an email and, rather than it appearing in Outlook, it routes directly into AskQM and a new enquiry is logged on their behalf. You will no longer be able to respond to enquirers via Outlook and can instead reply to them via AskQM. 

The list of mailboxes currently being harvested/routed into AskQM can be found here: Mailboxes harvested into AskQM [XLS 10KB]

Requesting a mailbox is harvested

If you have a mailbox that you would like to be harvested into AskQM, please submit a request via our form.

Mailbox auto-reply templates

Below are some templates that you can use to support students in knowing how/where their enquiry will be resolved.

1. If your mailbox has been harvested into AskQM (i.e. the email is now an enquiry in AskQM)

Thank you for your email. ​

Please be advised that your email has been logged as an enquiry in our new enquiry management system AskQM and we will respond to you via the new platform.

Current students can log in to AskQM now to easily raise, track and manage enquiries.

AskQM gives you a single, 24-hour point of access for enquiries and has been purpose-built to offer you a more convenient, efficient and effective way to find the information and resources that you need.​

Search our comprehensive set of knowledge articles under 'Ask a Question' to find answers to your queries fast.

For more information about AskQM including guidance for students on accessing the portal and which Queen Mary teams are using it, please visit our AskQM information page.

Take a look at AskQM now!

 

2. If your mailbox has been closed and is not being harvested (i.e. mailbox is no longer operational and enquirer needs to log an enquiry via AskQM)

Thank you for your email. Please note, this mailbox is no longer used by the School/Department/Institute team for incoming student queries and you will not receive a reply to your email.

Current students should please log in to AskQM and submit a new enquiry via AskQM

If you are not a current student and cannot log in to the platform, please 'contact us' via the public webform instead.

AskQM is the new way for Queen Mary’s students to easily raise, track and manage enquiries. It gives you a single, 24-hour point of access for enquiries to provide a more convenient, efficient and effective way to find the information and resources you need.

Search our comprehensive set of knowledge articles under 'Ask a Question' to find answers to your queries fast.

For more information about AskQM including guidance for students on accessing the portal and which Queen Mary teams are using it, please visit our AskQM information page.

Take a look at AskQM now!

 

As a user of AskQM, you can create your own reports and dashboards to support you in finding out information about everything enquiry related.

The AskQM FLT have created some guidance to help users outside of our team to set-up their own reports and dashboards. If you would like some support with creating your reports, please email askqm-enquiry-managers@qmul.ac.uk.

• Creating a Report - General Guidance [PDF 336KB] - General guidance on creating a report for your team members or queues
• Creating a Team Dashboard [PDF 379KB] - Guidance on creating a dashboard to show the total amount of cases for each team member
• Creating Individual Team Member Reports [PDF 1,112KB] - Guidance on creating a more detailed report about all team members including number of cases currently open/closed and response times
• Using Public Reports as Templates [PDF 273KB] - Guidance on how to save a public report and use it to customise it to your needs

 

The Project Team have also created some bite-size videos to support you in setting up reports and dashboards.

Our Enquiry Operations Mangers (EOM) line-manage the Frontline Enquiry Response Team as well as having responsibility for some AskQM processes and procedures.

They will have a business partnering arrangement with Schools and Services around the university, collaborating to ensure that departments feel supported when using AskQM and that all enquiries are resolved promptly and effectively.

Once we have finished recruiting to the role of EOM, each Team/Service will have a designated EOM who will be their business partner.

In the meantime, please use our contact form to:

• Request enhancements
• Report issues
• Provide feedback
• Request support with proactive campaigns
• Request a new mailbox is harvested into AskQM

If the contact form isn't quite what you need, please email the AskQM FLT Managers via askqm-enquiry-managers@qmul.ac.uk and one of the team will assist you.

Requesting access to AskQM and Licence Allocation

All Schools and services have a fixed number of licenses assigned to them. Your Process Owner will have an up-to-date list of users so before requesting a license please check that you have one available to you.

Please be aware that all requests for a license will be validated by IT Services and if all of your department's licenses are already in use then it won't be possible to simply allocate one to you.

However, it is possible for you to arrange for licenses to be redistributed between departments. For example, if a School has a license that they do not need, it could be reassigned to a different School. This will require approval from the Process Owner of the department the license is being reassigned from and evidence of this approval (e.g. email confirmation) should be uploaded as part of your ServiceNow request. 

 

The process

If you have a new user of AskQM and they need a license, please log a ticket to ITS via ServiceNow, following the guidance below:

1. Check availability: Confirm with your Process Owner if there’s an available licence or if one can be reclaimed from a colleague who no longer requires access.

2. Log a ticket: Submit a new request via ServiceNow after the new user’s main IT account has been created

• Category: General Request
• Short description: AskQM User Licence Request
• Comments:
  • Make your request and provide the new user’s Queen Mary email address and username
  • Confirm the Faculty and School of the user
  • Confirm which enquiry queue(s) the user will need access to

If you are reassigning a licence from one user to another, please provide information about both staff members.

 

Training materials

Your departmental Super User may be able to support with training and/or provide you with training materials to support new users/staff with using AskQM.

The training materials used by the AskQM FLT are available for you to download and use/tailor as you see fit: AskQM Frontline Team Training Materials

The AskQM Project Team have also created a number of bite-size videos and guidance documents to support you with all aspects of platform functionality. You can find everything on the AskQM SharePoint site under 'Supporting Materials'.

If you are experiencing severe, urgent issues that you feel cannot be dealt with via our contact form, or, you have a complaint about AskQM or the Frontline Enquiry Response Team, the first level of escalation is the Enquiry Operations Mangers via askqm-enquiry-managers@qmul.ac.uk. They line-manage the Enquiry Administrators and Assistants who are our main users of AskQM and provide support to students via the platform as well as in-person and via the telephone.

The next level of escalation is the Head of Enquiry Management, Jessica Henry (j.henry@qmul.ac.uk) who will review your problem as soon as possible and take appropriate action, including deciding whether the issue needs to escalated further.