[ARCHIVED] Has Canvas trained and hired more chat support agents for the Covid 19 crisis? Canvas slow, not running

[cohenf]

It is taking too long to get support agents. I leave the window open while I'm doing something else and turn it off after 15 minutes. There's not even an estimated wait time provided.

Edit, 3/30: And now Canvas, on a Monday morning, is running slow or not at all. It's been all fits and starts for me and my students. This can kill student motivation and obstruct faculty goals during this public health crisis. Instructure needs to ramp up capacity.

[scottdennis]

Hi Frank,

Thanks for reaching out. We are here for you. With the current global pandemic, we are seeing unprecedented increases in activity and calls for service, and are doing everything we can to meet the increase in demand. We do understand this can be frustrating though and want to help and provide more information on what we are doing to address the issue. 

In response to this situation we are:

• Scaling up the platform to meet record level usage
• Prioritizing all development around making Canvas more optimized for the changing use patterns we are seeing
• Hiring and training more support agents as quickly as we can
• Pulling people together from around the company who can put aside less essential tasks in order to help respond in Support
• Working with our Canvas Partners who have optimized their tools for the increased load, particularly on web conferencing and distance learning
• Adding and organizing resources in the Canvas Community, where we are also seeing unprecedented activity levels
• Shifting all of our training resources to help facilitate the wave of online-only education that is happening globally

If you have additional questions or concerns please let us know.

[scottdennis]

And just in case anyone reading this might be interested...

Instructure - L1 Technical Support Engineer 

[cohenf]

Thank you,  @scottdennis ‌. You're thorough and informative reply is greatly appreciated.

[cdoherty]

Too bad all that doesn't make a chat agent appear. We are still paying for a service that no longer exists.

[scottdennis]

Hi Christine,

Again, we are very sorry that, as the number of people trying to contact Support has seen a massive increase, it is taking longer for people to get through than we'd like.  I just checked the queues for chat and voice and they are longer than our targets but if people stay on they will get through.  Support very much is still there.

[cohenf]

@scottdennis , this remains a problem, as I point out in this post: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor/quot-No-Chat-Agents-Available-quot/m-p/405881#

This is a shame, as customer support (My go to is "Chat.") was impeccable. Obviously, the remote learning "pandemic" has had an impact but hasn't the rubber hit the road yet on this issue? I'm a huge Canvas fan but these wait times and "no one available" messages are inexcusable at this point, IMO.

[scottdennis]

@cohenf  First off, I'm not making excuses or saying the current situation is OK.  We want to get back to the standards of excellence we have been know for with respects to Support responsiveness in the past.  With respects to, "hasn't the rubber hit the road yet on this issue?" regarding the pandemic, we are still seeing a 5x increase in support volume year on year.  We are hiring additional techs as quickly as we can.  Support personnel are working mandatory overtime and weekends.  Volume hasn't abated.  Again, I'm not trying to excuse slow responses but wanted to explain the reality our Support team is operating in.

[cohenf]

I appreciate your response, @scottdennis. I have a long enough history with Canvas to believe you when you say Instructure is doing all it can in the customer support area. Thank you for your reply.

[cohenf]

Doesn't pertain directly to the question, but Canvas has been performing slowly or not at all since this morning. It's not a coincidence that it's Monday morning, but this is very bad. Of course, we're trying to be understanding, but it's these slowdowns that will absolutely kill student motivation and obstruct faculty objectives.

[Stef_retired]

 @cohenf , we encourage all Canvas users to check the status page whenever they experience slower-than-expected performance. At this writing, this is what is displaying.

[cohenf]

stefaniesanders, I always do that. In fact, I sent the same screenshot to our IT Dept

[rpowell4]

My students for this morning's classes and I were experiencing problems as well.  It took me about 10 minutes to finally get into Canvas and start a conference.  Luckily, most of my students didn't give up and finally got in, too.  Students from another class (we meet tomorrow) have homework to complete today, so I am hoping that I don't get a bunch of "I didn't do it because I couldn't log in." 😕

[scottdennis]

Hey Robin and Frank,

Yep, please encourage everyone you can to monitor the status page and try to be patient with load times, etc.  In the background our engineers and operations folks are piling on resources when it becomes apparent where they are needed in the network.

[cohenf]

 @rpowell4 ‌, I have the same concern, but, during Covid19, I've greatly relaxed my usual firmness against excuses. I'm generally accepting them. 

[rpowell4]

I am as well. With most of my assignments now, they get at least 2 days to complete it (and they are fairly short assignments). I actually assigned the homework on Friday, and it's not due until tomorrow.  I just know that many would wait until today to start it.  At some point, though, I have to draw the line at how much of an extension they get.