Utilities
 

Report Builder

Open and completed Tickets can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet or comma-delimited Text file using Report Builder. With a simple click of a button, the fields on the ticket are copied over to a format that can be used as is or imported into a database. The export can be filtered based on a date range or the status of the tickets, as well as 11 additional fields.

Report templates can be saved and reused. Outlook Help Desk comes with several templates already configured and many more can be created as needed. You can have daily, weekly and monthly reports ready to go at the click of a button.

Report Builder is great for tracking the performance of the Help Desk and identifying problem areas. More information is in our "Reporting and Searching" white paper. 

Knowledge Base

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 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. The articles are automatically numbered.

List Manager

With List Manager, you can control the contents of ALL the list boxes on the Help Desk Ticket forms. You can change them at will and at your convenience. The boxes are:

• Problem Category
• Problem Type
• Priority
• Maker/Model
• Operating System
• When Needed

Ticket Colors

The Ticket Colors utility allows you to change the colors of the Help Desk Tickets and the Assigned tickets on the fly. Great for making the forms match your preferred colors. It also allows you to change the title of the tickets. This is a neat little utility that is fun to play with. For the users' sake, stay away from the purple and green combination!

Automatic Notifications

Automatic Notifications allows you to designate email addresses that will receive notification every time a new Help Desk ticket is created in the Help Desk folder. The message can be sent to any pager or cell phone that accepts email. This significantly improves your response time and effectiveness.

Automatic Notifications allows you to set a separate address for tickets marked Emergency or High Importance. This allows you to respond quickly to critical issues.

Sequential Numbering

Help Desk Tickets are numbered sequentially when the ticket is assigned. This numbering can be controlled by you. You can change the ticket numbering sequence, reset the numbers and a prefix and suffix if desired.

End User or Help Desk Mode

You can set the default mode of the Help Desk tickets as either "end user" or "help desk". End User mode allows your users to enter tickets and submit them to the Help Desk for review. Help Desk mode allows the Help Desk staff to enter and assign tickets directly. This mode can also be changed directly on each Ticket under "Ticket Source".