Since January 2019, the two Copernicus Earth observation services implemented by ECMWF on behalf of the European Union have provided improved access to user support facilities on their websites. Visitors to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) websites now have immediate access to the Copernicus knowledge base and Service Desk without leaving the page they are visiting.
Previously users of the CAMS and C3S websites could only access the knowledge base and Service Desk through links on the ‘Help & Support’ page. Those links, which continue to be available, take users to external web pages and thus move them away from the page they are visiting. To facilitate access to user support and to improve the user experience, the CAMS and C3S websites now include a small question mark icon in the bottom right corner of all pages. When users click on it, they can search the Copernicus knowledge base and browse knowledge base articles without leaving the page. After running a search, they can also create a Service Desk ticket, for example to give feedback on a knowledge base article or to raise any other issue. Such a ticket will be logged in the Jira Service Desk system and processed according to workflows set up by the Copernicus User Support team, in the same way as requests received through the ‘Help and Support’ page. The new feature ensures that any user creating a support request has gone through the knowledge base search first and has been offered access to any relevant articles. This will help users to help themselves. The new feature also makes it a lot easier for users to raise tickets in Jira as the system does not require prior registration and the information users need to provide about themselves is minimal.
The Copernicus User Support team keeps looking for new channels to enhance interactions with users. Plans for the future include a forum service to further promote self-support and a chat service for more immediate interactions between the User Support team and users. The team is always interested to hear from our users on how we can improve further. If you have an idea, criticism, or suggestion, you can reach us at copernicus-support@ecmwf.int.