Track-It! 7.0 Technician s Guide

Technician s Guide Numara Software, Inc. 2202 North Westshore Boulevard Tampa, Florida 33607 USA Phone: (813) 227-4500 Fax: (813) 227-4501 www.numarasoftware.com

Track-It! 7.0 Technician s Guide Copyright 2005 Numara Software, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, microfilmed, or otherwise duplicated in any medium without written consent of Numara Software, Inc. Disclaimer Use of the software programs described herein and this documentation are subject to the Software License Agreement enclosed in the software package. Numara Software, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents or use of this documentation, and specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, Numara Software, Inc. reserves the right to revise this publication and to make changes to its content at any time, without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or changes. Trademarks Numara Software, Inc., Track-It!, and the Numara Software, Inc. logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Numara Software, Inc. All other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Published by Numara Software, Inc. Documentation Revision Date: December 28, 2005 Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents Track-It! Administrator's Guide... 1 What's New in Track-It! 7... 1 What's New in Track-It! 7... 1 Track-IT Product Differences... 7 Track-It! Product Differences... 8 Getting Started with Track-It!... 16 Getting Started with Track-It!... 16 Getting Help from the Technical Support Center... 17 Track-It! Agent... 18 Track-It! Agent Overview... 18 Inventory... 19 Auditing Assets... 19 Configuring Asset Auditing... 19 Scheduling Audits for Use with Logon Scripts... 19 Capturing Specific Files During Audits...20 Auditing Workstations... 21 Managing the Scheduled Audit Queue... 21 Software Tracking... 22 Overview of Software Tracking... 22 Overview of Software Tracking... 22 Suggested Workflow for Software Tracking... 23 Suggested Workflow for Software Tracking... 23 Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software... 24 Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software... 24 Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use... 25 Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use... 25 Viewing File and Program Information... 28 Viewing File and Program Information... 28 Viewing Global File Information... 28 Viewing Global Program Information... 31 Viewing Computer-Specific File Information... 33 Viewing Workstation-Specific Program Information... 36 Viewing Software Authorization Reports... 38 Purchasing... 40 Purchasing Module Overview... 40 Purchasing Module Overview... 40 Troubleshooting... 41 Disconnecting a Track-It! Session... 41 Disconnecting a Track-It! Session... 42 Disconnecting Your Current Track-It! Session to Start a New Session... 42 Viewing/Changing the Status of a Technician's Session... 44 Getting Help... 45 Getting Help from the Technical Support Center... 45 Track-It! Technician's Guide... 47 Getting Started with Track-It!... 47 Getting Started with Track-It!... 47 Setting User Preferences... 48 Background Settings... 49 Track-It! Product Differences... 50 Track-It! Product Differences... 51 Inventory... 59 Inventory Overview... 59 Inventory Module Overview... 59 iii

How Track-It! Is a Better Way to Track and Manage Your IT Assets... 59 Track-It!'s Three Main Processes to Manage IT Assets... 59 Asset Discovery... 59 Managing Discovered Assets... 59 Auditing Assets... 59 Inventory Reports... 60 Integration with Purchasing and Help Desk Modules... 60 Auditing Assets Overview... 60 Viewing Asset Information... 60 Viewing Asset Information (Technician)... 60 Viewing Customized Asset Information... 62 Viewing Hardware Audit Results... 62 Inspecting Hardware Audit Histories... 62 Entering Network IP Addresses... 63 Viewing and Managing Software Audit Results... 64 Viewing and Managing Software Audit Results... 64 Understanding the Managed Software List... 65 Managing the Software Program Lists... 65 Editing Software Program Items... 66 Tracking Software Items... 67 Software Tracking... 68 Overview of Software Tracking... 68 Overview of Software Tracking... 68 Suggested Workflow for Software Tracking... 68 Suggested Workflow for Software Tracking... 68 Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software... 69 Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software... 69 Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use... 70 Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use... 70 Viewing File and Program Information... 73 Viewing File and Program Information... 73 Viewing Global File Information... 74 Viewing Global Program Information... 76 Viewing Computer-Specific File Information... 78 Viewing Workstation-Specific Program Information... 81 Taking Control of Other Workstations... 83 Track-It! Agent Overview... 83 Taking Control of Other Workstations... 84 Transferring Files... 84 Executing Applications on a Remote Workstation... 85 Moving the Remote Screen... 86 Initiating a Chat Session... 86 Locking the User's Mouse and Keyboard... 87 Sending Ctrl+Alt+Del to a Remote Workstation... 88 Rebooting a Remote Workstation... 88 Managing the Inventory Module... 88 Organizing Asset Records... 88 Organizing Asset Records... 88 Manually Adding New Assets... 89 Viewing and Editing an Existing Asset... 89 Deleting Assets... 90 Copying an Asset... 91 Printing Asset Records... 91 Finding an Asset... 92 Searching for Assets... 93 Organizing Workstation Items... 94 iv

Table of Contents Organizing Workstation Items... 94 Adding Inventory Items to Assets... 94 Adding New Items to Assets...96 Editing Inventory Items... 98 Viewing and Changing Customized Item Information... 98 Deleting Inventory Items... 99 Transferring Items from Unassigned Equipment... 100 Transferring Items Between Workstations... 101 Organizing Workstation Users... 102 Organizing Users and Assets... 103 Associating a User with an Asset... 103 Disassociating a User from an Asset... 104 Editing User Information... 104 Generating Reports... 105 Printing Inventory Reports... 105 Performing Specialized Tasks... 107 E-Mailing Computer Users... 107 Referencing Related Lookup Tables... 107 Help Desk... 107 Help Desk Overview... 107 Help Desk Module Overview... 107 Opening New Work Orders... 109 Opening New Work Orders... 109 Adding a Work Order... 109 Selecting Requestors... 109 Selecting Contact Information... 111 Selecting Assets... 112 Summarizing the Work Order Issue... 114 Classifying the Work Order Type... 114 Prioritizing the Work Order... 115 Specifying Custom Work Order Details... 115 Assigning Technicians to Work Orders... 116 Scheduling Assignments... 116 Scheduling Due Dates... 117 Scheduling Assignment and Deadline Times... 118 Describing Work Order Details... 118 Time Stamping Text Entries... 119 Spell-Checking Text Entries... 119 Documenting the Resolution... 120 Closing Work Orders... 120 Closing Work Orders... 121 Basic Work Order Management... 122 Opening and Editing an Existing Work Order... 122 Deleting Work Orders... 122 Copying Work Orders... 123 Distributing Work Order Assignments... 124 Distributing Work Order Assignments... 124 Adding Assignments to Work Orders... 125 Viewing the Assignments Grid... 125 Editing Work Order Assignments... 126 Deleting Work Order Assignments... 126 Closing Assignment-Based Work Orders... 127 Advanced Work Order Tasks... 128 Advanced Work Order Tasks... 128 Providing Customized Information... 129 Entering Information in the Alt. Fields... 129 v

Viewing Work Order Histories... 129 Conducting Advanced Work Order Searches... 130 Opening External Applications... 131 Attaching External Files... 131 Solving Common Work Order Issues... 132 Solving Common Work Order Issues... 132 Accessing Work Order Issues... 132 Copying Solutions to Work Orders... 133 Searching for Solutions... 133 Creating Work Order Solutions... 133 Printing Work Order Solutions... 134 Previewing Track-It! Work Orders... 134 Previewing Track-It! Work Orders... 134 Positioning the Work Order Preview Pane... 135 Resizing the Work Order Preview Pane... 136 Using Hyperlinks in the Work Order Preview Pane... 136 Finding Work Order Information... 137 Finding Work Orders by Number... 137 Searching for Work Order Information... 138 Viewing Quick Statistics... 138 Accessing Lookup Tables from the Help Desk... 139 Contacting Technicians... 139 Contacting Technicians... 139 E-Mailing Technicians... 140 Notifying Technicians Through SMS... 140 Alpha Paging Technicians... 141 Beeping Technicians... 142 Sending Network Messages... 143 Working with the Requestor... 143 Knowing Your Requestors... 143 E-Mailing Requestors... 144 Taking Control of the Requestor's Computer... 144 Printing Work Orders... 145 Printing Work Orders... 145 Purchasing... 146 Purchasing Overview... 146 Purchasing Module Overview... 146 Managing Purchase Order Records... 147 Adding Purchase Orders... 147 Selecting a Vendor... 147 Adding Purchase Order Items... 148 Verifying Ship-To and Bill-To Information... 150 Editing Purchase Orders... 150 Copying Purchase Orders... 150 Deleting Purchase Orders... 151 Printing Purchase Orders... 152 Managing Purchase Order Items... 152 Receiving Purchase Order Items... 152 Receiving All Items Simultaneously... 152 Receiving Items Individually... 153 Receiving Items in Separate Shipments... 154 Assigning Received Items as Supplies... 155 Adding Inventory Items to Assets... 155 Editing Items... 157 Deleting Items... 158 Finding and Sending Purchase Order Information... 158 vi

Table of Contents Finding Purchase Orders... 158 Viewing Related Lookup Tables... 159 Accessing Purchase Order Reports... 159 E-Mailing Purchase Order Requestors... 160 Calling Vendors... 160 Training... 160 Training Overview... 160 Training Module Overview... 161 Managing Course Information... 162 Reviewing Course Histories... 162 Adding Courses... 162 Adding Existing Courses... 163 Adding New Courses... 164 Editing Courses... 166 Deleting Courses... 167 Finding Course Information... 167 Referencing Related Lookup Tables... 167 Searching for Training Records... 168 Transmitting Course Information... 168 Printing Course Information... 168 Printing Course Histories... 169 Printing Training Reports... 169 Contacting Users... 170 E-Mailing Course Information to Users... 170 Calling Users About Course Information... 170 Library... 171 Library Overview... 171 Library Module Overview... 171 Managing Library Records... 171 Adding Library Items... 171 Adding Library Items... 171 Adding an Existing Item to a Library Record... 171 Adding a New Item to a Library Record... 173 Viewing and Editing Library Records... 174 Viewing and Editing Library Records... 174 Commenting on a Loaned Library Item... 174 Spell-Checking Comments... 174 Deleting Library Records... 174 Deleting Library Records... 175 Tracking Library Items... 175 Tracking Library items... 175 Checking Out a Library Item... 175 Checking In a Library Item... 177 Extending Due Dates... 177 Finding Related Information... 177 Referencing Related Lookup Tables... 177 Searching for Library Records... 178 Viewing the History of a Library Item... 178 Printing Library Reports... 179 Printing Library Reports... 179 Reports... 180 Reports Overview... 180 Report Module Overview... 180 Viewing and Printing Reports... 180 Opening Report Menus... 180 Viewing Isolated Sections of a Report... 182 vii

Printing Reports... 184 Refreshing the Full Display... 184 Navigating Report Pages... 185 Searching for Report Details... 185 Managing Reports... 186 Copying Reports... 186 Copying Reports... 186 Renaming Reports... 187 Renaming Copies of Predefined Reports... 187 Renaming Copied and Customized Reports... 187 Creating and Editing Reports... 188 Creating and Editing Reports... 188 Crystal Reports Manuals... 189 Crystal Reports Web-Based Resources... 189 Exporting Reports... 190 Exporting Reports... 190 Deleting Reports... 192 Deleting Reports... 192 Troubleshooting... 193 Disconnecting a Track-It! Session... 193 Disconnecting a Track-It! Session... 193 Disconnecting Your Current Track-It! Session to Start a New Session... 193 Viewing/Changing the Status of a Technician's Session... 195 Keyboard Shortcuts... 196 Function Key Shortcuts... 196 CTRL Key Shortcuts... 198 Navigational Key Shortcuts... 199 Setting Grid Views... 200 Setting Grid Views Overview... 200 Setting Grid Views Overview... 200 Filtering Database Records... 201 Filtering Database Records... 201 Searching Database Records... 204 Searching Database Records... 204 Setting Text-Based Search Criteria... 204 Setting Number-Based Search Criteria... 204 Setting Calendar-Based Search Criteria... 205 Simplifying the Search... 206 Clearing Filters... 206 Conducting Advanced Searches... 206 Sorting Database Records... 206 Sorting Database Records... 206 Organizing the Grid by Columns... 207 Organizing the Grid by Columns... 207 Editing Field Labels... 207 Editing Field Labels... 208 Changing Field Label Text... 209 Customizing Grid Views... 211 Customizing Grid Views Overview... 211 Customizing Grid Views Overview... 212 Selecting Grid Views... 212 Selecting Grid Views... 212 Selecting System Views... 213 Selecting User-Defined Views... 214 Managing Grid Views... 214 Managing Grid Views... 214 viii

Table of Contents Copying Views... 215 Exporting Views... 216 Importing Views... 217 Renaming Views... 218 Deleting Views... 219 Customizing Grid View Changes... 219 Customizing Grid View Changes... 219 Modifying System Views... 220 Creating User-Defined Views... 221 Setting Grid Color Schemes... 221 Processing View Changes... 221 Track-It! Self Service Guide... 223 Welcome to Track-It!... 223 Welcome to Track-It! Online Help System... 223 Using Track-It! Web... 223 Managing Your Service Requests... 224 Submitting a New Request for Service... 224 Viewing Previous Requests... 225 Completing Your Own Self Service Work Orders... 227 Finding Your Own Solutions... 230 Using Track-It! Self Service... 230 Using Track-It! Self Service Plus... 230 Searching the Solutions Database... 231 Installing Mac Audit Files on Macintosh Computers... 231 Running a Workstation Audit... 233 Viewing Workstation Information... 234 Managing Your Track-It! Account... 234 Changing Your Password... 234 Glossary... 235 Index... 245 ix

Track-It! Administrator's Guide What's New in Track-It! 7 What's New in Track-It! 7 The new Track-It! installation wizard greatly simplifies the installation process by offering the ability to install all Track-It! licensed components such as Track-It! Server, Technician Client, Technician Web, User Synch and licensed Add-on Modules, all at the same time. Note: Crystal Reports requires a separate installation. Simplified Installation Process The Track-It! Server installation now includes functionality previously known as the Track- It! Monitor (see Configuration Wizard and Administration Console, below). These functions can be configured from any Technician Client. Configuration settings and data can be separately migrated from a previous Track-It! installation (Track-It! 6.0 and higher). This allows customization of the new installation to best suit your organization. This also enables the testing and running of a final data import at time of deployment. Track-It! Agent (formerly Workstation Manager) and Track-It! Remote can now be remotely installed to your users. Technician Client can now be remotely installed to your technicians. A new multimedia tutorial linked to the Installation Wizard provides video screen capture and sound to easily step users through the installation process. Note: All multimedia tutorials are produced in an English format. 1

Once Track-It! is installed, the Configuration Wizard runs automatically enabling instant configuration of Track-It! The Configuration Wizard can also be accessed to change settings at any time. The Configuration Wizard enables: set up of administrator's logon and server credentials specification of e-mail system Track-It! will use to send notifications to users populating of the Track-It! database by importing users via User Synch discovery of IP devices (workstations, printers, routers, and switches) via the auto discovery functionality installation of Track-It! Technician Client and Track-It! Agent to remote workstations If you already have an installation of Track-It!, you can use your existing settings for the new installation or you can configure new settings for this installation. New Configuration Wizard 2

Track-It! Administrator's Guide New User Synch Feature The User Synch feature enables users and technicians to be discovered and imported from the network directory service and then synchronized with Track-It! User Synch is part of the installation process and can also be accessed from the Configuration Wizard or Administration Console where it can be run at anytime. The new Administration Console enables the configuration and management of Track-It! from one location (located under Tools/Administrative Console on the main menu). The Administration Console combines the former Track-It! Monitor and the configuration options from the Tools/Options window. The Administration Console's search feature helps find specific configuration options. New Administration Console 3

New Support Center The Support Center, accessible through the Administration Console, enables you to maintain your Track-It! registration/contact information, support plan, and licenses. Track-It! provides notification about available updates which can be downloaded and installed directly from the Support Center. The Support Center window now enables users to automatically renew their Support Plan or request additional licenses. The new Asset Discovery process discovers devices on the network by conducting a network scan, which you can configure based on domains, IP addresses, and other options. The network scan discovers workstations and other networked devices such as switches, routers and printers. Once networked assets are discovered, you can manage them. This includes selecting workstations to audit and transferring other devices (such as routers and switches) to inventory for tracking. If you decide to track assets being added to the network, Track-It periodically scans the network and enables you to update inventory with newly discovered assets. 4

Track-It! Administrator's Guide New Asset Discovery Process New Software License Management Module Track-It now offers the ability to inventory non-pc assets such as printers, routers, switches, hubs and any other networked devices. In addition it offers the ability to assign and create Asset Types with icons (such as computer, hub, router, and printer). This is also available in Track-It! Technician Web. Tracked hardware items can now be promoted to assets enabling easy tracking New grid views have been created for the Inventory module: All Audited Assets, All Network Assets, All Assets, and Audited Assets by Operating System. The Software License Management module has been included with the Enterprise Audit to enable and facilitate the tracking and management of software licenses. Detailed licensing information such as serial numbers, license activation keys and number of licenses can be entered. The additional features of Software License Management include: Work order notification for unauthorized workstations, deleted licenses, expired licenses, pending expiration of licenses, retired licenses, critical usage licenses, and under-licensed titles Ability to group multiple licenses within a title for tracking purposes 5

Ability to authorize workstations for licenses Ability to Track purchased licenses vs. licenses in use Auditing Macintosh computers using Mac Audit has been enhanced to include: Auditing Improved auditing of both software and hardware on Macintosh systems On-demand auditing of remote Macintosh systems through the Track-It! application Scheduled auditing of Macintosh systems Ability to capture the content of files on remote systems Installation and Configuration Ability to use Mac Audit within segregated and disconnected network environments Ability to enter Mac Super User credentials to automatically install new versions of Mac Audit Remote execution of administrative scripts to perform advanced auditing and configuration tasks Direct TCP/IP communication between the Mac Audit Agent and Server Remote deployment of Mac Audit through Apple's Remote Login (SSH) Track-It! supports Mac OS 9.2 and higher. Auditing tools for 9.2 to 10.1 are available for download from the Track-It! support site. OS 8.x is no longer supported. Audit on Demand and Scheduled Audits now merge the changed data within one process rather than a separate process. Improved Auditing for Macintosh Systems 6

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Self Service Users Can Complete Their Work Orders End users can now complete their own work orders (if configured by the Administrator). This is useful when they have found their own solutions or want to cancel their work orders. Multimedia tutorials have been added to several areas in Track-It! (Installation Wizard, Configuration Wizard, Track-It! Agent, Asset Discovery, Auditing, and Help Desk). The tutorials are accessible from hyperlinks within the Track-It! application and throughout the online help. The tutorials are brief Flash movies (a few seconds to a few minutes in length) that automatically run in Internet Explorer 6.0 and above. The contents of each tutorial can now be printed from the "Show Transcript" link at the bottom of each topic. In addition you can let us know if each tutorial was helpful, and if not, you can let us know how we can continue improving customer support. Note: All multimedia tutorials are produced in an English format. Track-IT Product Differences New Multimedia Tutorials 7

Track-It! Product Differences The table below describes the differences between Track-It! Standard, Professional and Enterprise. The differences are also denoted within relevant topics by a blue triangle icon as shown in the note below: Track-It! Standard allows you to create up to 10 user-defined views, and Track-It! Professional allows you to create up to 15 user-defined views. Track-It! Enterprise allows you to create up to 30 user-defined views. Example of Product Differences Note Important Note: The Standard, Professional and Enterprise editions are bundled packages. Licenses for add-ons, additional technicians, self-service users, and audits may be purchased in addition to the packages. 8

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Track-It! Product Differences Feature Description Standard Professional Enterprise Help Desk Technicians Standard Technician Professional Technician Enterprise Technician Technician Personal Grid Views Enables technicians to set up their own grid views (the columns and records to display in grids) 10 15 30 Named Technicians Concurrent Technicians Particular technicians that can access the application Number of technicians that can simultaneously access the application 1 1 Select either 5 named technicians or 3 concurrent technicians. (Additional technicians can be purchased in increments of one.) Select either 3 concurrent technicians or 5 named technicians. (Additional technicians can be purchased in increments of one.) Work Orders Ability to add assignments to work orders. Also allows for parent/child relationships within a work order. 1-tier 1-tier 2-tier Work Order Types Work order categorization: Types, Subtypes and Categories 1-tier 1-tier 3-tier 9

Announcement Expiration Enables administrators and technicians to expire announcements that display on Track-It!'s home page Spell Checker (Windows Client) Time Synchronization Users can press F7 to spell check text entries Synchronizes Track-It! with a Time Server Device Status (Ping) Notifies technicians if devices are not responding User Synch (Manual) Integrates with Microsoft Active Directory to automate the population of user and technician information in Track-It! User Synch (Scheduled) Notification and Escalation (Alert) Allows administrators to schedule the user sync service to run at a specific time of day or once every x number of hours. Automatic notification of work orders via e-mail, pager, and other methods. Automated Ticket Creation from E-mail (Receive) Automatically converts e- mails into work orders. 10

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Work Order Status Update Enables users to check the status of or update their work orders Technician Web Enables technicians to access Track-It! via the Web with a browser Work Order Attachments Enables technicians to attach files to work orders, solutions, and Software Licenses Asset Management Service Level Agreements Enables administrators to set a default priority and due date based on either a specific user or an entire department User/Asset Lookup in Help Desk View user/asset lookup tables from the Help Desk module Track-It! Sync Outlook Synchronization for the Help Desk module. Enables the technician to create, edit, and close work orders remotely using any PDA that supports synchronization with Microsoft Outlook 2000 and higher Crystal Reports Enables administrators to create custom Crystal Reports Standard edition of Crystal 9) (Professional edition of Crystal 9) 11

Security (Technician Access) Enables administrators to set up custom security policies for technician access to application By Individual Role Based Module Enables administrators to restrict privileges by individual Enables administrators to create rolebased security policies Enables administrators to set up data access and data entry privileges for modules Technician Enables administrators to restrict privileges by assigned technician (security policies) Department Enables administrations to restrict privileges by department Drop-Down Lists Enables administrators to customize drop-down edit privileges Location Enables administrations to restrict privileges by location Users Self Service Professional Self Service Enterprise 12

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Self Service End-user Web self help 50 100 Password Reset Enables users to reset or unlock their passwords without technical support or compromising network security 100 Asset Management Auditing Standard Audit Professional Audit Enterprise Audit Auto Discovery Discovers devices on the network by conducting a network scan. This includes workstations, switches, routers, printers, and other networked IP devices. Push Track-It Agent Standard Audit Automatically installs Agent for auditing and remotely controlling users' computers Enables technicians to audit workstations on demand and audit standalone workstations via floppy disk or removable storage 25 Scheduled Audits Audits automatically on a regular schedule 50 13

Enterprise Audit Includes standard audit, scheduled audits, and Software License Management 100 Audit Merge Continually audits the network and updates inventory information Add-ons Self Service Plus Natural language search of extensible knowledge base of resolutions from the Help Desk module Add-on Mac Audit Audits Macintosh computers including ondemand and scheduled audits. Add-on Add-on Deploy Enables administrators to package, edit, customize and distribute any software Add-on Add-on Add-on User Synch (LDAP) Oracle Database Provides additional LDAP connector to automate the population of user and technician information in Track-It! Oracle database can be used with Track-It! Add-on Add-on Remote Remote control Windows system from within Track-It! Add-on Add-on 14

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Track-It! Knowledgebase Problem resolutions for virtually every popular business application, including applications from Microsoft, Novell, Corel, Lotus, Adobe and Symantec. Add-on Add-on Add-on Network Monitor Monitors network health, availability and performance Add-on Add-on Patch Manager Scan, update and download patches for Microsoft Operating Systems and applications across your entire network Add-on Add-on Add-on 15

Getting Started with Track-It! Getting Started with Track-It! You can get started with Track-It by using the Getting Started window displayed in the right pane of the application. (View Screen Capture). (If the Getting Started window is not displayed, click Getting Started from the Help menu at the top of the window. (View Screen Capture). You can close the Getting Started menu by either clicking the Close button or checking "Don't show this window next time" at the bottom of the window (View Screen Capture). 16

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Getting Help from the Technical Support Center In addition to the online help, the Technical Support Center, accessed from the Track-It! Help menu, can assist you in many ways, including: Support Plans 30-Day Installation Support (available for Standard and Professional Editions) New Numara Track-It! Standard or Professional customers are entitled to free support using esubmission on the installation of Track-It! into a supported environment. Paid Support and Maintenance Plans For details, please see our support web page. Support Web Page The Support web page provides: KnowledgeBase Article Search esubmissions Product Updates Product Documentation What's New per Version System Requirements Installation Guides E-mail Support Telephone Support New articles are added every day based on incoming information and incidents reported from customers. Enhancements Repository allows you customer to tell us how we can improve our product. This data is collected and used to prioritize the enhancements for future releases. esubmissions allow customers with a current support plan to log support requests via the Web. This service is primarily designed for non-urgent issues and is accessible after logging in to the esubmissions page. 17

Knowledgebase To Access the Technical Support Center 1. From Track-It's main menu, select Help Technical Support. 2. Select one of the options: Search Our Knowledgebase, Submit an esubmission, Send us Your Diagnostic Information, or view your License, Contract, and Registration Information. Track-It! Agent Track-It! Agent Overview Track-It! Agent, included with the Professional and Enterprise editions of Track-It!, consists of two applications: Track-It! Remote Audit on Demand and Scheduled Audits Track-It! Agent is a client-side application that allows technicians to gain remote control of specific computers and/or audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) hardware and software configurations. Technicians can use these features to help troubleshoot technical problems, initiate chat sessions, and even conduct training sessions from remote locations. With its advanced auditing features, Track-It! Agent enables technicians to run audits as a service on Windows systems. Technicians can execute audits on demand to collect real-time data, and schedule audits to run on a convenient schedule. Audits can also automatically run via logon scripts. Track-It! Agent (Track-It! Remote and Scheduled Audits) can be installed as an Add-on for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. 18

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Inventory Auditing Assets Configuring Asset Auditing Scheduling Audits for Use with Logon Scripts If you set up Track-It! to run audits via logon scripts, you can schedule the audits to run whenever it is convenient or appropriate for your business environment. You can schedule audits to occur on certain days of the week, a certain day of the month, a specific date, and/or a specific time. The scheduling options that you select will pertain to all of the workstations that you have in your inventory. As a general rule of thumb, you should schedule your audits to occur during times when network traffic is light. If this is not possible, you may want to consider using a distributed audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) to balance the workload. Refer to Tuning Track-It! Performance for details. See also Auditing Workstations via Logon Scripts. Important Notes: In Hidden mode, the audit will only run once per calendar day (by default). (For information on Audit Modes, see Configuring User Interaction for Audits.) If you have the Professional or Enterprise editions of Track-It!, use the Execution Dates window in Scheduled Audits (Administration Console) in lieu of the Audit Execution window. This enables you to schedule audits to run automatically, and there is no need to set up logon scripts. See the tutorial on Configuring Scheduled Audits. To Schedule Audits for Use with Logon Scripts: You can schedule audits from the Administration Console. 1. Select Tools Administration Console Inventory Auditing Audit Audit Execution from Track-It! s main menu bar. The Audit Execution window displays. (View Screen Capture.) 19

2. You can either select specific days of the week, a specific day of the month, or a specific date to run the audits. 3. After you have made your selection(s), click the Apply button. Scheduled Audits are a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Capturing Specific Files During Audits You can configure Track-It!'s auditing process to capture 10 specific files. This includes capturing files during Quick and Full Scans. You can capture Windows as well as Macintosh files. This is configured on the Administration Console. You can set up Track-It! to run executable (.exe) commands by preceding the commands with an exclamation mark (!). For example, the command:! mem/c captures the DOS memory settings of the machine. To Capture Specific Files: 20

Track-It! Administrator's Guide 1. From Track-It! s main menu bar, select Tools Administration Console Inventory Auditing File Captures. (View Screen Capture). 2. Click the Enable file captures checkbox. 3. The File Capture Timeout defaults to 30 seconds. However, you can change it from the up and down arrows. 4. Enter the path and file name in the designated files for each file (File #1 through File #10). 5. For Macintosh files, prefix the file name with "MAC" (e.g. MAC:/etc/passwd). 6. Click the OK button. Auditing Workstations Managing the Scheduled Audit Queue Once computers have been scheduled for audits, they are displayed on the Current Queue tab of the Queue Management window in the Administration Console. This displays the Asset Name, Status, Schedule Date and Time, Asset ID, User Name, and Audit Completed Date and Time. The Queue History tab displays the computers that were audited prior to the currently scheduled audits. 21

To Access the Queue Management Window: 1. From Track-It's main menu bar, select Tools Administration Console Inventory Auditing Scheduled Audits Queue. To quickly access the window, type "queue" in the Find: textbox at the top of the window and press the Enter key. To Stop Scheduled Audits: You can clear the Current Queue, which will stop the auditing process of the scheduled computers. 1. Click the Clear button on the Current Queue tab. 2. Click Apply to save your changes and click OK to close the window. To Suspend Scheduled Audits: If you need to suspend scheduled audits (e.g. if your network is down, etc.), you can suspend the audits until you're ready to resume them. 1. Uncheck the Process Audit Queue checkbox. 2. When you're ready to resume the audits, check the Process Audit Queue checkbox. To Clear the Queue History: 1. Click the Clear button on the Queue History tab. 2. Click Apply to save your changes and click OK to close the window. To Stop the Grids from Refreshing So You Can Sort and Filter Records: If there are several records in the grids, it may be helpful to sort and filter the records. In order to do this, you'll need to stop the grids from refreshing as the audits are processing. 1. Uncheck the Automatic Refresh of Grid Display checkbox. Software Tracking Overview of Software Tracking Overview of Software Tracking 22

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Track-It! s Software Tracking tools allow technicians to track the authorized and unauthorized installations of software files and programs from a specific workstation all the way up to a global view of your entire enterprise. By entering the number of copies of each software title that your organization owns/tracks and authorizing specific workstations to use those titles, you can build a comprehensive picture of your organization s software installations. By reviewing the associated reports, you can determine the optimal allocation for any tracked software files and programs. The audit scan criteria determines the files and software programs and files that are captured during audits. See the tutorials on Configuring Audit Scans. Important Notes: Track-It! s Software Tracking tools do not facilitate license management or software metering; hence, these tools do not ensure that your organization is in software compliance. However, you can compare the values listed in Track-It! s reports with your own license records to help determine if your organization is in license compliance. You can track and manage software licenses with the Software module (Software License Management), available as an add-on feature. (See Software Module Overview). Suggested Workflow for Software Tracking Suggested Workflow for Software Tracking In most cases, Track-It! is flexible enough to fit into your existing workflows. However, if a software tracking process does not currently exist within your organization, you might consider using the following workflow as a guide: To Track Installed Software: 1. Discover your networked assets and audit your workstations. 2. View the global file and program information (via Inventory reports) to get a picture of what s currently installed on your users workstations. 3. Identify the major/important files and programs that people in your organization typically use on a daily basis. 4. Determine how many copies of each of these applications your organization owns. In some cases, this information may be readily available in Track-It! s Purchasing module. In other cases, you may need to manually compare your contracts, purchase orders, packing slips, or other data sources to your inventory count in order to perform the reconciliation. When you purchase new software, be sure to keep the contracts for your records. 5. Enter the number of copies of each file and/or program that your organization owns (See Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software). 6. Determine which workstations/users have a business need to use each installed file or program. 23

7. Compare the installed number of files/applications with the number of copies that your organization actually owns. 8. Determine if more copies should be purchased, or if certain workstations/users should not be using the file or program in question. 9. Grant or deny the required workstations/users the authorization to use each installed file or program (Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use). 10. You should compare your authorized and actual installed software counts (on a regular basis) in order to monitor compliance and minimize excess costs. Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software In order to maintain an accurate inventory of your authorized software, Track-It! needs to know how many copies of each installed file and program your organization owns. While this may be a daunting project, keep in mind that you don t have to enter all of the information at once. You can enter the numbers of copies owned (and authorize installations) whenever it s convenient for you. To Enter the Number of Owned Copies of Software: 1. Select Tools > Auditing > Installed Programs from Track-It! s main menu bar. (View Screen Capture.) 2. From the Installed Programs List dialog (View Screen Capture), double-click on the desired software program in the grid to display the Edit Installed Program dialog (View Screen Capture). 24

Track-It! Administrator's Guide 3. Enter the number of copies of the selected file or program that your organization owns. 4. Click the OK button. Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use Track-It! allows administrators to globally authorize/unauthorize all or selected computers to use a specific file or program. The Authorized checkbox is used for tracking purposes only; enabling or disabling this checkbox will not affect a user s ability to access the file or program. However, by selecting the Authorized checkbox, you re telling Track-It! that your organization is authorizing the use of one copy of the specified file or program on the selected computer(s). Important Notes: If you have a license for the Software License Management Module (Software tab displays on the main menu), you can group files and programs under one software title and authorize the software at the software title level. The functionality described below does not apply if you have the Software module. See the Software Module Overview in the Software License Management chapter. The Track-It! technician must have Audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is 25

collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) privileges in order to authorize/unauthorize files or programs via the Edit Asset screen. If a technician does not have Audit privileges, then he/she will not have the ability to denote what software is authorized for use. Depending on how security privileges have been assigned, a technician may be able to double-click on a workstation in the Edit Installed File/Program grid to display the Detail Screen for the selected workstation. Administrators will have Full Control over the contents of this screen, while technicians with restricted privileges (e.g., Inventory permissions) may have Read-Only access or no access at all. If security restrictions deny access, an informative error dialog will be displayed. You can also enter/change the number of copies Owned via the Installed Files and Installed Programs tabs, which are accessible from the Edit Asset screen. Double-click on any Software Title in the grid to display the Edit Installed Programs dialog. To Authorize the Use of an Installed File or Installed Program on a Specific Computer: 1. Select Tools > Auditing > Installed Files or Installed Programs from Track-It! s main menu bar. (View Screen Capture) 2. Double-click the desired file or program in the grid to display the Edit Installed File or Edit Installed Program dialog. (View Screen Capture) 26

Track-It! Administrator's Guide 3. Right-click on the desired computer in the grid and select Authorize > Selected from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture). 4. Click the OK button. The Authorized Installations are updated. To Authorize the Use of an Installed File/Program on All Computers: 1. Follow steps 1-2 above. 2. Right-click on the desired computer in the grid and select Authorize > All from the fly-out menu. 27

3. Click the OK button. 4. The Authorized Installations are updated. Viewing File and Program Information Viewing File and Program Information Track-It! allows you to view file and program information on two levels: Global across your network Workstation-specific Viewing Global File Information Viewing Global Program Information Viewing Workstation-Specific File Information Viewing Workstation-Specific Program Information Viewing Global File Information Track-It! allows you to view the following information about files that have been installed on audited computers connected to your network: Viewing Global File Information Column Heading Description Software ID Sequential number that Track-It! assigns to each discovered file. File Name The name of the installed file. File Size The size (in bytes) of the installed file. 28

Track-It! Administrator's Guide File Description A brief description of the purpose/function of the installed file. File Version The version of the specific installed file. File Vendor The vendor/developer of the installed program. Product Name The commercial name associated with the installed file. Product Version The version of the entire installed product. File Ext Three-character dot-extension on the File Name. Owned The total number of copies of a file that your organization owns. This number is entered by a Track-It! technician or administrator. In Use The number of installed copies of a file that have been discovered (on audited computers connected to your network) by Track-It! Authorized The number of copies of the corresponding file that have been authorized (by a Track-It! technician) for use on this specific computer. Status Indicates whether an installed file is over-utilized, underutilized, authorized, or unauthorized. Track-It! calculates the level of utilization based on the number that you enter in the Owned field for the corresponding software file or program. 29

To View the Global List of Installed Files: 1. Select Tools > Auditing > Installed Files from Track-It! s main menu bar. (View Screen Capture) 2. Right-click on any Software Title listed in the grid, and select Customize from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture) 3. Select the checkboxes that correspond to the Columns that you want to make visible. (View Screen Capture) 30

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Viewing Global Program Information Track-It! allows you to view the following information about programs that have been installed on audited computers connected to your network: Viewing Global Program Information Column Heading Description ID Software Title Sequential number that Track-It! assigns to each discovered program. The title of the installed program. Publisher The publisher of the installed program. Version The version of the installed program. 31

Owned The total number of copies of a program that your organization owns. This number is entered by a Track-It! technician or administrator. In Use The total number of installed copies of a program that have been discovered (on audited computers connected to your network) by Track-It! Authorized The number of copies of the corresponding program that have been authorized (by a Track-It! technician) for use on the computers in your organization. Status Indicates whether an installed program is over-utilized, under-utilized, authorized, or unauthorized. Track-It! calculates the level of utilization based on the number that you enter in the Owned field for the corresponding software file or program. To View the Global List of Installed Programs: 1. Select Tools > Auditing > Installed Programs from Track-It! s main menu bar. (View Screen Capture) 2. Right-click on any Software Title listed in the grid, and select Customize from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture) 32

Track-It! Administrator's Guide 3. Select the checkboxes that correspond to the Columns that you want to make visible. Viewing Computer-Specific File Information Track-It! allows you to view the following information about files that have been installed on a specific audited computer: Viewing Computer- Specific File Information Column Heading Description Software ID Sequential number that Track-It! assigns to each discovered file. File Name The name of the installed file. File Size The size (in bytes) of the installed file. File Description A brief description of the purpose/function of the installed file. 33

File Version The version of the specific installed file. File Vendor The vendor/developer of the installed program. Product Name The commercial name associated with the installed file. Product Version The version of the entire installed product. File Ext Three-character dot-extension on the File Name. Authorized Checkbox Indicates whether or not the corresponding file has been authorized (by a Track-It! technician) for use on this specific computer. Status Indicates whether an installed file is New, Existing, or Removed on this specific computer. To View the List of Files Installed on a Specific Computer: 1. Select Inventory button to open the Inventory module. 2. Double-click on a computer in the grid to open the detail view. (View Screen Capture) 34

Track-It! Administrator's Guide 3. Click on the Installed Files tab. (View Screen Capture) 4. Right-click on any Software Title listed in the grid, and select Customize from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture) 35

5. Select the checkboxes that correspond to the Columns that you want to make visible. (View Screen Capture) Viewing Workstation-Specific Program Information Track-It! allows you to view the following information about programs that have been installed on a specific audited workstation: Viewing Workstation- Specific Program Information Column Heading Description ID Software Title Sequential number that Track-It! assigns to each discovered program. The title of the installed program. 36

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Publisher The publisher of the installed program. Version The version of the installed program. Authorized Checkbox Indicates whether or not the corresponding program has been authorized (by a Track-It! technician) for use on this specific workstation. Status Indicates whether an installed file is New, Existing, or Removed on this specific workstation. To View the List of Programs Installed on a Specific Workstation: 1. Click the Inventory button to open the Inventory module. 2. Double-click on a workstation in the grid to open the detail view. (View Screen Capture) 3. Click on the Installed Programs tab. (View Screen Capture) 37

4. Right-click on any Software Title listed in the grid, and select Customize from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture) 5. Select the checkboxes that correspond to the Columns that you want to make visible. (View Screen Capture) Viewing Software Authorization Reports Track-It! administrators can obtain a picture of the software installed on a single workstation or throughout the entire organization by viewing one or more of the following reports: 38

Track-It! Administrator's Guide Viewing Software Authorization Reports Report Name Description Software/Programs By Workstation Software/Programs Authorization Summary Workstations By Software/Programs Unauthorized Workstations By Software/Program Provides a list of all PROGRAMS and FILES that are installed on a SPECIFIC workstation. The report includes the software title, publisher, version, and authorization for each installed application. Provides a list all PROGRAMS and FILES that are installed on ONE OR MORE of the audited workstations. The report includes the program title, publisher, version, and the number of copies owned, used, and authorized. Provides a list of all PROGRAMS and FILES that are installed on ONE OR MORE of the audited workstations, along with a breakdown of the specific workstations that have each program installed. The report includes the title, publisher, and version of each installed program followed by the number, computer name, department, location, and authorization associated with the workstations that have that particular program installed. Same as the Workstations By Software/Programs report (above), with the exception that only the unauthorized workstations appear in this report. To View a Software Authorization Report: 1. Click the Reports button on Track-It! s main toolbar. (View Screen Capture) 39

2. Select Auditing > Report Name from the fly-out menu. 3. View or print the report as desired. Purchasing Purchasing Module Overview Purchasing Module Overview While the steps of a purchasing process may vary from one organization to another, the basic flow of information follows a familiar pattern, as illustrated in the diagram below. A user may call or e-mail the help desk to request a new component. The Track-It! technician enters the purchase order information, and seeks management approval to make the purchase. If management approves the purchase, the Track-It! technician forwards the purchase order to the vendor. When your company receives the component, four things happen: The accounting department pays the invoice You receive the component into Track-It! s inventory You assign the component to the requestor s asset (such as workstation) The requestor receives the ordered component 40

Track-It! Administrator's Guide By receiving the component, you tell Track-It! to move the component from the Purchasing module into the unassigned equipment category in the Inventory module. From there, you can assign the component to the appropriate user. Your role as a technician may include the placement or receipt of purchase orders. You need a way to search for vendors and components quickly because you receive constant service calls. Track-It! provides an effective solution for referencing every piece of information you need to start purchase orders promptly. Instead of writing purchase order details on a piece of paper, you can enter them into a purchase order record. Instead of flipping through the yellow pages, you can select a component that already includes the vendor s contact information. Finally, Track It! helps you to estimate the entire cost of a purchase order by calculating the quantity and price of each item against total taxes, shipping costs, and price adjustments. Track-It! s Purchasing module provides online requisitioning, issuance, and tracking of purchase orders to external vendors. When submitting a purchase order, you can include notes along with the purchase order, such as information about similar products, details about special price quotes, or anything else that you want to include with the purchase order. Important Notes: If you have a license for the Software License Management module, once the software is recorded in the Purchasing module, Track-It! automatically populates the Software module with the names and number of licenses purchased. (See the Software Module Overview topic in the Inventory chapter). Troubleshooting Disconnecting a Track-It! Session 41

Disconnecting a Track-It! Session The purpose of disconnecting a Track-It! session is to improve a technician s (and/or administrator s) experience when accessing Track-It! from two or more workstations. Through the course of a typical workday, Track-It! technicians may find themselves troubleshooting problems at several end-users workstations. Under ideal conditions, a technician would remember to log out of Track-It! on one machine before attempting to login to Track-It! using another machine, but this is more often the exception rather than the rule. In most cases, technicians find themselves unable to access Track-It! because they re still logged in through another machine. Technicians might have to walk back to their desks to log out of Track-It!, or they might use another account (and consequently, another license) to log into Track-It! from the end-user s workstation. To alleviate this problem, Track-It! allows technicians to disconnect their current session and login through another machine. However, you should keep in mind that any records that may be have been opened and locked by a technician under the disconnected session will be unlocked, allowing them to be accessed by other technicians. Also, any data that has not been saved in the current session will be lost when that particular session is disconnected. Disconnecting Your Current Track-It! Session to Start a New Session If you attempt to use the same credentials to concurrently login to Track-It! through more than one workstation, you will receive a warning dialog. The name of the Track-It! workstation that you re currently logged into will be displayed, and you ll be given an opportunity to disconnect that session and login through the new machine. Alternatively, you may choose to maintain your existing session and cancel the new login attempt. To Disconnect Your Current Track-It! Session: 1. Launch Track-It! and enter your login credentials (must be administrator or technician) (View Screen Capture). 42

Track-It! Administrator's Guide 2. If you re already logged into Track-It! from another workstation, the following dialog box appears (View Screen Capture). 3. Click the OK button to disconnect your current session. The following confirmation dialog box appears (View Screen Capture). 4. Click the OK button to confirm that you want to disconnect your current Track-It! session. 5. You should now be logged into Track-It! from the new workstation. Important Notes: 43

WARNING: If you choose to disconnect your Track-It! session, any data that has not been saved in that session will be lost when the session is disconnected. The dialogs contained in the links of the procedure above appear on the second (new) workstation that you re using to login to Track-It! Another dialog is displayed on the first workstation that you used to login to Track-It! This dialog indicates that your Track-It! session has been reset and you must restart Track-It! (on that machine) if you want to continue. Viewing/Changing the Status of a Technician's Session Track-It! allows you to view the status of a technician s session, determine whether that account is currently in use, and disconnect the session if desired. If the selected technician account is in use, the name of the client computer is displayed adjacent to the Locked checkbox. This information is useful in determining if the current session is still valid before you choose to disconnect (unlock) it. To View/Change the Status of a Technician's Session: 1. Select File > Lookup Tables > Technicians from Track-It! s main menu. 2. Double-click on a technician in the grid to view the Technician Information tab. 3. If the selected account is currently in use, the Locked checkbox will be enabled. To disconnect the account, click the checkbox to remove the lock (View Screen Capture). 4. Click the OK button to save your changes and exit this dialog. Important Notes: 44

Track-It! Administrator's Guide The Account Status section at the bottom of the dialog box shows the status (in use or not in use) of the selected technician s account. If the selected account is currently in use, the Locked checkbox will be enabled. WARNING: You cannot unlock an account if it is the same account that you are currently using to perform the unlock operation. Getting Help Getting Help from the Technical Support Center In addition to the online help, the Technical Support Center, accessed from the Track-It! Help menu, can assist you in many ways, including: Support Plans 30-Day Installation Support (available for Standard and Professional Editions) New Numara Track-It! Standard or Professional customers are entitled to free support using esubmission on the installation of Track-It! into a supported environment. Paid Support and Maintenance Plans For details, please see our support web page. Support Web Page The Support web page provides: KnowledgeBase Article Search esubmissions New articles are added every day based on incoming information and incidents reported from customers. Enhancements Repository allows you customer to tell us how we can improve our product. This data is collected and used to prioritize the enhancements for future releases. esubmissions allow customers with a current support plan to log support requests via the Web. This service is primarily designed for non-urgent issues and is 45

Product Updates Product Documentation What's New per Version System Requirements Installation Guides E-mail Support Telephone Support Knowledgebase accessible after logging in to the esubmissions page. To Access the Technical Support Center 1. From Track-It's main menu, select Help Technical Support. 2. Select one of the options: Search Our Knowledgebase, Submit an esubmission, Send us Your Diagnostic Information, or view your License, Contract, and Registration Information. 46

Getting Started with Track-It! Getting Started with Track-It! You can get started with Track-It by using the Getting Started window displayed in the right pane of the application. (View Screen Capture). (If the Getting Started window is not displayed, click Getting Started from the Help menu at the top of the window. (View Screen Capture). You can close the Getting Started menu by either clicking the Close button or checking "Don't show this window next time" at the bottom of the window (View Screen Capture). 47

Setting User Preferences You can customize the Track-It! to optimize your desktop work environment from the User Preferences dialog box. To Set up User Preferences: 1. Click Tools Preferences (View Screen Capture). 48

2. To refresh grid views without having to close and reopen Track-It!, select the Automatically refresh grid views checkbox. 3. If Automatically refresh is selected, select or enter the number of minutes in the Refresh Interview Minutes field. 4. Select or deselect Close the remote control* status window when remote control is successfully established. 5. To receive a confirmation message for canceled changes, select Prompt before canceling changes to data. 6. To receive a confirmation message for modified grid views, select Prompt to save changes to modified grid views. 7. Select the option to Show the Home Page at startup. Without this setting only the Toolbar displays, which will allow you to select a background image (see To Set up a Background Image, below). 8. To enable the Internet button on the Toolbar, enter the URL in the Web Address text box. 9. To run Track-It! in a different language, select it from the Language drop-down list. Track-It! is available in five languages: English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. Background Settings 49

You can display a background image (such as a photo) instead of the default home page. The background image must be in bitmap (.bmp) format. To Set up a Background Image: 1. Click the Enable Background checkbox. 2. Select Centered or Tiled from the Style drop-down list. 3. Enter the file location in the File Location text box, or click the Browse button to navigate to the file location. 4. Click the OK button. A thumbnail of the image displays. The background will now display as the Home Page. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Track-It! Product Differences 50

Track-It! Product Differences The table below describes the differences between Track-It! Standard, Professional and Enterprise. The differences are also denoted within relevant topics by a blue triangle icon as shown in the note below: Track-It! Standard allows you to create up to 10 user-defined views, and Track-It! Professional allows you to create up to 15 user-defined views. Track-It! Enterprise allows you to create up to 30 user-defined views. Example of Product Differences Note Important Note: The Standard, Professional and Enterprise editions are bundled packages. Licenses for add-ons, additional technicians, self-service users, and audits may be purchased in addition to the packages. 51

Track-It! Product Differences Feature Description Standard Professional Enterprise Help Desk Technicians Standard Technician Professional Technician Enterprise Technician Technician Personal Grid Views Enables technicians to set up their own grid views (the columns and records to display in grids) 10 15 30 Named Technicians Concurrent Technicians Particular technicians that can access the application Number of technicians that can simultaneously access the application 1 1 Select either 5 named technicians or 3 concurrent technicians. (Additional technicians can be purchased in increments of one.) Select either 3 concurrent technicians or 5 named technicians. (Additional technicians can be purchased in increments of one.) Work Orders Ability to add assignments to work orders. Also allows for parent/child relationships within a work order. 1-tier 1-tier 2-tier Work Order Types Work order categorization: Types, Subtypes and Categories 1-tier 1-tier 3-tier 52

Announcement Expiration Enables administrators and technicians to expire announcements that display on Track-It!'s home page Spell Checker (Windows Client) Time Synchronization Users can press F7 to spell check text entries Synchronizes Track-It! with a Time Server Device Status (Ping) Notifies technicians if devices are not responding User Synch (Manual) Integrates with Microsoft Active Directory to automate the population of user and technician information in Track-It! User Synch (Scheduled) Notification and Escalation (Alert) Allows administrators to schedule the user sync service to run at a specific time of day or once every x number of hours. Automatic notification of work orders via e-mail, pager, and other methods. Automated Ticket Creation from E-mail (Receive) Automatically converts e- mails into work orders. 53

Work Order Status Update Enables users to check the status of or update their work orders Technician Web Enables technicians to access Track-It! via the Web with a browser Work Order Attachments Enables technicians to attach files to work orders, solutions, and Software Licenses Asset Management Service Level Agreements Enables administrators to set a default priority and due date based on either a specific user or an entire department User/Asset Lookup in Help Desk View user/asset lookup tables from the Help Desk module Track-It! Sync Outlook Synchronization for the Help Desk module. Enables the technician to create, edit, and close work orders remotely using any PDA that supports synchronization with Microsoft Outlook 2000 and higher Crystal Reports Enables administrators to create custom Crystal Reports Standard edition of Crystal 9) (Professional edition of Crystal 9) 54

Security (Technician Access) Enables administrators to set up custom security policies for technician access to application By Individual Role Based Module Enables administrators to restrict privileges by individual Enables administrators to create rolebased security policies Enables administrators to set up data access and data entry privileges for modules Technician Enables administrators to restrict privileges by assigned technician (security policies) Department Enables administrations to restrict privileges by department Drop-Down Lists Enables administrators to customize drop-down edit privileges Location Enables administrations to restrict privileges by location Users Self Service Professional Self Service Enterprise 55

Self Service End-user Web self help 50 100 Password Reset Enables users to reset or unlock their passwords without technical support or compromising network security 100 Asset Management Auditing Standard Audit Professional Audit Enterprise Audit Auto Discovery Discovers devices on the network by conducting a network scan. This includes workstations, switches, routers, printers, and other networked IP devices. Push Track-It Agent Standard Audit Automatically installs Agent for auditing and remotely controlling users' computers Enables technicians to audit workstations on demand and audit standalone workstations via floppy disk or removable storage 25 Scheduled Audits Audits automatically on a regular schedule 50 56

Enterprise Audit Includes standard audit, scheduled audits, and Software License Management 100 Audit Merge Continually audits the network and updates inventory information Add-ons Self Service Plus Natural language search of extensible knowledge base of resolutions from the Help Desk module Add-on Mac Audit Audits Macintosh computers including ondemand and scheduled audits. Add-on Add-on Deploy Enables administrators to package, edit, customize and distribute any software Add-on Add-on Add-on User Synch (LDAP) Oracle Database Provides additional LDAP connector to automate the population of user and technician information in Track-It! Oracle database can be used with Track-It! Add-on Add-on Remote Remote control Windows system from within Track-It! Add-on Add-on 57

Track-It! Knowledgebase Problem resolutions for virtually every popular business application, including applications from Microsoft, Novell, Corel, Lotus, Adobe and Symantec. Add-on Add-on Add-on Network Monitor Monitors network health, availability and performance Add-on Add-on Patch Manager Scan, update and download patches for Microsoft Operating Systems and applications across your entire network Add-on Add-on Add-on 58

Inventory Inventory Overview Inventory Module Overview Your organization has made significant investments in its IT assets. These assets may include PCs, servers, network devices, accessories, software licenses, and upgrades. Your company may also consider details, such as vendor names, suppliers, and maintenance contracts as assets. To safeguard this investment, you need to keep your company informed about the following details of each asset: What it looks like Where it is at any point in time Who has it How much it is costing the company What value it is providing How it is changing over time How Track-It! Is a Better Way to Track and Manage Your IT Assets As a technician, you play a key role in the maintenance and upgrade of company assets. Your work ensures that your organization gets the maximum value of its assets and Track-It! s Inventory module provides an effective way to manage them. Its purpose is to provide a clear picture of the company s distributed enterprise and how it is changing. With Track-It! s Inventory module, you can generate accurate reports that list every asset, along with service tags and other details. A complete asset history in the Inventory module, integrated with the Purchasing and Help Desk modules, is a great troubleshooting tool. Track-It!'s Three Main Processes to Manage IT Assets There are three main processes involved in managing your IT assets: discovering assets, managing discovered assets, and auditing the network to update inventory information. (These processes are explained in detail in related multimedia tutorials on Managing IT Assets.) Asset Discovery When the Asset Discovery process runs, Track-It scans the network and captures information about workstations and devices. Managing Discovered Assets Once the assets are discovered, you can manage them, such as deciding whether or not they should be tracked. Auditing Assets 59

If you decide to track the discovered assets, Track-It continually audits the network and updates inventory information regarding those assets. Inventory Reports Using Track-It! s Reports module, you can generate accurate reports that list all of your organization s enterprise assets, along with their service tag and other details. Integration with Purchasing and Help Desk Modules Track-It! also takes this process a few steps further by fully integrating with the Purchasing and Help Desk modules, and maintaining a complete history of all the changes that occur during an asset s lifecycle. This provides your help desk technicians with valuable troubleshooting information. Auditing Assets Overview Viewing Asset Information Viewing Asset Information (Technician) Within each asset record, two sources provide a summary of asset data: the General tab and the Asset Information tab. The General tab provides a summary of asset details including its asset Information, its User Information, and its Tracked Items. The Asset Information tab allows you to view the audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) results for a asset including its Computer, Processor(s), Networking, Drives, Display, Input Devices, and Printers. The Networking pane contains information about the user s domain, network adapter, IP and MAC addresses. To View Asset Information: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory from Track-It!'s main menu bar or click on the Inventory icon (View Icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click the Asset you want to view. The Asset record opens and displays the General tab (View Screen Capture). 60

You can also open an asset record by selecting it in the Inventory grid and clicking Edit Asset in the Tasks pane (View Icon). 3. On the General tab, inspect the data in each pane to gain an initial grasp of the Asset configuration. 4. Click the Asset Information tab to view greater detail about items, such as the asset s Computer, Processor(s), Networking, Drives, Display, Input Devices, and Printers (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Drive field, select drive letters to inspect data related to hard drives and network drives. 61

6. In the Name field of the Printers group, select printers from the drop-down list to view specific printer data. 7. In the Networking group, select networking adapters, IP addresses, and MAC addresses from the corresponding drop-down lists to view related data. Viewing Customized Asset Information The Track-It! Administrator can configure user-defined fields in the Inventory module to provide data for company-driven needs. You can find this kind of information by opening the Userdefined Fields tab in any open asset record (View Screen Capture). User-defined fields offer many potential applications. One possibility is that your administrator could designate the userdefined fields for data that a Track-It! audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) cannot capture. Consequently, you might have to enter data in these fields. The user-defined fields, for example, could document the presence of a security panel at a computer. You might find such a setup at the workstation of a technical support representative at XYZ Security Systems. If the security panel has no direct connection to the workstation or your network, an audit will not detect it. You might also have to provide data for additional network connections, modems, and extensions on the User-defined Fields tab. The Network drop-down field is populated by network names that your administrator adds to the Networks lookup table. If your organization requires data in the Modem and Ext fields, you or other technicians should make these entries. Viewing Hardware Audit Results Inspecting Hardware Audit Histories 62

The Hardware tab provides a complete history of the changes made to the computer. You can choose any audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) date from the Audit Date drop-down list to view its results. You can then scroll quickly through the audit dates and view the information for each audit. Suppose you have 10 audits on a computer and you want to analyze its hard drive consumption rate. If you scroll through the audit history, you can view the free disk space for each audit date in the right pane. You might look for changes in the amount of available hard disk space, for instance, or new network drive mappings. To Inspect the Audit History of a Hardware Item: 1. In the hardware tree, select the hardware item you want to inspect (View Screen Capture). 2. Click the drop-down arrow of the Audit Date field to open a list of audit dates. 3. Click the Down Arrow (on your keyboard) to display results from the first audit to the last. You can click the Up Arrow to display results from the last audit to the first. 4. In the right pane, look for any changes to the hardware information. Periodically, Track-It! administrators might need to purge the audit history to minimize the size of Track-It! s database. See Purging Track-It! Database Tables. Entering Network IP Addresses 63

The Hardware tab is primarily designed to display information. You can edit specific fields if necessary, but you should let Track-It! enter most of the asset discovery and audit information. In a few cases, you might need to enter an asset s network IP address. To Enter a Network IP Address: 1. In the Hardware tree, select Network IP Address to display the IP Address pane. 2. In the Address field, enter the asset s network IP address. 3. Click Save to make the IP address a permanent part of the asset record. Viewing and Managing Software Audit Results Viewing and Managing Software Audit Results The Installed Programs tab on the Edit Asset window allows you to view the software audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) results for a particular client s computer. Important Notes: Normally, technicians do not define the Audit Configuration. If you have an administrative role, however, see the tutorials on Configuring Audit Scans, Configuring Quick Scans, and Configuring Full Scans. To View a Computer's Software Audit Results: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory from Track-It! s main menu bar. You can also open an asset record by selecting it in the Inventory grid and clicking Edit Asset in the Tasks pane (View Icon). 2. In the grid view, double-click on the computer for which you want to view audit results. 3. Click on the Installed Programs tab (View Screen Capture). 64

4. You can adjust the View by selecting Unidentified Software, Managed Software, or Excluded Software from the drop-down list. See the next topics on Unidentified, Managed, and Excluded Software. Understanding the Managed Software List Your administrator can move items from the Unidentified Software list into the Managed Software list at any time. The most common items added to this list are applications that require licensing or tracking. Managing the Software Program Lists The purpose of managing software programs is to keep the Unidentified Programs list empty so you can quickly identify any new software. Track-It! provides flexibility between the software lists, but you must work with your administrator to use them effectively. Suppose, for example, that you audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) ten computers and find the following applications in the Unidentified Programs list: Microsoft Windows Microsoft Excel Adobe Photoshop Quake None of these applications have ever shown up on the computers you just audited, so you review the list with your administrator. Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Excel are legal applications, so 65

your administrator tells you to move them to the Managed Programs list. Adobe Photoshop is a special application used by only one person in your company. Your administrator, therefore, tells you to move it to the Excluded Programs list because it does not require tracking. Your administrator determines that Quake is an unauthorized application and asks the user to remove the software from their computer. Important Notes: Your ability to manage the Programs lists depends on your administrative privileges as a technician. If you do not have access to the Programs list, you won't be able to view it. To Manage the Program Lists: 1. In the main menu bar of the Inventory module, select Tools Auditing Installed Programs. 2. In the Program Type drop-down list, select the Program list that you want to review (Managed, Excluded, or Unidentified). You can select multiple programs by holding down the Shift or Ctrl key while clicking an item in the list. 3. In the Programs grid, select the application that you want to move to another Programs list. 4. Right-click the Program item or group of items to open the fly-out menu (View Screen Capture). 5. In the fly-out menu, select the destination Program list (Managed, Excluded, or Unidentified). Editing Software Program Items 66

You can edit most of the fields in the Edit Installed Program dialog. The exceptions are the File Name field and the File Size field. If you want to provide a better file description, for example, you can edit the File Description field. In most cases, however, you should leave this information alone. Before you make any change to this information, talk to your administrator. To Edit a Software Program: 1. In the main menu bar of the Inventory module, select Tools Auditing Installed Programs. 2. In the Program Type drop-down list, select the program list that you want to review (Managed, Excluded, or Unidentified). 3. In the grid, select the software program that you want to edit. 4. Right-click on the software program or group of items (View Screen Capture) and select Edit Program Item to open the Edit Installed Program dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Edit Installed Program dialog, make any necessary changes. 6. Click OK if you want to keep your changes or Cancel if you want to discard them. Tracking Software Items 67

To Edit a Software Item: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory from the main menu. 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click the asset you want to view. The asset record opens and displays the General tab. 3. Click the Software tab to view the asset s software grid. 4. In the software grid, right-click the target application to open the fly-out menu. 5. In the fly-out menu, select Track Item to place the software application in the Tracked Items list of the General tab. Software Tracking Overview of Software Tracking Overview of Software Tracking Track-It! s Software Tracking tools allow technicians to track the authorized and unauthorized installations of software files and programs from a specific workstation all the way up to a global view of your entire enterprise. By entering the number of copies of each software title that your organization owns/tracks and authorizing specific workstations to use those titles, you can build a comprehensive picture of your organization s software installations. By reviewing the associated reports, you can determine the optimal allocation for any tracked software files and programs. The audit scan criteria determines the files and software programs and files that are captured during audits. See the tutorials on Configuring Audit Scans. Important Notes: Track-It! s Software Tracking tools do not facilitate license management or software metering; hence, these tools do not ensure that your organization is in software compliance. However, you can compare the values listed in Track-It! s reports with your own license records to help determine if your organization is in license compliance. You can track and manage software licenses with the Software module (Software License Management), available as an add-on feature. (See Software Module Overview). Suggested Workflow for Software Tracking Suggested Workflow for Software Tracking In most cases, Track-It! is flexible enough to fit into your existing workflows. However, if a software tracking process does not currently exist within your organization, you might consider using the following workflow as a guide: 68

To Track Installed Software: 1. Discover your networked assets and audit your workstations. 2. View the global file and program information (via Inventory reports) to get a picture of what s currently installed on your users workstations. 3. Identify the major/important files and programs that people in your organization typically use on a daily basis. 4. Determine how many copies of each of these applications your organization owns. In some cases, this information may be readily available in Track-It! s Purchasing module. In other cases, you may need to manually compare your contracts, purchase orders, packing slips, or other data sources to your inventory count in order to perform the reconciliation. When you purchase new software, be sure to keep the contracts for your records. 5. Enter the number of copies of each file and/or program that your organization owns (See Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software). 6. Determine which workstations/users have a business need to use each installed file or program. 7. Compare the installed number of files/applications with the number of copies that your organization actually owns. 8. Determine if more copies should be purchased, or if certain workstations/users should not be using the file or program in question. 9. Grant or deny the required workstations/users the authorization to use each installed file or program (Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use). 10. You should compare your authorized and actual installed software counts (on a regular basis) in order to monitor compliance and minimize excess costs. Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software Entering the Number of Owned Copies of Software In order to maintain an accurate inventory of your authorized software, Track-It! needs to know how many copies of each installed file and program your organization owns. While this may be a daunting project, keep in mind that you don t have to enter all of the information at once. You can enter the numbers of copies owned (and authorize installations) whenever it s convenient for you. To Enter the Number of Owned Copies of Software: 1. Select Tools > Auditing > Installed Programs from Track-It! s main menu bar. (View Screen Capture.) 69

2. From the Installed Programs List dialog (View Screen Capture), double-click on the desired software program in the grid to display the Edit Installed Program dialog (View Screen Capture). 3. Enter the number of copies of the selected file or program that your organization owns. 4. Click the OK button. Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use Authorizing or Unauthorizing Software for Use 70

Track-It! allows administrators to globally authorize/unauthorize all or selected computers to use a specific file or program. The Authorized checkbox is used for tracking purposes only; enabling or disabling this checkbox will not affect a user s ability to access the file or program. However, by selecting the Authorized checkbox, you re telling Track-It! that your organization is authorizing the use of one copy of the specified file or program on the selected computer(s). Important Notes: If you have a license for the Software License Management Module (Software tab displays on the main menu), you can group files and programs under one software title and authorize the software at the software title level. The functionality described below does not apply if you have the Software module. See the Software Module Overview in the Software License Management chapter. The Track-It! technician must have Audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) privileges in order to authorize/unauthorize files or programs via the Edit Asset screen. If a technician does not have Audit privileges, then he/she will not have the ability to denote what software is authorized for use. Depending on how security privileges have been assigned, a technician may be able to double-click on a workstation in the Edit Installed File/Program grid to display the Detail Screen for the selected workstation. Administrators will have Full Control over the contents of this screen, while technicians with restricted privileges (e.g., Inventory permissions) may have Read-Only access or no access at all. If security restrictions deny access, an informative error dialog will be displayed. You can also enter/change the number of copies Owned via the Installed Files and Installed Programs tabs, which are accessible from the Edit Asset screen. Double-click on any Software Title in the grid to display the Edit Installed Programs dialog. To Authorize the Use of an Installed File or Installed Program on a Specific Computer: 1. Select Tools > Auditing > Installed Files or Installed Programs from Track-It! s main menu bar. (View Screen Capture) 71

2. Double-click the desired file or program in the grid to display the Edit Installed File or Edit Installed Program dialog. (View Screen Capture) 3. Right-click on the desired computer in the grid and select Authorize > Selected from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture). 72

4. Click the OK button. The Authorized Installations are updated. To Authorize the Use of an Installed File/Program on All Computers: 1. Follow steps 1-2 above. 2. Right-click on the desired computer in the grid and select Authorize > All from the fly-out menu. 3. Click the OK button. 4. The Authorized Installations are updated. Viewing File and Program Information Viewing File and Program Information Track-It! allows you to view file and program information on two levels: Global across your network Workstation-specific Viewing Global File Information Viewing Global Program Information 73

Viewing Workstation-Specific File Information Viewing Workstation-Specific Program Information Viewing Global File Information Track-It! allows you to view the following information about files that have been installed on audited computers connected to your network: Viewing Global File Information Column Heading Description Software ID Sequential number that Track-It! assigns to each discovered file. File Name The name of the installed file. File Size The size (in bytes) of the installed file. File Description A brief description of the purpose/function of the installed file. File Version The version of the specific installed file. File Vendor The vendor/developer of the installed program. Product Name The commercial name associated with the installed file. 74

Product Version The version of the entire installed product. File Ext Three-character dot-extension on the File Name. Owned The total number of copies of a file that your organization owns. This number is entered by a Track-It! technician or administrator. In Use The number of installed copies of a file that have been discovered (on audited computers connected to your network) by Track-It! Authorized The number of copies of the corresponding file that have been authorized (by a Track-It! technician) for use on this specific computer. Status Indicates whether an installed file is over-utilized, underutilized, authorized, or unauthorized. Track-It! calculates the level of utilization based on the number that you enter in the Owned field for the corresponding software file or program. To View the Global List of Installed Files: 1. Select Tools > Auditing > Installed Files from Track-It! s main menu bar. (View Screen Capture) 75

2. Right-click on any Software Title listed in the grid, and select Customize from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture) 3. Select the checkboxes that correspond to the Columns that you want to make visible. (View Screen Capture) Viewing Global Program Information Track-It! allows you to view the following information about programs that have been installed on audited computers connected to your network: 76

Viewing Global Program Information Column Heading Description ID Software Title Sequential number that Track-It! assigns to each discovered program. The title of the installed program. Publisher The publisher of the installed program. Version The version of the installed program. Owned The total number of copies of a program that your organization owns. This number is entered by a Track-It! technician or administrator. In Use The total number of installed copies of a program that have been discovered (on audited computers connected to your network) by Track-It! Authorized The number of copies of the corresponding program that have been authorized (by a Track-It! technician) for use on the computers in your organization. Status Indicates whether an installed program is over-utilized, under-utilized, authorized, or unauthorized. Track-It! calculates the level of utilization based on the number that you enter in the Owned field for the corresponding software file or program. To View the Global List of Installed Programs: 77

1. Select Tools > Auditing > Installed Programs from Track-It! s main menu bar. (View Screen Capture) 2. Right-click on any Software Title listed in the grid, and select Customize from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture) 3. Select the checkboxes that correspond to the Columns that you want to make visible. Viewing Computer-Specific File Information Track-It! allows you to view the following information about files that have been installed on a specific audited computer: Viewing Computer- Specific File Information Column Heading Description Software ID Sequential number that Track-It! assigns to each discovered file. 78

File Name The name of the installed file. File Size The size (in bytes) of the installed file. File Description A brief description of the purpose/function of the installed file. File Version The version of the specific installed file. File Vendor The vendor/developer of the installed program. Product Name The commercial name associated with the installed file. Product Version The version of the entire installed product. File Ext Three-character dot-extension on the File Name. Authorized Checkbox Indicates whether or not the corresponding file has been authorized (by a Track-It! technician) for use on this specific computer. Status Indicates whether an installed file is New, Existing, or Removed on this specific computer. 79

To View the List of Files Installed on a Specific Computer: 1. Select Inventory button to open the Inventory module. 2. Double-click on a computer in the grid to open the detail view. (View Screen Capture) 3. Click on the Installed Files tab. (View Screen Capture) 4. Right-click on any Software Title listed in the grid, and select Customize from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture) 80

5. Select the checkboxes that correspond to the Columns that you want to make visible. (View Screen Capture) Viewing Workstation-Specific Program Information Track-It! allows you to view the following information about programs that have been installed on a specific audited workstation: Viewing Workstation- Specific Program Information Column Heading Description ID Software Title Sequential number that Track-It! assigns to each discovered program. The title of the installed program. 81

Publisher The publisher of the installed program. Version The version of the installed program. Authorized Checkbox Indicates whether or not the corresponding program has been authorized (by a Track-It! technician) for use on this specific workstation. Status Indicates whether an installed file is New, Existing, or Removed on this specific workstation. To View the List of Programs Installed on a Specific Workstation: 1. Click the Inventory button to open the Inventory module. 2. Double-click on a workstation in the grid to open the detail view. (View Screen Capture) 3. Click on the Installed Programs tab. (View Screen Capture) 82

4. Right-click on any Software Title listed in the grid, and select Customize from the fly-out menu. (View Screen Capture) 5. Select the checkboxes that correspond to the Columns that you want to make visible. (View Screen Capture) Taking Control of Other Workstations Track-It! Agent Overview Track-It! Agent, included with the Professional and Enterprise editions of Track-It!, consists of two applications: 83

Track-It! Remote Audit on Demand and Scheduled Audits Track-It! Agent is a client-side application that allows technicians to gain remote control of specific computers and/or audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) hardware and software configurations. Technicians can use these features to help troubleshoot technical problems, initiate chat sessions, and even conduct training sessions from remote locations. With its advanced auditing features, Track-It! Agent enables technicians to run audits as a service on Windows systems. Technicians can execute audits on demand to collect real-time data, and schedule audits to run on a convenient schedule. Audits can also automatically run via logon scripts. Track-It! Agent (Track-It! Remote and Scheduled Audits) can be installed as an Add-on for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Taking Control of Other Workstations As a busy technician, you might not always have the time to visit a workstation and solve a problem. Track-It! offers a solution for this challenge: Track-It! Agent. Through Track-It! Agent, you can take control of another workstation from your console. You can watch the user s actions on the workstation while they happen. You can also ask users to watch as you perform actions on their workstation. You can even initiate a chat session with the user to explain your actions as you perform them. Track-It! Agent allows you to investigate problems and train users without leaving your station. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Transferring Files 84

The Remote computer's explorer looks and behaves like Windows Explorer. You can transfer files from the remote workstation to your workstation in the same way that you would copy and paste a file from one folder to another in Windows Explorer. To Transfer Files: 1. On the Remote Control taskbar, click the File Transfer icon (View Icon) to open the Remote Computers explorer. 2. In the Remote Computers explorer, navigate to the directory and folder of the file you want to transfer. 3. Right-click the file to open the fly-out menu. 4. Click Copy. 5. Navigate to the appropriate directory and folder in your computer. 6. Right-click inside the destination folder to open the fly-out menu. 7. Click Paste to transfer the file from the remote workstation to your computer. Important Note: You can also transfer a file from your workstation to the user s workstation by extension. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Executing Applications on a Remote Workstation You can execute applications on the remote workstation. Even if the application is not on the user s desktop or in the Start menu, you can find it and execute it. To Execute an Application on the Remote Workstation: 1. On the Remote Control taskbar, click the Browse icon (View Icon) to open the Browse dialog. 85

2. In the Browse dialog, navigate to the application you want to execute. The application is often in the hard drive folder labeled Program files. 3. When you find the proper directory and folder, select the program. 4. In the Browse dialog, click Open to place the application in the Run textbox. 5. On the Remote Control taskbar, click the Execute Application icon (View Icon) to execute the application. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Moving the Remote Screen If the user s desktop takes too much space on your monitor to display, you can move the view up and down or left to right. To Move the Remote Screen: 1. On the Remote Control taskbar, click the Move Screen icon (View Icon). Your cursor takes the form of a grasping hand. 2. Click and hold down the left mouse button so the cursor grasps the remote screen in your display. 3. Move the remote up and down or left to right as required. 4. Release the left mouse button when the remote screen displays the area you want to see. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Initiating a Chat Session 86

When remote control is established, you can view the other user s desktop and open any of its applications. During this time, you might want to initiate a chat session with the user so you can explain procedures as you perform them. It also provides the user an opportunity to ask what is happening while you control the workstation. To Initiate a Remote Chat Session: 1. On the Remote Control taskbar, click the Chat icon (View Icon) to open the Chat dialog. 2. In the text box of the Chat dialog, type the text of your message. 3. In the Chat dialog, click Send to initiate the chat with the workstation user. The user will see a message box on the workstation desktop. 4. When you finish the chat, click Stop in the Chat dialog. 5. On the Remote Control taskbar, click the Chat icon again to close the Chat dialog (View Screen Capture). Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Locking the User's Mouse and Keyboard 87

You can lock the user s mouse and keyboard at the remote workstation so they will not interfere while you perform your work. To lock the user s mouse and keyboard, select Options Keyboard and Mouse Lockout in the Remote Control menu bar. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Sending Ctrl+Alt+Del to a Remote Workstation You can open the Windows Security dialog on the remote workstation by sending the CTRL+ALT+DEL command. To open the Windows Security dialog on the remote workstation, click the CTRL+ALT+DEL icon (View Icon) on the Remote Control taskbar. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Rebooting a Remote Workstation You can reboot the remote workstation from your computer by clicking the Reboot icon (View Icon) on the Remote Control taskbar. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Managing the Inventory Module Organizing Asset Records Organizing Asset Records 88

The Inventory module provides an interface for the management of assets. To make the best use of the Inventory module, you should balance controlling asset records with the use of Track- It! s tools. For example, Track-It! can automatically discover and audit assets, but you should know how to manually add asset records to the Inventory database. Another part of asset management is the maintenance of asset records. Sometimes you need to open an asset, review its information, and change some of its details. As your database grows larger, you might also need to clear the Inventory database of older records. When you delete older records, Track It! s performance improves and you find current records faster. The topics that follow discuss the most basic tasks of asset management. As you read, you will find out why and how to perform these procedures. Important Note: To improve Track-It! s performance, ask your administrator about purging outdated records. Manually Adding New Assets The best way to add assets is to let Track-It! discover them using the Asset Discovery feature. This automatically collects data on the hardware configuration and installed software in your system. If necessary, however, you can manually add assets to the Inventory database. To Add Manually Add an Asset: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Tasks pane, click Add Asset to open a new asset record. When the Create New Asset window opens, it displays the General tab. 3. In the Asset ID field of the Asset Information pane, type the asset's ID number. 4. On the Hardware tab, enter the required asset information. 5. If you re ready to close the new asset record, click Save. The asset numbering system is designed to prevent duplicate asset numbers in the Inventory database by skipping to the next available number for each new asset. Viewing and Editing an Existing Asset The best way to update a asset record is to conduct an audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) on it and update the Inventory database. 89

Yet, you may want to open the asset record to log some comments or add items that cannot be detected through an audit. You might also want to open the asset record to view the data to troubleshoot a problem. To View and Edit and Existing Asset: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, select the asset record you want to view or edit. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit asset to open the asset record. 4. View the record or make changes as desired. 5. If you re ready to close the asset record, click Save. If you just viewed the asset record, click Cancel or click the X in the upper, right-hand corner. Deleting Assets For any number of reasons, assets fall into disuse. Perhaps the company replaced the old computer or maybe its performance was seriously degraded through an electrical surge. Accordingly, you may want to delete the asset record. To Delete an Asset Record: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, select the asset record you want to delete. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Delete Asset to delete the asset record from the Inventory grid. A Confirmation dialog asks if you still want to delete the asset record (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Confirm dialog, click Yes to confirm the delete command. Click No to cancel the delete command. 5. In the Information dialog, click OK to complete the delete command. Important Note: 90

When you delete an asset, all inventory items that were assigned to that asset are automatically transferred to Unassigned Equipment. Copying an Asset The Inventory module includes a command for making multiple copies of an asset. The best time to use the Copy Asset command is when you must manually add several similar or identical assets. You can save hours or even days by editing minor details in the new copies. To Copy an Asset: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click on the Inventory icon). 2. Select the asset from the grid. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Copy Asset to open the Asset Copy Utility dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Asset Copy Utility dialog, select the number of copies to be generated. 5. If you want all the copied assets to contain the same items, leave the Copy Components box checked. Otherwise, turn off the Copy Components checkbox. 6. Click OK to start the copy process. A status dialog displays the progress of the copy process. When the copy process is finished, the new assets appear in the grid. 7. Select the asset copy. After you make the copies, you can edit them as necessary to make distinctions between the new assets. Printing Asset Records As a technician, you move around constantly and work with many asset details. Instead of trying to remember those details while you are on the move, you can print them from the Inventory grid. To Print an Asset Record: 91

1. In the Inventory grid, select the asset you want to print. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Print asset to open the Print dialog (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Print dialog, specify the page range and the number of copies you want to print. 4. Click OK to send the asset report to the printer queue. Finding an Asset If you have a large set of asset records in the Inventory database, a workstation record might be hard to find. You do not want to spend valuable time scrolling through hundreds of workstation records. If you know the exact asset ID, you can find and open it without scrolling at all. To advanced searching, see Searching for Assets. To Find an Asset: 1. In the Tasks pane, click Find Asset to open the Asset Find dialog (View Screen Capture). 92

2. In the Asset Find dialog, enter asset data in one or more of the following fields: Asset ID, Serial #, Asset #, or User Def. 3. Click OK to initiate the search and open the asset record. Searching for Assets You can search for assets from the Search pane in the Inventory module. Important Note: If a field has no data, it will display as Bold in the list of fields. To Find an Asset: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click on the Inventory icon). 2. Select your search criteria from the fields drop-down list in the Search pane (bottom left of the window). (View Screen Capture). 3. Enter the first few characters of the text in the selected field in the Text to find field. This will search for items that start with the characters you entered. 4. Click the Go button. This will filter the Assets list and display the search results. 93

5. To clear the filter and start another search, click the Reset Filter button and repeat steps 1-4 above. Organizing Workstation Items Organizing Workstation Items After your administrator creates an initial set of inventory items in the Components lookup table, you can add them to workstation records. Your initial point of access for the management of inventory items is the Items pane in any open workstation record. From the Items pane, you can open the Component Listing dialog and enter information unique to a particular item. Adding Inventory Items to Assets You can add an inventory item (from the Components list) with an asset (typically a user's workstation). This functionality works with the Purchasing module when an item is purchased and is ready to be received into inventory. To add an item to an asset: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click the asset you want to view or edit. The asset record opens and displays the General tab. 3. In the Items pane, click Add to open the Component Listing dialog (View Screen Capture). 94

4. In the Component Listing dialog, select the item you want to add to the workstation record. 5. Click Select to open the Item Information dialog (View Screen Capture). 6. Enter specific information unique to the new item. (Unique information includes serial numbers, expiration dates, and maintenance contracts.) 7. Click OK to assign it to the asset. Important Note: When you type in a serial number and tab or mouse out of the field, Track-It! checks for duplicate serial numbers in the Inventory records. To bypass this checking process, hold down the Control key while exiting the field. The system will not check for duplicates. Once you have created inventory items, they can be moved to other assets, modified, or deleted from inventory. 95

Adding New Items to Assets You can add a new item to the Components lookup table from the Edit Asset window. (This is enabled as long as your administrator has granted you the privilege of editing drop-down lists.) This privilege can significantly ease the burden of your administrator by allowing you to add new items to assets (typically workstations). Later, your administrator can go into the Components lookup table and provide additional details about the item. To Add a New item to an Asset: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click the asset record you want to view or edit. The asset opens and displays the General tab. 3. In the Items pane, click Add to the Component Listing dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Component Listing dialog, click New to open the Components dialog (View Screen Capture). 96

5. In the Components dialog, complete the Product Type field, the Product Description field, and as many other fields as possible with information about the new asset item. 6. Click OK to open the Item Information dialog (View Screen Capture). 97

7. In the Item Information dialog, record as much information as you can in every field and every tab. 8. Click OK to save the record of the new asset item. 9. Click Save to ensure that your work becomes a permanent part of the asset record Editing Inventory Items Track-It! audits can detect and identify anything installed at a workstation. Audits cannot, however, identify details such as purchase dates, warranties, and vendors. For this kind of detail in an item record, you need to open the workstation record and enter the information. Each item in the asset grid has a record of its own. This record is contained in the Item Information dialog. If you have administrative permission to open the Item Information dialog, you can enter item information. Your entry of item information can benefit your organization in two ways. First, you have less of a chance to lose critical information. Second, you can save your administrator some work. The item information you provide depends on the information you have and the actions you perform for the asset. For example, if you have the item s warranty, you should enter the warranty information. If you installed the item, you should record the date and time of the installation. To Add a New item to a Asset Record: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Items pane, click Edit to open the Item Information dialog. 3. In the Item Information dialog, record as much information as you can in every field and every tab. 4. Click OK to save the record of the new asset item. 5. Click Save to ensure that your work becomes a permanent part of the asset record. Important Note: You can access the Item Information dialog by right-clicking on the item and selecting Edit from the fly-out menu. Another way is to select the item and click Edit from the Items pane. Viewing and Changing Customized Item Information The Track-It! Administrator can define fields in the Item Information dialog to meet organizational needs. You ll find these data fields in the User-defined Fields pane of the Item Information dialog (View Screen Capture). User-defined fields offer many potential applications. Your administrator 98

could designate the user-defined fields for data that a Track-It! audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) cannot capture. Deleting Inventory Items Items added to the Tracked Items grid continue to appear after subsequent audits. This is true whether the audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) detects the item or not. If you no longer want to see an item associated with an asset, you should delete it and transfer it to unassigned equipment. To Delete an Item from the Asset Record: 1. In the Tracked Items grid, select the item you want to delete. 99

2. In the Items pane, select Delete. A Confirmation dialog appears to ask if you want to delete the item (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Confirmation box, click Yes if you still want to delete the item or No if you changed your mind. 4. Click Save to ensure that your work becomes a permanent part of the asset record. Important Notes: Items should be deleted only when they are removed from the company. If they are removed from a asset, but kept in storage, they should be transferred to Unassigned Equipment with the Transfer command. You can delete multiple items at a time by using the Ctrl or Shift keys. Holding the Shift key pressed while making selections allows you to select everything between the first selection and the second. Holding the Ctrl key allows you to select items individually. Transferring Items from Unassigned Equipment Track-It! ships with a single default asset in the system called Unassigned Equipment. You use Unassigned Equipment to track items not currently assigned to an asset (such as a workstation). The Unassigned Equipment is the only asset that you cannot delete. When a new item is purchased and received, Track-It! stores the record that pertains to that item in Unassigned Equipment. Sometime after you receive an item, you ll need to transfer it from Unassigned Equipment to its associated asset. For example, you might have to perform one of more of the following actions: Deliver the item to the workstation (or other asset) Install the item on the workstation Audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) the workstation Transfer the item from Unassigned Equipment to the workstation The last task in the list above is the transfer of items from Unassigned Equipment to the asset. Your job is not finished until you transfer the item record from Unassigned Equipment to an asset. 100

Regardless of any other actions you take, you must record the transfer in Track-It! so other technicians will know not to attempt the transfer of these items to other assets. Refer to Receiving All Items Simultaneously for complete instructions. To Transfer an Item from Unassigned Equipment: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory from the main menu (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click Unassigned Equipment. The Unassigned Equipment asset opens and displays the General tab. 3. In the Tracked Items grid, select the item or items you want to transfer. 4. In the Items pane, click Transfer to open the Asset Selector dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Asset Selector dialog, select the computer name or the asset ID of the receiving workstation. 6. Click Select to initiate the transfer. A Confirmation dialog appears to ask if you want to transfer the selected item. 7. In the Confirmation dialog, select Yes if you still want to complete the transfer or No if you changed your mind. Transferring Items Between Workstations 101

You can remove an item from one workstation (or other asset) and install it in another workstation (or other asset). One possible scenario for this kind of action is when someone moves to another workstation. To prevent confusion, you should record the transfer of resources in the asset records. To Transfer an Item from One Workstation to Another: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory from the main menu (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click the asset from which you want to transfer the item or items. The asset record opens and displays the General tab. 3. In the Tracked Items grid, select the asset item or items you want to transfer. Hold the Shift key while selecting to select multiple workstations in sequential order. Hold the CTRL key while selecting items out of order. 4. In the Items pane, click Transfer to open the Asset Selector dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Asset Selector dialog, select the computer name or the asset ID of the receiving asset. 6. Click OK to initiate the transfer. A Confirmation dialog appears to ask if you want to transfer the selected item. 7. In the Confirm dialog, select Yes if you still want to complete the transfer or No if you changed your mind. Organizing Workstation Users 102

Organizing Users and Assets In cases where multiple users take turns using one computer or other asset, you may want to associate that particular computer with the primary user of that machine (i.e., the person who is ultimately responsible for that machine). Associating a User with an Asset When new employees come into your organization, either you or another technician might be responsible for setting up their workstations or other assets. Users and assets are considered as separate entities. One user can be associated with many assets, but each asset can only be associated with one user, as illustrated in the diagram below. As a basic rule of thumb, users and assets are not automatically associated, unless you choose to prompt the user for information during the audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.). In cases where multiple users take turns using one asset, you may want to associate that particular asset with the primary user of that machine (i.e., the person who is ultimately responsible for that machine). To Associate a User with an asset: 1. From the Inventory module, double-click on any asset in the grid view. 2. On the General tab, select a user name from the drop-down list in the User Information pane. (View Screen Capture.) 103

You can also type the first few letters of the user s name in the drop-down list in the User Information pane. The drop-down list opens to reveal a maximum of 25 names starting with the letters you typed. To perform an advanced search for a user, click the Ellipse button to display the User Selector dialog and select a user. (View Screen Capture.) 3. The user that you selected is now associated with that asset. 4. Click the Save button to save your changes. Disassociating a User from an Asset Asset-user assignments persist until you disassociate them. When someone leaves the company or moves to another asset (workstation), you need to release the previously assigned resources. When a user is disassociated from an asset, nothing is lost but the link that relates them. The location, department, and contact information remain stored in Track-It! s database. To Disassociate a User from an Asset: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory from the main menu (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click the asset you want to disassociate from a user. The asset record opens and displays the General tab. 3. In Asset User pane, click Disassociate to break the asset-user association. Track-It! removes the user s name from the User Information pane and disassociates that user from the selected asset. 4. If you re ready to close the new workstation record, click Save. Editing User Information 104

If the user experiences a change in status or a life change, you need to ensure that the change is reflected in the user s record. Examples of status changes include promotions and relocations; examples of life changes include marriage and divorce, which might result in a name change. Another reason for editing a user s record is to correct misinformation. If the user s telephone number or e-mail address is incorrect, you should open the user s record and correct it. To Edit a User's Information from an Asset Record: 1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory from the main menu (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click the asset you want to edit. The asset record opens and displays the General tab. 3. In the User Information pane, click Edit to open the Edit User dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Edit User dialog, find the fields affected by the change or the error. 5. Update the information or make corrections as required. 6. Click OK to close the Edit User dialog and save the changes in the user s record. Generating Reports Printing Inventory Reports 105

You can use the Reports module to generate accurate reports of all your organization s enterprise assets, along with their service tags and other details. Track-It! also takes this process a few steps further by fully integrating with the Purchasing and Help Desk modules, and maintaining a complete history of all the changes that occur during an asset s lifecycle. You can also use these reports to troubleshoot problems while you are away from your desk. If you have an administrative role, you might be asked to customize reports. If so, you can find detailed information about custom reports in the Crystal Reports 9.0 User s Guide. The Crystal Reports Manual is a printable PDF file contained on the Track-It! CD. To Print an Inventory Report: 1. Select File Reports to open the Reports Listing. 2. In the Report Type pane, select Inventory. 3. In the Inventory report listing, double-click the type of report that you want to print. 4. Click OK to open the Track-It! Report interface. 5. In the Track-It! Report interface, click the Print icon (View Icon) at the top-left corner of the report to open the Print dialog (View Screen Capture). 6. In the Print dialog, select your print range and click OK. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. 106

Performing Specialized Tasks E-Mailing Computer Users While you are viewing an open asset record, you may need to ask the user a question or contact the person to provide information. If so, you can use the E-mail user command in the Actions pane to contact the user. To Send an E-Mail to the Computer User: 1. In the Actions pane, click the e-mail icon to open a new e-mail addressed to the computer user. 2. In the new e-mail, enter your message. 3. In the Subject line, enter a brief description of your inquiry or information. 4. Click Send to e-mail the computer user. Referencing Related Lookup Tables Depending on the security policies used in your organization, you may have administrative permission to view lookup tables. If so, you can view information about components and users from the Inventory module. This kind of information might prove helpful for completing workstation records. Click the hyperlink commands in the See Also pane to access these lookup tables. Track-It! Standard and Professional installations are limited to the two existing security policies (Default and Administrator) that are installed with the application. You cannot add security policies with this version. Customizing security policies is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Help Desk Help Desk Overview Help Desk Module Overview 107

Like most help desk technicians, you only have twenty-four hours in each day to accomplish everything. You can try to do everything as the requests pour in, but eventually, you must organize your schedule. Your service requests might come from several directions, including verbal requests, e-mail requests, and Web page requests. Before you provide service, you should know whether the request warrants your immediate attention. You should also know if other requests are pending or going into overdue status. You need a way to organize service requests so you can operate efficiently within your organization. The Help Desk module is your tool for organizing service requests. Each service request forms the basis for a work order. Work orders cover many issues, but they typically fall into the following categories: Problems Requests Questions Planned work Unplanned work In the Help Desk module, you can find out when a work order is due and how important it compared to others. You can also describe issues in detail, document your activities, and search for solutions. You can even delegate responsibilities to other technicians so the work order is completed correctly and on time. You will find that this chapter covers a large amount of information. Yet, you ll discover many tools in the Help Desk module that can simplify your work orders and bring them to a quick resolution. 108

Opening New Work Orders Opening New Work Orders When you start a new work order, you must perform the following procedures: Add the work order record to the Help Desk module Select a requestor Select a workstation Summarize the work order request Classify the work order issues Assign a technician to the work order Describe the request Track-It! provides several tools to enhance the communication of your work orders. You can spell check entries in text fields, such as Description and Resolution. You can also time stamp your entries to provide a chronological record of your work. When necessary, you can open external applications and attach files to your work order. A well-constructed work order provides a complete history of the work that has been done on a particular problem and may even expedite the job. Work Order Attachments are a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Adding a Work Order When customers call you to report a problem, Track-It! provides an organized way to record the details of the request. These details include information about the requestor, the asset, the work order issue, and your actions to resolve it. Work orders also provide a way to document the time you spent on the job, your charges, and the solutions you discovered for the problem. To Add a Work Order: 1. Select File Help Desk from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Help Desk icon). 2. In the Tasks pane of the Help Desk module, click Add work order to open a new work order record. Selecting Requestors You can select requestors for work orders through any one of the following methods: Selecting full names in the Search By field 109

Selecting employee IDs in the Search By field Selecting the requestor in the User Selector dialog To Select a Requestor by Full Name: 1. In the Requestor pane, click Full Name to select requestors by their Full Name or Employee ID to select requestors by their employee IDs (View Screen Capture). 2. In the Requestor pane, click the Search By drop-down list to open the list of requestors (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Search By drop-down list, select the name or employee ID to view the selected person s name, employee ID, title, e-mail address, department, and contact information (View Screen Capture). 4. When you re ready to close the work order, click Save. To Select a Requestor in the User Selector Dialog: 1. In the Requestor pane, click the Ellipses button (View Button) next to the Search By drop-down list to open the User Selector dialog (View Screen Capture). 110

2. In the User Selector dialog, scroll down until you find the requestor s name. 3. In the Full Name field, select the requestor s name. 4. Click Select to close the User Selector dialog and place the requestor s information in the Requestor pane. 5. When you re ready to close the work order, click Save. Important Notes: The Search By drop-down list displays a maximum of 25 requestors. Open the User Selector dialog to make a selection from all of the requestors. The User Selector dialog is an Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Selecting Contact Information Some requestors are constantly on the move. Occasionally, the requestor has more than one office or spends many days offsite. Administrative entries in the Users lookup table and the Locations lookup table populate the Call-back number field and the Location field (View Screen Capture). If you have permission, you can also add numbers and locations to these fields. Otherwise, you should see your administrator. 111

To Add the Requestor's Contact Information: 1. Click the Call-back number drop-down field to open a list of the requestor s telephone numbers. 2. In the Call-back number drop-down field, select the requestor s current telephone number (View Screen Capture) or enter the number the requestor can currently be reached at. 3. Click the Location drop-down list to open the list of locations. 4. From the Location drop-down list, select the requestor s current location (View Screen Capture). 5. When you re ready to close the work order, click Save. Selecting Assets The asset ID identifies the asset requiring assistance. Since a User can be assigned to multiple assets, this informs the technician exactly which asset to work on. 112

To Select an Asset in the Search By Field: 1. In the Asset pane, select Asset ID or Computer Name from the Asset ID drop-down list (View Screen Capture). 2. In the Asset pane, select the asset ID or computer name from the Search By drop-down list (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Search By drop-down list, select the asset ID or computer name to view asset ID, computer name, model, operating system, CPU information, and memory information (View Screen Capture). 4. When you re ready to close the work order, click Save. To Use the Asset Selector Dialog: 1. In the Asset pane, click the Ellipses button next to the Search By drop-down list to open the Asset Selector dialog (View Screen Capture). 2. In the Asset Selector dialog, scroll down until you find the requestor s name. 3. In the Computer Name field, select the asset s computer name. 4. Click Select to close the Asset Selector dialog and place the asset information in the Asset pane. 5. When you re ready to close the work order, click Save. 113

The Asset Selector dialog is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Summarizing the Work Order Issue The Tasks pane of the General tab provides an opportunity to describe the work order. By default, the Summary field is a required entry. This field is required because it gives other technicians and staff a quick view of the work order issue. To Summarize a Work Order: 1. In the Summary field, write a brief description of the work order issue. 2. When you re ready to close the work order, click Save. Classifying the Work Order Type The work order type you choose can break down into the following tier structure: Types for broad issues Subtypes for greater focus Categories for specificity Work order types usually address broad-scope issues, such as problems, requests, questions, planned work, and unplanned work. Work order subtypes provide more focus on the issue. For instance, the problems category can divide into hardware, software, network, and Internet. Categories provide yet another division of classification. Software problems could include applications, configuration settings, and operating systems. To Classify the Work Order Type: 1. In the Task pane, click the Type drop-down list and select the type that best describes the work order issue. 2. If the work order fits a work order subtype, click the Subtype drop-down list and select a subtype that further defines your work order. 3. If the work order fits a category, click the Category drop-down list and select the most appropriate work order category. 114

Subtypes and Categories are a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Prioritizing the Work Order Priorities alert you to the level of attention required for an outstanding work order. The Track-It! Administrator designs the priority structure based on the needs of your organization and its customers. Work order priorities include the following design factors: Description Resolution time Operating hours The description of the priority should indicate something about the work order s urgency. When you open a work order for the first time, look at the Priority field on the General tab. If your organization has a priority system in place, you will know whether you need to attend to a work order immediately or set it aside until you resolve more critical issues. In larger organizations, the Track-It! Administrator is responsible for designing and implementing a priority structure. In smaller companies, the Senior Technician might also be the Track-It! Administrator. Consequently, you will design and build priority levels. For complete instructions on the design and creation of work order priorities, refer to the Track-It! Administrator s Help System. To Classify the Work Order Priority: 1. In the Task pane, click the Priority drop-down list to open a list of predefined priorities. 2. In the Priority drop-down list, select the priority that applies to the work order issue. Important Notes: Your organization s operating hours can affect work order due dates. For example, the due date for a work order started just before close of business will shift to the appropriate time on the next business day. Some priorities, however, may override normal operating hours. Specifying Custom Work Order Details 115

Your organization might group work orders by its own set of details. Track-It! provides two lookup tables for classifying work orders to the unique needs of your workflow. As with other lookup tables, the options available in the drop-down list depend on settings made by your administrator. For example, your company may operate from units all over the country or overseas. Lookup #1 could provide options for local, off-site, and overseas. Lookup #2 could provide offices by location. To Classify the Work Order by Custom Details: 1. In the Task pane, click the Lookup #1 drop-down list to open a list of customized options that classify the work order according to your company s workflow. 2. In the Lookup #1 drop-down list, select the option that best describes your work order issue. 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 in the Lookup #2 drop-down list if it applies to your work order. Assigning Technicians to Work Orders The Work Order Type lookup table provides fields for designating default technicians in work order types, subtypes, and categories. You might not have to designate a technician for the work order if the Track-It! Administrator has designated default technicians. Every rule has an exception, however, so you should be ready to change the default technician or designate one if a default technician is not specified. To a Technician to a Work Order: 1. In the Task pane, click the Technician Assigned field to open a drop-down list of technicians in your organization. 2. In the drop-down list, select the technician most appropriate or available for the work order. Subtypes and Categories are a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Scheduling Assignments When you open a new work order, Track-It! automatically populates the Date Assigned field with the current date and time. Normally, you can keep the automatic assignment. Occasionally, however, you may need to assign an arbitrary date to suit an anticipated need. 116

To Schedule a Work Order Assignment Date: 1. In the Task pane, click the drop-down arrow of the Date Assigned field to open the flyout calendar (View Screen Capture). 2. In the fly-out calendar, navigate to the appropriate year and month. The fly-out calendar closes and displays the selected date in the Date Assigned field. Scheduling Due Dates If the work order is associated with an SLA (Service Level Agreement), the Date Due field automatically displays a date and time. SLAs define the work order window in days, hours, and minutes. If the work order is not closed within the time specified by the SLA, it becomes overdue and escalates to another technician. Another factor that can affect the due date (and time) is the operating hours of your business defined by your administrator. Occasionally, you must assign a due date to the work order. In such cases, your judgment and the nature of the request might have to serve as the basis for the due date. To Schedule a Work Order Due Date: 1. In the Task pane, click the drop-down arrow of the Date Due field to open the fly-out calendar (View Screen Capture). 2. In the fly-out calendar, navigate to the appropriate year and month and select the date. The fly-out calendar closes and displays the selected date in the Date Due field. 117

3. Important Note: The business operating hours defined by the Track It! Administrator can affect the due date (and time) of work orders. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Scheduling Assignment and Deadline Times You can also change the hour, minute, or half of day (meridian) of the Date Assigned field and the Due Date field. To Change Hours, Minutes, and Meridians: 1. In the Date Assigned field or Date Due field, click the hour to highlight the hour and toggle the small arrows to display the proper hour. 2. Click the minute to highlight the minute and toggle the small arrows, next to the large arrow, to display the proper minute. 3. Click the meridian to highlight AM (or PM) and toggle the small arrows, next to the large arrow, to display the proper meridian. 4. When you complete the Task pane fields, it should provide a preview of the work order issue, who needs to act, and how quickly it requires resolution (View Screen Capture). Another thing you will notice after you have entered the initial information of the work order is an information bar that displays the time remaining in days, hours, and minutes. Describing Work Order Details 118

The Description tab provides a plain text field for you to enter detailed work order information. In the Summary field, you should write a brief description of the work order issue. In the description, however, you can write a thorough description of the problem, request, or question. To Enter a Full Description of the Work Order Issue: 1. On the General tab, click the Description tab if it is not already displayed. 2. In the text field of the Description tab, enter a description of the problem (View Screen Capture). 3. When you re ready to close the work order, click Save. Time Stamping Text Entries You can annotate your entries with time stamps in the Description field and the Resolution field. A time stamp identifies the date, time, and author of an entry. Time stamps are useful in tracing events or problems over a period of a few days, months, or years. To Time Stamp an Entry: 1. Place your cursor in a blank space of the text field below the Description tab (or the Resolution tab). 2. Click F12 to place a time stamp in the text field (View Screen Capture). Spell-Checking Text Entries Another way to ensure the successful communication of your Description field and Resolution field entries is to use the Spell Check dialog. Instead of proof reading every word of every entry, you can use this tool to weed out most spelling errors before you close the work order and make it a permanent record. To Spell Check a Text Entry: 1. Place your cursor at the top, left corner of the Description field (or Resolution field). 2. Press F7 to open the Spell Check dialog (View Screen Capture). 119

3. Run through the spell check procedure for the entire text. After the spell check, an Information dialog appears to inform you that the spell check is complete. 4. In the Information dialog, click OK to close the dialog. Important Notes: The spell check cannot identify every type of spelling error. For example if you type "reel" when you mean "real," the Spell Check dialog will not identify it as a misspelling. Documenting the Resolution Sometime before you close a work order, you should write a description of your activities in the Resolution tab. This information will help you and others retrace your steps and it might provide valuable tips for other technicians handling similar issues. To Document the Work Order Resolution: 1. On the General tab of the work order, click the Resolution tab to open a plain-text editor (View Screen Capture). 2. In the text field, enter a complete description of your work order activities as they occur. You can time stamp each entry as you write it. 3. When you re ready to close the work order, click Save to make your resolution entry a permanent part of the work order record. Closing Work Orders 120

Closing Work Orders To close a work order, you must enter the completion date, the total number of hours you spent on it, and your charge. In many cases, you might not have the luxury of recording the closure of a work order as it occurs. In fact, you may have to document the closure of the work order after a few days have passed. In this case, you can open a fly-out calendar and select the day on which you completed your work. To Close a Work Order at the Time You Finish the Job: 1. On the Resolution tab, click Complete to place the current date in the Completed Date field. 2. In the Hours field, enter the time you spent on the work order. 3. If the Charge field is still empty, calculate your hourly rate by the number of hours you spent on the work order. If your hourly rate is entered in the Technicians lookup table, this step causes the price of your service to appear in the Charge field (View Screen Capture). To Close a Work Order Sometime After You Finish the Job: 1. On the Resolution tab, click the drop-down arrow of the Completed Date field to open the fly-out calendar (View Screen Capture). 2. In the fly-out calendar, navigate to the appropriate year and month and select the date. The fly-out calendar closes and displays the selected date in the Completed Date field (View Screen Capture). 121

Basic Work Order Management Opening and Editing an Existing Work Order Until you complete a work order, you will find it necessary to add and edit details to keep track of your progress. As you edit your work orders, you will provide critical information for others who may have to look at it. Your updates may prevent duplication of effort or similar problems. To Edit a Work Order: 1. Select File Help Desk from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Help Desk icon) to view the work order grid. 2. In the Tasks pane on the left side of the Help Desk module, click Edit work order. 3. Add or change details in the open work order as necessary. 4. Click Save to save your changes. Important Note: You can also right-click the Help Desk grid or type Ctrl+O to access the Edit work order command once your are in the Help Desk module. Deleting Work Orders Occasionally, you need to clean house to prevent clutter and improve system performance. When you delete old work order records, you will find less of a need for scrolling through the Help Desk grid. To Delete a Work Order: 1. Select File Help Desk from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Help Desk icon) to view the work order grid. 2. Select the work order you intend to delete. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Delete work order to prompt the Confirmation dialog. 122

4. In the Confirmation dialog, select Yes if you still want to delete the work order or No if you changed your mind. Important Note: CAUTION: You should discuss any plans to delete old work orders with your administrator before you implement them. Your organization may have policies for archiving closed work orders. Copying Work Orders You can also copy an existing work order to handle repetitive tasks like system maintenance. The new work order will duplicate the previous work order with one exception: it will receive a new work order number and clear the due date. To Copy a Work Order: 1. Select File Help Desk from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Help Desk icon) to view the work order grid. 2. Select the work order you want to copy. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Copy work order to open the Copy WO dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Copy WO dialog, specify the number of work order copies. 5. In the Enterprise Edition only, click the Copy Assignments checkbox if you want to include the assignments associated with the work order. 6. In the Enterprise Edition only, click the Copy Attachments checkbox if you want to include the work order attachments. 7. Click OK to create a copy of the work order. 8. Open the new work order(s) and edit it or them to meet your needs. 123

Important Notes: You can also right-click the Help Desk grid and select Copy WO to make a copy of the work order. Work order copies remain open until you complete them. Distributing assignments and work order attachments are Track-It! Enterprise only features. Distributing Work Order Assignments Distributing Work Order Assignments You might need help if you receive a complicated work order. Suppose, for example, you are asked to install a security system in a large office building. When you go to the job site, two or three technicians will go with you to provide their expertise. You are responsible for the completion of the work order, but the other technicians will handle specific assignments. The Assignments tab provides a way to track each technician s progress while you complete the work order. When you work with assignments in a work order, remember that: Your privileges establish your rights to manage assignments Work orders remain open until all assignments are complete Printed work order reports include assignments You should create a separate assignment for every technician You should create your own assignment Distributing assignments is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Next topic: Adding Assignments to Work Orders 124

Adding Assignments to Work Orders You should create a separate record for each technician assigned to a work order. You should even create your own assignment record, because every assignment counts toward the total time and charge. Work orders provide information from the larger perspective of a coordinating technician. Assignments provide the work order history from the focused perspective of individual technicians. To Add an Assignment to a Work Order: 1. In the Assignments pane, click Add an Assignment to open a new assignment record. 2. Complete the same fields in the new assignment that you complete in a new work order. 3. When you re ready to close the assignment, click Save to make it a permanent part of the work order record. Distributing assignments is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Next topic: Viewing the Assignments Grid Viewing the Assignments Grid The Assignments tab displays a grid of assignments in the same way that the Help Desk displays work orders. You can read assignment details in the Selected Assignment pane, immediately below the grid (View Screen Capture). 125

Distributing assignments is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Next topic: Editing Work Order Assignments Editing Work Order Assignments Until you complete an assignment, you will need to add and edit details to keep track of your progress. As you edit the assignment, you will provide critical information for others who may look at it. Additionally, your updates may prevent duplication of effort or similar problems. To Edit an Assignment: 1. Select File Help Desk from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Help Desk icon). 2. Select the work order that requires an assignment change. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit work order to open the General tab of the main work order view. 4. Click the Assignments tab and select the assignment that needs the changes. 5. In the Assignments pane, select Edit an Assignment to open the assignment record. 6. Enter the new information or make the changes necessary in the assignment record. 7. Click Save to retain the record of your changes to the assignment. Distributing assignments is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Next topic: Deleting Work Order Assignments Deleting Work Order Assignments During the course of troubleshooting a problem, you might decide to consolidate some assignments or discard others. You must delete these assignments so they will not interfere with the work order when you attempt to close it. To Delete an Assignment: 126

1. In the Assignments tab, select the assignment that you intend to delete. 2. In the Assignments pane, select Delete an Assignment to prompt a Confirmation dialog. 3. In the Confirmation dialog, select Yes if you still want to delete the assignment or No if you changed your mind. Distributing assignments is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Next topic: Closing Assignment-Based Work Orders Closing Assignment-Based Work Orders Before you close a work order that contains assignments, all technicians must complete their assignments. You must also complete your assignment. To Close an Assignment-Based Work Order: 1. In the Help Desk grid, select the assignment-based work order. 2. On the Resolution tab, click Complete to insert the current date in the Completed Date field. 3. Ensure that the total time of all involved technicians appears in the Hours field. This information will only be correct if all technicians enter their hours in their assignment records. 4. Ensure that the Charge field reflects the total cost of all involved technicians multiplied by their total time in the Hours field. If the Technicians lookup table contains each technician s rate, the total charge should appear automatically (View Screen Capture). 127

5. When you are finished making all other entries, click Save, under the See Items pane. The Confirmation dialog opens and asks if you want to close the work order (View Screen Capture). 6. Click Yes if you want to close the work order and all of its assignments or click No if you changed your mind. If you click Yes, the work order and its assignments become a permanent part of the work order history. Distributing assignments is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Next topic: Advanced Work Order Tasks Advanced Work Order Tasks Advanced Work Order Tasks The first half of this chapter explained how to open a work order, complete it, and document your actions until its resolution. This half covers some of the more advanced work order tasks, including: Providing customized information Viewing work order histories Conducting advanced work order searches Finding work order solutions 128

Adding work order solutions Opening external applications Attaching external files Providing Customized Information Each work order record provides a way to track issues common to many call centers. Yet, your organization may also need to track issues related to your particular industry or business. For example, if your company installs fire alarms, you could track the number of nuisance alarms or trouble conditions and their causes (View Screen Capture). Entering Information in the Alt. Fields Your administrator enters user data in the Users lookup table only one time. Afterwards, the requestor s information automatically appears in the Requestor pane of the General tab when you select the user s name. Important Note: You can also use the Alt. fields for point-in-time data that will only show up in the work order. For example, you can enter a temporary e-mail address in the Alt. E-mail Address field for a requestor that is away. Viewing Work Order Histories The History tab shows all of the requestor s previous work orders. Each time you save a work order, it becomes part of the work order history for that specific user. Quick access to that information can be useful for solving the current problem and helping you see trends in equipment problems or the user s training requirements. To Access a Work Order History: 1. In the open work order, click the History tab. 129

2. In the History grid, select a work order (View Screen Capture). 3. Read the Description field to see the work order issue. 4. Read the Resolution field to see if and how the issue was resolved. 5. Repeat steps 2 through 3 to view all of the work orders for the requestor. Conducting Advanced Work Order Searches The Help module also offers a keyword search feature for conducting Boolean searches from open work orders. Keywords searches apply to the work order text fields, such as Summary and Description. Every work order text field that contains the keyword(s) you enter will show up in the Advanced Search grid. To Conduct an Advanced Search with a Keyword: 1. In the work order record, click the Advanced Search tab (View Screen Capture). 2. In textbox 1), enter the first keyword of the search. 3. If you want to search for one or two other keywords simultaneously, select the radio button next to the Boolean operator that applies to your search. 4. In textboxes 2) and 3), enter the other keywords of your search. 5. Click Begin Search to cause every record that contains the keyword(s) appear in the grid. The Description pane and the Resolution pane also display any information present in the work order record. 130

Important Note: You can also conduct a keyword search by selecting Advanced Search from the Actions pane. Opening External Applications Your Track-It! Administrator might enable you to open external applications from work orders. If your organization supports software, for example, you might need to open the application quickly while you are talking to requestors. Instead of minimizing the work order or navigating through menus, you can start the application from the See Also pane. To Open an External Application from a Work Order: 1. Under the See Also pane, click the application hyperlink. Important Note: If you have the ability to open external applications, you will see icons and hyperlinks for the applications under the See Also pane. These hyperlinks are typically followed by the.exe file extension. Attaching External Files Your Track-It! Administrator might also enable you to attach external files to your work orders. If an electronic file contains information related to the project, for example, you could attach it to the work order. You might find file attachments useful if the project is complex and you do not have room to write down every instruction in the Description field. To Attach an External File to the Work Order: 1. On the General tab of the work order, click the Attachments tab. 2. In the Actions pane, click Attach a file to open the Attachment In Enterprise editions, you can attach supporting files to work orders by selecting Actions -> Insert Attachment. Once attached, files display on the Detail tab of the work order record. Attachments may be saved to disk or renamed, and they may be viewed with or without their associated file-type icons. dialog (View Screen Capture). 131

3. In the Attachment dialog, navigate to the directory, folder, and file that you intend to attach to the work order. 4. Click Open to place the file into the Attachments tab of your work order (View Screen Capture). Work Order Attachments are a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Solving Common Work Order Issues Solving Common Work Order Issues You and other technicians can record solutions to commonly experienced work order issues. You may encounter work order issues that present challenges to you and others. One way you can speed up the resolution to such problems is to record your solutions when you find them. You can also look for the solutions of other technicians who have tackled similar challenges. Accessing Work Order Issues To Access a Solution and Copy it to a Work Order: 1. In the Help Desk grid, double-click a work order to open its record. 2. In the See Also pane of the open work order, click Solutions. 3. In the Contents tab, expand the solution tree until you reach the topic or subtopic that applies to your work order. 132

Important Note: The work order solutions are also available from the Actions menu of the Help Desk module. Copying Solutions to Work Orders If you find an appropriate solution, you can perform the actions it describes and copy it to your work order. To Copy Solutions to a Work Order: 1. Select the solution that pertains to your work order. 2. Click the Copy to WO button to copy it to the Resolution field of the work order. 3. In your work order, enter the completion date and time in the Completed Date field. 4. Click Save to close the work order. Searching for Solutions As your knowledgebase grows to include many work order solutions, you might want to avoid hunting through the solution tree. You can get quicker results by using the search function to find a keyword that applies to your work order. To Find a Solution Quickly: 1. In the See Also pane, click Solutions. 2. In the Solutions to Work Orders interface, click the Search tab. 3. In the Search text box, enter the keyword to search. 4. Click the icon next to the search field to see the results of your search. 5. Select the solution that pertains to your work order. 6. Click the Copy to WO button to copy it to the Resolution field of the work order. 7. In your work order, enter the completion date and time in the Completed Date field. 8. Click Save, under the See Also pane, to close the work order. Creating Work Order Solutions If you find a solution to a problem, you can add it to your organization s knowledgebase to help other technicians resolve their work orders faster. 133

To Create a Solution from a Work Order: 1. In the See Also pane, click Solutions. 2. In the Contents tab, expand the solution tree until you reach the topic or subtopic that applies your work order. 3. If your solution is in a unique category, right-click the parent topic or sub-topic that applies to your work order to open the solution fly-out menu. 4. Click Add Topic or Add Sub-topic to add the appropriate topic level. 5. Right-click the topic or sub-topic that applies to your solution to open the Solution fly-out menu. 6. Click Add Solution to open the New Topic dialog (or click the Add Solution icon on the Solutions toolbar). 7. Click OK to save the new solution. Printing Work Order Solutions To avoid switching from one screen to another while working in the Help Desk module, you may find it helpful to print work order solutions. To Print a Work Order Solution: 1. In the solutions tree, select a solutions topic you want to print. 2. At the bottom of the Solutions interface, click Print. 3. In the upper-right corner of Track-It! Report, click the Print icon (View Icon). 4. In the Print dialog, select the range of pages and number of copies to print. 5. Click OK to print the Solutions topic. Previewing Track-It! Work Orders Previewing Track-It! Work Orders The Work Order Preview Pane (shown below) allows Track-It! administrators and technicians to quickly preview the work order number, summary, description, and resolution fields for a selected work order, without having to go through the steps to actually open that work order. This feature is useful when you re not sure exactly which work order you re looking for, or when you simply want to browse through a large number of work orders. (View Screen Capture) 134

The preview pane does not support editing capabilities. The selected work order must be opened in order to make any changes. Only the fields that have been populated in the selected work order are displayed. If the Summary, Description, or Resolution field is empty, the title of that field will be displayed in the preview pane with no contents. Positioning the Work Order Preview Pane If you choose to display the Work Order Preview Pane, it can be positioned at the top, bottom, left, or right (as shown below) of the work order grid. (View Screen Capture) 135

To Set the Position of the Preview Pane: 1. Open the Help Desk module. 2. Right-click on a work order in the grid view. 3. Select Preview Pane from the fly-out menu (View Screen Capture). 4. Select None, Top, Right, Bottom, or Left from the menu. A checkmark indicates the current selection. Track-It! retains the position of the preview pane as an attribute of the user s view. Resizing the Work Order Preview Pane The Work Order Preview Pane can be sized as desired by clicking (and holding) the edge of the frame and dragging it to the desired size. Track-It! retains the size of the preview pane as an attribute of the user s view. Using Hyperlinks in the Work Order Preview Pane If the Description and/or Resolution fields contain hyperlinks, the hyperlinks will be available in the preview pane. Clicking on a hyperlink (as shown in the example below) will launch a new window containing the contents of that link. (View Screen Capture) 136

Finding Work Order Information Finding Work Orders by Number As you populate your Help Desk, you might have to scroll through an increasing number of work orders to find the one that you want. When the number of work orders gets too large, you probably won t have enough time to hunt through them. If you know the number of your work order, you can completely bypass the need to scroll through the grid. To Find a Work Order by Number: 1. In the Tasks pane, click Find work order to open the Work Order Number dialog (View Screen Capture). 2. In the Work Order Find dialog, enter the number of the work order record. 137

3. Click OK to open the work order. Searching for Work Order Information The Search pane provides the ability to set the conditions of a work order search. Like other filters, it can simplify your access to specific work order records. Variants include text-based searches, number-based searches, and calendar-based searches (View Screen Capture). The object of your search determines which of the three search pane variants you should use. Since the Search pane is common to all modules, you can find information on its use in one place. Refer to Searching Database Records for complete instructions. Viewing Quick Statistics If you have a large number of work orders, you probably will not want to scroll through them to find out how many are overdue or pending. Even though you can find a summary of work orders on the Home Page, you may not want to leave the Help Desk module. With Quick Statistics, you don t have to go anywhere and you don t have to scroll and count. To View Quick Statistics: 1. In the status bar, click the Quick Stats icon to open the Quick Statistics dialog (View Screen Capture). 138

2. When you are finished viewing the statistics, click OK to close the dialog. Accessing Lookup Tables from the Help Desk Depending on the security policies used in your organization, you may have administrative permission to view lookup tables. If so, you can view information about technicians, users, and assets the Help Desk module. This kind of information might prove helpful for completing work orders. Click the hyperlink commands in the See Also pane to access these lookup tables. Track-It! Standard and Professional installations are limited to the two existing security policies (Default and Administrator) that are installed with the application. You cannot add security policies with this version. Customizing security policies is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Contacting Technicians Contacting Technicians Technicians move around constantly. At 8:00 AM, they might be in their cubicle. By 9:00 AM, they might be at the airport on their way out of the country. To accommodate their hectic schedules, technicians need the ability to communicate with the help desk through several different channels. The notification features of Track-It! allow you to send either detailed or short messages. 139

E-Mailing Technicians E-mail notifications send work order information to the technicians defined for that work order assignment. To E-Mail a Work Order Notification: 1. In the Help Desk, select the work order you want to send. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Notify technician to open the notification menu. 3. In the notification menu, select E-mail to open a new e-mail. 4. In the text field of the new e-mail, enter any additional information you want to send to the technician. 5. Click Send to send the e-mail. Important Notes: If the work order contains an attached file, the e-mail opens with the attached file. Large attachments can slow down e-mail buffers. Remove the attachment In Enterprise editions, you can attach supporting files to work orders by selecting Actions -> Insert Attachment. Once attached, files display on the Detail tab of the work order record. Attachments may be saved to disk or renamed, and they may be viewed with or without their associated file-type icons. if you think it will bog down the receiving e-mail handler. You can also type additional information in the e-mail before you send it, but the e-mail already contains fields from the work order, as defined by your administrator. Work Order Notifications are a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Work Order Attachments are a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Notifying Technicians Through SMS You may work with technicians over mobile phones that provide SMS (Short Message Service). With SMS, you can notify technicians of work order information through brief e-mails over their mobile phone or through an e-mail address. To Send an SMS Work Order Notification: 140

1. In the Help Desk, select the work order you want to send. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Notify technician to expose the notification menu. 3. In the notification menu, select SMS. 4. In the e-mail interface, click Send to send the message. Work Order Notifications are a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Alpha Paging Technicians Pager notifications enable you to notify technicians of work order or assignment information regardless of the time of day or their location. The page will include the work order number and text from the work order summary. To Send an Alpha Pager Work Order Notification: 1. In the Help Desk, select the work order you want to send. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Notify technician to expose the notification menu. 3. In the notification menu, select Pager to open the Send Pager Message dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Name drop-down list, click the name of the technician. 5. In the Pager ID text box type the technician s pager ID number. 6. Click OK to send the paged notification. 141

Work Order Notifications are a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Beeping Technicians Beeper notifications enable you to notify technicians of work order or assignment information regardless of the time of day or their location. The beeper will prompt the technician to call you back at the number you specify in the Beeper Message dialog. To Send a Work Order Notification Through a Beeper: 1. In the Help Desk, select the work order you want to send. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Notify technician to expose the notification menu. 3. In the notification menu, select Beeper to open the Send Beeper Message dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Name drop-down list, click the name of the technician. 5. In the Beeper text box type the technician s pager number if it is not already present. 6. In the Phone # to display on the beeper text box, type the phone number you want the technician to call. 7. Click OK to call the beeper. Work Order Notifications are a Track-It! Professional and 142

Enterprise only feature. Sending Network Messages You can use network messages with the regular multi-user license. Network messages use Send.exe on Novell Networks or Net Send on NT Networks and appear as a pop-up notification. To Send a Work Order Notification Through a Beeper: 1. In the Help Desk, select the work order you want to send. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Notify technician to expose the notification menu. 3. In the notification menu, select Network Message to open the Send Network Message dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. Select the Technicians radio button to notify a technician. 5. In the Name drop-down list, click the name of the technician. 6. Click Send to send the network message. Work Order Notifications are a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Working with the Requestor Knowing Your Requestors Within an open work order, you can find out about your requestors in two ways. 143

1. Click the Requestor Details command in the Actions pane to open the Edit User dialog, or 2. Click the Asset Details command in the Actions pane to open the workstation record. With this kind of information, you can better understand your requestor s needs. E-Mailing Requestors Requestors are not always in their office or at their desk. They might travel constantly or attend several meetings a day. Telephone calls are more convenient because you get quicker answers. If your requestors are busy people, however, they might be out of the office often. You could leave a message on their voice mail or you could e-mail them. The advantage of e-mailing your requestors is that Track-It! organizes all of the work order information for you. To E-Mail a Requestor: 1. In the Help Desk module, select the work order. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Edit work order. 3. In the Notify pane, click E-mail requestor to open a new e-mail addressed to the requestor. 4. In the new e-mail, type any additional information you want to send to the requestor. 5. Click Send. Taking Control of the Requestor's Computer As a busy technician, you do not have the time to visit every computer that has a problem. Track- It! offers a solution for this challenge: remote control. Through remote control, you can take over a computer and observe the user s actions in real time. You can also ask the user to watch as you perform actions on their computer from your console. Simultaneously, you can initiate a chat session to explain your actions to the requestor as you perform them. Remote control allows you to investigate problems and train users without leaving your station. You can initiate remote control of the requestor s computer from a work order by clicking Take control in the Actions pane. The following conditions must be met, however, for you to take control of a remote computer: Track-It! Remote must be enabled on the desktop of the requestor s computer. The requestor s asset record must include the asset s IP address. Asset information is primarily a function of the Inventory module. Track-It! Remote can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. 144

Printing Work Orders Printing Work Orders By printing work orders, you can share key information with people who do not have access to Track-It! For example, you might want to share work order details with senior management, who is typically concerned with broad issues. On the other hand, the information you possess through Track-It! can play a pivotal role in getting your point across when necessary. To Print a Work Order from the Tasks Pane: 1. In the Help Desk module, select the work order you want to print. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Print work order to open the Print Setup dialog. 3. In the Print Setup dialog, select your printer and any settings necessary for your circumstances. 4. Click OK to send the work order to the printer queue. If you have opened the work order, you do not have to return to the main view. You can print the work order from the Actions pane instead. To Print a Work Order from the Actions Pane: 1. In the Actions pane, click Print work order to open the Print Setup dialog. 2. In the Print Setup dialog, select your printer and any settings necessary for your circumstances. 3. Click OK to send the job to the printer queue. Important Note: Another feature of Track-It! is its relationship to Crystal Reports. You have several predefined and customized report options at your disposal. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. 145

Purchasing Purchasing Overview Purchasing Module Overview While the steps of a purchasing process may vary from one organization to another, the basic flow of information follows a familiar pattern, as illustrated in the diagram below. A user may call or e-mail the help desk to request a new component. The Track-It! technician enters the purchase order information, and seeks management approval to make the purchase. If management approves the purchase, the Track-It! technician forwards the purchase order to the vendor. When your company receives the component, four things happen: The accounting department pays the invoice You receive the component into Track-It! s inventory You assign the component to the requestor s asset (such as workstation) The requestor receives the ordered component By receiving the component, you tell Track-It! to move the component from the Purchasing module into the unassigned equipment category in the Inventory module. From there, you can assign the component to the appropriate user. Your role as a technician may include the placement or receipt of purchase orders. You need a way to search for vendors and components quickly because you receive constant service calls. Track-It! provides an effective solution for referencing every piece of information you need to start 146

purchase orders promptly. Instead of writing purchase order details on a piece of paper, you can enter them into a purchase order record. Instead of flipping through the yellow pages, you can select a component that already includes the vendor s contact information. Finally, Track It! helps you to estimate the entire cost of a purchase order by calculating the quantity and price of each item against total taxes, shipping costs, and price adjustments. Track-It! s Purchasing module provides online requisitioning, issuance, and tracking of purchase orders to external vendors. When submitting a purchase order, you can include notes along with the purchase order, such as information about similar products, details about special price quotes, or anything else that you want to include with the purchase order. Important Notes: If you have a license for the Software License Management module, once the software is recorded in the Purchasing module, Track-It! automatically populates the Software module with the names and number of licenses purchased. (See the Software Module Overview topic in the Inventory chapter). Managing Purchase Order Records Adding Purchase Orders Creating a new purchase order in Track-It! is as simple as selecting a vendor, adding items to your purchase order, and verifying the ship-to and bill-to information before submitting the order into the system. Selecting a Vendor In many organizations, the network administrator is responsible for making all IT-related purchases. Over time, your organization may have built a strong working relationship with some of these vendors and, perhaps, negotiated special pricing agreements. Additionally, your administrator may have entered contact and other information about these vendors in the Vendor lookup table. This information alerts you to preferred vendors for various types of purchases. To Confirm Vendor Information: 1. In the Order Information pane, click the Vendor Information field to open a drop-down list of vendors (View Screen Capture). 147

2. In the Vendor Information drop-down list, select the vendor that will handle the purchase order. This will populate the fields in the Vendor Information tab. 3. Click the Vendor Information tab to verify that the vendor s contact information is present (View Screen Capture). Important Note: If you do not see the vendor in the Vendor drop-down list, your administrator must add the vendor to the Vendors lookup table. If you have administrative permission, you can add the vendor s name to the drop-down list, but the vendor s contact information will not populate the Vendor Information tab. Adding Purchase Order Items In Track-It!, components (items) serve as a template for adding new items to the Inventory and Purchasing modules. Your administrator specifies key information for common items to save you 148

time when you add new items to assets and purchase orders. Items in the Components lookup table depend on your organization and its requirements. Examples include multimedia workstations for the Marketing department, CAD workstations for Mechanical Engineering, or QuickBooks for the Accounting department. In the Product Types lookup table your administrator can group components into categories such as software, hardware, supplies, furniture, etc. The product types you use may be broad or specific, but broader top-level product types are typically easier to use and can be more effective than narrower categories. To Add Items to Your Purchase Order: 1. In the Items pane, click Add to open the Component Listing dialog (View Screen Capture). 2. In the Component Listing dialog, select the item you intend to add to the purchase order record. 3. Click Select to close the Component Listing dialog and open the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog (View Screen Capture). 149

4. In the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog, enter any information available on the item in the Part No. field and the Order Details group. 5. Click OK to close the dialog and enter the item into the Items grid. 6. At the bottom of the See Also pane, click Save to add the item to your purchase order record. Important Note: The Ellipses button in the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog reopens the Component Listing dialog. If you want to select another component instead of the one listed in the Product field, click the Ellipses button. Verifying Ship-To and Bill-To Information Track-It! can be configured to automatically include default ship-to and bill-to addresses, apply the local tax rate in your area to all purchases, assign purchase order numbers, and notify you of overdue purchase orders (i.e., one or more components on that P.O. have not been received by the required date). User-definable fields can be modified to meet the specific requirements of your business. If this information has not been configured, ask your Track-It! Administrator for assistance, or refer to the Track-It! Administrator s Help System. Editing Purchase Orders After you have saved a purchase order and worked on other projects, you might receive new information on the purchase order. You might also find that some of the original information was incorrect. In either case, you can open the purchase order and modify it to reflect the latest information. In some cases, you may find it necessary to change vendors, add or remove items, or make other changes to a purchase order. Track-It! allows you to quickly and easily make these kinds of changes whenever necessary. To Edit Your Purchase Order: 1. In the Purchasing grid, select the purchase order you want to open and edit. 2. In the Tasks pane of the Purchasing module, click Edit purchase order to open the purchase order. 3. In the purchase order record, add the new information or correct any misinformation as necessary. 4. At the bottom of the See Also pane, click Save to ensure that your changes become a permanent part of the purchase order record. Copying Purchase Orders 150

You might notice that an individual, a department, or some other entity frequently submits purchase orders for the same item. If the frequency is high enough, you might consider using one purchase order as a template for all subsequent purchase orders for that item. In Track-It!, you can generate as many copies as you desire from a single purchase order. From then on, you can open the copies and modify them as necessary for the occasion. To Copy a Purchase Order: 1. In the Purchasing grid, select the purchase order you want to copy. 2. In the Tasks pane, click Copy purchase order to open the Copy PO dialog (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Copy PO dialog, enter the number of copies you want to generate from the original purchase order. 4. Click OK to prompt a progress indicator that will disappear before a new copy of the selected purchase order opens. 5. In the copy of the purchase order, enter any information available that distinguishes the copy from the original. 6. At the bottom of the See Also pane, click Save to make the purchase order copy a separate record in the Purchasing database. Deleting Purchase Orders As your purchase orders accumulate, you might find it desirable to clear some of the older records. This will clean up your computer memory and improve system performance. It can also improve Track-It! performance and simplify the job of searching for purchase orders. To Delete a Purchase Order: 1. In the Tasks pane of the Purchasing module, click Delete purchase order to prompt the Confirmation dialog. 2. In the Confirm dialog, click Yes if you still want to delete the purchase order record or No if you changed your mind (View Screen Capture). 151

Important Notes: You should discuss any plans to delete purchase order records with your administrator before you implement them. Your department might have a policy for the archiving of closed records. You should also avoid deleting open purchase orders, even if they are old, unless you have talked to your administrator about your intentions. Printing Purchase Orders You can print purchase orders for your records, for the requestor s records, or for the vendor s records. To Print a Purchase Order Record: 1. In the Tasks pane, click Print purchase order to open the Track-It! Report. 2. In Track-It! Report, view the layout of the purchase order record. 3. In the upper-left corner of Track-It! Report, click the Print icon (View Icon) to open the Print dialog. 4. In the Print dialog, specify the page range and the number of copies you want to print. 5. Click OK to send the purchase order report to the printer queue. Managing Purchase Order Items Receiving Purchase Order Items When you physically receive one or more items of a purchase order, you need to tell Track-It! to move the item(s) from the Purchasing module into the Unassigned Equipment category in the Inventory module. Receiving All Items Simultaneously 152

Some purchase orders include multiple items. Purchase orders are considered open until you complete the Date Received field of the Ordered Items tab. If you click Receive all items in the Actions pane, Track-It! populates the Date Received field with the current date. If you record your receipt of the items a few days after their arrival, you cannot use Receive all items. Instead, you must enter the date in the Date Received fly-out calendar. To Record the Receipt of All Items After the Fact: 1. In the Order Information pane, click the drop-down arrow of the Date Received field to open a fly-out calendar. 2. In the fly-out calendar, navigate to the month and year that you received the purchase order items. 3. In the fly-out calendar, select the day of the month that you received the purchase order items to close the fly-out calendar and record the chosen date in the Date Received field. 4. Under the See Also pane, click Save. An Information dialog appears to state that the items have been received in Unassigned Equipment. 5. In the Information dialog, click OK to close the dialog and transfer the purchase order to closed status. Receiving Items Individually You might also receive some items before others. If the purchase order does not include high priority items, you can wait until all items have arrived and then click Receive all items. You cannot afford to wait to receive every item, however, if the requestor needs some of them immediately. In this case, you must receive items individually. To Receive Items Individually: 1. In the Items grid, select the item record. 2. In the Items pane, click Edit to open the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog (View Screen Capture). 153

3. In the Quantity Received field, enter the number of items you received. 4. Click OK to close the dialog. 5. At the bottom of the See Also pane, click Save to prompt a Confirm dialog (View Screen Capture). 6. In the Confirm dialog, click Yes if you want to send the received items to Unassigned Equipment or No if you changed your mind. An Information dialog appears to state that the items have been received in Unassigned Equipment (View Screen Capture). 7. In the Information dialog, click OK to complete the transaction. Important Note: The Ellipses button in the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog reopens the Component Listing dialog. If you want to select another component instead of the one listed in the Product field, click the Ellipses button. Receiving Items in Separate Shipments 154

Suppose you open a purchase order to request 20 boxes of binder clips. You receive the first five boxes three days after you place the purchase order. You then record the first shipment in the Quantity Received field of the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog. When you save your changes to the purchase order record, you see a Confirm dialog with the following message: Do you want to create the newly received items in Unassigned Equipment? You click Yes. An Information dialog then tells you that 5 items have been received in Unassigned Equipment. A few days later, the last shipment of 15 boxes arrives. In the Quantity Received field, you enter 20 because you have now received all 20 boxes. When you save the record, however, the information dialog informs you that 15 items have been received (View Screen Capture). Unassigned Equipment compared the number you recorded in Quantity Received against the quantity already there. If you opened the Unassigned Equipment record, in the Inventory module, you would find 20 boxes of binder clips. Assigning Received Items as Supplies If the purchase order destination is a classroom or the company library, you should keep the received items out of Unassigned Equipment. No individual uses this kind of resource exclusively. In such cases, your administrator must develop a product type called Supplies and classify the item you are ordering under that product type. Supplies is a special product type that is handled different from all other product types. If you receive a component of the Supplies type, that component will not be sent to Unassigned Equipment in the Inventory module. The reason for this is to avoid a scenario such as ordering 500 boxes of staples, and having each box of staples appear as a separate entry in Unassigned Equipment. Important Note: Unless you have an administrative role, this is not your responsibility as a technician. For more information about assigning product types and components, refer to the Track-It! Administrator s Help System. Adding Inventory Items to Assets You can add an inventory item (from the Components list) with an asset (typically a user's workstation). This functionality works with the Purchasing module when an item is purchased and is ready to be received into inventory. To add an item to an asset: 155

1. If the Inventory module is not already open, select File Inventory (or click the Inventory icon). 2. In the Inventory grid, double-click the asset you want to view or edit. The asset record opens and displays the General tab. 3. In the Items pane, click Add to open the Component Listing dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Component Listing dialog, select the item you want to add to the workstation record. 5. Click Select to open the Item Information dialog (View Screen Capture). 156

6. Enter specific information unique to the new item. (Unique information includes serial numbers, expiration dates, and maintenance contracts.) 7. Click OK to assign it to the asset. Important Note: When you type in a serial number and tab or mouse out of the field, Track-It! checks for duplicate serial numbers in the Inventory records. To bypass this checking process, hold down the Control key while exiting the field. The system will not check for duplicates. Once you have created inventory items, they can be moved to other assets, modified, or deleted from inventory. Editing Items 157

As you receive more information about the item on order or a shipment of the item arrives, you should edit the Order Details group. You might also have to correct misinformation about the item. Track-It! allows you to go back and change details of the item in the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog. To Edit a Purchase Order Item: 1. In the Items grid, select the item you want to edit. 2. In the Items pane, click Edit to open the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog. 3. In the Edit Item for Purchase Order dialog, make the necessary changes. 4. Click OK to close the dialog and update the fields of the Totals pane. 5. Under the See Also pane, click Save to make the changes a permanent part of the item record and the purchase order record. Important Note: This procedure assumes that you are in the purchase order record and that the item already exists in the Items grid. Deleting Items Sometimes you must cancel items from a purchase order. The requestor may no longer need an item in the purchase order or the company may find a better vendor. If you do not delete a cancelled item, the purchase order remains in open status even after you have received all of requested items. To Delete an Item from a Purchase Order: 1. In the Items grid, select the item you want to edit. 2. In the Items pane, under Items, click Delete to prompt a Confirm dialog. 3. In the Confirm dialog, click Yes if you still want to delete the item or click No if you change your mind to remove the item from the grid. 4. At the bottom of the See Also pane, click Save to remove the item from the purchase order record permanently. Finding and Sending Purchase Order Information Finding Purchase Orders As your purchase order records accumulate, you probably will not want to scroll through the Purchasing grid to find a work order. You can use filtering options or the Search pane to reduce 158

the number of records on display. If you already know the purchase order number, however, you can also go directly to the record. To Find a Purchase Order Record: 1. In the Tasks pane of the Purchasing module, click Find purchase order to open the Purchase Order Find dialog (View Screen Capture). 2. In the Purchase Order Find dialog, enter the purchase order number that you want to view. 3. Click OK to open the purchase order record if the number you entered is a valid purchase order number. Viewing Related Lookup Tables The See Also pane provides the hyperlinks to the following lookup tables: Components Product Types Vendors These lookup tables provide much of the information that will populate your purchase order fields. Your ability to view, edit, and delete records in these lookup tables depends on your administrative privileges. If you lack administrative privileges, you must contact an administrator to add new components, product types, or vendors. If you have an administrative role, you can find complete instructions for the lookup tables in the Track-It! Administrator s Help System. Accessing Purchase Order Reports The Reports hyperlink in the See Also pane opens a fly-out report menu. In this menu, you can navigate to the Purchasing submenu and select a predefined purchasing report. You can also start a new report in Crystal Reports 9.0 from this menu or access the Purchasing report type list in the Report Listing. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only 159

feature. E-Mailing Purchase Order Requestors On occasion, you may have a question about the purchase order. You may want to know some details that the requestor left out, such as model numbers, brands, and quantity. Another reason for contacting requestors is to suggest better options for their needs. If the requestor is off site or in another building, you might not have time to talk to them personally. In such cases, you can e- mail the requestor directly from the Tasks pane. To Send an E-Mail to a Purchase Order Requestor: 1. In the Tasks pane of the Purchasing module, click E-mail requestor to open a new e- mail addressed to the requestor. 2. In the new e-mail, enter any information or question you need to communicate. 3. In the Subject line, provide a brief description of your information or question. 4. Click Send. Calling Vendors Even if a vendor is located close to your company, you may not have time to leave your company. Yet, sometimes it is good to talk to the vendor. E-mails are not always answered as quickly as a telephone call. Track-It! will call the number listed in the Phone field of the Vendor Information tab. To Call a Vendor: 1. In the Actions pane, click Call vendor to prompt an Information dialog that states, Pick up phone after dialing completes. 2. In the Information dialog, click OK. 3. Pick up the handset of your telephone and wait for the vendor to answer. Important Note: You must have a modem connection for the Call vendor command to work properly. Training Training Overview 160

Training Module Overview The primary goal of training is to prepare users for the successful implementation of their job responsibilities. Training must also be effective, timely, and cost efficient. Track-It! s Training module provides a systematic way to schedule and track course histories. The Training module allows you to set up in-house application training and external courses. You can also assign courses to users, as they complete them, to chronicle their course histories. Anyone who is a trainer in your organization can be added to the Technicians lookup table. In fact, Track-It! classifies instructors as technicians. If you have administrative rights to edit dropdown lists, anyone you designate as instructor automatically goes into the Technicians lookup table. You should share information from the Training module with instructors whether or not they are help desk technicians. Course histories and training records can sensitize instructors to the needs of their students. Training coordinators might also find course histories and training reports very useful. They can use this information to track a student s progress and the costs associated with their training. Training coordinators might even use this data to monitor enrollments and help instructors with class logistics. Track-It! combines the power of the following lookup tables to generate comprehensive course histories for your users: Users Courses Locations Technicians You can augment the power of the Training module by using it with the Library, Inventory, and Help Desk modules. The Library module tracks training materials, evaluation equipment, laptops, modems, or other loaned out materials. In the Inventory module, you can view a computer s configuration to assess its user s training needs. Finally, you can use the Help Desk module to look for work order patterns that suggest training needs. 161

Important Note: Do not enter the instructor s name in the Instructor field if you do not want it in the Technicians lookup table. Managing Course Information Reviewing Course Histories Each course history lists the contact information and every course record entered for a selected user. As a technician, you ll occasionally want to find out how much help your users need. If so, you can open their course histories and review the courses they have attended. Another reason to review a user s course history is to see if they have received training for recent software upgrades. To Review a User's Course History: 1. Select File Training from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Training icon). 2. Select the user s course history. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit course history to open the user s course history. 4. In the Course History pane, select the course you want to review. 5. In the Items pane, click Edit Course to open the Course Information dialog. 6. When you re finished reviewing the course information, click Cancel. 7. If you re ready to exit the course history, click Close. Important Note: You can also open course histories and individual courses by double-clicking them. Adding Courses Training coordinators usually enroll users in company courses. Nevertheless, you can work with them to identify user needs and track the courses they have taken. New users are likely to receive company orientation and intensive training on your product. For example, a robust software package, they might require a week of training. The same need might apply to sophisticated hardware or computerized systems. You can document any training received in the user s course history. 162

Adding Existing Courses You can document the attendance of existing courses in the user s course history. In some cases, you might also have to provide a few other details. The amount of data you enter depends on the amount of data entered by your administrator in the Course lookup table. To Add an Existing Course: 1. Select File Training from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Training icon). 2. Select the user s course history. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit course history to open the user s course history. 4. In the Items pane, click Add Course to open the Course Listing dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Course Description list, select the course you want to add to the user s course history and click OK. The Course Information dialog opens (View Screen Capture). 163

6. In the Course Information dialog, enter the details of the course and click OK. The Course Information dialog closes and adds the course to the user s course history. Important Note: You can also open a user s course history by double-clicking the user s record in the Training module. Adding New Courses Depending on how the Track-It! Administrator set up security, you might have permission to edit drop-down lists and add courses to the Course lookup table. If so, you can add any course you cannot find in the Course Listing dialog. The procedure for adding new courses is similar to the one for adding existing courses. The main difference is that you must complete the Course dialog. To Add a New Course: 1. Select File Training from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Training icon). 2. Select the user s course history. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit course history to open the user s course history. 4. In the Items pane, click Add Course to open the Course Listing dialog (View Screen Capture). 164

5. In the Course Listing dialog, click Insert to open the Course dialog (View Screen Capture). 6. In the Course dialog, make entries in every field that pertains to the new course and click OK. The Course Information dialog opens. 7. In the Course Information dialog, provide any remaining details about the course and click OK. The Course Information dialog closes and adds the course to the user s training history. Important Notes: 165

You can also open a course history by double-clicking the user s name. Instructors who are not authorized to use Track-It! do not belong in the Technicians lookup table. If you re adding an external course, you might not want to enter the instructor s name in the Instructor field. Otherwise, Track-It! automatically places the instructor s name in the Technicians lookup table. Alternatively, you can add the instructor s name to the Technicians lookup table, and have your administrator deny all privileges for that person. Editing Courses Any changes you make to a course record must take place in the Course Information dialog. Examples of information that could change include instructors, grades, dates, and locations. The reasons for changing these details include the correction of erroneous data or the addition of newly received information. To Edit a Course Record: 1. Select File Training from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Training icon). 2. In the Course History pane, select the course record. 3. In the Actions pane, under Items, select Edit Course. This step opens the Course Information dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Course Information dialog, make the necessary changes. 5. Click OK to close the Course Information dialog. Important Note: 166

You can also edit a course record by opening the Course lookup table from the Tasks pane, selecting the course, and clicking Edit. Deleting Courses Suppose a user cancelled or dropped a class. You should delete cancelled or dropped courses to let others know that the user might still require training. Another reason for deleting cancelled or dropped courses is to keep the financial record accurate. If a user does not attend a course, they have not incurred a training cost. To Delete a Course from the User's Course History: 1. Select File Training from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Training icon). 2. Select the user s course history. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit course history to open the user s course history. 4. In the Course History pane, select the course to be cancelled. 5. In the Items pane, click Delete Course. The Confirm dialog asks whether or not you want to delete the record (View Screen Capture). 6. In the Confirm dialog, click Yes if you want to delete the course record from the user s course history or No if you changed your mind. Important Note: You can also open a course history by double-clicking the user s name. Finding Course Information Referencing Related Lookup Tables The hyperlink commands in the See Also pane access the Course lookup table and Inventory module. Depending on your organization s security policies, you might have administrative permission to view lookup tables. If so, you can reference information about courses and workstations from the Training module. This kind of information can prove helpful for completing course histories. For example, you might compare user workstation configurations against the courses they have taken and the courses available. 167

Track-It! Standard and Professional installations are limited to the two existing security policies (Default and Administrator) that are installed with the application. You cannot add security policies with this version. Customizing security policies is a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Searching for Training Records The Search pane provides the ability to set the conditions of a course history search. Like other filters, it can simplify your access to a specific set of course histories (View Screen Capture). The Search pane is common to all Track-It! modules. Transmitting Course Information Printing Course Information You might occasionally receive requests for printed training information. Such requests might come from users, training personnel, upper management, and others. You do not have to research, write, or format a single detail, because Track-It! uses Crystal Reports 9.0 to build reports for you. Instead of diverting your energy on paperwork, you can use Track-It! to print and share key training information. In fact, you can print training information directly from the Training module. The three types of training information you can print are course histories, training reports, and graphs. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. 168

Printing Course Histories You can quickly generate a printed report of a user s course history. Among other details, the printed course history contains the following information: The user s identity The user s course history in your organization The total cost of training the user The purpose of printing course histories depends on your needs. You might receive requests from users to provide printed annotations of their total training costs. You might also have to provide training information to people in your organization. In either scenario, your only task is to send the course history to the printer queue and the requestor. To Print a Course History: 1. Select File Training from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Training icon). 2. Select the course history you want to print. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Print course history to open the Print dialog. 4. In the Print dialog, specify the page range and the number of copies you want to print (View Screen Capture). 5. Click OK to send the course history to the printer queue. Printing Training Reports The drop-down list of the Reports icon (View Icon) and the Reports hyperlink in the See Also pane can be used to open fly-out menus. In the fly-out menus, you can navigate to Training and select the following predefined reports: 169

Training by Course Training Courses by Instructor Training Courses by Student Training History Important Note: Another place to access training reports is in the Report Listing, which you can access by clicking the Reports icon or by selecting File Reports. Contacting Users In some organizations, every detail of a user s training background might not be documented. For example, courses the user took outside your organization might not show up in the course history. Consequently, you might have to contact the user to gain a better idea of their training needs. If so, you can e-mail or call the user directly from the Actions pane. E-Mailing Course Information to Users E-mail is particularly useful for users located across the country or overseas. It can save you the expense of a long-distance telephone call. To E-Mail Course Information to Users: 1. In the Actions pane, click E-mail user to open a new e-mail addressed to the user. 2. In the new e-mail, enter your message. 3. In the Subject line, enter a brief description of your inquiry or information. 4. Click Send to e-mail the user. Calling Users About Course Information Telephone calls are a convenience and sometimes a necessity. Users who are not online might be more accessible by telephone. If the user is away, you can leave a message in their voice mail. If you have a particularly urgent piece of information or question about training needs, you should call the user. To Call a User: 1. In the Actions pane, click Call user to prompt an Information dialog that states, Pick up phone after dialing completes (View Screen Capture). 170

2. In the Information dialog, click OK. 3. Pick up the handset of your telephone and wait for the user to answer. Library Library Overview Library Module Overview Track-It! s Library module is a repository for resources, such as hardware, software, equipment, books, and training materials. With the Library module, you can follow resources so they are available for reserve, check out, and use at an appointed time. With the Library module, you can effectively monitor resource expenditures while allowing a variety of people to borrow company property. When you check out an item, you should also have a way to distinguish it from similar assets in your company. Either you or another technician, therefore, might have to assign the item a serial number or a service tag. This is particularly important if you have identical items. For example, your library might include several loaner laptops of the same model type from the same manufacturer. Finally, you might want to know the replacement value of a library item if it is lost or damaged. If you store closed purchase order records, you can find the exact cost of a library asset in the Purchasing module. This is yet another way that Track-It! can simplify your job and save your company money. Managing Library Records Adding Library Items Adding Library Items Adding library items is not the same thing as checking items in and out of the library. When you add an item to the library, you are designating a company resource as a part of the loan system. When you check the item in or out, you are tracking the resource. To create a library record, you must add it to the Library module and associate it with an item. Adding an Existing Item to a Library Record Anyone with an administrative role in your organization can make received items available to the library loan system. To make an item available for loan: 171

Either you or your administrator must add the item to the Components lookup table in the Components dialog. Either you or another technician must assign a serial number or asset tag to the item. To Add an Existing Inventory Item to a Library Record: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. In the Tasks pane, click Add to open a new library record. A new library record opens and displays the Current tab. 3. Next to the Library Item drop-down list, click the Ellipses button to open the Component Listing dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Component Listing dialog, select the item you want to add to the library record. 5. Click Select. The selected item appears in the Library Item field. 6. If the Serial # field is blank, enter the serial number of the library item. 7. If the Asset # field is blank, enter any asset number your company might have assigned to the library item. 8. If you re ready to close the library record, click Save. Important Notes: You must have administrative permission to add a checkout item to the library. You can also select the item from the Library Item drop-down list by typing the first few letters of the item s name. A list drops down to display 25 items that start with the letters you entered. If you re not sure what to enter, however, the best thing to do is click the Ellipses button to the right of the Library Item drop-down list. To avoid confusing library items from similar company resources, you should assign them a serial number or an asset tag. Track-It! audits automatically assign a serial number and an asset number to anything it can scan. 172

Adding a New Item to a Library Record Your administrator may have assigned you the privilege of editing drop-down fields. This privilege can ease the burden of your administrator significantly by allowing you to add new items to the Inventory module. If necessary, your administrator can open the Components lookup table later and enter additional item details. To Add a New Item to a Library Record: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. Next to the Library Item drop-down list, click the Ellipses button to open the Component Listing dialog (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Component Listing dialog, click New to open the Components dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Components dialog, enter Supplies in the Product Type field. 5. Complete the Product Description field and as many other fields as possible with information about the new Inventory item. 173

6. Click OK to close the Components dialog. The name of the new item appears in the Library Item field. 7. In the Serial # field, enter the serial number of the library item. 8. In the Asset # field, enter any asset number your company might have assigned to the library item. 9. If you re ready to close the library record, click Save. Important Note: This procedure assumes that you have already opened a new library record. Viewing and Editing Library Records Viewing and Editing Library Records For many reasons, you might need to open and edit a library record. Perhaps you need to adjust a due date, correct an erroneous serial number, or record some comments about the loan item. To Edit a Library Record: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. Select the library record you intend to view or change. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit item to open the library record. 4. In the library record, make the necessary changes. 5. If you re finished editing the library record, click Save. Commenting on a Loaned Library Item You might record comments to describe the details of an overdue item. You can describe your attempts to contact the person who has the item or enter explanations given for keeping the item. Another reason to record comments is to document damage to an item. Information fields provide a quick summary of details. The Comments field is used to explain details. Spell-Checking Comments You can check your work in the library record by clicking the Check spelling command in the Actions pane. Track-It! s Spell Check dialog runs like other Windows-based spell checks, making it convenient and easy to use. Deleting Library Records 174

Deleting Library Records Occasionally, you need to clear a database of records. If old records are piling up and slowing down Track-It! s performance, you might consider deleting older records. To Delete a Library Record: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. Select the item you intend to delete. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Delete item. This step prompts the Confirm dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Confirm dialog, click Yes if you still want to delete the record or click No if you changed your mind. Important Note: Check with your administrator before you delete anything in the Library module. Your department may have a policy for the maintenance of older records. Tracking Library Items Tracking Library items Track-It! provides a systematic way to monitor loaned company resources. Such items might include books, videos, evaluation software, laptop computers, or other resources. The procedure for adding, deleting, and modifying library items is similar to other Track-It! modules. Checking Out a Library Item To Check Out a Library Item: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. Select the library item you intend to check out. 175

3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit item to open the library record. The record opens and displays the Current tab. 4. In the Library User pane, click the Ellipses button next to the User drop-down list to open the User Selector dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the User Selector dialog, select the person who is requesting the library loan. The following changes occur on the Current tab: a. The current date appears in the Date Checked-Out field b. The Status field toggles to Out c. The rest of the user s information populates the fields of the Library User pane if it is available in the Users lookup table. 6. In the Due Date field, click the drop-down arrow to open a fly-out calendar (View Screen Capture). 7. In the fly-out calendar, select the due date. 8. If you re finished editing the library record, click Save. 176

Important Notes: You can also enter the check-out date in the fly-out calendar of the Date Checked Out field. You can also click Check-Out Item, in the Actions pane, to enter the current date in the Date Checked-Out field. If you want to enter an arbitrary check-out date, you can open the fly-out calendar and enter any date. Checking In a Library Item To Check In a Library Item: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. Select the library item you intend to check in. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit item to open the library record. 4. In the Actions pane, click Check-In Item. The Status field toggles to display In. 5. If you re finished editing the library record, click Save. Extending Due Dates To Extend the Due Date of a Library Item: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. Select the library item that is due or overdue. 3. In the Tasks pane, click Edit item to open the library record. 4. In the Due Date field, click the drop-down arrow to open a fly-out calendar. 5. In the fly-out calendar, select the extension due date. 6. If you re finished editing the library record, click Save. Finding Related Information Referencing Related Lookup Tables Depending on your organization s security policies, you may have administrative permission to view the lookup tables. If so, you can reference information about users from the Library module. This kind of information might prove helpful for completing library records. Click the hyperlink command in the See Also pane to access the Users lookup table. Track-It! Standard and 177

Professional installations are limited to the two existing security policies (Default and Administrator) that are installed with the application. You cannot add security policies with this version. Customizing security policies is a Track- It! Enterprise only feature. Searching for Library Records The Search pane provides the ability to set the conditions of a library record search. Like other filters, it can simplify your access to a specific set of library records. Variants include text-based searches, number-based searches, and calendar-based searches (View Screen Capture). The object of your search determines which of the three Search pane variants you should use. The Search pane is common to all modules. Viewing the History of a Library Item You can view the entire history of a library item. Library histories can help you to understand how useful an item is within your company. For example, your company may invest more in a resource that exhibits frequent use by many employees. Another way to use the library item s history is to track its use by individuals, departments, and locations. To View the History of a Library Item: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. Select the library record you want to view. 178

3. In the Tasks pane, select Edit item to open the library record. The record opens and displays the Current tab. 4. Click the History tab to view the library item s checkout history. 5. At the bottom of the Actions pane, click Cancel to close the library record. Printing Library Reports Printing Library Reports You can access library reports through the following paths: File Reports Report Type Library Task Bar Reports Library See Also Reports Library From any path, you can select a library report that meets your needs. To Open and Print a Library Report: 1. Select File Library from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Library icon). 2. In the library report list, double-click or select the type of report you want to print. Track-It! Report opens and displays the report you requested. 3. In the upper, left-hand corner of the Track-It! Report, click the Print icon (View Icon) to open the Print dialog (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Print dialog, select the print range and the number of copies you want to print. 5. Click OK to send the print job to the printer queue. Important Note: 179

Another feature of Track-It! is its association with Crystal Reports. You have several predefined and customized report options at your disposal. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Reports Reports Overview Report Module Overview When you open Track-It! s Report Listing, you can choose from dozens of predefined reports or develop customized reports. The predefined reports are populated by the Track-It! database and formatted in a Crystal Reports 9.0 interface called Track-It! Report. Through Track-It! Report, you can view and print reports or report sections. From any module, you can access relevant, predefined reports that cover every piece of information you need to convey. Instead of spending hours on researching, typing, and formatting a report, you can use Track-It! Report to generate reports in minutes. Better yet, you can export your reports into other file formats to make them available to anyone who does not have access to Track-It! or Crystal Reports 9.0. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Viewing and Printing Reports Opening Report Menus You can access reports through the following paths (View Screen Capture): 180

File Reports (from any module) Task Bar Reports (from any module) See Also Reports (from any module) To Open a Report from the Report Type Pane: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 2. Click the center of the Reports icon to open the Report Listing (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Report Type pane, click the radio button of the module or report type you want to open. The Report Listing displays the predefined reports of the module or report type you selected (View Screen Capture). 4. In the Report Listing, double-click the report you want to open. In some cases, the Enter Parameter Values dialog appears (View Screen Capture). 181

5. If the Enter Parameter Values dialog opens, enter the parameters requested to designate the report range. 6. Click OK to open the report. The Track-It! Report opens to display the selected report (View Screen Capture). Important Note: You can double-click a report to open it or select the report and click Preview report in the Tasks pane. Viewing Isolated Sections of a Report A report that draws upon a rich database might display large amounts of information. Track-It! Reports are very well organized and easy to view. Yet, you might not want to scroll through a report or flip through its pages to view the information you seek. If you run into a situation like this, you can view isolated sections of the report. To View an Isolated Section of a Report: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 182

2. In the toolbar, click the Toggle Group Tree icon (View Icon) to open the group tree pane (View Screen Capture). 3. In the group tree pane, expand the group tree to view the hierarchical structure of the report (View Screen Capture). 4. In the expanded tree, click the branch that represents the group you want to view. The report displays the exact section you choose (View Screen Capture). 5. If you want to isolate a report section, hold your cursor over the section header until it takes the form of a looking glass. 6. When your cursor takes the shape of a looking glass, double-click the section header. The report now displays only the information under the header (View Screen Capture). 183

Printing Reports Sometimes you need to make a report available offline. For example, you might have to leave your desk to troubleshoot a problem at a workstation. In this case, a printed workstation report could provide valuable clues while you look for the problem. You might also have to provide a printed report of work orders, purchase orders, or workstation records. You can print any report directly from Track-It! Report. To Print One or More Pages of a Report: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 2. In the toolbar, click the Print icon (View Icon) to open the Print dialog (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Print dialog, select the page range and the number of report copies you want to print. 4. Click OK to send the report to the printer queue. Refreshing the Full Display If you isolate a section of the report, you can go back to the first page of the full view by clicking the Refresh icon (View Icon). This might be particularly useful if you want to print several isolated sections of a report. You can go to an isolated section of the report, print it, and click the Refresh icon. Then, you can go to the next isolated report section and print it. 184

Navigating Report Pages In the middle of the Track-It! Report toolbar, you will find a page-navigation command group. This group identifies the currently displayed page out of the total number of report pages. Report Navigational Buttons The command functions of the group include the following: Button Description Go to First Page Go to Previous Page Go to Next Page Go to Last Page Stop Loading Searching for Report Details A report that draws upon a rich database might display large amounts of information. Track-It! Reports are very well organized and easy to view. Yet, you might not want to scroll through a report or flip through its pages to view the information you seek. If you want to find a keyword, you can use the Search command to find the precise location of specific information. 185

To Find Data Through a Keyword Search: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 2. Click the Search icon (View Icon) to open the Search dialog. 3. In the Find what field, enter the keyword of your search. 4. Click Find Next to begin the search. If the keyword appears anywhere in the report, the search command highlights it. Managing Reports Copying Reports Copying Reports Reporting can be a repetitive task. In some cases, you must create a weekly report. In other cases, you might have to create variants of a report design for multiple customers. Rather than building the report several times, you can make an exact copy of a report from the Tasks pane in the Report Listing. To Copy a Report: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 2. In the Report Type pane, click the radio button of the module or report type you want to copy. The Report Listing displays the predefined reports of the module or report type you selected. 3. In the Report Listing, select the name of the report you want to copy. 4. In the Tasks pane, click Copy report to open the Copy Report dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Copy Report dialog, type a new name for the report copy. If you keep the original name, it appears with the copy number in parenthesis. For example, Component Types with Quantity becomes Components with Quantity (1). 186

6. Click OK to generate the copy of the report. The copied report moves into the Custom type report listing. Renaming Reports Renaming Copies of Predefined Reports You can copy a predefined report and rename it to suit your organizational needs. For example, you might adopt the contents of a predefined report but change its title to fit into an existing reporting structure. Another reason to rename a predefined report is to reflect different dates and purposes for identical reports. The Report Listing is very flexible when it comes to changing report names. To Rename a Predefined Report: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 2. In the Report Type pane, select the radio button for the type of report you want to rename. The Report Listing displays the reports for the listing of your choice. 3. In the Report Listing, select the name of the report you want to rename. 4. In the Tasks pane, click Copy report to open the Copy Report dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Copy Report dialog, type the new name for the report. If you keep the original name, it appears with the copy number in parenthesis. For example, Component Types with Quantity becomes Components with Quantity (1). 6. Click OK. The new copy of the report moves to the Custom type report listing under its new name. Important Note: You cannot rename predefined reports. If you want to rename a predefined report, you must copy it and rename the copy. Renaming Copied and Customized Reports 187

After you copy a report, you might have several reasons for renaming it. Maybe you want a title more specific to your audience or purpose. Perhaps you want a title that reflects a date or a revision. In Track-It!, you can rename copied reports and develop any kind of naming scheme that fits your organization. To Rename a Predefined Report: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 2. In the Report Type pane, select the Custom radio button to open the custom report listing. 3. In the Custom report listing, select the name of the report you want to rename. 4. In the Tasks pane, click Rename report to open the Rename Report dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Rename Report dialog, type the new name for the report. 6. Click OK. The new copy of the report moves to the Custom type report listing under its new name. Creating and Editing Reports Creating and Editing Reports The predefined reports available to you in Track-It! provide several ways to convey critical information. Yet, you may need to customize existing reports or create new ones. Report customization actually takes place in Crystal Reports 9.0. The Tasks pane, in the Report Listing, provides two commands that enable you to access Crystal Reports 9.0 for customizing reports: Edit report design and Create new report. You can also start a new report by selecting New Report in the Reports fly-out menu. Crystal Reports is a popular tool for creating reports and you can find numerous resources to master report writing techniques. Consequently, this manual does not provide instructions for creating custom Crystal Reports. The sections below provide pointers for getting help with Crystal Reports 9.0. To Rename a Predefined Report: 188

1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar or click the Reports icon (View Icon). 2. In the Report Type pane, select the Custom radio button to open the custom report listing. 3. In the Custom report listing, select the name of the report you want to rename. 4. In the Tasks pane, click Rename report to open the Rename Report dialog (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Rename Report dialog, type the new name for the report. 6. Click OK. The new copy of the report moves to the Custom type report listing under its new name.. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Crystal Reports Manuals The Enterprise version of Track-It! includes a printable electronic PDF of the Crystal Reports 9.0 User s Guide. If you do not have the Crystal Reports manual, you can purchase it from Business Objects SA or from Numara Software, Inc. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Crystal Reports Web-Based Resources 189

Several Web sites provide assistance with Crystal Reports 9.0. You can visit http://support.crystaldecisions.com/samples/ to view Crystal Report samples. Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. The following sites offer online resources like discussion groups and knowledge bases: http://support.crystaldecisions.com/library/overview.asp http://www.crystaluser.com/ The following sites offer training options for Crystal Reports 9.0: http://www.trackit.com/training.asp http://www.crystaldecisions.com/services/ http://www.hammerman.com/ http://www.fastplanet.com/ http://www.bridgebuilder.com/ Exporting Reports Exporting Reports From Track-It! Report, you can export to a variety of file formats and destinations. If an associate asks you to PDF (Portable Document File) a workstation report, for example, you can do it right away. You can export your reports to the following formats: Acrobat (PDF) Crystal Reports (RPT) HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language, 3.2 and 4.0) Microsoft Excel Microsoft Word ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) Record Style Report Definition Rich Text Format Separated Values (CSV) Tab Separated Tex 190

Text files XML (Extensive Markup Language) You can export your reports to the following destinations: Applications Disk files Exchange folders Lotus Domino Lotus Mail MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) The procedure for exporting reports to file types and directories is different for each format. Consequently, this help system only explains exporting a report to a PDF. Since Track-It! Report is based on Crystal Reports, you can find complete export instructions in the Crystal Reports 9.0 User s Guide. The Crystal Reports Manual is a printable PDF file contained on the Track-It! CD. To Export a Report to a PDF File: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 2. Click the Export icon (View Icon) to open the Export dialog (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Format drop-down list, select Acrobat Format (PDF). 4. Click OK to begin the export process. The Export Options dialog prompts you to select the page range of the export (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Export Options dialog, select the page range you want to export and click OK. The Choose export file dialog opens (View Screen Capture). 191

6. In the Choose export file dialog, navigate to the destination directory. 7. In the File name field, enter a descriptive name for the report. 8. Click Save. The Exporting Records dialog appears (View Screen Capture). Creating customized Crystal Reports is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Deleting Reports Deleting Reports Occasionally, you need to clear old reports from the Custom report listing. An efficient report listing reduces your work in finding reports. No one wants to sift through old reports to find relevant ones. Track-It! provides a way to delete customized or copied reports. To Delete Copied and Customized Reports: 1. Select File Reports from Track-It! s main menu bar (or click the Reports icon). 2. In the Report Type pane, select the Custom radio button to open the Custom report listing. 192

3. In the Custom report listing, select the name of the report you want to delete. 4. In the Tasks pane, click Delete report. A Confirm dialog prompts you to decide whether or not you want to delete the report (View Screen Capture). 5. In the Confirm dialog, click Yes if you still want to delete the report or No if you changed your mind. The report will be permanently removed from the Custom report listing. Important Note: Check with your administrator before you delete any report. Your organization may have an archival policy for record maintenance. You may also need the report for a future project. Troubleshooting Disconnecting a Track-It! Session Disconnecting a Track-It! Session The purpose of disconnecting a Track-It! session is to improve a technician s (and/or administrator s) experience when accessing Track-It! from two or more workstations. Through the course of a typical workday, Track-It! technicians may find themselves troubleshooting problems at several end-users workstations. Under ideal conditions, a technician would remember to log out of Track-It! on one machine before attempting to login to Track-It! using another machine, but this is more often the exception rather than the rule. In most cases, technicians find themselves unable to access Track-It! because they re still logged in through another machine. Technicians might have to walk back to their desks to log out of Track-It!, or they might use another account (and consequently, another license) to log into Track-It! from the end-user s workstation. To alleviate this problem, Track-It! allows technicians to disconnect their current session and login through another machine. However, you should keep in mind that any records that may be have been opened and locked by a technician under the disconnected session will be unlocked, allowing them to be accessed by other technicians. Also, any data that has not been saved in the current session will be lost when that particular session is disconnected. Disconnecting Your Current Track-It! Session to Start a New Session If you attempt to use the same credentials to concurrently login to Track-It! through more than one workstation, you will receive a warning dialog. The name of the Track-It! workstation that 193

you re currently logged into will be displayed, and you ll be given an opportunity to disconnect that session and login through the new machine. Alternatively, you may choose to maintain your existing session and cancel the new login attempt. To Disconnect Your Current Track-It! Session: 1. Launch Track-It! and enter your login credentials (must be administrator or technician) (View Screen Capture). 2. If you re already logged into Track-It! from another workstation, the following dialog box appears (View Screen Capture). 3. Click the OK button to disconnect your current session. The following confirmation dialog box appears (View Screen Capture). 194

4. Click the OK button to confirm that you want to disconnect your current Track-It! session. 5. You should now be logged into Track-It! from the new workstation. Important Notes: WARNING: If you choose to disconnect your Track-It! session, any data that has not been saved in that session will be lost when the session is disconnected. The dialogs contained in the links of the procedure above appear on the second (new) workstation that you re using to login to Track-It! Another dialog is displayed on the first workstation that you used to login to Track-It! This dialog indicates that your Track-It! session has been reset and you must restart Track-It! (on that machine) if you want to continue. Viewing/Changing the Status of a Technician's Session Track-It! allows you to view the status of a technician s session, determine whether that account is currently in use, and disconnect the session if desired. If the selected technician account is in use, the name of the client computer is displayed adjacent to the Locked checkbox. This information is useful in determining if the current session is still valid before you choose to disconnect (unlock) it. To View/Change the Status of a Technician's Session: 1. Select File > Lookup Tables > Technicians from Track-It! s main menu. 2. Double-click on a technician in the grid to view the Technician Information tab. 3. If the selected account is currently in use, the Locked checkbox will be enabled. To disconnect the account, click the checkbox to remove the lock (View Screen Capture). 195

4. Click the OK button to save your changes and exit this dialog. Important Notes: The Account Status section at the bottom of the dialog box shows the status (in use or not in use) of the selected technician s account. If the selected account is currently in use, the Locked checkbox will be enabled. WARNING: You cannot unlock an account if it is the same account that you are currently using to perform the unlock operation. Keyboard Shortcuts Function Key Shortcuts Within Track-It!, you can use your keyboard to navigate through records, open dialogs and menus. This will speed up your pace in handling work orders and other types of records. The availability and the functions of the Ctrl key shortcuts are context sensitive. 196

Track-It! Keyboard Shortcuts Function Key Description F1 Shift + F2 F3 If Track-It! can t complete an audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) of a workstation, make sure that the disk is not full (i.e., has at least 100K available). Opens the Label Editor (See the Track-It! Administrator s Guide for instructions on using the Label Editor). This function only works in open records: work orders, purchase orders, workstation records, training records, and library records. In addition, you must place your cursor over a field name. Search. This function only works in the module s main view. F5 Refresh. This function only works in the module s main view. F7 Starts the Spell Check dialog. This function only works in text-edit fields such as Description and Resolution. F10 Executes the Alt command. F12 Time stamps entries in description and resolution fields. This function only works in text-edit fields such as Description and Resolution. 197

CTRL Key Shortcuts Track-It! CTRL Key Shortcuts CTRL Key Description Ctrl + D Deletes any selected record. Ctrl+F (Help Desk) Opens the Find Work Order Number dialog in the Help Desk module. Ctrl+F (Inventory) Opens the Asset Find dialog. Ctrl+F (Purchasing) Opens the Purchase Order Find dialog. Ctrl+N Opens a new record. Ctrl+O Opens an existing record. Ctrl+P Opens Track-It! Report for viewing and printing reports and graphs. Ctrl + F3 Opens the Advanced Search dialog. 198

Navigational Key Shortcuts Track-It! Navigational Key Shortcuts Key Description Tab Moves to the next field. Shift+Tab Moves to the previous field. Alt Opens menus in the menu bar. Down Arrow Opens drop-down lists and menus or scrolls down a grid. Up Arrow Moves up one menu item or scrolls up a grid. Left Arrow Moves left one menu. Right Arrow Moves right one menu. 199

Esc Abandons a menu or command. Page Up Jumps to the top grid record displayed on the screen. Page Down Jumps to the bottom grid record displayed on the screen. Home Moves to the beginning of a field. End Moves to the end of a field. Setting Grid Views Setting Grid Views Overview Setting Grid Views Overview If your organization just installed Track-It! for the first time, you might not see any records in the modules. In fact, you ll see the tools, but the large area of columns and rows in each module will be empty. These columns and rows are known as the grid view. As with other relational databases, columns represent database fields. Rows represent individual database records. After you ve populated the grid with many records, the task of finding specific records will become increasingly difficult. No one wants to scroll row-after-row to find a single record or a set of records that match the same criteria. Another thing that can become annoying is to search for a record in an apparently random list. In Track-It!, you can filter columns to sift out records that do not meet your criteria. You can accomplish the same effect by running text-based, number-based, and calendar-based searches. You can also sort columns so they display records in ascending or descending alphanumeric order. Better yet, you can reorganize the grid into a hierarchical arrangement by dragging columns into the status bar. These tools will simplify finding records even if your database contains thousands of records. 200

Track-It! Standard allows you to create up to 10 user-defined views, and Track-It! Professional allows you to create up to 15 user-defined views. Track-It! Enterprise allows you to create up to 30 user-defined views. Filtering Database Records Filtering Database Records The most detailed level of filtering is the grid column header. System and user-defined views improve database performance because they limit the number of records displayed in the grid. You can improve performance even more by filtering grid columns. Each column header consists of the column name and a drop-down list (View Screen Capture). You can open the drop-down list by clicking the arrow next to the column name. The drop-down lists typically provide the following column filters: All records (All) Individual record filters Customized record filters (Custom ) If you choose (All), the grid will display every record for the field (View Screen Capture). If you choose an individual record, only that set of records will appear in the grid. If you select (Custom ), the Filter dialog opens and prompts you to set up one or two filter conditions (View Screen Capture). The table below explains the operators in the left drop-down list for each condition you set. 201

Custom Filter Operators Operator Description Example = Field value equals filter criteria Date Due = Today < > Field value does not equal filter criteria Date Entered < > Today > Field value is greater than filter criteria Hours > 3 202

> = Field value is greater than or equal to filter criteria Charge > = $30.00 < Field value is less than filter criteria Date Due < Today < = Field value less than or equal to filter criteria Hours < = 5 ' ' Field value is blank Type ' '...' Field value is not blank Priority *... Field value starts with filter criteria Technician Assigned * Mary...* Field value ends with filter criteria Requestor *...*... Field value contains filter criteria Summary..*.. Dr. Watson To Build a Custom Filter: 1. In the grid column header, click the arrow to open the drop-down list. 2. In the drop-down list, select (Custom ) to open the filter dialog. 3. In the filter dialog, click the upper-left drop-down list to select an operator. 4. Click the upper-right drop-down list to select the object of your filter s search. 5. If you want to set a second mandatory condition, select the And radio button. If you want to set a second optional condition, select the Or radio button. 203

6. Set the second condition of the filter. 7. Click OK to save the custom filter. The grid displays only the records that meet the condition(s) of your filter. Searching Database Records Searching Database Records The Search pane, like other filters, increases Track-It! s performance and simplifies your access to database records. In the Search pane you can run text-based searches, number-based searches, and calendar-based searches (View Screen Capture). The object of your search determines which fields you ll see in the Search pane. Setting Text-Based Search Criteria The drop-down list, at the top of the Search pane, displays the names of grid columns. If you select a field name that represents a text field, a textbox appears in the Search pane. For example, you might select the Instructor field from the Training module. Once you select the Instructor field, you must enter the name of the instructor in the textbox. To Conduct a Text-Based Search: 1. In the Search pane drop-down list, select the text-based field of your search. 2. In the Text to find field, enter the text of your search. 3. Click Go. The grid displays only the records that meet your search criteria. Setting Number-Based Search Criteria The drop-down list, at the top of the Search pane, displays the names of grid columns. If you select a field name that represents a number field, a textbox appears in the Search pane. For example, you might select the Tax Rate field from the Purchasing module. Once you select the Tax Rate field, you must select the More than and Less than conditions of the search. To Conduct a Number-Based Search: 1. In the Search pane drop-down list, select the number-based field of your search. (View Screen Capture). 204

2. Check the More than checkbox to designate the lowest number in your search. 3. In the More than field, enter the lowest number of the search. 4. Check the Less than checkbox to designate the highest number in your search. 5. In the Less than field, enter the highest number of the search. 6. Click Go. The grid displays only the records that meet your search criteria. Setting Calendar-Based Search Criteria The drop-down list, at the top of the Search pane, displays the names of grid columns. If you select a field name that represents a date, the calendar-based fields appear in the Search pane. For example, you might select the Date Entered field from the Help Desk module. Once you select the Date Entered field, you must select the After and Before conditions of the search. To Conduct a Calendar-Based Search: 1. In the Search pane drop-down list, select the date-based field of your search (View Screen Capture). 2. Check the After checkbox to designate the earliest date of your search. 3. Open the fly-out calendar and navigate to the earliest day, month, and year of your search. 4. Check the Before checkbox to designate the latest date of your search. 5. Open the fly-out calendar and navigate to the latest day, month, and year of your search. 205

6. Click Go. The grid displays only the records that fall within the date range of the field you selected. Simplifying the Search You can also conduct searches directly from a grid column. With this search method, you do not have to hunt for the database field in Search pane. The column you choose prompts the appropriate search pane fields. To Conduct a Search from the Grid Column: 1. Select the column you want to search. 2. Press F3. The corresponding database field and the appropriate fields appear in the Search pane. 3. Make the appropriate entries for the type of search (text-based, number-based, or calendar-based). 4. Click Go. The grid displays only the records that meet your search criteria. Clearing Filters The filter description bar, at the bottom of the display, names the active grid filter (View Screen Capture). Any of the following actions clear grid filters: Press the Escape key (Esc) Click the X at the beginning of the filter description bar Click Reset Filter in the Search pane To clear only a column filter, reselect ALL from the drop-down list in the column header. Conducting Advanced Searches Advanced searches are almost identical to custom filters. The greatest difference is the point of access. For custom filters, you have to select the drop-down list in the column header. For advanced searches, you have to open a work order and click the Advanced Search tab. Refer to Conducting Advanced Work Order Searches for complete instructions. Sorting Database Records Sorting Database Records 206

You can change the sort order of a column by clicking the column header. Click it once to see column entries in ascending order (View Screen Capture). Click it a second time to see it in descending order (View Screen Capture). Organizing the Grid by Columns Organizing the Grid by Columns In Track-It!, you can organize the grid, by column, into a hierarchical tree (View Screen Capture). If you drag a column into the grid bar, the grid will group all of the displayed records according to that column. For example, if you drag the Requestor column into the grid bar, the grid will group all of the records by Requestor. If a requestor appears more than once, the records for that requestor will appear within the hierarchy of the Requestor field. If you click the + button to the left of a Requestor s name, the grid will show all of the records for that Requestor. If you click the button to the left of a Requestor s name, the grid will hide the records for that Requestor. Editing Field Labels 207

Editing Field Labels Track-It! includes customization tools, which allow technicians to adjust the field names that are displayed in the windows and forms throughout the Track-It! application. These tools allow you to adjust the Caption, Position, and Size of the label in the currently active window. This is extremely useful in customizing the Track-It! menus to fit the specific needs of your organization. To Access the Label Editor Toolbox: 1. Position the mouse on the active window where the label that you want to modify is displayed. 2. Press Shift + F2 to open the Label Editor dialog. 3. Click on the label or caption that you want to edit. "Grab-handles" are displayed around the area that can be modified. 4. Click in the Caption field of the editor dialog box and enter the new text. Changes made to labels that are displayed on more than one screen in Track-It! may vary between modules. For example, if you change "Name" to "Last Name" on the Work Order screen and this label/field is also used on the Inventory detail screen, it will change there too when you save your changes (if that particular text label is stored in a single table location). However, it may not change in other instances if the text label is stored in more than one database table location. 5. To adjust the size of the item being modified, click on the item to activate the Grab- Handles for the item. Click on the Size controls in the editor dialog box, or use the Arrow keys on the keyboard. 6. To adjust the position of the item being modified, click on that item to activate the grabhandles. Click on the Position controls in the editor dialog box to nudge the item to the new position, or use the Arrow keys on the keyboard. 7. Review your changes. 8. Click the Apply button to commit and activate the changes in the system. 9. Restart Track-It! to see the changes. Your changes will be visible to other Track-It! technicians at their next login. Important Notes: You must have full security access to all modules and tables to use the Label Editor Toolbox. To revert to the last saved version of the window, click the Cancel button. To undo all changes and return to the original installed text, click the Restore all to default button. 208

To change a label globally throughout the Track-It! application, contact the Professional Services Group at Numara Software, Inc. for customization assistance. Changing Field Label Text You can change the text of field labels in Track-It! to fit your organization's needs. For example, in the Library module, you might want to change the label "Serial #" to "Owner". In addition to the ability to change field label text directly from the field label in a window (see the topic Editing Field labels), you can change them from the Field Label Editor in the Administration Console. Important Notes: Some fields are used in other areas of the application, such as the "Location" field. If you make a change, for example, to this field in the Library module, it will affect the field in the User lookup table. You'll have to restart Track-It! after you make your changes. To Change Field Label Text: 1. From Track-It! s main menu bar, select Tools Administration Console User Interface Field Labels. The Field Labels window displays (View Screen Capture). 209

2. Click the Advanced button to open the Field Label Editor (View Screen Capture). 210

3. Select the module for the field you want to change from the Selected Module drop-down list. You can select additional areas from the Go To list at the top of the Field Label Editor. 4. Select the field you want to change from the Language column, type the new label text, and click OK. 5. Click OK when the message displays that you must restart Track-It! To Return Field Label Text to the Default 1. To return the field label text back to the default, select the entire text of the field in the Language column of the Field Label Editor and select Restore Default. Then click the OK button. 2. To return all of the field label text that you changed back to the default, select Edit at the top of the Field Label Editor, select Restore All Defaults, and click the OK button. Customizing Grid Views Customizing Grid Views Overview 211

Customizing Grid Views Overview Track-It! provides several predefined system views. System views define which columns and records appear in the grid and how they look for various classes of records. Your organization may require different grid settings than the ones set in the system views. Track-It! also addresses the need for grid customization. Track-It! grids are very flexible. As you customize them, you can set the display of database fields and colors. If your organization wants to view very specific data from your work orders, for example, you can create a view that displays that data. You can also set color schemes in the grid to alert you to records that require various levels of attention. If you want to assimilate the user-defined view of another technician, you do not have to create it in your console. Instead, you can import it in the View Manager dialog. Conversely, others might find your user-defined views valuable and you can export your views to them. View customization is yet another way you can use Track-It! to fit into your work methods and simplify your routines. Important Note: The display of many records may degrade software performance. You can preserve optimum performance by learning the effective application of the view management tools, filters, and search functions to display only the records you need. Track-It! Standard allows you to create up to 10 user-defined views, and Track-It! Professional allows you to create up to 15 user-defined views. Track-It! Enterprise allows you to create up to 30 user-defined views. Selecting Grid Views Selecting Grid Views The Views menu and the Current View menu are the primary points of grid-view access (View Screen Capture). Both menus are composed of eight partitions that provide grid view commands. Track-It! displays two types of views: system views and user-defined views. 212

Track-It! Standard allows you to create up to 10 user-defined views, and Track-It! Professional allows you to create up to 15 user-defined views. Track-It! Enterprise allows you to create up to 30 user-defined views. Selecting System Views The second partition in the Views menu and the Current View menu provides a list of system views. A system view is a default view shipped with the application. A check mark appears next to the currently selected view. During the first run of Track-It!, all main modules display a default system view. The name of the current view appears in the status bar above the grid. Every time you open the module after that, the grid displays the previously selected view. To Select a System View: 1. Select the Views menu or the Current View menu. 2. In the second partition of the menu, select the system view to display it on the grid. 213

Selecting User-Defined Views The third partition in the Views menu and the Current View menu provides a list of user-defined views. A check mark appears next to the currently selected view. User-defined views are collections of filter criteria and column groupings that you create. You can direct any top-level grid to display data in a preferred format and save those settings. Your user-defined views are private and they will not affect the views of other users. You can, however, share your user-defined views through the Export function in the View Management dialog. The Enterprise Edition of Track-It! allows 20 user-defined views per technician; Track-It! Standard and Track-It! Single-User allow 10 user-defined views per technician. Consequently, if you have six top-level modules in Track-It! Standard Edition, you can create 60 customized views. To Select a User-Defined View: 1. Select the Views menu or the Current View menu. 2. In the third partition of the menu, select the user-defined view to display it on the grid. Important Note: Track-It! checks the number of user-defined views against your edition of Track-It! If you exceed the edition s file count, a dialog opens to indicate that you have too many userdefined views. You can delete other views and create your new views or contact your administrator about purchasing additional view licenses. Managing Grid Views Managing Grid Views The View Management dialog is a repository for the control of system and user-defined views (View Screen Capture). You can access the View Management dialog through either of the following paths: 214

Views Manage Views (first partition) Current View - ViewName Manage Views (first partition) The Rename and Delete buttons do not work for system views because they are native to the Track-It! installation. The selection of a system view will gray out the Rename and Delete buttons and render them unavailable for execution. Important Note: Current View is the drop-down menu located above the status bar. ViewName is the name of the currently selected view. For example, if you selected the system view labeled Open, the Current View drop-down menu would display Current View - Open. Track-It! Standard allows you to create up to 10 user-defined views, and Track-It! Professional allows you to create up to 15 user-defined views. Track-It! Enterprise allows you to create up to 30 user-defined views. Copying Views 215

You can modify system views, but you cannot rename or delete them. If you want to make slight modifications to a view without loosing its original settings, you can copy the view and customize it to fit your needs. To Select a User-Defined View: 1. In the View Management dialog, select the view name you want to copy. 2. Click Copy to open the Save View As dialog (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Save View As dialog, type a new name for the view. 4. Click OK to copy the view. 5. This view can be used as desired, and it will be retained even if the computer is turned on and off. When you change to another view within the same module, a Confirmation Dialog Box will ask whether you want to save this view or not. If you do not choose Save, the view will not be available for future use (View Screen Capture). Important Note: If you try to save the view with the same file name, you will receive the following message: A view with this name already exists. View names must be unique. Exporting Views Other members in your organization may ask you to provide one of your views if it proves useful to the organizational workflow. Instead of explaining to them how to configure the view, you can export it to a common directory for their immediate access. To Export a View: 216

1. In the View Management dialog, select the view you want to export (View Screen Capture). 2. Click Export to open the Save As dialog. 3. In the Save in field, navigate to the drive or folder where you will save the view. 4. In the File Name field, ensure that the file name is the one you want to export. 5. In the Save as type field, ensure that XML Files (*.xml) is selected. 6. Click Save to export the view. Important Note: Only view settings are saved to this file, not the data currently displayed in the grid. Other users see only the information available to their level of security privileges. You can also export views by using the Export Grid Contents command from the Views menu or the Current View menu. Importing Views You may find that another member of your organization has developed a view that would enhance your workflow. In this case, you can import the other member s view from a commonly accessible directory in your company network. To Import a View: 1. In the View Management dialog, click Import to begin the Open dialog (View Screen Capture). 217

2. In the Look in field, navigate to the drive or folder where you expect to find the view. 3. In the File Name field, ensure that the file name is the one you want to import. 4. In the Files of type field, ensure that XML Files (*.xml) is selected. 5. Click Open to view the imported view. Important Note: Only view settings are saved to this file, not the data currently displayed in the grid. You will see only the information available to your level of security privileges. Additionally, the new name must be unique. If you already have a view with the same name as the one you are importing, a dialog box will prompt you to select a new name. Renaming Views At times, you might encounter the need to change the name of your view. Perhaps the name does not adequately describe the view s purpose. In other cases, you might need to rename the view before you export it. Whatever your reason, renaming the view is as easy as changing a folder or file name in Windows Explorer. To Import a View: 1. In View Management dialog, select the view you want to rename. 2. Click Rename or click the view name a second time to highlight the characters of the name. 3. Enter the new name. 4. Click another view name in the View Name column to complete the name change. Important Note: 218

You can modify system views and save them as customized views, but you cannot rename or delete them. Refer to Modifying System Views for more information. Deleting Views Eventually, you might need to clear the View Management dialog of views that did not prove useful or others that fell into disuse. You might also decide to delete some views to make way for new ones. Remember that Track-It! Standard and Track-It! Single-User allow 10 user-defined views while Track-It! Enterprise allows 20 user-defined views. The procedure for deleting views requires few steps. To Delete a View: 1. In View Management dialog, select the view you want to delete. 2. Click Delete to open the Confirm dialog. A confirmation dialog prompts you to verify whether or not you want to delete the view (View Screen Capture). 3. In the Confirm dialog, click Yes if you still want to delete the view or No if you changed your mind. Customizing Grid View Changes Customizing Grid View Changes The Customize Grid command, at the bottom of the Views menu and the Current View, opens the Customize Grid dialog. In this dialog, you can select the grid s database fields (View Screen Capture). The Customize Grid dialog for the following modules displays a Columns tab and a Colors tab: 219

Purchasing Help Desk Library The Columns tab is the list of checkboxes that display or hide fields in the grid view. The Colors tab is a set of drop-down color palettes for setting the grid s color schemes. Important Note: You can also access the Customize Grid command by right-clicking the grid and opening a fly-out menu. Track-It! Standard allows you to create up to 10 user-defined views, and Track-It! Professional allows you to create up to 15 user-defined views. Track-It! Enterprise allows you to create up to 30 user-defined views. Modifying System Views 220

You can customize views as much as you desire. For example, you can modify a system view in the Customize Grid dialog to display fewer fields than its predetermined settings. You can also save a system view as a user-defined view and set it to display completely different database fields. To Modify a System View or a User-Defined View: 1. In the Views menu, click Customize Grid to open the Customize Grid dialog. 2. In the Customize Grid dialog, select checkboxes for fields you want the grid to display or clear the checkboxes of the fields you do not want the grid to display. 3. Click the X in the top, right-hand corner if you want to close the Customize Grid dialog. Creating User-Defined Views You can use the Customize Grid dialog to create new user-defined views. The procedure involves customizing system views and saving them as user-defined views. Another way to create a user-defined view is to copy a system view in the View Management dialog, save it as a new view, and modify it in the Customize Grid dialog. Setting Grid Color Schemes Sometimes, color-coded schemes can make important work orders more noticeable than routine work orders. For example, some colors indicate urgency while others indicate closure. In Track- It!, you can set the color of the text (foreground) and the background to indicate the importance of an item in the grid. To Set a Color Scheme: 1. In the Customize Grid dialog, choose the Colors tab. 2. On the Colors tab, click any one of the drop-down lists to expose the grid color palette. 3. Left-click a color to set the FG (foreground) color. 4. Right-click a color to set the BG (background) color. 5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to set the color schemes for the other record categories. 6. Click the X at the top, right-hand corner, to close the Customize Grid dialog. Processing View Changes You can save customized grid configurations as new views or as modifications to existing views. If you close a module without explicitly saving a set of changes, the modifications will show up the next time you open it. An asterisk (*) also appears next to the name of the current view in the status bar. The asterisk indicates that you changed the way the view displays information. You can dismiss the asterisk by saving the view as a new user-defined view or abandoning your changes. If you 221

attempt to switch from a modified view to another view, a dialog prompts you to execute one of the following command buttons (View Screen Capture): Save Abandon Cancel The Save button prompts you to save the changes of the current view or save the modified view as a new view. The Abandon button restores the view to its original settings and allows you to switch to the other view. The Cancel button takes you back to the modified view, but it will not discard your changes. You can choose to bypass the confirmation prompt by checking the Remember my setting and don t ask me again checkbox. If you choose this option, the confirmation prompt will not appear again. Important Notes: An asterisk (*) appears next to the name of the current view in status bar if you have made changes to it. You can also restore the original system view by selecting Abandon Changes to Current View in the Views menu and the Current View menu. 222

Track-It! Self Service Guide Welcome to Track-It! Welcome to Track-It! Online Help System The Track-It! Online Help System is a powerful online reference system that's organized similar to a book, with chapters and pages. To open a book or chapter, double-click on the book icon. A list of topics and/or chapters appears. To view a text topic, click on the page icon. To view a multimedia topic, click on the icon. In some topics, hyperlinks are available that link you to other topics, or in some cases, link you to other Web sites (such as the support web page link, below). To jump to the new topic or location, click on the hyperlink. To search for a topic, click the Search tab or button. Type in the term you want to find and press Enter. A list of topics appears. Double-click on a topic to open the page. (The Search tab or button provides a full-text search. Every topic that contains the term you entered will be displayed.) To find an item in the index, click the Index tab or button. Type in the term. A list of items appears. Double-click on a term. If it appears in several topics, select one from the popup window. To print a topic, select the topic, and click the print icon at the top of the screen. You can also print PDF versions of the entire help system for our products (by version number). See our support web page. Using Track-It! Web Track-It! Web is designed to allow end-users to search for solutions to your technical problems or submit and track service requests. Track-It! Web is designed to be powerful, yet easy to use. The Web interface takes advantage of easy-to-use graphical controls, although some browser controls may be deactivated depending on which portions of the application you're using. 223

A general site map on the opening menu gives brief descriptions of Track-It! Web options. Hyperlinks at the top of the view allow you to: Show or Hide the Contents navigational menu Change passwords if enabled Check the version of the Track-It! application (About) Access the Track-It! Online Help System Sign-off from the Track-It! Web application Track-It! Professional and Enterprise include Track-It! Web. Managing Your Service Requests Submitting a New Request for Service The Track-It! Web option allows authorized end-users to login and submit new requests for services such as problems, installations, and requests for training. You can also view any outstanding requests. As the request is received at the service provider's desk, Track-It! generates a work order with the information entered on your request and additional information such as service agreement time frames, costs, etc. As work orders are completed, they are added to the work order history for your PC so that the technician can track the activity on your system. To Create a New Work Order on the Web: 1. Click on Work Orders in the menu bar. 2. Click Add a New Work Order to open a new work order. 3. Enter a short summary of the problem in the Summary field. Your Requestor login links to the system inventory files to retrieve all relative information for the technician. Type a short description of the problem or request in the Summary field. You can add more details (if necessary) in the Description box at the bottom of the form. 4. Enter a phone number that the technician can reach you at during business hours. 5. Select the Priority, Work Order Type, Sub-Type, and Category from the options in the drop-down lists based on the type of action required. Your installation determines which options are available in these fields. 6. Click on ASAP or enter a requested completion date. The level of your service agreement affects the time allotted for resolution. 224

Track-It! Self Service Guide 7. Describe the problem or request in more detail in the Description field. 8. If you want to include a screen capture, document, or anything else that may help explain your problem, click the Browse button to locate the file that you want to attach. 9. Click the Submit button to create a new work order in the system. 10. A Request Confirmation displays to confirm receipt of the work order and provide the work order number. Important Note: Some installations of Track-It! include an enhanced Self Service Solutions module that opens automatically when a user clicks on the New Request option to give an opportunity for finding a resolution to a problem before entering a trouble ticket. This type of self service option has been developed to reduce the need for work orders and the time involved to resolve them so that resolution can be reached as quickly as possible. Track-It! Professional and Enterprise include Track- It! Web. Track-It! Self Service Plus can be installed as an Addon for Track-It! Enterprise. Viewing Previous Requests With a click of the mouse, you can see all work orders currently in the system for your login (requestor). To View a Previously Submitted Work Order: 1. Click on Work Orders in the menu bar. 2. Click on the Open Work Orders, Closed, or All tab to view your work orders in one of these groups. 3. Click on a Work Order Number to view the details of the request. Notice that you can add to the description of the work order, print the work order, add an attachment In Enterprise editions, you can attach supporting files to work orders by selecting Actions -> Insert Attachment. Once attached, files display on the Detail tab of the work order record. Attachments may be saved to disk or renamed, and they may be viewed with or without their associated file-type icons. to the work order. 225

4. Click on Back to Your Work Orders to close the detail view of a previous request and return to the list view. The table below provides a description of each of the fields contained in a work order. Work Order Fields Field Name Description Summary A brief statement of the problem, issue, or request. Type General identifier for the request (e.g., hardware, software, configuration, training, etc.) Subtype More detailed identifier for the request (e.g., failure, upgrade, etc.) Category Greatest level of detail for the request (e.g., PC, Macintosh, hard drive, memory, monitor, etc.) Requestor Name of the user submitting the work order. Date Entered That date that the request is received is recorded here. Priority Set a priority code based on your company's business rules and Service Level Agreements (SLA) commitments. 226

Track-It! Self Service Guide Date Due Enter or edit the date that the request should be completed. Technician Assigned The name of the technician assigned to resolve the work order. Date Assigned The date and time that the request was assigned to a technician or specialist for resolution. Completed Date The date and time that a resolution was reached. Description Text entered by requestor to describe the problem or request in more detail. Resolution A short description of what was done to resolve the issue. This field may include the requested completion date. Status The current condition of your work order (e.g., unassigned, assigned, completed, etc.) Asset ID A unique identifier for your specific asset. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are a Track-It! Enterprise only feature. Completing Your Own Self Service Work Orders 227

You can complete your own Self Service work orders in Track-It! Web. This is useful if you've found your own solution or want to cancel your work order. To Completing Your Own Self Service Work Orders: 1. To find the work order you want to complete, click the Work Orders tab (View Screen Capture). 2. Click the Work Order number. The Work Order details display. (View Screen Capture). 228

Track-It! Self Service Guide 3. Click the Complete Work Order link. Enter a short description in the text box describing how you resolved the problem (View Screen Capture). 4. Click the Complete button. 229

A confirmation messages displays that your work order was completed. 5. Click the OK button. The work order will be removed from your Open Work Orders list. You can click the Closed or All links to view the closed work order. Finding Your Own Solutions Using Track-It! Self Service Track-It! Self-Service (a part of Track-It! Web) provides you with the ability to submit work orders, search for solutions and audit your own computer. You can: Submit work orders Add attachments to their requests View the status of their work orders Complete work orders This is useful if you've found your own solution or want to cancel your work order. Search the Track-It! Solutions for self help Perform an audit on your computer View Track-It! administrator announcements on the Track-It! Web home page If your organization has a license for Self Service Plus, you can use the advanced features (see Using Track-It! Self Service Plus). Track-It! Professional and Enterprise include Track- It! Web (Self Service). Track-It! Self Service can be installed as an Add-on for Track-It! Professional. Using Track-It! Self Service Plus Track-It! Self-Service Plus is an enhanced version of Track-It! Self-Service that provides a natural language search engine that helps end-users locate potential answers to their questions. If a user is unable to find an answer, he or she can request help by clicking a single button. All relevant data is entered into the work order and forwarded to the Track-It! Help Desk. Track-It! Self Service Plus can be installed 230

Track-It! Self Service Guide as an Add-on for Track-It! Enterprise. Searching the Solutions Database With Numara s Help Desk Solutions Database, you can reduce system downtime by electronically finding relevant solutions to your questions. An intelligent search engine uses resolved work orders and their solutions to provide solutions to your problem. It compares your question with solutions to similar questions and returns the most relevant and up-to-date information available. To Access Solutions to Common Problems: 1. Click on Solutions in the menu bar. 2. If they aren't automatically checked, click on the Summary and Details checkboxes. 3. Enter a word or phrase in the "Search For" field. 4. Click on the Search icon. The system returns all information available. 5. Click on the summary lines to see the type and details of the solution. 6. Click on Cancel to return to the main view. Installing Mac Audit Files on Macintosh Computers In order for your Track-It! technician to audit your Macintosh computer, you will need to install the Mac Audit files they send you via e-mail or from a shared network folder. To install Track-It! Mac Audit files on your Macintosh: 1. Save the OSXAuditInstaller.pkg.tgz file that you receive from your Track-It! administrator to your desktop. 2. Double click the installation package (OSXAuditInstaller.pkg) to extract the installer to your desktop. 3. Double click the installer package (.pkg) to launch the installation. 4. The Install Mac Audit dialog displays (View Screen Capture). Click the Continue button. 231

5. Select a location in your file directory to save your file (View Screen Capture). 6. Click the Restart button when prompted. Your computer will be rebooted and the installation will be complete. 232

Track-It! Self Service Guide Mac Audit can be installed as an Add-on for Track-It! Professional or Enterprise. Running a Workstation Audit Track-It! has the ability to collect a wide variety of technical data and configuration settings from your workstation. If you're experiencing technical difficulties, you can submit a work order and the technician can access your audited information via the Web to better service your account. This functionality works even if you are running remotely from a different machine. You can login to Track-It!, run an audit An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.), and then submit a service request. Depending on the type of support outlined in your service level agreement These are the terms of the contracts driving the level of service for a customer. They typically include a prioritization, response time, and resolution commitment., the technician may choose to access your audit information to help resolve your problem. To Audit Your Workstation: 1. Click on the Run Audit icon to start the Audit wizard. 2. Read the note and click the OK button to continue. 3. If a Security Warning dialog appears, click the Yes button to install and run Track-It! Web Audit. 4. Click the Next button. The system displays status cues as the file names are recorded. 5. When the audit process has finished, the wizard displays views of your hardware and software information. 6. Click the Next button after you're done reviewing each set of audit results. 7. Click the Finish button to close the wizard and return to the main Track-It! Web page. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are an Enterprise only feature. Track-it! 233

Web is a Track-It! Professional and Enterprise only feature. Viewing Workstation Information Track-It! Web provides an icon for Assets in the menu bar to give you quick access to a detailed view of information on the current computer. Information includes user name, department information, phone numbers, hardware details, and software details. To View Your Asset Information: 1. Click on Assets in the menu bar. Track-It! Professional and Enterprise include Track-It! Web. Managing Your Track-It! Account Changing Your Password End-user passwords are set by your service provider and can be configured to request that you change your password the first time you access the Web request interface. Or the provider may simply configure for you to create your own password on your first access. Another reason for changing passwords is for security purposes. Some companies have a business rule that requires you to periodically change your passwords. To Change Your Password: 1. Click User Account in the menu bar. 2. Click Change Password and enter your Old Password. 3. Enter your New Password, and confirm your New Password. 4. Click OK to save your entries. 5. Access Track-It! Web using your new password. 234

Glossary A Add: When browsing records in a particular module, users can insert a new record by clicking on Add to invoke a detail form (usually a modeless dialog box) for data entry. Once data entry is complete, the user may save or cancel the insertion of the record into the database. Adjustment: Purchase orders include a calculation to sum up the prices of each detail item along with shipping and tax. In some cases, particularly for international users, there may be other charges or taxes. In those cases, the user can enter an adjustment to ensure that the calculated total accurately reflects the real-world total for the purchase order. Answer: A solution to a problem in the Track-it! Web Self-Service solutions. Area: The middle level of the content area hierarchy for the Track-It! Web Self-Service solutions. Asset Number: Items represent hardware, software, or other entities associated with a specific inventory record. Each item may have an associated asset number, which is generally used to track an asset tag affixed to a given piece of equipment or software for inventory control purposes. Assigned: Work order tasks have an "assigned" technician responsible for resolving the issue. Assignment: Work orders may have assignments associated with them to break down higherlevel tasks into more manageable chunks or on a complex problem, to pass along an issue to a specialist. Each assignment has an assigned technician, date/time of request, date/time completed, hours (entered manually when the Completed field is entered), an associated charge (also entered manually), summary, and a description. Attachment: In Enterprise editions, you can attach supporting files to work orders by selecting Actions -> Insert Attachment. Once attached, files display on the Detail tab of the work order record. Attachments may be saved to disk or renamed, and they may be viewed with or without their associated file-type icons. Attribute: Another term used to describe a characteristic or property of an entity. Audit: An application that runs on client workstations to collect hardware and software configuration information. It may also be configured to collect specified files from the workstation. Once the configuration information is collected, it is written to a text file and copied to a network share where the information can be merged into the inventory records. (Process of scanning a computer system by running the audit32.exe application on the machine via a network or floppy disk.) Audit Disk: Workstations that are not connected to the network may be audited using an audit disk. From the console, the user can create an audit disk for all workstations or a subset of workstations. The audit application can be run from this floppy disk on the desired set of workstations and the results loaded and merged from the console application. Audit History: When audit results are merged, Track-It! writes field-level changes to a database table recording the previous value, the new value and the date/time of the audit. The History tab is accessible from the File Information tab of the workstation detail view. B 235

BDC (Backup Domain Controller): Backup Windows NT Server that periodically receives a copy of the directory database. The BDC can authenticate user logon requests if the PDC is busy or unavailable. Business Software Alliance (BSA): A non-profit organization funded by major software and hardware developers, such as Microsoft, Apple, Cisco, Dell, IBM, and Intel. The mission of the BSA is to convince current or former employees to report software license and copyright violations by their employers, thereby starting a chain of events that inevitably leads to an expensive and embarrassing result for the employer. C Channel: An interaction method for users to access the functionality of the Track-it! Web Self- Service solutions. Channels define methods of customer access and customer touch points such as Web, e-mail, voice, fax, etc. Each channel can customize the properties of the Self-Service engine. For example, the maximum number of answers returned might be different between a Web channel and an e-mail channel. Channels can be both input and output. Answers are typically returned on the same channels as input but this is not required. An example would be Web input, e-mail output (e.g., "Please mail me my forgotten password."). Close: Modeless windows in the console generally have a Close button used to exit the view. Clicking the Windows Close button (provided by the operating system) accomplishes the same task. Comments: A variety of views have a field (Comments) for free-form text. Completed: The status of a work order becomes "Completed" (resolved) when the user enters a date in the Date Completed field on the work order. Computer Name: The Audit application has a related setting that allows the user to specify whether the default workstation name is the current user's sign in ID or the computer name (Net BIOS name of the computer represented by the workstation record). This setting defaults to computer name. Concurrent License: In a network environment, the number of users who have access to a particular application can be greater than the number of users who are actually using the software at any given time. Provided that the number of users who are using the software at one time does not exceed the number of licenses that you own, your company will remain in compliance with the concurrent license that was purchased. Contact: Generally a person's name, this field is for a point-of-contact used in the context of vendors (purchase orders), items (workstations), and courses (training). Content Area: Hierarchies of area names that help define search spaces in the Track-it! Web Self-Service solutions. The content area hierarchy classifies answers. The Track-It! Web interface allows for three (3) levels of hierarchy to be specified for queries. Partial paths match content areas, meaning that a request for a more generalized content area (e.g., Software) will match an answer in any sub-domain (e.g., Software/Office/Word). Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): Defines the universal time zone, to which all other time zones are related. Copy Workstation: An option for speedy addition of workstations with similar configurations. Make copies of existing workstation records and then adjust the copied versions to reflect workstations newly added to the system. Course: In the Training module, the Courses field is used to describe classes and apply a descriptive name. Other fields include Instructor (can be selected from the table of support staff members), cost, contact information (phone, extension and fax information - presumably for the instructor), type, date, and an associated information field (but no 236

Glossary duration or end date), contact, and comment. Courses are associated with workstations (user IDs) in the Training module. When a course is added to a workstation, it indicates that the user of that workstation has attended a training course defined in the courses table. The information from the Courses table serves as the default for some of the fields displayed in the Training module. D Data Directory: The data directory resides beneath the application directory and is the repository for files generated during workstation audits. Data Transformation Services (DTS): A component in Microsoft SQL Server 2000 that is used to transform the data you store in your database into various formats. It can also be used to consolidate data from multiple sources into a single database. Default Security Policy: Allows full control over every module and feature within the application Delete: Main grids typically have a Delete option to allow a record to be removed from the database. Department: Organizational departments can be fully defined in the Define Tables dialog or they can be added on the fly from a variety of contexts within the console if the user has security privileges to do so. A fully qualified department record has the following attributes: department number, descriptive name, head (a support staff member or other person), phone and fax number, location (from the locations table), and comments. Department Head: The manager of a department may be someone on the support staff or another person. Department No.: A department may or may not have an associated department number. This field is populated from a user-defined table. Directory Database: The database of NT security information, which stores user IDs, passwords, and policy settings for the domain. Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC): A tool within the Support Services component of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 that is used to manage multiple transactions that span across multiple database servers. Domain: Audit results include network configuration information (Network) that specifies the domain to which a particular workstation belongs. This information is specific to Windows NT domain-based networks. Also, the top-most level of the Track-it! Web Self-Service solutions content area hierarchy. E Edit: Main grids have an Edit option to open a detail record with Save and Cancel buttons to commit or cancel changes to the selected record. Emotion Detector: (Self Service Plus) A plug-in that senses a user s emotional state by evaluating the words used in the request. Entity: An object or concept that has its own properties. Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD): A diagram that represents the relationship structure between entities, the attributes about the entities, and the instances that occur based on each entity. Escalated: Based on the escalation settings for technicians, Track-It! Monitor can reassign overdue work orders to other technicians for prompt resolution. 237

Escalation: Escalation occurs when a work order becomes overdue by a specified amount of time and is reassigned (escalated) to that person's supervisor or next level of support. This action is performed by Track-It! Monitor. You can configure escalation by editing a technician's account under File -> Lookup Tables -> Technicians. Click the Escalation tab and select to whom to escalate the work orders and the amount overdue required for the escalation to occur. Excluded Software: The administrator can move software from the Unidentified Software list into the Excluded Software list at any time. The most common items added to this list are system files, programs that come with the operating system, and applications that do not need to be tracked. F Federation Against Software Theft (FAST): Seeks to promote the legal use of software. Provides information on software copyright law in the U.K. and anti-piracy activity. Field: A column within a table that is used to hold individual pieces of information. File Information: The Audit application can capture files or invoke applications on the client and capture their output. The captured files and/or output are accessible from the workstation detail File Information tab. The files and/or command lines to be captured are configurable from the Audit tab of the Configure Track-It! dialog. Filter: Grids for all modules include a Filter option used to specify criteria specific to that module and present a subset of records based on that criteria. When the user clicks OK on the filter dialog, the criteria are applied to all records in the associated database table and the criteria are preserved until reset or deleted. If the user clicks the Cancel button on the Filter dialog, any currently applied filter is removed. Click the down arrow in column headers and select Custom to open the Filter dialog. Foreign Key: A field within a table that is used to relate an individual record of one table to records of another table. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is also known as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Grid: Table of records displayed as rows and columns G H Handler: One of the Plug-In types in the Track-it! Web Self-Service solutions. Handlers attempt to respond to the request with something other than an answer from a knowledgebase. An example would be to automatically respond to a request for change of address or retrieve order status. Help Desk: The Help Desk module presents a grid of work orders. Users can add, edit, make assignments, work on assignments, close, and delete work orders or sub-tasks according to their security privileges. I IIS - Internet Information Server: An application that enables an NT server to host an Internet or Intranet Web site. Instance: An occurrence of an entity. 238

Glossary Instructor: In the Training module, courses have associated teachers (instructors). This field is populated from the Courses table, but can be modified when associating a course with a workstation. No distinction is made between internal and external courses, so this may not be appropriate for all cases. Inventory: The Inventory is a list of all workstations in the database. These workstations may represent PCs or they may represent some other type of object depending upon how the product has been customized. Item: The term "item" is used in several contexts. Items can be associated with workstations (referring to products), purchase orders (as details), work orders (as equipment), and library resources. The "Product Type" field categorizes an item as a monitor, network card, etc. Items have a descriptive name (referred to as product description), manufacturer, associated product type, part number, associated vendor, price, warranty description, maintenance description, pricing (with support pricing), contact name or description, and a comments field. L Lease: An item associated with a workstation may be leased (rented or acquired on a contract that may allow the item to be returned after a set time period for a set amount or purchased, as opposed to purchased outright). The user can specify the vendor that the item is leased from, the date the lease expires, cost of lease (price), and an alphanumeric identifier (lease reference number). Location: Users, work orders, courses, and library items may have a specified location, which is simply a descriptive name that may refer to a floor, building, office park, city, state, country, region, etc. based on your company's business requirements. M Maintenance: An item associated with a workstation may include a maintenance agreement. The user can specify the vendor who keeps the item operational, the date the maintenance agreement expires, and an alphanumeric identifier. Managed Software: It is the administrator's responsibility to maintain the Managed Software list. The purpose behind "managing" your software lists is to keep the Unidentified Software list empty, so you can quickly identify any new software that has been installed since the last audit. Manufacturer: Items have a manufacturer property that is distinct from the vendor property and does not have any associated contact information such as phone number, address, Web site, or e-mail address. Merge: Process that takes all the data collected from Disk and LAN audits and imports it into the appropriate Inventory databases and generates the audit history. Multiple Time Zones: Track-It! 7.0 uses UTC from the database server in order to account for time differences in work orders, purchase orders, etc. caused by users who work through midnight and work orders that were assigned across time zones. In these situations, Track-It! technicians and administrators may have performed workarounds in order to adhere to service level agreements, properly assign/escalate work orders, and generate accurate reports. Named (per Seat) License: Named licenses are applied to a specific user name on a workstation (or server) and guarantee that user access to the licensed application. In N 239

general, if you can "name" all of the users of a particular software application, then you can purchase a named license for each of those users. Network: This field could be used to record the physical network that a given workstation is connected to, a subnet, a default server, or some other attribute according to a company's business rules. New Program: The audit process attempts to determine the serial number of an application. If it is unable to determine the serial number, it populates the Serial Number field with "NEW PROGRAM." Normalization: The process of breaking down large tables into smaller ones to prevent data duplication within a database. Notify: When browsing work orders or viewing a specific work order, the user can select the Actions -> Notify menu to send a message to the requestor via e-mail or the responsible support staff member via e-mail, pager, or network message (if appropriately configured). O Open (Floating) License: These "unmanageable" license types are typically managed by the application itself (e.g., lock out users when license is exceeded) or they don't need to be managed. Consider Track-It!'s concurrent licensing, for example. The license file controls the number of technicians who can access the application. Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM): Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is a company that supplies equipment to other companies to resell or incorporate into another product using the reseller's brand name. Dell, for example, typically includes a preinstalled copy of Windows on their computers. Overdue: The defined workflow for work orders transitions from new to overdue, escalated, and completed (with overdue and escalated occurring conditionally). Work orders have a due date associated with them to determine whether they are overdue. Track-It! Monitor can escalate work orders in accordance with the escalation criteria defined in the Technicians table. P Part No.: Items can have part numbers associated with them for further identification when associated with workstations. Password: Technicians and users can be assigned passwords to gain access to the application. There are no restrictions on the minimum length of the password or the sequence of characters in it. PDC - (Primary Domain Controller): Primary Windows NT Server that authenticates domain user logon requests and maintains the directory database for the Domain. Phone Number: Views that access information for users, vendors, requestors, library records, courses (presumably for instructors), departments, and technicians have fields for phone numbers. In some, but not all cases, the field accommodates extensions. Plug-In: A module for adding additional processing to the Track-It! Web Self-Service solutions engine. There are three types of plug-ins: Processors, Handlers, and Retrievers. Position: This field is for users' job titles. Preferences: Opportunities for individual user-specific customizations to optimize the desktop work environment. 240

Glossary Primary Key: A field within a table that is used to uniquely identify individual records of that table. There cannot be duplicate values in the field designated as the primary key. Priority: Work orders have Priority settings, which have a time period associated with them used to calculate the default due date/time for a new work order. Processor: One of the plug-in types in the Track-It! Web Self-Service solutions. Processors analyze the request to determine the content and intent of the request. Product Type: Items have a specified product type associated with them. Purchase Order: Purchase order records represent real-world contract to buy merchandise (purchase orders). Purchasing: The Purchasing module lets the user view the list of purchase orders (open, closed, all), create, copy, edit, and delete purchase orders. P.O.s can also be sent via e-mail to vendors to speed processing. Purge: To maintain a manageable database, a maintenance utility is available from Tools -> Database Utilities -> Purge Databases. When the purge operation is complete, the number of deleted records is reported. Q Quick Statistics: The Purchasing and Help Desk modules have a toolbar icon to display a summary of the number of work orders or purchase orders in different significant states (e.g., overdue, due today, due tomorrow, etc.). This information is not hot-linked to the actual data via filters or any other means. It is a static snapshot and not updated if left open. Information at the top pertains to the signed-in user, while the statistics in the second set are for all records in the system. R Received: Purchase orders can be marked as "received" to denote that the ordered items have arrived. Once a purchase order has been marked as received and saved, the purchase order items are associated with the Unassigned Equipment record in Inventory. You can move items from Unassigned Equipment to the workstation(s) that require the equipment. Record: A record is a column within a table that is comprised of related fields. Remote Control: Track-It! Remote allows console users to initiate remote control sessions for client workstations that are running the remote control software. The software (tiremote.exe) is typically deployed via logon script. Replication: A component of Microsoft SQL Sever 2000 that is used to automatically distribute and synchronize your database and its objects with other servers. Request: A query that is made by a user to the Track-It! application. Requestor: The person who initiates a work order or asks a question of the Web Self-Service solutions engine is identified as the requestor. Resolution: The solution to an issue in an open work order. Retired Software License Record: Software license records are retired when a license is upgraded, or when??? Retriever: One of the plug-in types in the Track-it! Web Self-Service solutions. Retriever searches an answer source, based on the content of the request. S 241

Serial Number: Software items associated with workstations may have unique identifiers. The audit application attempts to gather these serial numbers when it finds particular software applications. Service Level Agreement (SLA): These are the terms of the contracts driving the level of service for a customer. They typically include a prioritization, response time, and resolution commitment. Sign In ID (Logon): Users can have a sign in name with which to gain access to the application. This name is not necessarily related to their username on the network. Site License: A site license entitles an organization to receive one physical copy of a software application and to install it on the specified number of individual workstations, or make it available to the specified number of users on a network. You don't really need to track site licenses because all of the users in your organization are covered. Software Compliance: Represents the results of a comparison between the number of employees in your organization who use a particular software application and the number of purchased licenses that are available. The overage or underage of??? Software License Management (SLM): Software License Management (SLM) is the ability to track software license purchases and installations, and compare those values to determine your organization's level of license compliance. Software License Source: A software license source represents "how" a license was purchased. License sources include: OEM, retail package, upgrade, and home-grown. Software License Type: By default, Track-It! provides three software license types: named (per seat) licenses, concurrent licenses, and site licenses. Software Title: A software title is a database record that represents a specific product, publisher, and version: Microsoft Office Professional XP and Track-It! Enterprise Version 7.0 are two examples. Software Transaction Record: A software transaction record represents a license purchase for a specific software title. Over a period of time, for example, you may have multiple transaction records that pertain to a single software title. Solution: Ways to solve common problems are stored within a hierarchical structure organized into folders. Users can search the Solutions database for possible answers to issues raised in open work orders. Specialist: An assigned technician who is solely responsible for a certain type of work order. When a new work order is created and the type is selected, the Assigned Technician field is pre-populated if it is associated with a specialist. System Information: The configuration information for a particular workstation is a subset of the audited system information. The audit application displays this information in a navigable tree structure, similar to the Window's Device Manager. T Table: A structure, comprised of fields and records, within a database that is used to hold information. Technicians: Broad term used to describe help desk technicians, analysts, managers, purchasing agents, trainers, accountants, and anyone else who is granted access to one or more Track-It! modules for the purpose of entering or viewing data. Terms: The payment arrangements for a purchase order (e.g., net 30). Tier: Work order categorization: Types, Sub-types and Categories. 242

Glossary Title: This is a field for technicians and refers to their job titles. Training: The Training module tracks the courses that each user (related by workstation ID) has attended. Transfer: Items associated with one workstation can be moved and re-associated with another. This is a common activity for the Unassigned Equipment workstation, which serves as a repository for received items that are later transferred to actual workstations. Type (Work Order): Work Order Types are high-level identifiers for problems. Each work order type can be divided into subtypes, and each subtype can be divided into categories. U Unassigned Equipment: In Inventory, when items are received from Purchase Orders or items are deleted or transferred from workstations, they are designated as Unassigned Equipment. This is a placeholder in Track-It! for items that have not been assigned to a workstation. UNC - (Universal Naming Convention): The full path to a Windows NT resource on a network. The syntax is \\servername\sharename, where servername is the name of the NT server on which the resource resides and sharename is the name of the shared folder or drive. Unidentified Software List: All software audit results are stored in the Unidentified Software list after each audit, until the Track-It! administrator moves the results into one of the other lists. Upgraded Software License Record: A software license record may be "upgraded" in the Track-It! database if you own a previous version of the application and you have purchased a license for a newer version of that particular application. When a software license record is upgraded, the old license record is retired and a new license record is created. User-Defined Field: Several objects have user-definable fields that can be setup from the Tools - > Options -> Configure Track-It! tabs. Customized labels for user-defined fields are independent of Track-It!'s core customization file. Contact the Professional Services department at Numara Software for further information on customization options. User Info.: Workstations and work orders have user information associated with them. In the case of work orders, the user information is copied from the workstation record in the Inventory module. Users: Users are the people who use the workstations listed in Track-It!'s Inventory module. They are the people who call the help desk for support in the form of problems, requests, and questions. Users are not granted Track-It! security privileges, because they don't have the ability to directly access any of the modules. Their access points are limited to verbal requests, e-mail requests, and the Track-It! Web requests. V Vendor: Vendors are associated with purchase orders and managed from the table in the Define Tables dialog. They are unrelated to manufacturers. Warranty Expiration: Items associated with workstations have attributes to describe an associated warranty. The Warranty Expiration field is used for the date the warranty coverage ends. W 243

Work Order: These are the forms used by technicians who work with the Help Desk module to manage users' requests for service. Work Order History: The Work Order History tab provides a listing of all work orders that are associated with a particular requestor. This tab can be found by opening a work order in the detail view and then clicking on the History tab. Work Order Number: When a new work order is created, the console automatically assigns a numeric identifier to it. This identifier can be edited if the setting is activated in the Tools - > Options -> Help Desk tab by selecting the Edit WO Number checkbox. Work Order Template: Allows Track-It! administrators to pre-populate information that routinely appears in help desk work orders. For example, you can automate the creation of work orders for resetting user passwords, replacing network components, restoring lost data, and other types of problems that may commonly occur within your organization. Workstation: A workstation is represented as a specific record in the Inventory module and has a unique identifier. One user can be associated with many workstations, but each workstation can only be associated with one user. Workstation Identifier: Workstation numbers are incremented and assigned automatically. Track-It! uses this field in combination with the MAC Address to generate unique Track-It! record identifiers. Workstation Manager: Track-It! Workstation Manager consists of two applications: Track-It! Remote and Track-It! Audit Plus. Track-It! Remote is an add-on module that allows technicians to administer user machines remotely via the network, using the Track-It! application as the console. If you purchased a license for Track-It! Remote, the options will be enabled when you launch Track-It! and the Remote Control buttons will be active. Track-It! Audit Plus allows you to audit workstations via login scripts, Track-It! Self Service, or disk, plus it has the ability to run as a service. 244

Index A Adding...242 Assignments...143 Authorizing...85 B Bill-To Information.. 165, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 175, 176, 177 C Calendar... 148, 222, 223, 224 Captured File Information...149 Categories...132, 134, 166 Closing...139, 145 Color...239 Courses.. 179, 180, 181, 182, 185, 186, 187 Crystal Reports...207 Customize... 78, 116, 133, 230, 237, 239 D Date/Time...136 Deadline...136 Disconnecting...50, 211 Due Date...134, 136 E E-mails...125, 162 Enterprise...8, 60 F Field Labels...78, 226 File...149 G Getting Started menu...23, 55 Grid views... 219, 225, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 238, 239 H Help Desk...126 History...147 I Importing...235 Inventory... 39, 93, 112, 116, 117, 173 L Library... 189, 192, 193, 195, 196, 197 Lookup Lists...133 Lookup Tables...157 N Notification Alpha Paging Technicians...159 Beeping Technicians...160 Notification...158 Notification...161 P Paging...159 Password...253 Priorities...133 Professional...8, 60 Programs... 39, 93 Purchase Orders Adding... 165 Copying... 168 Finding... 176 Items... 166, 170, 173 Receiving... 170 Requestors E-mailing... 178 Purchase Orders... 165 Purchase Orders... 168 Purchase Orders... 168 Purchase Orders... 168 Purchase Orders... 169 Purchase Orders... 170 Purchase Orders... 170 Purchase Orders... 171 Purchase Orders... 172 Purchase Orders... 175 Purchase Orders... 176 Purchase Orders... 176 Purchase Orders... 177 Q Queue... 29 Quick Statistics... 156 R Receiving... 170 Related Lookup Tables... 195 Reports.. 124, 177, 187, 198, 200, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 208, 210 Requestor... 128, 129, 161, 178 Resolution... 138 S Scheduling Audits... 29 Search... 148, 222, 223, 224 Service Level Agreements... 135 Ship-To Verifying... 168 Ship-To... 168 Shortcut keys... 214, 215, 216 SLAs... 135 Software... 85 Solutions... 150, 151, 152, 249 Sort... 224 Spell checking... 137, 192 Standard... 8, 60 Sub-tasks... 143 Sub-types... 132, 134, 166 System View Modify... 238 System View... 238 245

T Technicians Assigning...134 Technicians...134 Time stamp...137 Track-It Product Differences...8, 60 Track-It! Web...241 Training... 179, 180, 186, 187 Training Records (searching)...186 U User Disassociate...122 User...122 Users (contacting)...188 V Vendor Information...165 View Management dialog...237 Views Deleting...237 Views...237 W Web...241 Work Order Type...132 Work Orders Assignments...143, 144 Closing...139 Finding... 155 Technician... 134 Work Order Assignments... 142 Work Order Details... 137 Work Order Histories... 147 Work Order Preview Pane Positioning... 153 Work Order Preview Pane... 152 Work Order Preview Pane... 153 Work Orders... 127 Work Orders... 134 Work Orders... 139 Work Orders... 140 Work Orders... 140 Work Orders... 141 Work Orders... 145 Work Orders... 155 Work Orders... 163 Work Orders... 242 Workstation Adding Items... 112, 114, 173 Workstation... 107, 108, 109 Workstation... 112 Workstation... 173 Workstation Audit... 251 Workstation, disassociating a user... 122 246