Overview
The Help Desk template supports a typical Help Desk
environment in which issues or requests are reported by
end users and the Help Desk team resolves the issues or
processes requests.
Projects
A default project called "Help Desk"
is available in this template and is visible to all
user groups. This project can be customized
and additional projects can be added via the
Projects
section.
Forms
A default form called "Ticket" is available in this
template, is associated with the "Help Desk" Project
and is visible to all user groups.
This form can be customized and additional
forms can be added via the
Forms
section.
Fields
The Ticket form contains the following fields. Note that
you can customize the database by adding to or removing
fields, or changing any pulldown menu values via the
Fields section.
Field names
with an asterisk are required by the system and cannot
be removed from any form(s).
PRN* |
Numeric record identifier. Assigned
at the time the ticket is created. |
Title |
A one line text summary of the
problem or request. Set at the time the ticket is created. |
Product* |
Identifies the product for which the
ticket has been reported. Set at the time the
ticket is created. |
Component |
Identifies the component for which the
ticket has been reported. Values displayed in this field
depend on the value selected for the Product field.
Set at the time the
ticket is created. |
Last Updated Date* |
The date and time when the ticket was last
modified. Set automatically as the ticket is processed through
the workflow. |
Platform |
Describes the hardware or
software platform where the problem occurs. An example
is the operating system (e.g. Windows XP). Set at the time
the ticket is created. |
Request Type |
Classifies the ticket. Some of the
possible values are: Bug / Issue, Enhancement, Equipment
Request, Feedback. Set at the time the ticket
is created. |
Severity |
Describes how serious the
problem is. Set at the time the ticket is
created. |
Description |
Full description of the
problem. Ideally describes the nature of the
problem and how to reproduce the behavior.
Set at the time the ticket is created. |
Reported By* |
Name of the user that
reported the ticket. Initially set to the
name of the current user logged in. Set at
the time the ticket is created. |
Date Reported |
The date the ticket was
created. Automatically initialized, and set
at the time the ticket is created. |
Workaround |
Describes how to work
around the reported problem. Set at the time
the ticket is created. |
Pending Issues |
Describes what information or tasks are
needed before a ticket can continue to be processed.
Set by the Help Desk Engineer if issues arise that keep the ticket
from being processed. |
Status* |
Current state of the
ticket. Changes as the ticket is
processed through the workflow. |
Assigned To* |
User the ticket is currently
assigned to for processing. Set either manually
or automatically during processing of the
workflow. |
Host Name |
The host name of the machine of the
user who reported the issue. Set automatically when the ticket
is created using the
AutoFill feature. |
IP Address |
The IP Address of the machine of the
user who reported the issue. Set automatically when the ticket
is created using the
AutoFill feature. |
Operating System |
The operating system installed on the machine of the
user who reported the issue. Set automatically when the ticket
is created using the
AutoFill feature. |
Est. Close Date |
Date when the issue or request
is expected to be resolved. Set by the Help Desk Engineer
when deciding how to process the ticket.
|
Priority |
Describes the relative importance
of handling this ticket compared to other tickets
entered in the system. |
Close Date |
Date when the ticket
was closed. Set by Help Desk when issue or request has
been resolved. Automatically
initialized to the current date/time. |
Close Detail |
Describes the details about how the
issue or request was resolved.
Set by the Help Desk when the issue or request has been
resolved. |
Deleted* |
Denotes whether the ticket has been deleted. |
Dependent Pulldowns
The pulldown field Component is dependent on the pulldown
field called Product, allowing the Component field to only
display those values that correspond to the Product selected.
The examples below illustrate the purpose of Dependent Pulldowns.
Example 1
When "Hardware" is selected in the Product field, the Component
field displays the following option menu items:
Computer
Modem
Monitor
Other
Printer
Example 2
When "Software" is selected for the Product field, the Component
field displays the following option menu items:
Our Browser
Our Database
Our Email
Other
Details on setting up dependencies between pulldown fields can be found
in the
Customizing Pulldown
Dependencies section of the Admin Guide.
Workflows
It is assumed that tickets will be processed and moved through the workflow
process by using the Task operation.
A default workflow called "Help Desk Ticket Process" is available
in this template and is associated with the "Ticket" Form and
is in use in the "Help Desk" Project. You can customize the
Help Desk Ticket Process
workflow or add additional workflows via the
Workflows section.
- State 1 - Reported
It is assumed that each Help Desk Engineer is assigned to a particular
product or area of expertise. When a ticket is created, it is set to the state
Reported, and assigned to a particular Help Desk Engineer
based on the Product selected in the ticket.
The user who reported the ticket can update it while it is in the Reported state
(before a Help Desk Engineer begins working on it) using the Update Request
transition. This transition allows the Reporter
to add more information that may help the Help Desk Engineer resolve the issue.
The same fields that are available to the Reporter on the Add or Submit pages
are available in this transition. The Reporter must explain what was changed in
the History Comment field.
Each Help Desk Engineer
reviews the incoming tickets and
decides how to process each using a list of possible workflow paths.
The Help Desk Engineer can choose one of the
following:
- Begin processing a ticket by selecting the transition called
Start Processing Request. The Description field
is presented for the Help Desk Engineer's reference. The
Help Desk Engineer must enter an Estimated Close Date and
can optionally set the Priority of the request. This transition
will keep the ticket assigned to the Help Desk Engineer and
place the ticket in the In Process state.
- Close the ticket by selecting the transition called Close.
The Description field
is presented for the Help Desk Engineer's reference. This
transition will place the ticket in the Closed state and assign it to TBD
("no one" since this ticket will not be processed any further).
The Help Desk Engineer
will be required to enter a reason
the ticket was closed in the Close Detail field. The Close Date will be updated
automatically.
- Delay processing of the request by selecting the Hold Request
transition. The Description field is presented for the Help Desk
Engineer's reference. The Help Desk Engineer is required to enter a reason for the
delay in the Pending Issues field and an Estimated Close Date. It is
optional to set the Priority for the ticket. This transition will place the
ticket in the On Hold state, but will still be assigned to the Help Desk
Engineer.
This is implemented by:
Workflow Properties
- Defining Reported as the Default Add
State when a ticket is added
- Assigning a Help Desk Engineer as the manager for
the Reported and On Hold states for each Product
e.g. Help Desk Engineer One (help_one) is the manager
for the Reported and On Hold states for the Hardware Product
Transitions
- Defining a transition with New State set to Reported and
New Assignee set to "<Same Assignee>"
- Defining a transition to move a ticket to the In Process and
On Hold states where the assignee is <Same Assignee>.
- Defining transitions to move a ticket to the Closed state
where the assignee is TBD.
Task Fields
- Configuring the History Comment (required) and the following
optional fields to be presented during the
Update Request transition: Title, Product, Platform, Request Type, Severity,
Description, Workaround
- Configuring Description (read only), Est. Close Date (required)
and Priority (optional) to be presented during
the task operation for the transition to the In Process state.
- Configuring Description (read only), Close Detail (required) and Close Date (read only and initialized)
to be presented
during the task operation for the transition to the Closed state.
- Configuring Description (read only), Pending Issues (required),
Est. Close Date (required)
and Priority (optional) to be presented during
the task operation for the transition to the On Hold state.
- State 2 - In Process
The Help Desk Engineer assigned to the ticket
attempts to resolve the issue or request, then chooses
one of the following transitions:
- If the issue is resolved, the Help Desk Engineer
can close the issue by selecting the
transition Close. The Description field is
presented for the Help Desk Engineer's reference. This
transition will place the ticket in the Closed state and
assign it to TBD ("no one" since this ticket will not be
processed any further). The Help Desk Engineer
will be required to enter a reason the ticket was closed
in the Close Detail field. The Close Date will be updated
automatically.
- If the issue has not been resolved and the Help
Desk Engineer needs to escalate the issue to a manager
for troubleshooting assistance, the Escalate
transition will be selected. The Description field is
presented for the Help Desk Engineer's reference.
The Help Desk Engineer is required to enter the reason for
the escalation in the Pending Comments field. This will
place the ticket in the Escalated state and will assign it
to the Help Desk Manager.
- If the issue cannot be processed until a later (e.g. because
more information is needed or there is a delay to receive equipment
needed to resolve the issue), the Help Desk Engineer can select
the Hold Request transition. The Description field is
presented for the Help Desk Engineer's reference. The
Help Desk Engineer is required to enter a reason for the
delay in the Pending Issues field and an Estimated Close Date. It is
optional to set the Priority for the ticket. This transition will place the
ticket in the On Hold state, but will still be assigned to the Help Desk
Engineer.
This is implemented by:
Workflow Properties
- Defining Help Desk Manager (help_mgr)
as the manager for the Escalated state
Transitions
- Defining a transition to move a ticket to the Closed state
where the assignee is TBD.
- Defining a transition to move a ticket to the On Hold state
where the assignee is <Same Assignee>.
- Defining a transition to move a ticket to the
Escalated state where the assignee is the manager of that state
Task Fields
- Configuring Description (read only), Close Detail (required) and Close Date (read only and initialized)
to be presented
during the task operation for the transition to the Closed state.
- Configuring Description (read only), Pending Issues (required),
Est. Close Date (required)
and Priority (optional) to be presented during
the task operation for the transition to the On Hold state.
- Configuring Description (read only) and Pending Issues (required)
to be presented during the task operation for the transition to
the Escalated state.
- State 3 - Escalated
The Help Desk Manager (help_mgr) decides how to proceed with the
issue:
- The issue can be sent back to the Help Desk Engineer
by using the De-escalate transition. The Description
field will be provided for help_mgr's reference. Comments to
aid the Help Desk Engineer to resolve the issue must be
entered into the Pending Issues field. Optionally, the Priority
of the ticket can be updated. This will place the ticket back
into the In Process state and assign it to the Help Desk Engineer
who worked on the ticket when it was previously in that state.
- The issue can be closed by using the Close
transition. The Description field is
presented for reference purposes. This
transition will place the ticket in the Closed state and
assign it to TBD ("no one" since this ticket will not be
processed any further). help_mgr
will be required to enter a reason the ticket was closed
in the Close Detail field. The Close Date will be updated
automatically.
This is implemented by:
Transitions
- Defining a transition to move a ticket to the
In Process state where the assignee is
<Last Assignee for New State>
- Defining a transition to move a ticket
to the Closed state where the assignee is TBD
Task Fields
- Configuring the Description (read only), Pending Issues (required), Priority (optional)
to be presented during the Task operation for the transition to the
In Process state.
- Configuring the Description (read only), Close Date (read only, initialized),
and Close Detail (required) fields to be presented for the transition to the
Closed state.
- State 5 - On Hold
Processing was stopped for the tickets in this state. The Help Desk Engineer
can resume processing of a ticket using the Resume Processing
transition. The Description field will be provided for reference purposes and
the Help Desk Engineer will have the option to update the Estimated
Close Date and Priority fields. This will place the ticket in the In Process
state and will remain assigned to the Help Desk Engineer.
The Help Desk Engineer can close the issue by using the Close
transition. The Description field is
presented for reference purposes. This
transition will place the ticket in the Closed state and
assign it to TBD ("no one" since this ticket will not be
processed any further). The Help Desk Engineer
will be required to enter a reason the ticket was closed
in the Close Detail field. The Close Date will be updated
automatically.
This is implemented by:
Transitions
- Defining a transition to move a ticket to the
In Process state with New Assignee set to
<Same Assignee>
- Defining a transition to move a ticket to the
Closed state and assigned to TBD
Task Fields
- Configuring the Description (read only), Est. Close Date (optional), Priority (optional)
to be presented during the Task operation for the transition to the
In Process state.
- Configuring the Description (read only), Close Date (read only, initialized),
and Close Detail (required) fields to be presented for the transition to the
Closed state.
- State 6 - Closed
Processing on these tickets has been completed.
Sample Saved Charts
A set of sample saved charts are included in this template.
Click here
to see details of these sample metrics.
Email Notification
The Help Desk template is set up to notify users as
follows:
On Add or Delete of a Record
The current assignee, the manager for
the current state, and the reporter of the ticket are notified
On Change of State to Inactive
The user who reported the ticket is notified when a ticket is moved to
a state where processing has stopped (any state included in the
Inactive state group: Closed or On Hold)
On Change of Assignment
Both the current assignee and the manager of
the current state of the ticket are notified
Security
The Help Desk template assumes a very simple security
model reflecting a workgroup situation where all users are able
to see any ticket. This is implemented by setting
Enable Record Visibility option under General
Preferences in the Administration Task page to
No.
In addition, the privileges related to editing the field of the tickets have
been removed from users that are not managers or Admin.
With this configuration, users can rely on the Task operation to move tickets
through the workflow. This can be changed within the
User Accounts section of the Admin page.
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