SCREEN SHOTS

The first set of screenshots below are for the Outlook forms – the tickets, reporting, knowledge base, and utilities included in the public folders. Outlook Help Desk also includes a web interface that allows users and staff to create new tickets and view existing ones. Those screenshots are included after Outlook ones.

 End users enter their request in Outlook, or they can send in email or enter tickets through a web page. The Outlook ticket form looks like this:

After filling out the form (they do not need to fill in every field), users press “Submit”, which posts the Ticket to the Help Desk folder. When posting, the program can automatically send out a notification using the email addresses set up in the Automatic Notification utility. Different notification addresses can be designated for high importance tickets and for routine tickets.

The Contact Information is filled in automatically from the Exchange Directory (Exchange 5.5) or Active Directory (Exchange 2000 or 2003). The “Change” button brings up the GAL, then the user can be changed, and the new user’s contact information will be entered in the boxes on the Ticket.

The contents of all the drop-down boxes can be modified using the included List Manager utility.

Outlook Help Desk can also operate in Help Desk mode, meaning that the Ticket can be entered and assigned in the same screen. This is great for Help Desks and Call Centers that take phone calls from remote users or customers.

We can customize the program on request the background colors, change the titles or the language, and add a logo if desired. The program comes with the Ticket Colors utility that lets you change the colors on the fly 

Here is an example of a Ticket with color changes:

 The Help Desk reviews the Ticket and assigns it:

The “Assign to:” Other(s) button pulls up the Global Address List so the assignee(s) can be selected. The techs will be sent an email telling them that they have been assigned a ticket. The email will have a link to the Ticket so the technician can simply click on the link to view the Ticket.

The “Assign to:” Self button makes things simple by assigning the ticket to the logged in user without bringing up the Address List or sending a notification message.

The Assign page of the Help Desk Ticket has a number of additional fields for Help Desk use. These include Priority, Due Date, Model/Make, Project Code and Billing Information. These are fields the Help Desk would want to fill in, but not the user. Our experience is that the users want a simple form, but the Help Desk wants to record more information about each ticket for tracking and record-keeping purposes. Not all these fields have to be used, but they can provide important information about each ticket.

The Priority and the Model/Maker drop-down lists are controlled by List Manager and the contents can be changed at any time by using this utility.

After assignment, the Ticket goes into the “Assigned Help Desk Tickets” folder.

 Assigned Help Desk Ticket

The Assigned Ticket sits in the “Assigned Help Desk Tickets” folder. The staff can add update the ticket, add comments, record time spend working on it, and, if needed, reassigned it. Updates can be sent to the end user or technician with the click of a button. The ticket can be printed out or copied to tasks for syncing with a PDA. Users can view the ticket in the folder.

Assigned Help Desk Tickets can also be created directly in Assigned Help Desk Tickets folder. This allows staff to both create and assign a ticket all at once.

When done, the technician checks the “Complete” checkbox. This marks the Ticket as Completed and sends an email to the end user that the issue has been resolved. If necessary, you can uncheck the “Complete” button to reopen the ticket.

The completed tickets provide information on how problems were solved. They show managers the many issues the Help Desk handled and what are areas or users presented the most problems. This tracking ability is lacking at many organizations and can provide a valuable resource to reduce total cost of ownership and identify problem areas.

Running Reports with Report Builder

Report Builder is an invaluable tool for tracking and analyzing Help Desk performance and for identifying problem areas. To track Help Desk performance, you can run regular reports that show how many tickets were opened or closed in a certain time period, how long it took to close them, how many are overdue, what technicians worked on them, etc.

For identifying problem areas, you can see what departments, OS, computer model or users are having the most problems. You have a record of what issues the Help Desk fixed for which users and how long was spent. If, for instance, you see that one group is having many Word problems, you can recommend a training class and you will have the statistics to back you up. Or you may notice that one type of computer is having more problems and requiring more service. You may want to replace them. In this way, you can use Report Builder to determine what areas need attention and where to direct resources to fix problems before they occur.

 Advanced Filtering tab of Report Builder

Knowledge Base

The Knowledge Base feature in Outlook Help Desk provides a valuable and easily accessible repository of information on Help Desk issues. The Knowledge Base is built by your staff as they find fixes and information that can apply to future issues. It can also be used to record procedures and instructions for easy updating and distribution. By having a readily available list of articles categorized and sorted by category and type, the Help Desk staff and users have an important body of knowledge to draw from.

OUTLOOK HELP DESK UTILITIES 

LIST MANAGER

Controls the drop-down boxes on the Help Desk Ticket forms.

POPUP MESSAGE
Popup Message allows you to set up a message that end users will see when they open a new ticket.

FIVE UTILITIES

The Five Utilities has five tabs, each with a different utility.

 1. Ticket & KB Numbering tab changes the sequential numbering of the Tickets, You can add prefixes or suffixes to the Tickets automatically. You can also set the numbering for the KB Articles on this tab.

 2. Automatic Notification tab allows you to set email addresses that will be notified whenever a new ticket is entered in the Help Desk folder. There is a box for addresses to be notified of critical tickets and a box for notifications about routine tickets.

3. Ticket Mode tab allows you to set Help Desk Tickets to open in assign mode. This is good for call centers that receive and enter support issues instead of the end users filling out tickets.

 4. Turn Off Warning Message tab lets you to control a pop-up message in Outlook Help Desk.

 5. Ticket Colors tab. On this tab, the colors of tickets can be changed. It is fun to try it out and see the different color combinations. Once saved, this color scheme will be used on Help Desk Tickets and Assigned Help Desk Tickets. Also, the title “Help Desk Ticket” can be modified on this form and the titles on the tickets will be changed (title change available in full release only).

 With different colors:

Screen Shots of Web-Based Outlook Help Desk 3.0

The Web Interface to Outlook Help Desk runs as a virtual directory on the Exchange Server. Users log on with one network logon screen, and are then presented with a menu. The web interface allows users to create new tickets and view existing ones. It uses the same lists as the Outlook form and it pulls the user information from Active Directory (or Exchange Directory on Exchange 5.5), like the Outlook forms.

Network Logon screen
When first starting the web interface, users login with the standard network logon screen:

Menu Page
After logging in, users are given a menu screen:

Submit a new Help Desk Ticket
Similar to the Outlook new ticket form. It uses the lists from List Manager in the Utilities folder to fill in the drop-downs. User information is pulled in from the Directory:

After Ticket is submitted: Users get a screen confirming successful creation of a new ticket.

View Help Desk folder
The list can be sorted by clicking on the column headings:

View Assigned Help Desk Tickets folder
The list can be sorted by clicking on the column headings:

View an Assigned Help Desk Ticket (read-only)

Logon screen:
If the user cannot log in automatically, they are given the screen below to login. The system should, in most cases, be able to log them in with just the one network login screen, but if not, they can enter in their Exchange Alias (not the email address) on this page. The Alias of a user can be seen in Active Directory Users and Computers, on the Exchange General tab in the Properties pages for that user.