assignment 1
The Eastern Seaboard Super Express Train (ESSET) is a high speed train service between towns on the eastern seaboard of Australia. See a section dedicated to this in the Assignment 4 tab of this subject's Interact2 site for details on ESSET. The company has proposed the establishment of a Help Desk for all passengers. The following are basic parameters.
Location:
The nationwide service number is 131-278 (13-FAST). It will be served concurrently from two locations with automatic load balancing of calls. A comprehensive website has also been set up (the discussion of this site is not part of your assignment).
Operations:
The Help Desk will operate 24 hours, 7 day week by 100 customer support representatives in each centre.
Q1 - List three best practices that could be established for the ESSET Help Desk? [300 words] - 3 marks
[You might want to read Chapter 6 of the textbook.]
Q2 - In the initial training of help desk support staff, the standards of information and service level given by the staff differs greatly. A few give wrong information, some are not courteous and do not know the information that has to be given out to customers. How would you ensure the appropriate level of expertise of each customer support representative? [300 words] - 6 marks
[You might want to read Chapter 7 of the textbook.]
Q3 - You have just spoken to a customer and gave provided information about timetabling of trains. She is -on hold- while you look for the fare for her. While searching for this, you realise that you have been reading the timetabling off the wrong list (northbound instead of southbound). What would you do? How would you prevent this from happening in future? [200 words] - 2 marks [You might want to refer to Chapter 5 for some tips]
Q4 - How does the principles of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) apply in the above help desk setup? Give any two examples that apply. Relate the task to literature read. - [400 words] 7 marks
[You might want to re-read the chapter by Moeller recommended in Topic 8]
For all questions, you are also required to substantiate with literature. Along with in text citations throughout each question include one reference list at the end of this assignment. The following (journal) articles may also assist you (all articles can be found in the CSU Journal Database). Please do not post PDFs of these journals as attachment on the subject Discussion area as this is a violation of copyright law.
Anonymous. (2015). Hanoi seeks to spice up its allure. Vietnam News Agency Bulletin. Retrieved from https://global-factiva-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=VIETNA0020150408eb48000gp&cat=a&ep=ASE

Bianchi, C. (2015). Solo holiday travellers: Motivators and drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. International Journal of Tourism Research, n/a-n/a. doi: 10.1002/jtr.2049

Gustafson, P. (2013). Business travel from the traveller’s perspective: Stress, stimulation and normalization.Mobilities, 9(1), 63-83. doi: 10.1080/17450101.2013.784539

Kunimatsu, T., Hirai, C., & Tomii, N. (2012). Train timetable evaluation from the viewpoint of passengers by microsimulation of train operation and passenger flow. Electrical Engineering in Japan, 181(4), 51-62. doi: 10.1002/eej.21264

Su, M. M., & Wall, G. (2009). Destination and en-route experiences among train travellers to Tibet. Tourism Recreation Research, 34(2), 181-190. doi: 10.1080/02508281.2009.11081589
van Goeverden, C. D. (2009). Explaining factors for train use in European long-distance travel. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development, 6(1), 21-37. doi: 10.1080/14790530902847038
(Author apologises that the second line cannot be indented in line with APA requirements due to the limitations of the editing platform of this software.)