Help Desk Operations For A Small Business

Help Desk Operations Mg1the Help Desk For A Small Business College

Help Desk Operations (M/G/1) The Help Desk for a small business college is staffed by a single employee who handles requests on a first-come, first-serve basis. Requests for help have been observed at an average rate of 5 per hour and follow the Poisson distribution. The times to service the requests have an average of 7 minutes with a standard deviation of 2.5 minutes and follow the normal probability distribution.

a. What is the probability that a student will have to wait for service?

b. On average, how many students will be waiting for service?

c. How long is the average wait for service?

Paper For Above instruction

The purpose of this analysis is to examine the queuing system of a small college help desk operating under an M/G/1 model. The parameters involved include an arrival rate of 5 requests per hour, and service times averaging 7 minutes with a standard deviation of 2.5 minutes, modeled as a normal distribution. The main objectives are to determine the probability that a student arriving at the help desk will have to wait, the average number of students waiting, and the average waiting time.

Introduction

Queuing theory provides a set of mathematical tools to analyze systems where entities (customers, data packets, cars, etc.) await service from a server. The M/G/1 model, characterized by Markovian (Poisson) arrivals, a General (any) service distribution, and a single server, is particularly suitable for analyzing help desk operations where arrivals are random, and service times may vary. This paper examines such a system in a college setting to derive insights into system performance, customer wait times, and service efficiency.

Arrival Rate and Service Distribution

The help desk experiences an average request arrival rate of 5 per hour, following a Poisson process. This implies that inter-arrival times are exponentially distributed with a mean of 12 minutes (since 60 minutes / 5 requests). The service times are normally distributed with a mean of 7 minutes and a standard deviation of 2.5 minutes, representing variability in the time taken to resolve each request.

Probability that a Student Will Have to Wait

The key metric here is the utilization of the server, denoted by ρ, which indicates the fraction of time the server is busy. For an M/G/1 queue, the server utilization is calculated as:

λ / (1 / E[S])

where λ is the arrival rate, and E[S] is the average service time in hours. Converting 7 minutes to hours gives 7/60 ≈ 0.1167 hours. The utilization is:

ρ = (5 requests/hour) * (0.1167 hours) ≈ 0.5835, or approximately 58.35%.

In an M/G/1 queue, the probability that an arriving customer has to wait (i.e., the server is busy) is equal to the server utilization, ρ. Therefore:

Probability that a student will have to wait = ρ ≈ 58.35%.

Average Number of Waiting Students

The average number of students in the system, denoted as L, includes those being served plus those waiting. For an M/G/1 queue, L can be calculated using the Pollaczek-Khinchine formula:

L = ρ + (λ² * Var(S)) / (2(1 - ρ))

Where:

• λ = 5 requests/hour
• Var(S) = (standard deviation)^2 = (2.5 minutes)^2 = 6.25 minutes^2
• Converting Var(S) to hours: (6.25) / (60^2) ≈ 6.25 / 3600 ≈ 0.001736 hours^2

Calculating the second term:

(λ² Var(S)) / (2(1 - ρ)) = (5² 0.001736) / (2 (1 - 0.5835)) ≈ (25 0.001736) / (2 * 0.4165) ≈ 0.0434 / 0.833 ≈ 0.052

Thus, the average number of students in the system is:

L ≈ 0.5835 + 0.052 ≈ 0.6355 students.

To find the average number of students waiting, denoted as L_q, we subtract the average number being served (which is ρ) from L:

L_q = L - ρ ≈ 0.6355 - 0.5835 ≈ 0.052 students.

Average Waiting Time for Service

The average waiting time in the queue, W_q, is given by:

W_q = L_q / λ = 0.052 / 5 ≈ 0.0104 hours.

Converting hours to minutes:

W_q ≈ 0.0104 * 60 ≈ 0.624 minutes or approximately 37.4 seconds.

The average time a student spends in the system, W, including service, is:

W = W_q + E[S] = 0.0104 hours + 0.1167 hours ≈ 0.1271 hours or about 7.63 minutes.

Discussion and Implications

The analysis indicates that while the help desk operates at a moderate utilization, the likelihood of a student having to wait is significant (around 58%). The average waiting time of approximately 37 seconds suggests relatively efficient service, but the system could be optimized further by increasing staff during peak periods.

Moreover, the low average number of students waiting (about 0.05) demonstrates high service efficiency, though it varies with actual customer flow. Such insights can inform management decisions about staffing levels and process improvements to enhance student satisfaction.

Conclusion

This study showcases the utility of queuing theory in analyzing and improving help desk operations. By applying the M/G/1 model, the college can better understand customer wait times, system capacity, and personnel needs, ultimately leading to more effective resource allocation and improved service quality.

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