Installation Manual
for CCS HelpDesk 4.3
Crow Canyon Systems, Inc.
For additional clients, you
designate a Network Share for the client setup files during installation. Then,
whenever a client goes to the Help Desk folders, the system will automatically
detect whether the client software is installed. If it is not, the user will be
prompted to install.
This greatly cuts down on the administrative and installation efforts to
get CCS HelpDesk installed and keep it updated. Please give it a try and let us
know. More detailed instructions are below.
Thank you!
TRIAL INFORMATION
LITE, STANDARD, and
PRO VERSIONS
ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS
OF LITE VERSION
There are no additional components for the Lite version. The initial install
of the base set of folders (from an Outlook client) completes the Lite installation. The Lite version does not require any additional configuration
on the Exchange server beyond what is in this manual.
ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS OF
STANDARD VERSION
The Standard version consists of the base set of folders plus
the two other components. These additional components require setup on an
Exchange Server and Web Server. Installation of these is described in separate
manuals, which are included in the trial download as well as available at http://www.crowcanyon.com/support/user_manuals.asp
o
Event Sink email conversion files: allows users to email in requests.
The Event Sink will convert that emails into new Help Desk Tickets
automatically.
o
Web Interface files: allows users to create and view
tickets with a web browser.
ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS
OF PRO VERSION
The PRO version consists of the base set of folders plus the
three other components. These additional components require setup on an
Exchange Server and Web Server. Installation of these is described in separate
manuals, which are included in the trial download as well as available at http://www.crowcanyon.com/support/user_manuals.asp
o
Event Sink email conversion files: allows users to email in requests.
The Event Sink will convert that emails into new Help Desk Tickets automatically.
o
Web Interface files: allows users to create and view
tickets with a web browser. Also allows staff (Named Seats) to modify tickets
over the web.
o
CCS Business Administrator: configures escalations and ticket
exports to a MS Access, SQL, or other database.
LICENSING BY “NAMED
SEATS”
In 4.0, we introduced licensing by Named Seats. Names are
entered in the License Utility. All users can open and create tickets (if the
license is valid) and read Knowledge Base articles, but only Named Seats can
assign and work on the tickets after submission. Also, only Named Seats can run
reports and create KB articles.
INSTALLATION OF THE TRIAL
Prerequisites for
installation
1. Extract the .ZIP file on your local
drive (not on a network share).
2. Move the CCSHelpDeskSetup.exe (only
that file) to a file directory under your local C: drive that is not part of
anyone’s profile directories and run the file from there. Do not run from
desktop.
3. Please make sure you have a
network share that can be accessed by all users that will be using the
HelpDesk.
4. Make sure that .NET framework 2.0 is installed on the
computer that will be running the Setup.
5. Make sure you are a local
administrator on the computer where you will be running the Setup.
1) Installation of the
Help Desk folders
Run the installation setup EXE from a computer with Outlook
client (2000 or above) installed and configured on it. The setup will copy the
Help Desk set of folders to the Public Folders at the location you choose in
the setup screens. It will also install the client components for the Help Desk
on the PC where the install is being run.
During the setup, the client files are also placed on the
Network Share for other clients to access when they first use the Help Desk
system.
The setup only has to be run once, and then the public
folders are available to anyone in the Exchange organization. (The folders can
also be installed in a shared mailbox, where they would be available to anyone
with access to that mailbox.) The client files will be automatically installed
from the Network Share when a client first tries to open a ticket or otherwise
use the system
The new Automated Installation is simple. Run the EXE and
follow the screens. (For Windows Vista, run the Setup
by right-clicking on it and choosing "Run as Administrator".)


This next screen requires some input as explained below:

Public Folder Path – choose this using the button on
the right. This should be in a path such as \\Public Folders\All Public
Folders\Help Desk. The Help Desk folders can sit anywhere in the Exchange
Public Folder hierarchy (or a shared mailbox). You will need the rights to
create new folders under whatever folder you will be placing the Help Desk
folders. The best way to test if you have rights is to try to create a new
folder at the location you want. If you cannot, you will need to get this
permission from your Exchange administrator (or have the administrator do the
installation).
File Directory – This is where the local client
files will go. Usually the default is good to stick with.
Network Share – This is where the client setup
files will be placed for other clients to access when they go to start using
the Help Desk system. This share needs to be available to every user who will
be using the Help Desk system. The users will need Read permission on this
share.
Do you want to install
CCS Toolbar Addin … ? – This checkbox will determine
whether the client setup files that are placed on the Network Share should
include the installation of the Outlook Toolbar button for a “New Help Desk
Ticket” on each client.
After this
screen, there is a confirmation screen, then the install
takes place. The setup ends with a Finish screen.
Permissions on the Folders
Set permissions for the folders as follows. At least one person
needs to be the Owner of the folder to make permission changes and manage the
folder. Permissions can also be set by an Exchange Admin in Exchange System
Manager or, in Exchange 2007, the Public Folder Management Tool (under Client
Permissions of the folder):
Help Desk
Default = Author
Help Desk/IT staff = Editor
Assigned Tickets & Completed
Tickets
Default = Reviewer
Help Desk/IT staff = Editor
Knowledge Base
Default = Reviewer
Help Desk/IT staff = Editor
Reports
Default = Reviewer or None
Help Desk/IT staff = Editor
Utilities and all folders under
it EXCEPT Record Lock
Default = Reviewer
Help Desk/IT staff = Editor
People
doing ticket assigning (if different than Help Desk staff): Custom role with
Read Items, Folder Visible, Edit items (All), Delete
items (None)
Record Lock
Default = Editor
Help Desk/IT staff = Editor
2) Installation of Client
files – new “Client on Demand” system!
The first client, that is, the one on the installer’s PC, is
installed as part of the initial setup. For other clients, they will first go
to the Help Desk folder and try to open a ticket. The system will detect that
the CCS HelpDesk client is not installed. It will then prompt them to install
the client.
The client setup is available on a Network Share that is
designated during the initial setup. The client files are placed there
automatically after the installer designates the Network Share. This is done
during the installation process.
The Network Share needs to be available to every client who
will be using the Help Desk system. The clients needs read permission in order
to download and run the client setup.
Note that the Client On Demand
system also installs updates. When the client accesses the Help Desk system, it
not only checks if the client is installed, it also checks if the latest
version of the software is installed on the client. This greatly eases updates
and upgrades of CCS HelpDesk, and keeps the clients fully current with the
latest releases with very little administrative overhead.
Opening a new Help Desk
ticket
The custom "Help Desk Ticket" form will now come
up when you choose "New” or click the white space in the Help Desk folder.
OR

To further configure your
installation, you can set up the following in the folders under Utilities in the
HelpDesk:
1) Add yourself as a Named Seat in the
License Utility
2) In General Utilities folder
a. Configure lists in List Manager
b. Set the Ticket Colors
c. Set the required and hidden fields (if
any) in the Field Manager Utility
d. Configure a Popup Message, if desired
3) Set up Notifications
4) Set up any Templates
If you need assistance,
contact support at support@crowcanyon.com
or see http://support.crowcanyon.com.
To purchase, contact sales@crowcanyon.com
or go to http://www.crowcanyon.com/purchase.
Thank you for Installing CCS
HelpDesk!
More Information
Installation of the Event Sink, Web
files, and CCS Business Administrator
As mentioned earlier, the Standard and Pro versions include
additional components that require setup on the Exchange and web server. Installation
of these is described in separate manuals, which are included in the trial
download as well as available at http://www.crowcanyon.com/support/user_manuals.asp
For current customers
of Outlook HelpDesk:
CCS HelpDesk is a major upgrade to the Outlook Help Desk 3.x
family of programs. (Note that the name was changed to accord with Microsoft
naming conventions.)
The upgrade
process consists of copying the new set of Outlook folders into the Public
Folders, then running the Upgrade Utility to move data from the 3.x program to
the 4.x. The Upgrade process is described in detail in the separate UpgradeManua, included in the Upgrade package sent after
purchasing the upgrade (see “Purchasing” below).
The 4.x
release is available free of charge to customers with one of our Premium Annual
Support Contracts (for those with customized versions, there may be charges for
putting those same customizations into 4.x). Those without a Premium Support
Contract can purchase one at the following link: http://www.crowcanyon.com/support/support_contract.asp.
Otherwise, the Upgrade is available to existing Outlook Help Desk customers for
50% of the cost of a new license.
If you are
a current user of Outlook Help Desk, you may want to continue to use Outlook
Help Desk while trialing the 4.x version. There should not be any conflicts, as
the forms and the DLLs are different. The only caveat is that you cannot have
two folders with the same name at the same level. If you put the 4.x version at
the same folder level as the current Help Desk, you will need to rename the
Help Desk folder to something else.
Linking To CCS Network Inventory (Optional)
Crow Canyon’s Network Inventory tool is a
powerful hardware and software inventory and asset tracking program that scans
your LAN to get detailed software and hardware inventory and configuration
information. CCS HelpDesk includes an option to link to Network Inventory from
the Assigned Tickets. This allows quick and easy access to important data about
the asset and can lead to faster problem resolution times.
The setup is described in a manual provided on purchase of
the Inventory tool.
Note that Network Inventory is a separate purchase. The use
of Network Inventory is not required and is entirely optional. The asset boxes
can be filled in manually as needed.
Uninstalling
To
uninstall CCS HelpDesk 4.x, take the following steps:
1)
Delete
the set of Help Desk public folders. Make certain you want to take this step
first, as once the folders are deleted, the tickets and settings are gone. You
can archive the folders to a PST file if you wish to retain the ticket data.
2)
On
Outlook clients with CCSHD4xx.dll and CCSSAFE.dll installed, you can either
leave them there as they are only activated when our program accesses them or
delete them by unregistering them (with REGSVR32 /u
switch) and then deleting the dll files. These files
are usually in the Program Files/Crowcanyon directory
on the client.
Appendix A
Only
“Deleted Items” and “Search” folders show in Help Desk
If you
install the PST file and do not see the Help Desk folder, like the view on the
left, simply click the folder icon at the extreme bottom right (the one that is
yellowed in the right-hand view) and you will see the folders:
