OUTLOOK HELP DESK 3.1
Product Information and User Manual
for Standard Edition
Crow Canyon Systems, Inc.
New features in versions 3.0 & 3.1
Welcome
to Outlook Help Desk 3.1 with Outlook 2007 support!
Outlook Help Desk leverages the power of Outlook and
Exchange Server to bring a robust, simple and effective help desk system for
your business. Outlook Help Desk 3.1 updates version 3.0 with Outlook 2007
support.
Outlook Help Desk uses highly customized Outlook forms, the
Web, Email, and Exchange public folders to build a help desk that allows you to
efficiently track and resolve IT support issues.
Outlook Help Desk has several utilities to help you manage
the Help Desk, as well as Reporting and Knowledge Base features. The utilities
allow you to set colors of the ticket, to change drop-down lists and manage
numbering. Report Builder exports tickets to Microsoft Excel for important
analysis of help desk performance and problem areas. The Knowledge Base
provides the Help Desk with an invaluable repository of information and
experience on fixing user problems.
Also included with Outlook Help Desk is a link to CCS
Network Inventory, our asset management tool (separate purchase). The use of
CCS Network Inventory is not required, but it can provide more effective
management of computers and lead to faster troubleshoot times. We provide a
link between Outlook HelpDesk and CCS Network Inventory for customers who use
both programs.
Outlook
Help Desk 3.1 works on all versions of Outlook that are 2000 and later. Version
3.1 does not support Outlook 98 and Outlook 97.
Creating
New Help Desk Tickets – Outlook, Web or Email
- Users
can enter tickets through Outlook client, through a Web browser or by
simply sending email to the Help Desk folder.
- Help
Desk reviews and assigns the tickets
- Help
Desk staff can create and assign tickets directly.
- Notifications
are sent out when a new ticket is received. These notices can be set up to
go to a “high priority” email address (such as a pager or cell phone) for
the critical tickets and a regular email address for the normal tickets.
Assigning Tickets –
assign to yourself, to a tech, or to multiple techs.
- Once
the ticket is received, Help Desk staff reviews and assigns it.
- The
ticket can be assigned to “Self” or to another technician. The tech’s name
can be pulled from the Global Address List
- Once
assigned, the tech gets an email notice about the assignment.
- A
ticket can be assigned to multiple techs. If assigned to multiple techs,
each tech can work on the same ticket or each can get a separate ticket.
Completing Tickets
- The
tech works on the ticket and enters in details, comments, and actions
taken into the History Log
- While
working on the ticket, the tech can send an update to the user through a
simple click of a button.
- The
tech can copy the ticket to a personal Task so that it can sync with a PDA
or handheld computer.
- The
tech can enter in the time worked on the ticket; this is automatically totaled.
- The
ticket can be reassigned at any time.
- The
ticket can be printed using the “Print Ticket” button.
- When
done, the tech can mark the ticket complete and send an email to the user.
Entering tickets with a
Web browser
In addition to using the Outlook forms, users can enter and
view tickets through a Web browser. You set up a Virtual Directory named
“helpdesk” on your OWA server. Users enter a URL such as http://yourcompany.com/helpdesk in
their browser and this brings up a logon page. Once authenticated, the users
can then submit a new ticket or view existing tickets.
Another
option is to create a “Support Ticket” on your Web site. This is a Web form
that is geared towards external customers, though of course your users could
fill it out also. When the Submit button is pressed, the form is sent as email
to the Help Desk where it is converted into a new ticket. Since this does not
require a login, it can be available to anyone who can access your web server.
Email to Help Desk creates
new ticket
Users can
create tickets by sending email to the Help Desk folder. They address a message
to the folder, just like they do to a mailbox. A script in Exchange 5.5 and an
Event Sink in Exchange 2000, 2003, and 2007 convert the email into a Help Desk
ticket. Users and customers outside your company can send emails to the Help
Desk by using the SMTP address of the folder.
Other ways to create tickets -- from
an Intranet page or the Outlook Toolbar
Users can create Help Desk tickets
by clicking on a link or button on an Intranet page. This launches an Outlook
form, not an HTML form. Click
here for more information.
A new Help
Desk ticket can also be launched from the Outlook Toolbar. No need to navigate
to the Help Desk folder to open a new ticket. Click here for
more information.
Generating reports with
Report Builder
Report Builder will help you track Help Desk performance and
identify problem areas. Report Builder exports tickets to an Excel spreadsheet
or text file. You can use date, status, and other filters to generate the
reports you want. The full version comes with report templates ready to use.
See more information under Report Builder.
Knowledge Base – valuable information at your
fingertips
The Knowledge Base provides a valuable and easily accessible
repository of information on Help Desk issues and fixes. The information is
readily available to Help Desk staff and users to help them speedily fix
problems. The Knowledge Base is an integrated with Outlook Help Desk system,
using the same Problem Categories and Types for sorting articles. New articles
can be created from tickets with the click of a button. See Knowledge
Base for more information.
Copy to
Tasks for synching with PDA or handheld
The
Assigned Tickets have a “Copy to Tasks” button. This will make a copy of the
ticket in the tech’s personal Tasks folder. This copy can then be synched with
a PDA or handheld computer so the tech has the ticket information readily
available.
Linkage
to CCS Network Inventory
Note that
the use of CCS Network Inventory is not required, and the asset boxes can be
filled in manually as needed.
Fully compatible with
Outlook 2000, 2002/XP, 2003 and 2007
Outlook
Help Desk 3.1 works on all versions of Outlook that are 2000 and later. Outlook
Help Desk safely avoids generating the Outlook security warning through the use
of Redemption.DLL. Without Redemption,
Outlook 2002/XP, 2003, and 2007, as well as versions of Outlook 2000 with
Microsoft’s security patch installed, will generate a security warning when
programs try to access the address book, read the body, send a message, and
other similar tasks.
Utilities
give you control over Outlook Help Desk:
- List
Manager lets
you control the contents of the drop-down boxes.
- Popup
Message lets
you configure a message to display to the users whenever they fill out a
new Ticket. The message is easily changed or turned on and off.
- Ticket
Colors allows
you to change the colors of the tickets on the fly.
- Ticket
Numbering sets
up sequential numbering with a prefix and/or suffix.
- Automatic
Notification
designates two email addresses to send notices to when a new Help Desk
Ticket is created. One address is for high priority tickets, the other
address is for all others.
- Ticket
Mode allows
you to switch the Help Desk Ticket's default mode from "end
user" to "help desk" depending on who is filling out the
tickets.
See Utilities for more information.
NEW “LICENSE UTILITY” IN
VERSION 3.1
Outlook
Help Desk 3.1 includes a License Utility to manage program licensing. Upgrading
from the trial version to the full release is now much simpler. There is no
longer any need to remove the trial version and then recreate the folders. Instead,
you simply enter a License Key. You will not lose any tickets or data.
We send
you the License Key upon purchase of the program. Note that the Trial Version DOES
NOT REQUIRE a License Key, but will expire on a pre-set date.
The
License Key is entered into the License Utility, which sits in the License
folder under the Utilities folder. Simply enter in the Key and Save and Close
the Utility.
Purchase
can also be initiated from the License Utility. The “Purchase” button will take
you to our secure web purchase pages where you can buy the program. These pages
can also be reached by the URL http://www.crowcanyon.com/purchase
After purchase, use the “Request
License” button to email us for a valid License.
New
License folder under the Utilities folder:
New License Utility:
Using Report Builder
To use Report Builder, you can either:
A.
Go
to the Reports folder and double-click the "Report Builder" form.
This will bring up a new Report Builder. OR
B.
Go
to the Reports folder and double-click an existing Report template. The program
comes with several pre-built reports ready for use in the Reports folder, or
you can create your own templates for later use and save them to the Reports
folder (instructions below).
In Report Builder, you can choose which fields to export by
individually checking them or by checking “Select all fields” to export all
fields. Report Builder is set to export from the Assigned Help Desk Tickets
folder by default; you can switch folders with the “Change Folder” button.
Also, rather than export all tickets, you can select
Optional Filters to filter on Status, Priority, Date, and/or Specific Fields. These
filtering options let you tailor the exports to get the reports you want.
After making your choices, press the Export to Excel button.
This will read each ticket that meets your criteria into either an Excel
spreadsheet. It will not delete any data or information from the tickets during
the export.
Microsoft Excel needs to be on the PC that is running Report
Builder. Excel does not need to be opened, but it does need to be installed.
If you want to create a new Report and save it with the
fields and filter choices you have selected, go to the Actions menu and choose "New
Report Builder". When this comes up, make your field and filter
selections, then give the Report a name. To save it, go to File/Save to save it,
then File/Move to Folder and choose the Reports folder.
Knowledge Base
articles can be created directly in the Knowledge Base folder (go to Actions
menu, then “New KB Article”).
Also, every Assigned Help Desk
Ticket has a “Create KB Article” button. If you find that the information and
fixes in a ticket would be valuable to remember, you can create a new KB
article from the ticket with the click of a button. This new article will have
the same Problem Category and Type as the ticket.
Knowledge Base articles can be
sent by email, using the “Send by Email” button on the article. This makes a
quick and easy way to send users fixes and solutions to common problems. The
Knowledge Base can also be used to keep track of Help Desk information, such as
“how-to” articles, configurations, and procedures.
LIST
MANAGER
From the Utilities folder, open "List Manager".
This utility will allow you to set the contents of the drop-down boxes that are
on the Help Desk Ticket forms:
·
Problem Category
·
Problem Type
·
Priority
·
When
needed
·
Maker/Model
·
Operating
System.
On the first page of List Manager, you can set the When
Needed, Maker/Model, Operating System and Priority boxes. For Priority, you put
the entries in the High,
On the second page of List Manager, you can set the Problem
Category and Problem Type lists. These two lists can be linked or unlinked.
Linked:
When linked,
changing the Problem Category changes what is listed in the Problem Type. For
instance, a Problem Category might be Email and the Problem Types might be
“Address Book”, “Can’t Send/Receive”, etc. and another Problem Category might
be Network and the Types might be “Drive mapping”, “Logon Problems”, etc.
To set this
up, enter whatever you want into the Problem Categories list (each on its own
line), then use the “Select Problem Category” drop-down list to select a Problem
Category. Add, modify or delete the list of Problem Types for that Problem
Category. You can switch from Problem Category to Problem Category using the
drop-down lists and modify the Problem Type lists accordingly. Enter the
Problem Types each on its own line.
Unlinked:
When
unlinked, they operate independently so that if the Problem Category changes,
this has no effect on the Problem Type. This might be used if the Problem Types
are more general and you don’t want linkage between the two lists. In this
case, put whatever you want in the two lists.
Outlook
Help Desk comes with the List Manager form already in the Utilities folder. If
it is deleted, you can create a new one by using the Actions menu and choosing
"New List Manager". When the form comes up, choose File/Save, then
File/Move to Folder and select the Utilities folder.
There must
be only one "List Manager" form in the Utilities folder.
POPUP MESSAGE
The Popup Message utility in the Utilities folder allows you
to set up a message that end users will see when they open a new Help Desk
Ticket. This could be an informational notice (“Network down 10 pm – 1 am
tonight”) or a Yes/No box (“We are aware the Internet is down. Do you still
want to fill out a ticket?”). The message can easily be turned on and off with
the Message On checkbox. Other boxes allow you to set the Message Title and the
Message Text.
FIVE
UTILITIES
From the Utilities folder, open "Five Utilities”. This
form has five utilities, each on its own tab.
1. TICKET NUMBERING allows you to change the sequential numbering of the Help
Desk Tickets and add prefixes or suffixes to the Tickets automatically. Ticket
IDs are issued when the ticket is assigned, not when the Help Desk ticket is
first created. This is so that the numbering sequence is not filled with gaps
caused by users opening a ticket and then canceling or by tickets that the help
desk determines do not need to become Assigned Help Desk Tickets.
KNOWLEDGE BASE ARTICLE NUMBERING allows you to change the sequential
numbering of the Knowledge Base articles. The numbering can be changed or reset
using this form
2. AUTOMATIC NOTIFICATION TO STAFF allows you to set email addresses
that will be notified when a new ticket is entered in the Help Desk folder.
This notification works for any new ticket, whether entered from Outlook, by
email or the Web. Use SMTP addresses in the boxes.
The High Importance box allows you to specify an address,
such as a pager or cell phone, that gets notified about critical tickets only,.
This allows you to quickly identify and react to important issues, thereby
increasing your response time.
How users can mark an item “High Importance”:
Outlook form – the end user page of
a new Help Desk Ticket has an “Emergency or High Importance” check box
Web form – the web form has an
“Emergency or High Importance” check box
Email to Help Desk – an email can be
marked high or low importance (they are “normal” by default).
The
notification is not sent to the person filling out the ticket if his or her email
address is in the list. Presumably, the person knows there is a new ticket in
the Help Desk folder and does not need to be notified.
SEND CC TO ENDUSER WHEN
TICKET IS ASSIGNED is
a checkbox that lets you set whether or not the End User will be notified by
email when the ticket is assigned. An email is always sent to the person to
whom the ticket is assigned. The End User can be added to this message as a
“cc” to keep the user notified of when the ticket was assigned and to whom it
was assigned.
This email to the Assigned To person, and to the End User if
the checkbox is checked, is automatically sent upon ticket assignment. (In
previous versions, this email was displayed before being sent.) This “Send CC
to EndUser” checkbox was added in release 3.1, vA310B105.
3. TICKET MODE sets new Help Desk Tickets to open in either end user or assign
mode. Most of the time, you will want to leave it at the default "End
User". However, if the Help Desk is entering the tickets, you will want to
switch to "Help Desk" mode. This brings the tickets up ready to
assign, which is easier on the Help Desk if they are entering most or all of
the Tickets.
4. TURN OFF WARNING MESSAGE allows you to permanently turn off
the message box that Outlook Help Desk shows when assigning a message. This
message box is meant for users with Outlook set to ‘Warn before permanently
deleting items’. When assigning a ticket, Outlook Help Desk deletes the ticket
from the Help Desk folder, which causes Outlook to warn. Our message tells you
to say “Yes” to this Outlook warning; otherwise, the Help Desk ticket will not
be deleted. If you know to answer “Yes” to Outlook’s warning or if you do not
have Outlook set to ‘Warn before permanently deleting items’, then you do not need
our box to show up.
5. TICKET COLORS is a replica of the Help Desk Ticket. Using the Red, Green
and Blue boxes under Foreground and Background in the upper right, the colors
of the tickets can be changed. It is fun to experiment with this and see what
color combinations come up. Once saved, this color scheme will be used on all
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 also.
With different colors:
Outlook Help Desk comes with the Five Utilities form already in the Utilities folder. If it is deleted, you can create a new one by using the Actions menu and choosing "New Five Utilities 30". When the form comes up, choose File/Save, then File/Move to Folder and select the Utilities folder.
Note:
Version 3.1 adds Outlook 2007 support
Knowledge Base – Outlook Help Desk includes an integrated
Knowledge Base. The experience that the Help Desk staff gains through completing
support requests can be compiled into a readily available list of articles that
serve as a valuable reference for future support.
Assigned Ticket can be printed – The Assigned Help Desk Tickets now
have a “Print Ticket” button that allows you to print out a nicely formatted
ticket.
All messages are formatted better – The Update, Completion, and
Assignment messages are now in HTML format.
They are easier to read and better looking.
Report templates can be saved and
reused – Report
Builders can be saved and rerun over and over. You can build a standard daily,
weekly or monthly report template, then reuse it whenever needed. We send the
program with several templates already created and ready for your use.
Report Builder exports full History
Log and Description – The full History Log and Description can now be exported with Report
Builder. In previous versions, only a truncated part of the Description was
exported. This limitation has been removed and these fields can now be used in
reports to provide valuable insight into Help Desk activity.
Streamlined Interface - The forms are simpler and easier to
read, providing a sleeker, more professional look. We won't claim that you will
solve the IT support issues faster, but the forms will be much more pleasing to
use.
Sync with a PDA with "Copy to
Tasks" feature – Some staff may want their assigned tickets in a PDA or handheld
computer. However, tickets (which are tasks) in public folders do not sync to
PDAs or pocket PCs. With this new feature, staff can now make a
"reminder" copy of the Ticket in their personal Tasks folder and sync
that with the PDA. They will need to use Outlook to update and complete the
Ticket, but they will be able to work more effectively with Ticket reminders in
their handheld devices.
Event Sink converts Exchange 2000/2003/2007
emails into Tickets - Versions 3.0 & 3.1 use a COM+ Component (a DLL) that takes advantage
of the Web Storage System event sinks in Exchange 2000/2003/2007. This DLL
replaces the Agent script and uses the Exchange server resources more
efficiently and securely. It will automatically convert incoming emails to the
Help Desk folder into new Tickets.
Popup Message for Users - A new utility allows you to
create a popup message that end users will see before they fill out a ticket.
You can turn this message on and off at will with a simple check box. The box
can be informational ("Server upgrade this weekend.") or a Yes/No box
("We are aware the Internet connection is down. Do you still want to create
a new Ticket?"). The text of this box can be changed instantly. A great
way to communicate with your users!\
Special Notifications for High
Importance tickets
-- End users can mark a ticket "Emergency or High Importance" and
this will send an email to a specially designated email or pager address.
Standard tickets will go to the usual notification address. This allows you to
get immediate and specific notice of critical tickets.
Task Splitter -- One ticket can be
split into multiple tasks -- Sometimes, one ticket requires multiple staffers to work on parts of
it separately. It could be a ticket to upgrade a company with three locations,
for example. One ticket is created, but you could split the ticket up when
assigning it so that each site has a separate task to complete.
One-pass Resolution -- Help Desk staff can now enter
and complete a ticket in one pass. Some tickets are handled immediately and do
not need to be assigned and kept open. A ticket can be opened and resolved in
one session, making the Help Desk more efficient.
Web can be used in two ways -- For internal users, you can set
up the Outlook Help Desk web pages. Users log in and fill out a ticket that is
similar to the Outlook-based tickets. Users can also view the contents of the
Help Desk folders. For external users, you can set up a Web form that generates
an email to the Help Desk folder. This email from the Web form is then
converted to a new Help Desk Ticket like any other email using our event sink
or agent script.
Entries in the Log can be
automatically emailed
-- When you add a new entry to the History Log, this can also be sent to the
user. That way, the fix to the problem can be simultaneously sent to the
user and recorded in the Log. Also, you can keep track of email correspondence
with the user in this way.
Date Completed is not a locked field
– Date Completed is
no longer a locked field because you may mark a ticket “Complete” after you
actually complete the task. By not being locked, you can change the Date
Completed to record the actual time completed rather then the time you are
marking it complete.
Reset Colors and instructions on
Ticket Colors form –
The Ticket Colors utility now has a “Reset Colors” button to put the colors
back to the white and gray defaults that come with the program. Also, there are
instructions on the utility on how to get the Red, Green, Blue numbers for
colors.