Getting Started with Richmond SupportDesk

Transcription

1 Getting Started with Richmond SupportDesk Richmond SupportDesk is a Help Desk, Service Management and Asset Management software solution designed for internal support (IT support, facilities management & finance) and external customer service management. The product is designed to streamline the process of providing support and increase management visibility through easily accessible reporting. The Return on Investment (ROI) is increased uptime, improved resource allocation and utilisation, and customer satisfaction. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd

2 Richmond Systems Phone: Online: Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 2 of 147

3 Contents at a Glance 1 Start Here Terminology Used in this Guide Logging-In Familiarisation with SupportDesk using the Demo Database Configuration Tools: The Setup Console The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Useful Information to Put in the CMDB Users, Groups, Rights and Skills The Search Console Incident Management (Call Logging) Configuration Actions (Completed Tasks) and Activities (Future Tasks) Quick Incidents/Incident Templates The Incident List Incident Queues and Call Routing The Activity List Using Recurring Tasks (Activities) View Restrictions Processing s as Incidents Advanced Usage: Creating Multiple Profiles Advanced (Extended) Incident Options Asset Discovery: PC Inventory Asset Tracking (Loans, Repairs and Disposals) Asset and Supplier Maintenance (Contract Management) Asset History Customer Surveys Resource Management (Calendars) The Self Service Portal (SSP) Reporting Service Level Management and SLAs Changing SupportDesk Terminology Menu and Toolbar Customisation Index Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 3 of 147

4 Contents 1 Start Here Pre-Requisites for Implementing SupportDesk Further Assistance for Implementing SupportDesk Terminology Used in this Guide Logging-In Familiarisation with SupportDesk using the Demo Database Main SupportDesk Interface The SupportDesk Navigator Pane Logging Calls and Incidents in SupportDesk: A Quick Overview Incident Management Information (MI): A Quick Overview Configuration Tools: The Setup Console The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) About the CMDB Adding and Changing Configuration Item Styles Manually Adding Items to the CMDB/Navigator Adding Users and Computers from Active Directory Adding Items to the CMDB using the Data Import Wizard Printing from the CMDB Exporting from the CMDB Useful Information to Put in the CMDB Helping Supported Schools Users, Groups, Rights and Skills Configuring Groups Configuring Rights Groups Configuring Users Configuring the Skills Matrix Setting up a User Profile (Defaults) The Search Console Incident Management (Call Logging) Configuration Statuses Priorities Categories Category User Defined Fields (UDFs) Resolution and Resolution Codes Logging Incidents Manually (Specialist Adds Incident) Adding a New Incident Adding Associations to Incidents Actions (Completed Tasks) and Activities (Future Tasks) Configuring Actions Adding Actions (Completed Tasks) to Incident Records Configuring Activities Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 4 of 147

5 11.4 Using Activities Action Settings Checklist Quick Incidents/Incident Templates Configuring Quick Incident Templates Using Quick Incidents Editing/Removing Quick Incident Templates The Incident List The Incident/Activity Concept The Incident List Incident List Column Selection Printing from the Incident List Printing from Incidents Incident Queues and Call Routing How to Create an Unassigned Call Queue The Activity List Using Recurring Tasks (Activities) View Restrictions Configuring View Restrictions View Restrictions Rights Controlling Specialist Use of Views Processing s as Incidents Configuring the Look & Feel of s Configuring s to End Users Branding s within SupportDesk s to Specialists (Specialist Alerts) Service Controller Advanced Usage: Creating Multiple Profiles Handling s from Different User Communities Handling Alerts from System and Network Monitoring Software Alerts from Different Support Groups (IT, Facilities, Finance) Advanced (Extended) Incident Options Incident Locking Custom Classification Asset Discovery: PC Inventory Configuring PC Inventory Setting Up a Principal Software List Viewing PC Inventory Data Setting up Scheduled PC Inventory Scans Asset Tracking (Loans, Repairs and Disposals) Configuring Asset Tracking Adding (Setting) a Tracking for an Asset/Item Viewing a Tracked Asset/Item in the CMDB/Navigator The Tracking Calendar Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 5 of 147

6 22.5 Asset Disposal Asset and Supplier Maintenance (Contract Management) Configuring Maintenance Applying Maintenance/Contract information for an Item Asset History Configuring History Viewing an Item s History Customer Surveys Configuring Customer Surveys Sending Customer Surveys Resource Management (Calendars) The Self Service Portal (SSP) Configuring the SSP Configuring the Self Service Portal Web Administration Settings Configure an SSP Settings Group Reporting Overview Print Screen Reporting Call Statistics Web Reporting Running Reports from SupportDesk Adding a New User-Defined Report Viewing/Running Reports Exporting Reports Printing Reports Scheduling Reports Scheduling Reports (from the Setup Console) Service Level Management and SLAs Publishing SLAs to the Business Automated SLA Application Manual SLA Application Configuring SLAs Assigning SLAs to Categories Assigning SLAs to Configuration Items The Escalation Service Changing SupportDesk Terminology Menu and Toolbar Customisation Locating Customisation Settings Customising the Toolbar Index Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 6 of 147

7 Illustrations Figure 1: Main SupportDesk Interface (the toolbar is customisable, see page 138) Figure 2: Keyboard Shortcuts Figure 3: The SupportDesk Interface Navigator Panes Figure 4: Searching for a Contact to Log an Incident Figure 5: Adding an Incident Figure 6: Adding Incident Actions Figure 7: Adding Incident Activities Figure 8: Specialist User Configuration Settings Figure 9: The Skills Matrix Figure 10: Setting up a User Profile Figure 11: The Search Console Figure 12: Category Matrix with Examples Figure 13: Category User Defined Fields Matrix with Examples Figure 14: Resolution Code Checklist Figure 15: Resolution Code Samples Figure 16: Category by Resolution Code Report Example Figure 17: The Add New Incident Screen Figure 18: Adding Associations to Incidents from the Search Console Figure 19: Action Settings Checklist Figure 20: Sample Quick Incident and Service Request CMDB Structure Figure 21: Adding a Quick Incident Template Figure 22: The Incident List Filtered by Drag n Drop from the CMDB Figure 23: The Activity List Figure 24: Management Console showing Activities (work to be done) by Specialist Figure 25: Recurring Task Tree with Recurring Activities Figure 26: View Restrictions Setup Dialog Figure 27: Applying View Restrictions Figure 28: Specifying server and Service Desk Address Figure 29: Selecting default settings for Incidents logged via Figure 30: Changing Formatting Options Figure 31: Simple Signature Settings Figure 32: Sample HTML Auto Signature Figure 33: Sample HTML for use in HTML s Figure 34: Signature Settings using HTML Tags Figure 35: Configuring Tracking Options in the Setup Console Figure 36: Configuring Maintenance Options in the Setup Console Figure 37: Applying Maintenance Settings to an Item/Asset Figure 38: Sample Maintenance Report Figure 39: Configuring History Options in the Setup Console Figure 40: Viewing an Asset s History Figure 41: Sample History Report Figure 42: Self Service Portal Administration Figure 43: Web Reporting Administration Figure 44: Setup Console Report Settings Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 7 of 147

8 Figure 45: Logging in to Web Reporting via Web Browser Figure 46: Quick Reports Tab View Figure 47: User-Defined Reports Tab View Figure 48: Report Templates Tab View Figure 49: Report Scheduling Tab View Figure 50: User Defined Reports Selecting Category Figure 51: User Defined Reports Selecting Status Figure 52: Exporting a Report Figure 53: Printing a Report Figure 54: Configuring the Report Scheduler Service Controller Figure 55: Changing Terminology Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 8 of 147

9 1 Start Here Richmond SupportDesk is a feature-rich product that is flexible to fit around your objectives and preferred way of working. This Getting Started Guide is designed to illustrate key features and help you configure SupportDesk to manage your service, support and asset management processes. SupportDesk is supplied in a semi-configured state i.e. a standard installation will install a Blank Database called rsupdesk with pre-set configuration item styles, incident categories, statuses, priorities, resolution codes, action types, text & signatures, Self Service Portal and reports. Whilst this allows out-of-the-box operation, you will need to make configuration changes to mould SupportDesk to your exact requirements. Throughout this guide you will find a combination of How to Use and How to Configure instructions. Much of the instruction is based around a Demonstration Database, which we recommend you install to familiarise yourself with the various SupportDesk screens and functions (when you install SupportDesk there is an option to install the education demonstration database (Demo_Education), which is pre-populated with sample data about people, assets and incidents). This guide also provides instructions on how to use the Setup Console, which is installed as part of the main installation and is the main administrative tool that you use to configure SupportDesk. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 9 of 147

10 1.1 Pre-Requisites for Implementing SupportDesk For the initial implementation you will need to know how to connect to a SQL database, Active Directory and your system (e.g. Exchange). To configure the system you will need an understanding of SupportDesk and service management practises. As well as the installation and getting started guides, there are help files within the product and Knowledgebase Articles on the Customer Zone (also available from Tech Support). This guide assumes that SupportDesk is already installed. If not, please do so using the Installation Guides, which cover how to: Install SupportDesk components and blank/demo databases Connect to exchange to process incoming and outgoing s Configure IIS to use web-based reporting and Self Service Portal Configure escalation services for sending/receiving s & notifications 1.2 Further Assistance for Implementing SupportDesk This guide doesn t replace the help files i.e. doesn t cover every feature, but it does include the features used by the majority of our customers. If you would like someone to give you a quick overview of SupportDesk s capabilities then please call us on or info@richmondsys.com and we can setup a remote demonstration. If you require technical support then please contact us on or support@richmondsys.com. Many of our Customers use our professional services for help with planning, implementation or training. Using external consultants has the advantage of providing valuable experience from hundreds of other Customer installations and also quickens the process of implementation and skills transfer. If you would like to know more about our services then please contact us on or info@richmondsys.com. Thank you for choosing Richmond SupportDesk. We pride ourselves on providing well thought out technology, high quality support, expert consultancy and professional account management. The Richmond Team Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 10 of 147

11 2 Terminology Used in this Guide We try to avoid unfriendly terminology and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms), however the following definitions might be useful: Terminology Throughout this document the ITIL term Incident is used to refer to requests, calls, logs, tickets, etc. This terminology can be changed in the Setup Console. The term used to refer to service desk staff, technicians, analysts, etc is Specialists. The term used to refer to teams e.g. 1 st line support, 2 nd line support, facilities support etc. is Groups. CMDB is the Configuration Management Database, which provides a navigable structure containing information about everything you are supporting. We also refer to the CMDB as the Navigator (because it allows you to navigate around your users and assets). The ITIL/FITS terminology for any item in the CMDB is Configuration Item (CI). People, places, departments, IT equipment, attachments etc. are all configuration items. Essentially a configuration items is an asset. In this guide configuration items are referred to as items. RFC stands for Request For Change, SSP Stands for Self Service Portal Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 11 of 147

12 3 Logging-In To login to the Main SupportDesk Windows Client: Programs Richmond Systems SupportDesk SupportDesk Both the Blank (rsupdesk) and Demonstration (Demo_Education) databases have a user (User ID) called RICHMOND, whose password is richmond (lowercase): User ID: richmond Password: richmond SQL Server: Your SQL Server Name Database: rsupdesk OR Demo_Education richmond richmond The blank database is a canvas for configuring your live system. The demo database is a test area for seeing how things work. You can switch between databases by logging out of one (EXIT) and logging into another. Switching databases is easy but you just need to be mindful that SupportDesk s web modules have their own, separate database connection settings. So if you switch from rsupdesk to education_demo and you want to view the web reports or use the Self Service Portal then you need to tell SupportDesk which database you are using. If you don t, the system will still work, but you probably won t get the results you expected! The Self Service Portal & Web Reports Administration Module provides a handy interface to change the respect configuration files. Instructions over page... Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 12 of 147

13 If you are switching between databases and want to look at reports or login to the Portal then change the database name in the Self Service Portal & Web Reports Administration module as follows: Programs Richmond Systems SupportDesk Web Interfaces Self Service Portal Self Service Portal & Web Reports Administration FOR the Self Service Portal: 1. Select Edit SSP Config File 2. Select the Database 3. Click Test to make sure that SupportDesk is connected to the database 4. Make sure you Save! FOR the Web Reporting Module: 1. Exactly the same as above except Edit Web Reports Config File Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 13 of 147

14 4 Familiarisation with SupportDesk using the Demo Database The demonstration database is a good start point as it allows you to familiarise yourself with the main SupportDesk screens with pre-populated information about users and incidents. 4.1 Main SupportDesk Interface On the left hand side is the SupportDesk Configuration database (CMDB) or Navigator, which has a number of functions (see page 15). The CMDB is populated with user data, which is typically synchronised from Active Directory (page 30). The CMDB also holds asset data, which can be imported from a variety of sources, including Active Directory, Richmond PC inventory (page 88), external databases (page 30), CSV files and data can also be added manually (page 29). Figure 1: Main SupportDesk Interface (the toolbar is customisable, see page 146) The Incident list (page 39) is the main method for accessing and viewing incidents and call queues (page 68). The list can be sorted, grouped, filtered, colour-coded and the columns selected and arranged to Specialist s preferences (settings are retained). You can drag any item from the CMDB onto the Incident list to filter the view for that part of the CMDB. The Incident List can be further filtered using View Restrictions (page 72) to show, for example, My Incidents or Unassigned Incidents. View Restriction Rights (page 74) control which Specialists can see which Incidents. Incidents can have future tasks set for Specialists, these tasks are called Activities (page 56) and can be viewed through the Activity List (page 71).The Web Reporting (page 116) module is accessible from this interface or can be opened in a web browser. Figure 2: Keyboard Shortcuts Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 14 of 147

15 4.2 The SupportDesk Navigator Pane The SupportDesk Navigator Pane is located on left of the main interface and provides (1) configuration item information, (2) overview of the currently selected incident record, (3) quick access to Knowledge articles, (4) the current bulletin articles and (5) Incident Statistics. Figure 3: The SupportDesk Interface Navigator Panes Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 15 of 147

16 4.3 Logging Calls and Incidents in SupportDesk: A Quick Overview This section provides a brief overview of some of the techniques for logging incidents in SupportDesk using the demonstration database. If you are already familiar with SupportDesk s operation and want to get into the Incident Management configuration then see page 39. We recommend that you login to the demo database (see page 12) to get the most out of this section. If you would like a short demonstration of SupportDesk then please call or info@richmondsys.com and we can setup a remote demonstration. The first example (over page) shows adding an Incident in the standard way - Classic Add Incident: The second example shows adding an Incident based on a template - Add Quick Incident: Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 16 of 147

17 4.3.1 Example 1: Classic Add Incident If the Incident ID is known (i.e. an existing incident) then it can be typed into the Goto Incident box, which will open the incident record. Otherwise: Open the Search console to find the user: or Type user s name (or any other details you are using) and press Search or Enter on the keyboard Right-click on the appropriate search result to open a menu of options - The right-click also displays the user s details in a pane below - If you select Locate In Navigator the found item is also highlighted in the CMDB - Note the other options here, such as Open Item & View items Incidents To add an incident select Add New Incident from the right-click menu. If you have the user selected in the Navigator, you can use to add a new incident You can also put an Add Incident button on the Toolbar, if there isn t one there already Figure 4: Searching for a Contact to Log an Incident The next step is to record some information about the callers issue or request. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 17 of 147

18 When you select Add Incident the next screen is the one below. By default, the contact selected above (Katrin Myers) will be in the associations box, which shows who or what is associated with an Incident. You can have as many associations as you want (e.g. user, department, equipment) although there can only be one primary association. Associations can be added by dragging from the CMDB, and changed/removed using the right-click menu. The settings for Category, Status, Priority, Specialist, Group, Logged by and Custom Field are pre-populated because they have been set in the user profile for the logged-on user, Richmond. A summary and/or detail can be added at this stage information you have gleaned from the caller., depending upon how much Click the Add & Show button Figure 5: Adding an Incident For info, the Add & Clear button adds the Incident and clears the screen below so you can add another Incident. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 18 of 147

19 When you click Add and Show the Incident Details window is shown: Figure 6: Adding Incident Actions Select the Add Action Tab, select an Action Type and enter a description and duration (if required), then click the Schedule Future Activity box. Now the Action (task) has been recorded in SupportDesk and an Add Activity (future task) window will be presented (next page). The Incident Details Screen (above) has the following tabs: Actions are tasks that have been completed; multiple action types can be configured and actions can be sued to record the amount of time spent on task. When you add an Action you can Schedule a Future Activity, i.e. a task that is due to be completed at another time. Actions can also be marked as private, which means they are not visible in the Self Service Portal (for end users). Activities are future tasks, which can be set for any Specialist. Tasks can be added to a Specialists Availability Calendar. File Attachments can be dragged onto the Incident record. The Log file is a non-editable log of the Incident s history. UDF = User Defined Fields and is used to capture additional information linked to the Category. E.g. Category = Software, UDF = Application Name, version, etc. RFC = Request For Change. RFCs can be raised from any Incident record and if an Incident is associated with an RFC then it can also be accessed from here. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 19 of 147

20 With the Add Activity window showing: Select a task type Block out a period of time when that task is due to be undertaken (NB you need to select Flag User as Busy (highlighted) Type in a description and click Add Activity Figure 7: Adding Incident Activities You can add additional associations. In the above example the room and the IT asset has been added. This information helps the Specialist working on the Incident and also assists in reporting about e.g. how many times an asset/user has caused an incident. Additional item associations can be added via drag n drop or by finding the asset in the search console and right-click Add as Association. The image to the left is a sample report produced when you select the print button from within an incident record. This can also be used as a job sheet an either printed or mailed to the Specialist. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 20 of 147

21 When an Activity has been completed it can be converted into an Action using the right-click menu. This also opens the Activity so that it can be annotated. Now there are two actions, the original phone call and a summary of the on-site works that was carried out. You can select any of the Actions and Right-click on them to copy the text to the resolution area. Select a resolution code, and mark the Incident as closed. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 21 of 147

22 4.3.2 Example 2: Add Quick Incident (Template) In SupportDesk you create Incident/request records and save them as templates (page 63). Quick Incidents can be used to log commonly occurring Incidents without having to type the details into SupportDesk. 1. To initiate a template simply select an item from the CMDB (either directly or through the search console) and then right-click on the item to locate the Quick Incident List or use the F8 key. 2. Double-click on the Quick Incident (or select Add Incident) 3. The Incident record will then be created and the selected item will be associated with that incident. That s just a couple of de facto examples of adding incident records. Later sections cover incident management process configuration (page 44) and viewing incidents through the incident list (page 65). Next is an example of running an Incident Statistics report. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 22 of 147

23 4.4 Incident Management Information (MI): A Quick Overview This section provides a sample of SupportDesk s extensive reporting capability. Full details can be found in section 28 (Reporting) on page 116. The reporting module can be launched in the Specialist Interface or in a stand-alone web browser. From a licensing perspective we allow free unlimited distribution and usage of the reporting module through a web browser. The following example shows running an Incident Statistics report on an ad hoc basis then creating and running that same reports as a user defined report. 1. Launch the reporting module by clicking the reports button. 2. Select the Report Templates tab, select the Incident Statistics report and click on the Load Adhoc button. Browse through the various parameters. SupportDesk reports access different parameter sets depending upon the report being run. Typical parameters include date, status, priority, category, specialist, group and Date Selection. 3. Select the Date Selection tab Tick the Ignore Date Criteria tick box and select Run Report. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 23 of 147

24 The actual data you see will depend upon the database you are using and what incidents have been logged and the date. Below is an example using the demonstration database: Reports that you want to use frequently can be saved as User Defined Reports with the parameters pre-defined. When you run the report it simply prompts for the date range. User defined reports can also be scheduled (because the parameters are known). To create a user defined report from the Reports Module: 1. Select the Report Templates tab and type a name in the Report title box. 2. Click on Add New Report 3. The parameters (except date range) will be displayed. This time we will make the report for all active calls click Field for Status Description and select active statuses such as Open, with Customer, with Supplier etc. (CTRL + Click to select individual items) 4. Click Run Report. The report will now be saved in the user defined report area Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 24 of 147

25 5. Select the User Defined Reports tab and click the Refresh button (as this is a web module you will need to refresh the page to view the newly created report) 6. Select Load Report. 7. As this is a user-defined report you will just be prompted for the date. 8. Select a range and run the report. Some reports have a parameter called CIID (that s ITIL speak for Configuration Item ID), which allow you to specify which parts of the organisation the report should be based upon. Where the CIID parameter is available you will be able to select from item (and it s sub-items) from the Navigator structure using a selection control similar to that on the right. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 25 of 147

26 5 Configuration Tools: The Setup Console Most of SupportDesk s configuration settings are located in the Setup Console, which can be located from the program menu: Programs Richmond Systems SupportDesk Setup Console The Setup Console provides administrator access to most of SupportDesk s features and functions and is integral to SupportDesk s configuration. The console is sectioned into logical areas as shown below. To open a section click on the function header; this will open up a series of icons that control various aspects of the function. For example, in the screen below the Incident Management function is open with the sub-function Statuses visible. The Setup Console should only be accessible to system administrators. The rest of this guide will make extensive reference to the Setup Console to show how SupportDesk s features are configured. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 26 of 147

27 6 The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) The previous section covered importing data using Active Directory and in the majority of cases you will use Active Directory to build the list of users you support. This section covers setting up item styles importing data from other data sources and adding data manually. 6.1 About the CMDB The Configuration Database area of the Navigator uses a hierarchical navigation structure to enable you to quickly locate people, equipment and any other items that the service desk supports. Each of the images represents a configuration item (CI) style; you can have as many styles as you wish and for each you can specify alphanumeric, numeric, date, currency, hyperlink, maintenance, tracking and history fields, as well as selecting the icon from an icon library. The structure can have multiple levels and items can be added, copied, pasted, moved, and drag n dropped. Information about configuration items (CIs) can be imported electronically from external directory structures and databases. The example to the right shows departments, contacts and assets; this is the most widely used navigation method. Item Styles are added and changed (edited) in the Setup Console and their usage is controlled using user rights, which are configured in the Setup Console (see next section). Once added, users and automated import routines can add items into the configuration database using the item style as a template. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 27 of 147

28 6.2 Adding and Changing Configuration Item Styles The Setup Console (Program Files Richmond Systems SupportDesk Setup Console) has an area called Configuration Management where Item Styles can be created and modified. The screen below shows the Contact Style Alphanumeric field list being edited: To change (edit) an existing style select it from the drop down list and click on Update when you have finished editing. To add a new style click on Add New and enter a style name. Each style attribute can have up to 100 characters and can be mandatory or optional. The values are as follows: Style Attribute Value that can be entered by user Total fields available Alphanumeric Any value 15 Numeric Any numeric value 10 Date Any date 4 Currency Any number to 2 decimal places 4 Hyperlink Any hyperlink or description 4 The other tabs are described later but in summary they are for the following functions: Style Function Function Description Misc Allows you to pick the icon for the style from an icon library Maintenance Enables maintenance for any items using this style Tracking Enables tracking for any items using this style (see page 93) History Enables history for any items using this style Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 28 of 147

29 6.3 Manually Adding Items to the CMDB/Navigator CIs are added to the CMDB within the SupportDesk under the Node that is currently selected as follows: Either Right-click and select Add Item from the right-click menu (shown below), or From the Main Menu select Asset Management New Inventory Item, or Press the F3 Key This will open a blank CI Item Details window as shown below. You must save the item details before the other tabs become enabled. Storing Addresses: addresses are stored in the System IDs tab (shown below). Usually these are imported from Active Directory but you can add them manually, for example, for suppliers, or feeder schools that are not in your AD structure. If you add an address for a contact then: The contact can your designated support address and an Incident record will be automatically created and associated with them The contact can be directly ed from an incident record (a record of the is kept as an Action in the Incident record) The contact can be sent automated s (e.g. when they log an incident, when the service desk closes an incident, etc.) The contact can reply to s sent from SupportDesk and they will automatically be logged in the relevant incident record and notify the Specialist Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 29 of 147

30 6.4 Adding Users and Computers from Active Directory This section is about populating the Configuration Management Database with information about users and computers by connecting to and synchronising with Active Directory. *NB: This section is based upon adding data to your live database, i.e. rsupdesk. The first step is to launch and login to the Quick Active Directory Setup Module: Programs Richmond Systems Active Directory Synchronisation Quick Active Directory Setup Module Now follow the steps in the wizard: Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 30 of 147

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35 6.4.1 Active Directory Import Troubleshooting The most frequent cause of data not being imported is that the Active Directory Service is not running. The reason for this could be that it is set to Manual. To set the service to Automatic: Programs Administrative Tools Services Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 35 of 147

36 6.5 Adding Items to the CMDB using the Data Import Wizard Data from external databases or CSV files can be added using the Data Import Wizard. This works by mapping external data to the items in the CMDB. When you run the data import wizard you will need: Access to the data source and the SupportDesk Database To pick the item style to be used To select the target location in the CMDB (Navigator) To specify what attributes (e.g. make, model, serial No.) of the source data you want to import *IMPORTANT NOTE: We strongly advise that users of the data import tool have a good understanding of relational databases as you will need to understand the structure of the source database for import. Most customers seek professional services assistance when importing data; this has the additional advantage of fast-tracking related configuration such as scheduling imports. Using the data import module does not lend itself to a telephone support session. *IMPORTANT NOTE: If you do run the data import module yourself then we strongly recommend that you back up the SupportDesk SQL database before you undertake data imports. If you make a mistake, e.g. import data that you don t want, it could be quite time consuming to remove it! Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 36 of 147

37 6.6 Printing from the CMDB Clicking the Print button with an Item Selected creates a pre-configured attribute report for that item (and its children if you say Yes to the Include sub-items question). 6.7 Exporting from the CMDB Selecting the Item List (F4 Key) opens a list of CMDB Items. From here you can select an item Style to view, select the columns for that item and print/export the data using the Print button on the main toolbar (or File Print). Initially this creates a report in the Report Viewer, from there select the preferred output format. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 37 of 147

38 7 Useful Information to Put in the CMDB 7.1 Helping Supported Schools SupportDesk is designed as a consolidated service desk. This means it can manage multiple support functions from the same application and database. A common model in the education system is for a secondary school to provide IT support to a number of primary or supported schools. SupportDesk is ideal for managing requests from supported schools, in the demonstration database and illustrated below there is a simple CMDB structure with two schools and a contact in each school. There is no limit to the number of schools and contacts you can have; SupportDesk is used by many Local Authorities supporting hundreds of schools. SUPPORT: By putting the address of the contact in the contacts record, s from the supported school will be processed as incidents. Furthermore, by creating a separate profile (page 82) these incidents can be routed into a specific call queue e.g. supported school requests. WEB SUPPORT: SupportDesk has a Self Service Portal (page 106), which provides web-based access to end-users. The portal look and feel is governed by a Customer Group. As a base case you have one group that everyone logs into. Or you can create two (or more) groups and supported schools log into one group and your internal staff log into another; again, requests can be routed into a specific supported school call queue. Incidentally the PROJECTOR03 icon shows that this projector is on-loan to this school. You can loan out equipment and set reminders for return using SupportDesk s tracking capability (see page 93). Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 38 of 147

39 8 Users, Groups, Rights and Skills SupportDesk can have multiple Groups (Teams) and multiple Rights Groups, which define what Specialists, can and cannot do. Specialist users are then added to the Users area where their Group and Rights Groups are applied. Other settings, including Windows Authentication, are shown below. In an IT Service Desk environment you may want one group for first line and another for second line. In a consolidated service desk environment you might have the desk being used by IT, Facilities and Finance, in which case you can create groups for these support staff. SupportDesk has multiple profiles in which you can define the automated s that get sent to users when calls are logged, responded to, resolved etc. Figure 8: Specialist User Configuration Settings 8.1 Configuring Groups User Groups allow you to assign Users to individual Departments or Teams within SupportDesk. Each SupportDesk User must be assigned to a User Group. Group Name Help Desk Facilities Management Finance Groups are configured in the Setup Console: Setup Console General Groups Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 39 of 147

40 Dedicated Licence [y/n] Use Windows Authentication [y/n] Richmond SupportDesk Getting Started Guide 8.2 Configuring Rights Groups Rights are configured to specifically allow and deny Users from performing certain functions within SupportDesk. By default an Administrator Rights Group exists. Members of this group have the rights to perform all tasks within SupportDesk. Group Name 1 st Line ICT Support 2 nd Line ICT Support Facilities Finance Setup Console General Rights At first look the number of rights might seem a little daunting. Don t worry, the defaults are fairly logical so you can just make adjustments here and there as you configure the system and use the desk. The reason there are so many rights is it gives you a high degree of control over who can do what. 8.3 Configuring Users Users can be created for each individual that requires access to the SupportDesk Database as part of your support function. Users in SupportDesk are also referred to as Specialists. Setup Console General Users Username [10 characters Max] Full Name ID Group Rights Group Unassigned New Web or Call ServiceDesk N N Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 40 of 147

41 8.4 Configuring the Skills Matrix This is optional; you do not need the Skills matrix defined in order to use SupportDesk and not everyone wants to use a skills matrix. The Skills Matrix is used to define which Users are skilled or unskilled in each Category. This will allow the routing of an Incident to Users that are knowledgeable in the selected Category. For example, you could use the skills matrix to avoid routing software application related issues to Specialists responsible for hardware support. Setup Console General Skills Figure 9: The Skills Matrix To apply skills to users: 1. Select a Group 2. Select the relevant Categories 3. Click on Load Matrix 4. Click on each square in the grid to toggle between skill s settings Setting X? Action SKILLED: An Incident can be assigned to this Specialist NOT SKILLED: Incident cannot be assigned to this Specialist UNKNOWN (or SEMI-SKILLED): An Incident can be assigned or reassigned to this Specialist however a warning message appears. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 41 of 147

42 8.5 Setting up a User Profile (Defaults) A user profile controls the default settings for a Specialist when logging a call, adding an action etc. Setting up a user profile is quick, easy and saves a lot of time when logging incidents. The five most-used settings are listed below. User profiles, by definition, are setup per service desk user and are accessed from the Utility Menu or the User Profile toolbar button (if enabled). Figure 10: Setting up a User Profile The Incident Details Screen: The Incident list refresh interval defaults to 10 minutes; you can change this interval. When you open the SupportDesk application you can select the screens that automatically open, for example, the incident list or the last viewed incident. When you add an incident you can specify the default values for Status, Priority, Category, Specialist, Group, Logged by and Custom Classification field. When you add an Action (completed task) to an incident you can specify the default Action Type. When you add an Activity (future task) to an incident you can specify the default Activity Type. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 42 of 147

43 9 The Search Console The SupportDesk Search Console allows you to search most aspects of SupportDesk. The Console has a search box (what to look for) and tick boxes to select options for where to look. Clicking on the button to the right of each option allows further granularity of search. Results are presented in a search window and clicking on a result will present further details in a window below. The right click menu is quite a useful way of selecting the action you want to perform on/with the selected search result. Hot keys and toolbar buttons will also be available. Figure 11: The Search Console Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 43 of 147

44 10 Incident Management (Call Logging) Configuration The following sections describe how to configure the main settings in the Setup Console for Incident Management (call logging and management), including: Statuses (Open, Closed, etc.) Priorities (Low, Medium, etc.) Categories (Hardware, Software, etc.) Category User Defined Fields (questions related to categories) Actions and Activities (Completed and scheduled task types) Resolution Codes (First time fix, training, upgrade, etc.) Customer Surveys (value-based questions and comments) Terminology (Incident, Call, Request, Ticket, etc.) Custom Classification (Customisable pick-list to further classify Incidents, requests) Colour Coding (using colours to visualise incident priority, status etc.) Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 44 of 147

45 10.1 Statuses Statuses are used to describe the current state of an Incident. A status is applied to an Incident when it is first logged. The status of an Incident can be changed throughout the life-cycle of the Incident and Statuses are used extensively in reporting and statistical reporting in the Management Console. A Status can be set to have escalation enabled (green) or disabled (red). When the escalation is enabled the escalation (SLA) clock will be active (ticking) on any Incident using that Status. If the escalation is disabled the escalation clock will not be active on any Incident using that Status. The defaults in both the demonstration and blank database have a combination of escalating and non-escalating statuses. Escalations are automated Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and are configured in the Service Level Management area of the Setup Console. An escalation can drive response & resolution times, pending response & resolution times, priority changes and can trigger notifications and alerts. For more information about SLAs please refer to Service Level Management and SLAs on page 136. The grid below shows the default entries (Open, Closed, On Hold, With Contact and With 3 rd Party). You can add/delete/edit entries in the list. Status Escalating Status Open TRUE Closed FALSE On Hold FALSE With Contact FALSE With Supplier FALSE Which Statuses Should I Escalate? The status that you choose to escalate depends upon your personal view about when your resolution times should be being measured. For example, if you take a call from an end-user and need to escalate (pass) the issue to a supplier With Supplier, from your end-user s perspective the ball is in the court of the service desk and therefore this status should probably be escalating. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 45 of 147

46 However, if you ask the end-user for some more information, or to do something that is related to their support request, then it would be reasonable to say that the ball is in their court and therefore the status With Contact should not be escalating. For a delaying status such as On Hold, the escalation rules depend upon how and why you are using the status. If, for example, there is no immediate resolution and you have communicated this to the end-user then it would seem reasonable for the status to not be escalating. As you can see the rules are a little subjective feel free to give us a call if you want to discuss your particular scenario Priorities Priorities are used to describe the urgency of an Incident. A priority is applied to a new Incident either manually (user selects) or when an SLA is selected for the Incident. Priorities can be used to define the different escalation steps associated with a SLA. The Priority order is defined by the order that they appear in the Priority list. The default priorities are listed in the grid opposite; you can change these and add your own. Priority Urgent High Medium Low Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 46 of 147

47 10.3 Categories Categories provide a way to group related records. Categories are stored in a hierarchical structure which can be customised to suit different types of support functions and environments. Reporting takes advantage of the categorisation of records. Considerations should be made when constructing your category structure to reflect your reporting needs. The Category structure is also used to define which Categories particular Specialists are skilled in (Skills Matrix) and also to arrange Knowledge Base articles. Categories can also have linked fields called Category User Defined Fields (UDFs), which are a useful way of eliciting additional and relevant information. Categories can have Service Level Agreements (SLAs) so that when an Incident is logged against a particular category a corresponding SLA is invoked. For example, you may want to assign an SLA to critical infrastructure categories such as Servers Configuring Categories Categories are configured in the General Area of the Setup Console; the topmost option. You can mark Categories as being visible (and selectable) to end-users via the Self Service Portal (SSP). For example, you might make Software, Hardware and General Request toplevel categories visible, but hide the sub-level categories for the service desk staff to select. There are no limits to the size or hierarchy (nesting levels) of categories in SupportDesk. However, consideration should be given to Service Desk Specialists who need to apply the correct categorisation and also reporting requirements. Too many categories can make selecting difficult and prone to errors; likewise reporting across too many categories can dilute the relevance of the reports. Category User Defined Fields (UDFs see section 10.4 on page 49) can be used to reduce the number of categories required. The grid on the next page allows you to set out your categories and their attributes. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 47 of 147

48 SSP visible? SSP visible? Richmond SupportDesk Getting Started Guide Category Matrix with Examples Category Matrix Category SLA SUB Category SLA Unassigned Impact 3 N Hardware Impact 3 Y Software Impact 3 Y Network Impact 2 N General Request Impact 4 Y Laptop Impact 3 N Desktop PC Impact 3 N Server Impact 2 N Mobile device Impact 3 N Microsoft Office Impact 4 N Finance System Impact 3 N HRM System Impact 3 N Sales System Impact 2 N Internet Impact 3 N Impact 1 N Phone System Impact 1 N Password Reset Impact 3 Y User Storage Space Impact 5 Y IT Equipment Request Impact 5 Y Figure 12: Category Matrix with Examples Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 48 of 147

49 Required? Visible in the SSP? Richmond SupportDesk Getting Started Guide 10.4 Category User Defined Fields (UDFs) User Definable Fields (UDF) are customisable fields used for the collection and recording of information relating to Incidents and Problems. User Definable Fields can be used by SupportDesk Specialists and by end-users logging Incidents through the Self Service Portal. UDFs can relate to one or more Categories or Sub Categories, and can be free form text or list fields (list fields can be typed or imported). The settings are very flexible so, for example, you could have a category of Application (for software support) and two UDF fields: Application name and Version. The Application Name field can be made visible via the SSP and mandatory (user must select from list) whereas the Version can be hidden from the end-user but made mandatory for the Service Desk Specialist to complete when they open the Incident record. UDFs are a good way of reducing the number of categories. For example, rather than have a list of MS Office Applications in the Category tree have a category of Productivity Software and a linked set of UDFs with a dropdown containing a list of all the productivity applications used. Category UDF Assigned To Field Name Input Method (Type or Pick List) Pick List Items Hardware Asset Tag Y Type N N/A Application Name Y Pick Y Word Excel PowerPoint Access Version N Type Y N/A Figure 13: Category User Defined Fields Matrix with Examples Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 49 of 147

50 10.5 Resolution and Resolution Codes The Resolution area of an Incident record allows the recording of free-form resolution text and resolution codes. A call is resolved when text is entered into the resolution area shown below. Resolution is one of SupportDesk s triggers (optional) to send an automated to the user associated with the Incident to let them know their issue has been resolved. Figure 14: Applying a Resolution and Resolution Code Resolution Codes are selectable from a drop down list on Incident records and are particularly helpful sources of management information about, for example, the proportion of Incidents resolved through Training, User Intervention, Patch, Password Reset, and so on. The Management Console provides a drillable view of resolution codes (inset) and there are report templates to show, for example, resolution codes set against categories. Figure 15: Viewing Types of Resolution in the Setup Console Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 50 of 147

51 Resolution Codes are configured in Incident Management Resolution Codes. The following checklist can be used to list Resolution Codes. Resolution Code FTF PWR Resolution Description First Time Fix Password Reset Figure 16: Resolution Code Checklist 10.6 Configuring Resolution Codes 1. From the Setup Console Select: Incident Management Resolution Codes 2. Right Click on the interface to add (or delete) a resolution code. 3. To edit a resolution code select it then change the code and/or description as required. Figure 17: Resolution Code Samples Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 51 of 147

52 10.7 Reporting by Resolution Codes A particularly useful report is the one titled Category by Resolution Code.rpt (example below). This report allows you to scan across categories looking for patterns or hotspots in the final resolution. For example, application support calls might have a disproportionately high number of training resolutions, which highlights an opportunity to target training to reduce support calls (and increase productivity). Figure 18: Category by Resolution Code Report Example Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 52 of 147

53 10.8 Logging Incidents Manually (Specialist Adds Incident) Incidents logged by phone will typically be assigned to the Specialist taking the call (or whoever the Specialist assigned the Incident to) although the Incident could be logged as Unassigned if need be. If the End-User is calling about an existing Incident you can simply type the Incident ID into the quick find box located on the toolbar of the Main Client Interface (usually on the left). For New Incidents you probably want to locate the user or the equipment they are calling about. To do this open the Search Console (Ctrl + F) or click the Search Console button pictured right. In the example below a search has been made for a caller called Kevin. Two contacts are retrieved in the search window, which also shows the address and Detail information for each contact. Right Clicking on a contact opens a menu (shown) from which a New Incident can be raised. From this menu you can also open the contact s record, add a Quick Incident, Add a Problem, Add an RFC, View the Incidents for the contact and locate the contact in the CMDB (Navigator). Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 53 of 147

54 10.9 Adding a New Incident This section provides a brief run through of the incident adding/call logging process; for a more detailed overview please see page 16). Following on from the Search Console above selecting Add New Incident opens the Add New Incident window below. You can see that the contact (Kevin Bell) is in the associations window (top-left). More associations can be dragged in from the CMDB or added directly from the search console. From here a summary and some details must be entered before progressing. The Category, SLA, Status, Priority, Specialist and Group can be selected NB the User Profile can prepopulate these settings to save time. User Defined information can be added and you can also search the Knowledgebase and Similar Incidents from this screen. Figure 19: The Add New Incident Screen Clicking on the Add and Show button adds the Incident into the system and shows the Incident Details (below). If there were any incomplete mandatory User Defined Fields (UDFs) then you would be prompted for the information at this point. From the Incident Details you can add Actions, Activities, Resolution and Resolution Codes. Ctrl + F2 reassigns the Incident. If you have resolutions enabled then you must supply a resolution before closing an Incident. Also, the Extended Incident Options (Setup Console) allow you to prevent an Incident being closed when it has outstanding (incomplete) Activities. When an Incident is Closed you can send a Customer Satisfaction Survey from the Incident record. If you select print from an Incident record a pre-formatted Incident report will be created (some users use these as job sheets). Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 54 of 147

55 10.10 Adding Associations to Incidents From an Incident Details record you can add associations by dragging items across from the CMDB and dropping them into the association box. You can also add associations by locating items in the Search Console and adding them. For example, if Kevin was calling about his laptop then you can search on, say, Asset ID, and then right-click to Add as Association into the Incident Record (see below). Figure 20: Adding Associations to Incidents from the Search Console Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 55 of 147

56 11 Actions (Completed Tasks) and Activities (Future Tasks) Actions and Activities are used within an Incident to record events that have been completed, events as they are happening or events that need be scheduled (future tasks). This builds up a history of an Incident and make it easy to review what has been done. Actions = Completed or current tasks Activities = Planned or scheduled tasks Figure 21: Actions in an Incident Record Once completed, Activities can be converted into Actions. Also, Action text can be copied into the Incident resolution area (right click on Action and select Copy Text to Resolution ) to save typing time! You can have different Action and Activity types, and for each Action type a number of attributes can be set as shown below. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 56 of 147

57 11.1 Configuring Actions Actions are configured in the Setup Console Incident Management Action / Activity Setup When you first install SupportDesk there are a number of pre-configured Actions and Activities. Adding to and modifying these is easy: 1. To add an Action click on Add New, give the Action a name and set the attributes 2. To modify an Action, select it and change the attributes. General Options Tab (above) Action Attribute Action Name Default to Private Forced Duration Change Icon Description If the Action and Activity name are the same, then a converted Activity will automatically become an Action of that type. The Action will not be visible to end-users via the SSP. This flag can be set at any time from within the Incident record. The Specialist adding the Action is required to enter a duration. This setting has a sub-option to use a default duration. For example, if you allow 4 hours to rebuild a server then you can create a rebuild server task with a default duration of 4 hours. There is an icon library, this is also editable. Action Attributes continued over page> Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 57 of 147

58 Action Response Tab (below) Action Attribute Counts as Response Description An Incident is not regarded as having been responded to until some form of response has been entered. An action can count as a response, for example, a Phone Call. The Response trigger is used to assess SLA Response Time success/failure and also to trigger an automated (if this option is set). Misc Tab (below) Action Attribute Instant Action Description When you convert an Activity to an Action you are prompted to edit the Action. If you don t want this to happen, i.e. the Activity just converts to an Action, then tick the Instant Action box. Action Attributes continued over page> Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 58 of 147

59 Custom Field Tab (below) Action Attribute Custom Field Description The Custom Field is a useful way of recording information relevant to a particular action. For example, if you create an Action Type called Site Visit you can add a custom field called Postcode and use this to request the postcode for a visit. Custom Fields can also be created for Activities and they show on Activity lists and in resource calendars. For example, you could use an Activity called Visit Required with a custom field called postcode and use this to create tasks for engineers. The resource calendar will then show where engineers are due to be as well as duration of visit and other information (example inset). If you name an Action the same as a Status then when the Action is added, the Status automatically changes to that Status. E.g. you can create an Action called Closed and use this to set the Incident status to Closed when the Action is added (assuming you have a created an Incident status called Closed ). Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 59 of 147

60 11.2 Adding Actions (Completed Tasks) to Incident Records Actions can be added to Incident Records as follows: 1. Right-click in the Action tab and select Add. 2. Click on the Add Action button on the Incident Screen 3. From the Search Console, right-click on any Incident that meets the search criteria and select Add New Action (this will open the Incident record if it isn t already open).. One of the attributes on an Action is its duration, which can be predefined, mandatory, optional or for as long as the Action window is open. One of the Incident List column options is the Duration, which allows you to see at a glance how much time has been spent on an incident. Because all columns in the Incident List window can be sorted, you can use this information to, for example, highlight where disproportionately long and shorts periods of time are being spent working on Incidents. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 60 of 147

61 11.3 Configuring Activities Activities are used to record planned or future activities for an Incident. Activities can be assigned to any SupportDesk User and can be managed using the Activity List. Activity Types define the type of Activity that is to take place. Activities are configured in the Setup Console: Setup Console Incident Management Action/Activities Activities Tab In terms of configuration, the main point to remember is that if the Action and Activity name are the same, then a converted Activity will automatically become an Action of that type. You will probably want this to be the case for all Activities Using Activities Activities can be added as follows: Right-click in the Activity tab and select Add. Click on the Add Activity button on the Incident Screen When you add an Activity you can: Select the Activity Type Assign the Activity to another Service Desk Specialist Mark the Specialist s calendar as busy for the duration (Start and End) of the Task Set an Alarm independently from the Activity Start Date/Time Make Activities recur (see Using Recurring Tasks (Activities) on page 72) Add a Description Add a Custom Field Activities can be viewed in the Activity List (F9). See The Incident List on page 65 for more information about Activities and their relationship to Incidents. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 61 of 147

62 11.5 Action Settings Checklist The following checklist can be used to list Action Types and their settings. The system defaults are shown here. For the Activity Names we recommend that you replicate the Action Names NB make sure they are spelt the same. Action Settings Action Name Default to Private Forced Duration Count as Response Book Engineer N N Y N Develop Fix N N Y N N N Y N Investigate N N Y N Desk Visit N Y Y N Site Visit N Y Y N Phone Call N Y Y N Problem Discussion N Y Y N Remote Control Session N N Y N Testing N N Y N Web Update N N N N Update N N N N Instant Action Figure 22: Action Settings Checklist Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 62 of 147

63 12 Quick Incidents/Incident Templates Quick Incidents are pre-defined templates that can be used to log commonly occurring Incidents without having to type the details into SupportDesk. At their quickest, Quick Incidents allow Incidents to be logged and closed in two clicks. A good example is password reset and the main benefit of using Quick Incidents in this way is it ensures that all Incidents get logged (e.g. reduces the temptation to avoid logging Incidents where the logging takes longer than the resolution). Quick Incidents can also be used to define Service processes (collectively called a Service Catalogue). Activities can be built into a list and assigned to different Specialists. When the template is invoked, the Activities automatically start and notify respective Specialists (the Activities will also appear in the Specialist Availability Calendar Configuring Quick Incident Templates Quick Incidents can reside anywhere in the CMDB. We recommend that you build a structure to accommodate them, an example is shown inset. First select the CMDB/Navigator Node where you want the template to reside and open a blank Incident record (hot key = F7). Now build up the Incident Record with Actions, Activities, Attachments, Category, Status etc. When you have finished your template (you can always edit it later) click on the Add as Quick Incident button located at the top of Incident Record (highlighted on the next page). You will be informed that the Incident will be added on Save then you will also get the option to make the Quick Incident available to end-users via the self-service portal. Save the Incident it will appear below the CMDB node you selected at the start of this process. Figure 23: Sample Quick Incident and Service Request CMDB Structure (Using Quick Incidents over page) > Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 63 of 147

64 12.2 Using Quick Incidents From the CMDB: Quick Incidents can be run by right-clicking on a Configuration Item in the CMDB and selecting Add Quick Incident to display a menu list. The Incident Record will open and the selected CI will be associated. From the CMDB: With the desired item selected press F8 to open the Add Quick Incident Wizard (inset). NB the Remove From List option is controlled by user rights so can be removed from the day to day view. From the Search Console: Right Click on a Configuration Item in the search results and select Add Quick Incident. Or select Locate In Navigator then press F8 to start the wizard Editing/Removing Quick Incident Templates To Edit a Quick Incident open the template from the CMDB (double click or drag to the work area), edit and save. To Remove a Quick Incident Template click on the Remove as Quick Incident button on the Incident Template Record (If the button only says Add as Quick Incident then it isn t a Quick Incident). Figure 24: Adding a Quick Incident Template Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 64 of 147

65 13 The Incident List 13.1 The Incident/Activity Concept The Incident List and its relationship to the Activity List (Section 0 on page 68) is an important concept in SupportDesk. An Incident record can have one or more Activities (future tasks) associated with it; these Activities can be set for other Specialists in the Service Desk. Assigning Activities to other people is one way of involving a colleague in the Incident. Another way is to reassign the Incident (Ctrl + F2), at which point the incident ownership changes. The approach you take to reassigning Incidents and setting Activities is simply a matter of what works best in your organisation and often a combination of methods is applied. For example, a First Line Support Analyst may assign a task to a colleague to change a printer cartridge but retain ownership of the Incident. However, that same Analyst may reassign an Incident to a Second Line colleague if it wasn t known why a printer wasn t working properly The Incident List The Incident list has a number of features, including: Ability to select columns from a list Colour coded visualisation (configurable) Drag n drop column positioning and column sorting Drag n drop grouping (including nested grouping)* Ability to apply View Restrictions (see page 72) Drag n drop CMDB filtering Full window persistence Print screen reporting Colour coded response and resolution indicators The Incident list is accessed by the F10 key or toolbar button or from the Main Menu: Incidents Incident List. *If you hold down the Shift key and click on the header of any Incident Group it will collapse all Groups. The Incident list can be filtered to display only the Incidents associated with a particular item in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB also known as the Navigator). This functionality can prove useful when you wish to only display Incidents logged against a certain user, department, status or priority. In the example below, a 1st Line Active Calls view has been applied and the Academic Staff icon has been dragged onto the Incident List. The Incident List now shows all active calls that have been logged by the Administration Department and that are being handled by First Line Support. You can also use this technique, e.g. to filter requests from Supported Schools (see page 38 for more information on Helping Supported Schools). Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 65 of 147

66 Figure 25: The Incident List Filtered by Drag n Drop from the CMDB 13.3 Incident List Column Selection The column selection allows you to make key information immediately visible. For example: Column Primary Association Primary Association Parent Time Since Last Action Action Time Date Logged Response Resolution Usage The main configuration item (asset, person, company, etc.) against which an Incident has been logged. The parent item in the Configuration Database, for example Department of the customer who logged the Incident. The amount of time since anyone worked on an Incident. Useful for identifying Incidents that are not being attended to. The total amount of working time spent (so far) on an Incident When the Incident was created Whether the Incident has been responded to. Tip: You can specify which Actions count as a response see section 0, Configuring Actions on Page 57 Whether the Incident has been resolved. The list of available columns is shown above. When reopened, the Incident List window will retain its columns, size, sort and group settings at an individual user level. When the Incident List is opened it will automatically apply the current View Restriction. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 66 of 147

67 13.4 Printing from the Incident List Selecting the Print button when the Incident List is in focus (selected) opens a report options window, from which the level of detail and date range of the current Incident List view can be selected and viewed/exported/printed Printing from Incidents Hitting the Print button from within an Incident record creates a report showing the details of the Incident in a logical format suitable for printing, for example, a job sheet. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 67 of 147

68 14 Incident Queues and Call Routing Incidents can be logged by phone, and web (SSP). Logged Incidents are visible through the Incident List, which can be filtered by call queue by applying a view restriction (page 72) How to Create an Unassigned Call Queue For example, to allow First Line Support Group to view all the unassigned calls logged via the web and in a single queue. 1. In the General Users area create a Specialist called Unassigned and assign that user in the Group responsible for first-line support (or equivalent) 2. Create a View Restriction where the Specialist = UNASSIGNED AND Quick Incidents Is False. See page 72 for more information on applying view restrictions. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 68 of 147

69 3. Ensure that the Profile is set to log incidents against the Unassigned Specialist If you are using the Self Service Portal (SSP) ensure that the Add Incident process defaults the Specialist to Unassigned Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 69 of 147

70 Now when Specialists choose the Unassigned Incidents view they will see all the Incidents that have been logged via or the web and that are in an unassigned status. Specialists can enhance these view to, for example, include My Incidents and Unassigned Incidents From the filtered Incident List the unassigned Incidents can be picked up and assigned by right-clicking on the Incident record and selecting Reassign Incident. The Date logged column allows Incidents to be selected in the order in which they were logged. Alternatively, you can set SupportDesk to automatically assign unassigned Incidents to the Specialist that open the incident record. The settings for this are shown below. The option to Hide Incident overview Window in Navigator prevents cherry-picking i.e. with this option selected specialists cannot see information about the incident until they open it (at which point it becomes assigned to the specialist and this is recorded in the non-editable log file). End-Users can update existing Incidents via web and . In both cases an Action is created in the Incident record, the Specialist working on the Incident is notified via , and the End-user is sent a confirmation all these processes are automated. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 70 of 147

71 15 The Activity List The Incident list is accessed by the F9 key or toolbar button or from the Main Menu: Incidents Activity List. The Activity List shows the tasks that have been assigned to a Specialist. There are a number of filter options and Activities are organised by Incidents, Problems, Known Errors and Change Requests. Figure 26: The Activity List The Management Console allows you to view Actions and Activities in a drillable chart. This provides an additional perspective on work being carried out and can help in load balancing. The example below Activities by Specialist with an IT Incident view restriction (see next section) applied. Figure 27: Management Console showing Activities (work to be done) by Specialist. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 71 of 147

72 16 Using Recurring Tasks (Activities) Recurring Tasks make use of the Recurring Activities Feature in SupportDesk. You can create a structure in the CMDB to store recurring tasks and then assign tasks to individuals on the Service Desk. The example below shows a structured list of standard System Check Tasks with one of those tasks opened (Activity Details). With the Add as Recurring Activity option selected the Activity will: Automatically notify the appropriate Specialist when the Task is due Appear in the Specialists Activity list Automatically re-create the task after it has been completed Create a date and time stamped entry in the Actions List (completed tasks) for audit trail purposes. Figure 28: Recurring Task Tree with Recurring Activities You can create recurring tasks for any purpose, for example in Facilities as reminders for, lift, air conditioning and fire equipment maintenance. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 72 of 147

73 17 View Restrictions View Restrictions are filters that are applied to Incidents Lists (and Change lists). Multiple view restrictions can be created and rights can be applied to them thereby preventing certain users from accessing certain types of Incidents. Views can be used to: Filter out closed calls Create Call Queues Provide a view for each Group to see their own Incidents Provide a view of the unassigned calls logged via the Self Service Portal and Configuring View Restrictions 1. Go to the Incidents menu and select View Restrictions to open the View Restrictions Setup Dialog box. NB you must have rights to create View restrictions (defined in the Setup Console). 2. Click on the Add New button at the top of the dialog box and then type in a suitable name in the View Name field e.g. Unassigned Incidents Figure 29: View Restrictions Setup Dialog 3. Select and build the view criteria; multiple clauses can be added, edited and deleted (Remove button) 4. Test that this filtering is as required by clicking the Test Criteria button. 5. Finally and importantly click the Update View button (blue tick) to ensure your new view is saved. The view restriction is applied by selecting it from the drop down box on the main interface. Figure 30: Applying View Restrictions Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 73 of 147

74 17.2 View Restrictions Rights View restriction rights can be applied to control which Specialist sees which views, and therefore which incident records. For example, if you are using SupportDesk to manage IT Support and Facilities related requests you might want to prevent each team from seeing each other s incidents. 1. Go to the Incidents menu and select Setup View Rights to open the Setup Dialog box. NB you must have rights to setup View rights. 2. Select the Specialist and select each view the Specialist can access 3. Remember to click Update Figure 31: Applying View Restriction Rights 17.3 Controlling Specialist Use of Views You can control Specialist ability to setup View Restrictions and View Restrictions Rights in the Setup Console General Rights System Tab. Figure 32: User Rights applied to View Restrictions and View Restriction Rights Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 74 of 147

75 18 Processing s as Incidents We recommend that you have a dedicated account for users to their support requests through to you, for example: support@organisation.co.uk NB: In order to process s you will need to have the SupportDesk Service running (see page 81) SupportDesk can monitor multiple in-boxes using Profiles. s are converted into Incidents as follows: Attribute From To (or CC) Subject Body Text Attachments Action The Incident will be automatically associated with the sender if their address exists in SupportDesk. If their does not exist then there are options for creating a contact automatically and locating the contact s Incident. SupportDesk can accept s that it is CC d on as well those sent directly To. Multiple boxes can be monitored, e.g., support@co.uk, facilities@co.uk, systems@co.uk, etc. created Incidents can be routed to Groups depending upon the mailbox they came into. This allows, for example, IT requests to go to the IT team, Facilities requests to the Facilities team and s from Network monitoring systems to appropriate response teams. The subject is converted into the Incident Summary. An Incident ID number is generated and this is used in the autoreply to sender; if the sender replies to the autoreply the is added to the Incident as an Action (the Action type is pre-definable). The body text is converted into the Details of the Incident. Attachments are added to the Incident record in the attachments tab. You can monitor multiple addresses, for example, you may have separate addresses for IT, Facilities, HR & Finance. Also you capture s from network management systems and route them through to the appropriate Specialist or Group. E.g. Inbox Address support@organisation.co.uk facilities@organisation.co.uk E.g. Profile Default Facilities Finance Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 75 of 147

76 18.1 Configuring the Look & Feel of s The SupportDesk module is designed to accommodate a very wide variety of usage requirements, which is why there are so many settings. However, the module is preconfigured with Default Profiles so it is simply a matter of you adjusting the settings to your own requirements. There are two main types of communication: s to end users s (notifications) to Specialists The help files cover the above steps, and more, in some depth. Below are a few helpful pointers in case you don t like reading help files Configuring s to End Users The main considerations are: Specifying the mail server, help desk account address and protocol for incoming/outgoing s Choosing between HTML, Rich text and plain text formats Setting up an Auto signature (and applying your organisational logo) Choosing when automated are sent e.g. when logged, when responded to, when resolved Defining the content of the s sent (SupportDesk s defaults can be used) Specifying how responses (updates) to automated or manually sent s are handled Starting the Service to process s Programs Richmond Systems SupportDesk Setup Console Select: Settings Profile Settings tab Figure 33: Specifying server and Service Desk Address Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 76 of 147

77 Figure 34: Selecting default settings for Incidents logged via Use the above screen to specify the default Category, Specialist, Group etc. for incidents logged via . NB we recommend the use of an Unassigned Specialist so that incidents created from inbound s can be routed to an unassigned incident queue (see page 68 for an example). Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 77 of 147

78 18.3 Branding s within SupportDesk SupportDesk allows communication direct from the incident screen; these s can be formatted in two ways, plain text or HTML. If HTML is selected you can set different formatting options in line with your school branding including font, colour, size and style for both main body text and labels. Figure 35: Changing Formatting Options You can also add a signature to outgoing s, defined on each profile. The signature can be a simple text which uses the formatting defined in the label format settings. Figure 36: Simple Signature Settings Alternatively you can use the additional functionality provided by using HMTL to format the signature and add an image to the bottom of the signature as well, see over page. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 78 of 147

79 A formatted signature can use simple HTML tags such as font and links. The example shown above has a signature formatted to display as: Technical Support Richmond Systems Tel: +44 (0) support@richmondsys.com Web: To update this incident please reply to this or update via the Self Service Portal Figure 37: Sample HTML Auto Signature The above is achieved using the following code in the signature box (NB the spelling color is correct for html): <font color = #415CAA>Technical Support</font> <font color = #415CAA>Richmond Systems</font> <font color = #999999>Tel:</font> <font color = #415CAA>+44 (0) </font> <font color = #999999> </font> <font color = #415CAA>support@richmondsys.com </font> <font color = #999999>Web: </font> Figure 38: Sample HTML for use in HTML s Font colour tag uses the hexadecimal colour codes to display the text in the set colour, these codes can be found by simply searching online for hex codes. Other tags that can be used includes the strong and a href tags. Figure 39: Signature Settings using HTML Tags Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 79 of 147

80 18.4 s to Specialists (Specialist Alerts) SupportDesk is designed to drive the flow of information between Specialists. There are many scenarios when you might want to be notified and these are configured in the tabs below. SupportDesk ships with a default set of messages, all of which can be changed. You can specify the body text for the Specialist (e.g. owner of an incident) and Group (e.g. if the Group also gets notified). sent to a Specialist/Group when an Incident is first logged sent when an Incident has reached the response pending-breach interval or when an Incident has breached its response target. Response and resolution target times are set in Service Level Management (page 137) sent to a Specialist/Group when an Incident is Re-Assigned to another Specialist or Group sent when an Incident has reached the resolution pending-breach interval or when an Incident has breached its resolution target. sent to a Specialist when an Activity (task) is assigned to a Specialist sent to a Specialist when a Tracking reaches its end date (see Asset Tracking on page 93) sent to a Specialist when Maintenance reaches its end date (see Asset and Supplier Maintenance (Contract Management) on page 99) sent to a Specialist when an Incident is Updated by an end-user (either via or web) sent to a Specialist when an Incident Escalates. Escalation is when an Incident changes from one priority to another, typically driven by the SLA. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 80 of 147

81 18.5 Service Controller To process s the Service Controller Service needs to be running (started): Programs Richmond Systems Service Service Controller Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 81 of 147

82 19 Advanced Usage: Creating Multiple Profiles This section assumes familiarity with how processing works in SupportDesk (covered in section 18 on page 75). Multiple profiles can be used to control the information that is contained in s that are sent automatically and manually from the service desk. This allows you to: Differentiate s received from different end-users, e.g. internal staff, supported schools and external suppliers Differentiate s received from any system or network monitoring technology you are using Differentiate s sent from different support groups, e.g. IT, Facilities and Finance 19.1 Handling s from Different User Communities For example, if you are supporting multiple schools you can setup a separate supported schools account using your preferred system (e.g. MS Exchange) and setup a supported schools profile in SupportDesk that routes incoming s (see also page 38) to a particular queue and sends differently worded automated s to acknowledge receipt and various other actions. You don t have to take this approach to route s from different communities. You can simply have all s coming to the same inbox (monitored by SupportDesk) and then use the CMDB filtering on the Incident List to show requests from different groups (see page 65). To setup a new profile to process s sent to an alternative address follow the steps on the next page: Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 82 of 147

83 To set up a new profile: 1. Setup Console Settings Profile Settings click on Manage Profile button 2. You can either Add a New Group or Clone (then modify) an existing group; the latter is quicker and easier if you are just making a few changes to the profile. Figure 40: Setting up a new profile 3. Type a name for the profile and click OK Continued over page> Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 83 of 147

84 4. Now Select the newly created profile from the dropdown and modify; Server Settings tab to specify alternative address ed Incidents tab to specify incident defaults such as category, status etc. Incident Templates to specify alternative body text (not shown it s the tab to the right of the Extend Settings tab) Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 84 of 147

85 19.2 Handling Alerts from System and Network Monitoring Software There are numerous technologies on the market that monitor systems and networks (e.g. for suspicious access attempts, backup failures etc.). One thing these systems have in common is the ability to send alerts when something interesting or alarming happens. They also have the ability to define the criteria for when an alert is sent (you wouldn t want to be alerted to everything that happens on the network). SupportDesk can monitor these alerts and route them to predefined queues (views). Furthermore, by creating a specific Category for such alerts, and assigning a SLA (page 136) to that category, you can use support desk to not only create incident records but notify members of the service desk team. 1. The process for creating a new profile is exactly the same as in the above example (Handling s from Different User Communities on page 82). Just use an appropriate profile name e.g. Network Monitoring. 2. Once the new profile is created make sure that your monitoring system is sending s alerts to the corresponding inbox that the new profile is monitoring in SupportDesk. SupportDesk will now convert each incoming alert into an incident record. Figure 41: Setting up an Profile to process NW Monitoring System Alerts Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 85 of 147

86 19.3 Alerts from Different Support Groups (IT, Facilities, Finance) profiles can be set for each SupportDesk Group Profile, i.e. SupportDesk can use the profile that is associated with the Group to which the Incident is assigned. HOW IT WORKS: s are sent using the profile of the Specialist user that is logged in. For example, a Specialist logs a call for an end-user and the Specialist is a member of the Facilities Group. The automated that goes out to the end-user (set in the Service Controller) will use the profile for the Facilities Group. This is the case when this Specialist logs (adds) an incident, responds to an incident, resolves an incident, or when an is sent from within the incident record. 1. The Group Profile is configured in Setup Console General Groups. Select a Group and assign the relevant profile to each group (highlighted). 2. Tick the Alerts to Group Profile setting on (highlighted). 3. Click on Update. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 86 of 147

87 20 Advanced (Extended) Incident Options In the Setup Console Incident Management Extended Incident Options section there are some additional settings and features that increase the flexibility or scope of Incident Management. Setup Console Incident Management Extended Incident Options General tab Options Prevent Users from closing Incidents that still have outstanding future activities logged against them. Auto-Increment action time field when users have the Incident Action window open. (Windows client only) Prevent users from logging Incidents without selecting an SLA or Escalation Type. Setting Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No 20.1 Incident Locking Incident Locking prevents Service Desk users from clashing within an Incident record. With Incident Locking switched OFF, the first Specialist to Save an Incident Record will be able to do so but any other Specialist in the same record will lose their changes. With Incident Locking ON, only one user can edit a record at a time. Incident Locking is configured in the Setup Console Incident Management Extended Incident Options Locking tab Options Setting Enable incident locking Yes/No Expire Time (minutes) Custom Classification Custom Classification allows you to create an additional level of classification to Categories. This can be used, for example, to distinguish between IT, Finance and Facilities or Incidents, Projects, Requests and Recurring Tasks. You can use as many classifications as required and the label can be changed (e.g. to Enquiry Type or Class ). Custom Classification is configured in the Setup Console Incident Management Extended Incident Options Custom Classification tab. If you use this feature then we recommend you make the field mandatory for all users. Custom Classifications Incident Request Project Recurring Task Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 87 of 147

88 21 Asset Discovery: PC Inventory SupportDesk s PC inventory functionality allows you to automatically gather hardware and software information from PCs connected directly to your network. Once gathered, this information can be viewed from within the SupportDesk main client via the Item s PC Inventory tab. SupportDesk uses the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to obtain PC information, which eliminates the need for client software to be installed on each PC or Server you wish to scan Configuring PC Inventory PC Inventory is configured in the Setup Console. 1. From the Setup Console Select: PC Inventory Setup PC Inventory 2. Select the PC Audit Settings tab 3. Type in the Domain Administrator s fully qualified Username and Password* (this enables SupportDesk to access the network to scan the PCs) 4. Select the Rescan period 5. Select the location in the navigator where discovered PCs should be put. The next step (over page) is to map some information about the discovered asset to the asset s style. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 88 of 147

89 6. Now Select the Style Mappings tab 7. Select the Style that you want discovered PCs to use. SupportDesk ships with a default PC style or you can create your own (see Adding and Changing Configuration Item Styles on page 28) 8. Select the PC Name Field this is the item of information that is taken from the automated scan and is applied a field in the description for the item. Most people choose the topmost data item as this is visible in the Navigator. 9. Now Select the PC Audit Options tab and select options to automatically discover new PCs and collect software information as required. A further (optional) configuration step is to setup the principal software list (over page). Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 89 of 147

90 21.2 Setting Up a Principal Software List A principal software list allows you to specify which software applications you wish to view and report on when PCs on your network are audited. SupportDesk provides a series of reports, most of which are based on the principal software list as the full list typically contains many files. Setting up a principal software list is easy, as a start point you need to have scanned at least one PC so there is some data to work with. 1. From the Setup Console Select: PC Inventory Principal Software The left hand window shows all the files across the scanned population. The right window shows the principal software list. To transfer from one window to another simply doubleclick, or click Add, or Click Remove. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 90 of 147

91 21.3 Viewing PC Inventory Data To view PC Scan data from the Item itself simply open the PC Inventory tab and navigate: To view PC Scan data collectively from the main menu select Inventory PC Inventory PC Inventory Browser: Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 91 of 147

92 21.4 Setting up Scheduled PC Inventory Scans We recommend that the task is set up on the application server, which could also be running the SupportDesk and Escalation services. Also, the settings within the SupportDesk Setup Console should be completed for PC Inventory and relevant tests to ensure the scans complete satisfactorily before the scheduled task is set up. Please refer to the SupportDesk help files for assistance with this. Setting up the Scheduled Task A new Windows scheduled task should be created to run the SDAudit.exe. The task should then have the following parameters applied to it: /A=1 (Automatic mode) /B= <begin ip> /F=<end ip> /N=<base ip> /M=1 /K= frmscaniprange /S= <server name> /D=<database name> /U=<user> /P=<pwd> The IP address number to start the scan from The IP address number to end the scan at The Base of the IP Address The database server name The SupportDesk database name, standard is rsupdesk A SupportDesk specialist The SupportDesk specialists password The completed scheduled task parameters should read like the following example: /S=SQLSERVERNAME /D=RSUPDESK /M=1 /A=1 /B=104 /F=104 /U=RICHMOND /P=RICHMOND /K=frmscaniprange /N= If you need to scan multiple IP ranges we recommended you create multiple scheduled tasks Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 92 of 147

93 22 Asset Tracking (Loans, Repairs and Disposals) Any item in the CMDB (database) can be tracked with any other item. Tracking is the generic term we use to describe its status, for example, a PC can be loaned to a user, or a room loaned to a department, or a projector can be put into repair, or a monitor can be put in disposal. Tracked items that are on-loan are visible in the Configuration Database in their loaned-to location as a red icon Configuring Asset Tracking Tracking is switched on or off at the Item Style level, i.e. items of the same type. 1. From the Setup Console Select: Configuration Management Inventory Styles 2. Select the Item Style, e.g. Whiteboard. 3. Select the Tracking tab 4. Check the Show Tracking Tab 5. Specify a Specialist and/or Group for Notification: When you set a tracking for an asset there is the option to notify the Specialist and Group when the tracking period comes to an end. The text is configurable (see page 80). Figure 42: Configuring Tracking Options in the Setup Console Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 93 of 147

94 22.2 Adding (Setting) a Tracking for an Asset/Item There are two ways of setting a tracking, from the item itself or from the tracking calendar. To set a tracking from the item: Setting a Tracking from an Asset/Item 1. Locate the item in the Navigator e.g. using the search console. 2. Open the item and select the Tracking Tab; this window shows all current and future trackings for the item. 3. Click on Add New Tracking to open the Tracking Details windows 4. The Status defines the type of tracking and must be selected before you can progress the tracking. By default, the Status shows as Available, select either: On-Loan Repair Unavailable Assigned Requested Select this to loan the item to someone or something. For example, a projector can be on loan to a teacher or a classroom, a room can be on loan to a teacher or a department Select this to mark the item as in for repair. Select this to mark the item as Unavailable (you can put a reason in the comments box if required) Select this to mark the item as Assigned to a user, this means that you can assign a classroom to a user permanently. Select this to mark the item as requested, so that a user can inform others that they require the use of the equipment. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 94 of 147

95 5. The tracking needs to be associated with something or someone, our terminology is located with. Drag the item from the navigator into the top-left box 6. Select the start and end dates, and add a comment if required. The Notify Specialist/Group tick boxes are for sending a notification ( ) when the tracking end date is reached. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 95 of 147

96 22.3 Viewing a Tracked Asset/Item in the CMDB/Navigator A tracked item can be viewed through the tracking calendar, in its original location and in the tracked-to (loaned-to) location. The latter requires show tracking to be switched on in the Setup Console: 1. From the Setup Console Select: Configuration Management Extended Options 2. Tick the Show tracking items with on loan and repair status in the Navigator tick box. When the above option is selected any tracked asset will also appear in its tracked-to location with red text. In the example below PRINT02 is on loan to Grant Taylor. NB the asset has not been duplicated if you right-click on the tracked-to asset image you can locate (select) the original item. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 96 of 147

97 22.4 The Tracking Calendar The Tracking Calendar shows in day/week/month view which items are on-loan, in-repair or otherwise unavailable. In day/week view the tracking s statuses are colour coded Setting a Tracking from the Tracking Calendar 1. From the calendar select a block of time and right-click Add new tracking 2. Drag an item from the Navigator this is the item that is being put on-loan or inrepair or made unavailable. 3. Click OK and this will open the Tracking Details window. The instructions from here are exactly the same as from step 4 on page 94 above. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 97 of 147

98 22.5 Asset Disposal When you dispose of an Asset in SupportDesk it moves to a pre-defined area of the CMDB Navigator. The asset hasn t actually been deleted; it can be restored back to its original position in the Navigator at any time using restore. The first step is to configure the designated folder for disposed assets. 1. From the Setup Console Select: Configuration Management Extended Options 2. Click on the Configure button and choose a navigator location 1. To dispose of an asset: Select the asset and view its details Select the tracking tab and click on Disposed. 2. To restore an asset: Select the asset (from the disposed location) and view its details Select the tracking tab and click on Restore. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 98 of 147

99 23 Asset and Supplier Maintenance (Contract Management) Any item in the CMDB (database) can be enabled for maintenance, which allows you to record contractual information as well as specify a start date, reminder date and end date with automatic notifications when these dates are reached. Typical usage of this feature is to manage maintenance contracts on assets (PCs, fire equipment, aircon units etc.) and contracts with suppliers Configuring Maintenance Maintenance is switched on or off at the Item Style level, i.e. items of the same type. 2. From the Setup Console Select: Configuration Management Inventory Styles 3. Select the Tracking tab 4. Select the Item Style, e.g. Supplier 5. Select Show Tracking Tab 6. Specify a Specialist and/or Group for Notification: When you set up maintenance for an asset there is the option to notify the Specialist and Group when the reminder tracking period comes to an end. The text is configurable (see page 80). Figure 43: Configuring Maintenance Options in the Setup Console Applying maintenance to an item is straightforward, see over page. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 99 of 147

100 23.2 Applying Maintenance/Contract information for an Item 1. Locate the item in the Navigator e.g. using the search console. 2. Select the Maintenance tab 3. Enter the maintenance start and end date and if a notification is required tick the corresponding notify box. 4. Enter the maintenance pending notification date and if a notification is required tick the corresponding notify box. 5. Enter maintenance information as required, the four available fields are: Company Cover Type Reference Comments Figure 44: Applying Maintenance Settings to an Item/Asset If maintenance information is recorded it can be used proactively to track, for example, contracts due to expire in the next month. Figure 45: Sample Maintenance Report Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 100 of 147

101 24 Asset History Asset History allows you to monitor exactly what happens to an asset throughout its lifecycle. The feature is enabled on a per-item style basis so you don t have to record history for absolutely everything. History allows you to see changes, for example when an asset has been moved, lent out or had its details changed Configuring History History is switched on or off and made visible/hidden at the Item Style level, i.e. items of the same type. 1. From the Setup Console Select: Configuration Management Inventory Styles 2. Select the History tab 3. Select Collecting History to start the process of collecting history for any assets of the selected type 4. Select Show History tab in Item record to enable the history tab i.e. make history visible via the service desk Figure 46: Configuring History Options in the Setup Console Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 101 of 147

102 24.2 Viewing an Item s History To view an item s History: 1. Locate the item in the Navigator e.g. using the search console. 2. Select the item s History tab 3. Apply a Date Range 4. If required, apply a filter to reduce the amount of information visible on the History tab. The filter will offer the field details details for the style (which will differ depending on style) as well as the following options: CMDB Navigator moves only i.e. when the item has been moved from one area of the Navigator to another All Fields and Navigator moves i.e. all the details for that style and CMDB moves Tracking i.e. the tracking history for that item History Collected: SupportDesk will log if and when history collection is disabled/enabled (only possible in the Setup Console) Figure 47: Viewing an Asset s History The Print button will print a report based on the history for the currently selected item, for example: Figure 48: Sample History Report Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 102 of 147

103 25 Customer Surveys The Customer Satisfaction Survey module can be used to collect feedback from users about the level of service provided by the Service Desk Configuring Customer Surveys The Web Interface needs to be installed to allow end-user access to the Satisfaction Survey form. This is installed as part of the web interface and the default path to the survey location is A total of 5 questions can be set and each question will have a selectable rating of 1 through 5 (with a reverse scoring option). In addition the Test and survey introductory text can be configured. The table below contains the text used to illustrate this feature (in case you want to copy it as a start point for your surveys). HTTP Address Survey Text You recently logged a call with the help desk. We would appreciate your feedback and comments on the service we provide and therefore invite you to complete this very short questionnaire (6 questions). Thank you for your help, we value your opinions. Kind Regards The Help Desk Team Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 103 of 147

104 Survey Introduction Text (Reverse scoring OFF) Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Please score each question as follows: 1 Strongly disagree 2 Disagree 3 Neither agree nor disagree 4 Agree 5 Strongly agree I received a prompt response. I received a friendly response. My issue was resolved quickly. The resolution was effective. Overall I was satisfied with the way my call was dealt with Sending Customer Surveys Customer Satisfaction Surveys can be sent directly from Incident records by clicking on the Send Survey button. Surveys can also be sent en masse based on criteria defined in the Customer Satisfaction Surveys console, which is accessed from the Main Menu Incident Management Send Satisfaction Surveys. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 104 of 147

105 26 Resource Management (Calendars) Resource Management will prevent Incidents, future Activities, and Change tasks from being assigned to specialists that are on holiday, sick or have an activity set for them. Resource Settings Days Enforced [y or n] Conflict Text Closed Day Sorry, the Service Desk is closed between the dates specified Holiday Sorry, the specified user is on holiday during the dates specified. Sick day / Leave Sorry, the specified user is unavailable during the dates specified. Activity Sorry, the specified user already has an Activity scheduled during the dates specified. RFC Task Sorry, the user already has an RFC Task scheduled during the dates specified. Table 1 Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 105 of 147

106 27 The Self Service Portal (SSP) The SupportDesk Self Service Portal allows end users (Staff, Pupils, feeder schools) to raise support requests via a web interface. The Self Service portal allows users to: Raise requests for support and services from IT, Facilities, Finance etc. View the status of existing requests Update existing requests (updates notify the service desk automatically) View and search a list of Incidents/Requests Search the SupportDesk knowledgebase and any Microsoft indexing services that have been configured. Raise and view Requests for Change (RFCs) Access service desk contact information Access external applications or web pages through a customisable toolbar link. You can configure the Incident logging workflow process. A standard example is shown below where the user selects a category, then selects from a pick-list linked to the category, then provides a summary. In this example the user is self-categorising their request. You don t have to work this way; you can simply enable a box in which to type the issue/request. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 106 of 147

107 27.1 Configuring the SSP When you install the SupportDesk web components a Self Service Portal Website called SupportDeskSSP is created. To get started you need to: Configure the Self Service Portal Web Administration Settings (effectively points the web interface at the SupportDesk database) Configure a Settings Group in the Setup Console (there is a pre-configured settings group called Default to help get started) Auto-Authentication: SupportDesk can automatically authenticate users into the Self Service Portal. This is the recommended approach when user information is being taken from Active Directory. To configure Windows Authentication in the SSP please refer to the product help files Configuring the Self Service Portal Web Administration Settings You may have already done this - when the SupportDesk installation completes there is an option to open the Self Service Portal/Web Reports Administration Console, which is used to configure the database connectivity for the web portal (and for web reporting). If you haven t configured this then: Programs Richmond Systems SupportDesk Web Interfaces Self Service Portal & Web Reports Administration Figure 49: Self Service Portal Administration 1. Click on the {Edit SSP Config File} button 2. In the Database Connection Settings box, enter the SQL Server name and database name. If you have forgotten these you can always go to the SupportDesk Login Screen (inset) Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 107 of 147

108 3. Click on the Test button. If the test is successful; you will receive a confirmation message. In the event that you receive an error, you must ensure that you have entered a valid SQL Server and database name and that the machine you are attempting to connect from is able to connect to the required SQL Server database. 4. Click on the Save button to update the configuration file. 5. Most technical support calls that we receive about the SSP are due to these settings not being configured or saved. Please ensure that you saved the settings. Thanks. Note: There are separate settings for the Self Service Portal (SSP) and Web Reporting Module (circled below). Clicking on the circled radio buttons will switch between the SSP and Web Reports configuration settings pages. You must click on Save on each page that you make changes. We recommend that you also configure the web reporting module now following steps 6 to 9 below. 6. Repeat steps 2 & 3 above for the Edit Web Reports Config File option Figure 50: Web Reporting Administration 7. Provide a path for the report Template Directory this is where SupportDesk will look for report templates. By default, this path will be: C:\Inetpub\WWWRoot\SupportDesk6\Reports\ 8. Click on the Save button to update the configuration file 9. Exit the application. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 108 of 147

109 27.3 Configure an SSP Settings Group When users login to the Self Service Portal their view is controlled by a Settings Group that is defined in their profile. You can see and configure this by opening up a contact s details and clicking on the System ID Tab. In this example the user is setup to access Settings Group 1. SupportDesk ships with a Default Settings Group, when the user logs into the Self Service Portal they will see something like this: Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 109 of 147

110 The SSP has settings for styles, imagery, toolbar buttons, Incident information, Contact Us, Knowledgebase, Indexing Services, Incident visibility, Automated Closure, Adding/Viewing RFCs and so on. Some of the more frequently used settings are shown here SSP Registration and Style Settings Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 110 of 147

111 SSP Toolbar Settings SSP Add Incident Settings Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 111 of 147

112 SSP Incident View Settings Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 112 of 147

113 SSP Category Visibility Settings Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 113 of 147

114 SSP Incident Template Visibility Settings Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 114 of 147

115 SSP Incident Update Settings Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 115 of 147

116 28 Reporting 28.1 Overview Richmond SupportDesk provides a number of reporting mechanisms, including print screen reporting, quick statistics, web reporting and dashboard (Management Console). Reporting is key to monitoring and understanding service desk performance and SupportDesk provides a number of ways of getting information out of the system. When planning your service desk deployment it is good practise to start with the key performance indicators (KPIs); these are the metrics or measurements required to effectively evaluate how well the service desk is running. Examples include: Number of incidents logged versus incidents closed over a given period of time Number of incidents failing service level (SLA) response and/or resolution targets Number of incidents that are still open after two weeks Categories against which incidents are frequently logged Most common resolution activities (e.g. training, patch, password reset, rights change etc.) Proportion of incidents by support group (e.g. 1 st line, 2 nd line, facilities, finance etc.) The above reflect standard information that gets captured during system usage. However, it is important to make sure configuration of call logging processes capture the required information. For example, if you don t make resolution codes mandatory when closing an incident then your most common resolutions report could be incomplete. Likewise if response and resolution stats are key SLAs should be enforced for all incidents. There are different types of report consumers ranging from tactical/daily to strategic/longterm planning. SupportDesk makes this information available as follows: Hit Print: From anywhere in SupportDesk you can click the print button and the system will generate a report based upon the information you are looking at. These reports have been designed on a most-likely user-case to provide immediate, relevant information. In the case of Incident list reports the level of detail can be expanded using tick boxes. Quick Stats: The statistics module provides numerical statistics about incidents. Summary level information is presented immediately and there are click on/click-off filters. So if you want to know, for example, how many first-line support incidents are open ordered by priority two clicks and you ll have your answer. Web-based reporting: SupportDesk has 100+ report templates. These can be run as ad hoc reports, user-defined reports or scheduled reports. Ad hoc reports: When you run a report it will prompt for parameters and date ranges that narrow the focus of the report. For example, a report showing active Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 116 of 147

117 incidents by support group will prompt you for the groups and incident statuses to which the report should apply. User-Defined reports: You can preset the parameters for any of the reports such that when you run the report it only prompts you for a date range. Scheduled reports: You can take any user-defined report (i.e. the parameters are known) and schedule the report to run according to various rules, including the date range of the report. Scheduled reports are saved/printed/ ed automatically in pdf/word/excel/html formats. There is also a Management Console, which provides a series of live-stats and charts (that can also be exported or copied into documents). If the report that you wanted was not in SupportDesk then it can be created and added, or an existing report could be modified, however you would need a copy of crystal reports to do this. We provide a report writing service; as a guide approximately one in five of our customers have used this service either for creating bespoke reports or modifying existing reports. We also publish our database schema and some of our customers use this to create reports themselves Print Screen Reporting Incident List: Selecting Print when the Incident List is in focus (selected) opens a report options window, from which the level of detail and date range of the current Incident List view can be selected and viewed/exported/printed. Incident Record: Selecting Print from within an Incident record creates a report showing the details of the Incident in a logical format suitable for printing, for example, a job sheet. CMDB: Selecting Print when viewing an Items details from the Navigator creates a preconfigured attribute report for that item and its Sub items if you desire. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 117 of 147

118 28.3 Call Statistics Call Statistics provide a quick statistical count of Incidents across a range of views and filters Web Reporting SupportDesk Web Reporting provides a set of Quick Reports and Report Templates that can be run on an ad hoc basis or pre-configured as User Defined Reports, which can be run and scheduled. The main configuration aspects of the web reports module are performed from within the SupportDesk Setup Console. This option can be found under the Reporting Report Setup toolbar button Web Reporting Settings Figure 51: Setup Console Report Settings Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 118 of 147

119 The report settings tab contains the following configuration options: HTTP Address: This is the fully qualified http address of the reports module once installed and is used by SupportDesk clients when either the reports menu is accessed or a print screen report is run. The fully qualified address is usually formatted in the following way: Launch Reports in a new browser window: By default, reports run from within SupportDesk appear within the main application window. Selecting this option will cause reports to be loaded in the default system web browser instead of the main application window. Disable report scheduling functionality from the reports menu: By default, users can configure scheduled reports from the reports menu. Selecting this option will prevent the report scheduling functionality from being displayed to users. Disable Quick Reports functionality from the reports menu: By default, users can view all available quick reports from within the reports menu. Selecting this option will prevent the quick reports tab from being displayed to users. Disable adding of new reports from the reports menu: This option prevents users from being able to add new reports to the service desk via the web reports module, regardless of their pre-configured user rights. Disable the deletion of existing reports from the reports menu: This option prevents users from being able to delete existing reports from the service desk via the web reports module, regardless of their pre-defined user rights. Disable SQL modification for existing reports from the reports menu This option prevents users from being able to modify the SQL criteria of existing service desk reports via the web reports module, regardless of their pre-defined user rights. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 119 of 147

120 28.5 Running Reports from SupportDesk Depending on the settings specified in the Setup Console, the reports window will appear either inside the main SupportDesk window or outside using the default system web browser. Open your web browser and navigate to the web reports module login page. Figure 52: Logging in to Web Reporting via Web Browser At the login prompt, enter your SupportDesk user id and password in the fields provided. Next, press the Login button, which will direct you to the web reports module main window. Once logged in, the main interface screen displays a series of tab pages along the top of the screen for access to the reporting functions. These tabs include: Quick Reports User-Defined Reports Report Templates The visibility of these tabs may vary depending on the settings chosen within the Setup Console. There is also an additional combo box at the top of the screen titled My latest print screen reports. This contains details of the last 10 print screen reports that you have generated from within the main SupportDesk client (to access these press the print screen toolbar button). These historical reports can be re-run at any time by simply selecting the required entry from the list and pressing the Load button next to it. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 120 of 147

121 Quick Reports View Figure 53: Quick Reports Tab View The Quick Reports tab contains a tree view which displays a range of categorised reports. These categories relate to specific areas within the service desk: Incident Management List Reports Problem Management Change Management Configuration Items Statistical Reports System Reports PC Inventory Reports Quick reports are read-only and are designed to provide fast and easy access to service desk data without having to configure new reports on an ad-hoc basis. To view a quick report, simply expand the required category node and click on the desired child item. If the selected report contains any date information you will be prompted to specify a range for this. The report will then be loaded and displayed on a new tab from within the main window. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 121 of 147

122 User Defined Reports View Figure 54: User-Defined Reports Tab View The User-Defined Reports view displays all user configured reports that exist within the service desk. From this tab you can perform the following functions: Load Report: This loads the specified report and displays it on a separate tab page. Load Ad-hoc: This loads the specified report and displays it on a separate tab page. Describe Report: This extracts the text-based description contained within the selected reports template file and displays it in a pop-up window. Delete Report: This deletes the selected report from the list once you have confirmed the action. Show SQL: This displays the selected reports underlying SQL query string which can be modified if required. Refresh List: This refreshes the report list to display the latest information. It is sometimes necessary to use this function after a new report has been added to the list. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 122 of 147

123 Report Templates View Figure 55: Report Templates Tab View The report templates view contains a list of all available report templates located in the specified reports directory. From here the following functions are available: Add New Report: Creates a new user-defined report based on the selected report template and adds it to the list of user-defined reports. Load Ad-Hoc: Loads an ad-hoc copy of the selected report template and displays it on a new tab within the main window. Reports run using this method are not saved to the user-defined reports list. Describe File: This extracts the text-based description contained within the selected template file and displays it in a pop-up window. This is useful if you do not know what information the selected template displays. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 123 of 147

124 Report Scheduling View Figure 56: Report Scheduling Tab View The report scheduling view allows you to configure SupportDesk s report scheduling functionality. This functionality is also available from the SupportDesk Setup Console if required. A separate Windows Service is installed as part of the Web Reports Module. This controls the execution and delivery of scheduled reports. For more information on configuring the Report Service Controller see Scheduling Reports on page 130. Scheduled reports are based on User Defined Reports so that the report parameters are already set. The next sections cover the creation of user-defined reports and their functionality. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 124 of 147

125 28.6 Adding a New User-Defined Report To add a new report to the user-defined reports list, follow the steps below: 1. Navigate to the Report Templates tab and select the required report template from this list. If you are unsure what information the report template displays, use the Describe File button to view further details of the file. 2. Enter a title for the report in the Report Title field. 3. Press the Add New Report button on the right-hand side of the tab. 4. A new tab will appear titled Report Wizard. This page is used to guide you through the selection criteria (parameters) for the new report. The page contains 4 selection criteria pages, which can be selected and reselected in any order until the desired criteria have been selected. Examples of selection criteria pages are shown here: Figure 57: User Defined Reports Selecting Category Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 125 of 147

126 Figure 58: User Defined Reports Selecting Status Note: It is possible to add certain reports based on Navigator Configuration Items (E.g. locations, users, assets, etc.) You will only be prompted for Configuration Item selection if the specified report template has been designed to be filtered on Configuration Items. 5. Once the report wizard is complete, you will receive a confirmation message. Navigate to the User-Defined Reports tab and click on the Refresh List button from the right-hand side of the tab page. Your new report will appear in the list and can be run as required by pressing the Load Report button. The report will now run and prompt for date criteria (some reports don t use date criteria, in which case there will not be any prompts). Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 126 of 147

127 28.7 Viewing/Running Reports There are a number of methods for viewing reports: Via the Quick Reports tab. From the Load Report or Load Adhoc buttons on the User-Defined Reports tab. From the Load Adhoc button on the Report Templates tab. Each of the above methods produces similar results with the exception of the Load Adhoc functions, which allow you to select on-the-fly criteria for reports without actually adding them to the User-Defined Reports list. When loading a report which contains date-based criteria, you will be prompted to select a date-range for the specified field. This is optional and dates can be ignored by selecting the Ignore Date Criteria checkbox before continuing. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 127 of 147

128 28.8 Exporting Reports Figure 59: Exporting a Report Reports can be exported in the following formats: Crystal Reports (Rpt) PDF Microsoft Excel ( ) Microsoft Excel ( ) Data-Only Microsoft Word ( ) Microsoft Word ( ) - Editable Rich Text Format (RTF) XML Exporting can be performed from the report viewer window by clicking on the Export This Report toolbar button. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 128 of 147

129 28.9 Printing Reports Figure 60: Printing a Report The web reports module allows you to send reports to a printer of your choice however, because the reports module is a server-based application, reports are first exported to PDF format. Follow the instructions to either open the PDF file or save to disk. After clicking on the Print This Report toolbar button, the Print to PDF dialog window will appear. Follow the on-screen instructions given. After the export is complete, you will then be able to send the generated PDF document to the printer of your choice. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 129 of 147

130 28.10 Scheduling Reports Scheduled reports are based on User Defined Reports so that the report parameters are already set. The scheduling configuration then allows you to set the time period for which the report applies, the point in time when the report is created, and number of times and frequency at which subsequent reports are created (if required). Reports can be scheduled through the Setup Console and the Web Reporting Module. Access to web scheduling via the web is controlled in the SetUp Console. There are two places where settings can be applied: Global settings can be applied in the Report Settings Tab in the Reporting Configuration area: Rights-based settings can be applied in the General Settings Tab in the General Configuration area under Rights: Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 130 of 147

131 Report Scheduling Step by Step Instructions Configuring the Report Scheduler Service Controller In order for the scheduling to operate the Report Scheduler Service needs to be running: 1. Click on Start All Programs Richmond Systems Report Scheduler Service Controller 2. Set the polling interval and start the service. Figure 61: Configuring the Report Scheduler Service Controller Add The Report 1. From the Report Scheduling tab, press the Add New button. 2. Navigate to the General sub tab. 3. Enter a name for the new task. 4. Enter a brief description of the task 5. If the task is to be made active, make sure that the Task Active checkbox is selected. By default, inactive tasks are ignored by the report scheduling service. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 131 of 147

132 Configure the Report 6. Navigate to the Configuration sub tab. 7. Select one of the available format types from the dropdown list. This is the format in which the report will be exported. 8. Select a recipient for the export using the drop-down list. 9. Press the Configure button next to it in order to configure the selected option. These options are: Save to disk, Send to printer, or Send via Select the desired report to be exported from the User Report drop-down Specify the Report Criteria 11. Navigate to the Report Criteria sub tab. This tab allows you to specify the date criteria to be used for the selected report template (only if date selection is permitted). 12. Select the required value from the Date Period dropdown list. The values available are Day, Week, Month, or Year. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 132 of 147

133 Specify Navigator (CMDB) Criteria 13. Navigate to the Navigator Criteria sub tab. This tab allows you to specify the navigator criteria to be used as the basis for the selected report template. 14. Select the required items from the Navigator. 15. From the drop-down list below the navigator window Select Single Items (i.e. just the selected item in the navigator) or Select All Sub- Items (for the selected item and all children) Schedule the Report 16. Navigate to the Scheduling sub tab and enter the date and time you wish the task to start using the Schedule Start field. 17. Select a recur period for the task. This can be on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis as required. 18. Select the recur interval for the task using the drop-down list provided. 19. Press the Update button to save the new task. You will notice that the task is then added to the list. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 133 of 147

134 Editing, Deleting and Cloning Tasks Editing: Existing tasks can be edited at any time by double-clicking on the required entry from the list. Deleting: Existing tasks can be Deleted by highlighting the required entry from the list and pressing the Delete button. Cloning: Existing tasks can be cloned at any time by double-clicking on the required entry from the list. The task will load into the report scheduler screen. From there click on the CloneTask button, say yes to the confirmation message and the cloned report will appear in the list as Copy of <report name>. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 134 of 147

135 28.11 Scheduling Reports (from the Setup Console) The procedure for scheduling reports in the Setup console is the same as with the web reporting module. The controls can be accessed from the Reporting Scheduling Area. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 135 of 147

136 29 Service Level Management and SLAs There are two aspects to Service Level Management and SLAs in SupportDesk; Response and Resolution targets and Escalation Steps. Response and Resolution targets are used to monitor Incidents and alert Specialists about breaches or potential breaches of pre-defined time periods between an Incident being logged and being responded to, and between being responded to and resolved. Escalation Steps are used to automatically advance the Priority of an Incident over time and alert Specialists about Priority changes. SupportDesk allows the creation of multiple SLAs, which can be applied to any Configuration Item (CI) or Category. These SLAs will be automatically applied when an Incident is logged against a CI or Category. You can also select SLAs on an ad hoc basis from within an Incident record. Table 2: Incident List Extract showing Response/Resolution Indicators 29.1 Publishing SLAs to the Business If you are still evaluating what your SLA contract should be, then you can set an arbitrary response/resolution target through a general SLA, switch off SLA notifications, and monitor performance over a period of time. The SupportDesk Management Console (live dashboard reporting tool) has Key Performance Indicators for SLA response/resolution breaches, which you can drill through to understand the scenarios that require an alternative SLA Automated SLA Application If an SLA is set against a CI then any child CI will inherit that SLA when an Incident is logged against it. This means that you can set a single SLA at the top of your CMDB directory tree and it will apply to all users and equipment by default. You can then pick out individual users, departments and equipment and apply different SLAs, for example, a VIP SLA for Directorate, a higher-than-normal priority SLA for the Finance department or a rapid response SLA for web/ server equipment Manual SLA Application Alternatively, it may be preferable to leave all navigator items with the same default level of support initially but assign SLAs to your incidents in accordance with the category selected. For example, an incident of a Server Hardware Failure category or similar is likely to cause Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 136 of 147

137 greater disruption to continuity of service than one of a Equipment Move Request category and so in this instance it may be appropriate to assign an SLA to the Server Hardware Failure category to help ensure that incidents of this nature are resolved more efficiently & in accordance with a set of pre-defined service level targets. SupportDesk allows you to use a combination of automated and manually applied SLAs Configuring SLAs SLAs are based upon service hours, i.e. the open hours of the Service Desk. You can configure multiple service hours so, for example, you might use a 9 until 5.30 for regular support calls and invoke 24x7 for server outage Incidents. The service hours designate the periods during which the Support Desk escalation service will be incrementing the measurement of time that an Incident has been left in an active Status and during that period, the escalation service will ensure that the priority of the incident changes in accordance with the pre-defined escalation steps selected. The Service Hours configuration also allows you to define regular closed days during which your incidents will not escalate, e.g. weekends. You can also define closed days for Public Holidays and other days when the Service Desk is closed. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 137 of 147

138 Configuring SLA Response and Resolution Targets The escalation type associated with an SLA determines the Response & Resolution targets and time frequency at which the Incident Priority changes from one level to the next. The Escalation Types screen includes options for selecting the Service Hours, the Response, Pending Response, Resolution and Pending Resolution times to be used. The Notifications buttons allow one or more Specialists to be notified when Target or Pending Target Response and Resolution times have elapsed (hold down the Ctrl key and click to select multiple Specialists). Time Type Response Time Resolution Time Pending Response Time Pending Resolution Time Description Defines how much time will pass before the Response target is reached Defines how much time will pass before the Resolution target is reached Defines how much time prior to a Response target being reached that an alarm is sent to a specified user Defines how much time prior to a Resolution target being reached that an alarm is sent to a specified user Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 138 of 147

139 Configuring SLA Escalation Steps Selecting the Escalation Steps tab allows you to define the stages at which an incident using this escalation type will change from one priority to another, if at all. Each escalation step can be configured to increase the priority, change the specialist and set alarms for any users of the helpdesk, as well as a specific alert for whoever the current specialist of an Incident is. A specific step does not have to increase the priority. The initial and target priorities are selected along with a duration and the Update button adds the escalation step to the list. The steps occur from the top of the list downwards and the notify button allows one or more specialists to be notified when the incident reaches the end of the selected escalation step period. When the escalation type is ready for use, click the larger Update button to save your settings. The SLA User Defined Fields section allows you to specify 9 pieces of additional information that can be added to an SLA s details. The text that you enter in each field in this section will be the label for a text field within the SLA details. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 139 of 147

140 Applying Impact Assessments Within the SLA Settings there is an Impacts tab, that if enabled will allow you to apply an Impact Assessment to an Incident. These Impacts don t directly affect SLA s, instead they are set by the Specialist when creating or editing an Incident to decide how badly this Incident is affecting the user s ability to go about daily work routines. You can then handle your Incident List by order of Impact, to prevent as little disruption as possible. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 140 of 147

141 Assigning SLAs to Categories To assign an SLA to a category, from the Setup Console select General Categories and locate the required category in your categories hierarchy. Right click the category and select Service Level Agreement. This opens the Service Level Agreement Configuration window which allows you to select the relevant escalation type, service hours, designate a start and end date for your SLA (a valid end date must be selected in order for the SLA to escalate correctly) and enter any additional information required in accordance with the SLA User Defined Fields that have been configured. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 141 of 147

142 Enter the relevant information and click Save. Now, any incident of that category will automatically be assigned this SLA and the category name, when viewed in Support Desk or the setup console will be displayed as red text to signify that it has a category SLA assigned to it Assigning SLAs to Configuration Items It may be appropriate to assign an SLA to a company, a user or a piece of equipment so that any incident where the configuration item in question was the first association added will automatically escalate in accordance with the item s SLA. To assign an SLA to a Configuration Item, locate the item within your Support Desk main client and view it s Details. Then select the SLA tab and click the Modify This SLA button. This will open the SLA Details window which in turn will allow you to select the escalation type, service hours, start & end dates and also to enter any additional information required in accordance with the user defined fields that have been configured as before. Now you also have the option to select a user to alarm when the SLA expires. Click Update and the SLA s details will now be displayed on the SLA details tab as shown below. Click Save to commit your changes and any incident logged with this Configuration Item as the first association will automatically be assigned the designated SLA The Configuration Item s name will now be displayed in the CMDB as red text to signify that it has an item SLA assigned to it. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 142 of 147

143 29.6 The Escalation Service In order for Incidents with SLAs to escalate through their escalation steps, for response & resolution target notifications to be generated or for SLA performance to be monitored or measured, the escalation service must be running. The escalation service component is installed as part of the Support Desk Extensions installation and runs as a Windows service. Its user interface is the Escalation Service Controller shown here: The Settings tab allows you to select which SQL server and database to connect to and which Support Desk user to alarm if it encounters an error (service failure). These settings can only be configured when the service is in the stopped state. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 143 of 147

144 30 Changing SupportDesk Terminology SupportDesk has adopted the term "Incident" for the name of a record containing a support call. This is terminology based on ITIL standards, as is most of the terminology used throughout SupportDesk. You can change SupportDesk s terminology from the Setup Console: Setup Console Incident Management Terminology Figure 62: Changing Terminology Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 144 of 147

145 31 Menu and Toolbar Customisation Toolbar icons can be customised to include the icon only, the icon and text, or text without icon. Settings can be distributed to teams to achieve a common look and feel, and to enforce consistency in access to key SupportDesk functions. Individual users can further customise their toolbars if required. As a recommended approach, decide the key functions to be made available via the toolbar and then group the functions into logical units. The functions and grouping can be any combination but could, for example, reflect the more commonly used functions. The addition of text to buttons can assist users in locating and using SupportDesk functions, for example for new starters or after the recent enablement of a new feature. Some of our customers have created two versions of their standard toolbars, one with text for apprentice users and one without for more experienced users. In the example below the seven groups of functions have been created. They show the typical functions that you might want to make available to system users. The grey line marks the start and end of each group (the toolbar image has been divided into two for ease of reading): Quick find incident, searching and filtering Lists: Incidents, Problems, Changes & Assets Adding & assigning incidents/actions Statistics, Reporting and Printing Saving & Exiting User functions: My activities My profile My calendar Closing & reassigning Incidents 31.1 Locating Customisation Settings Use Utility Customise Toolbar to add the function buttons, groups and/or text (see below for further instructions) The toolbar settings are stored in the sdtoolbars.cfg file, which is located in \\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Richmond Systems\SupportDesk\sdtoolbars.cfg For consistency, the file can be copied to the same location on other users PCs. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 145 of 147

146 31.2 Customising the Toolbar 1. From the menu select Utility to Customise the Toolbar (or right click on the toolbar and select customise) 2. Drag and drop options onto the toolbar. The options are available by selecting the various categories listed in the commands tab. 3. To set the visibility of icon only/icon&text/text only click on the icon on the toolbar and select from the Modify Selection drop-down (shown below) 4. To add a group (creates a line between groups of buttons) click on the icon (on the toolbar) to the right of where the group is to begin and select Begin a Group. For information, there are three toolbar files in SupportDesk, they are as follows: \\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Richmond Systems\SupportDesk\{file} {file} sdtoolbars.cfg sdtoolbarscfg.cfg sdstantoolbars.cfg Description This is the layout file created when any customisations are made to the default toolbars These are configuration settings This is the default toolbar, and is created if no customised toolbar files exist. Copyright Richmond Systems Ltd Page 146 of 147