CCS HelpDesk 4.0 Features

(formerly Outlook HelpDesk)

Three Versions To Choose From: Lite, Standard and Pro

Feature	Lite	Std	Pro
MS Outlook Ticket Tracking	X	X	X
Integration with MS Office	X	X	X
Knowledge Base	X	X	X
Notifications	X	X	X
Reporting	X	X	X
Inventory Link	X	X	X
Email Conversion		X	X
Web Tickets		X	X
MS Access Export		X	X
MS SQL Export			X
Escalation Manager			X
Full Web Interface			X
Computer Details Snapshot			X
Requires MS Exchange Installation	NO	YES	YES

Outlook, Web and Email interfaces

CCS HelpDesk is the only help desk application to offer all three:

• Outlook: Users can submit and view tickets directly in Outlook.
• Web: Users can submit and view tickets with a browser with the Standard version. A full web interface (request, assign, fufill) is available with the Pro version. These web forms can be integrated with a portal environment. Screen shots >>
• Email: Users can simply send an email to the Help Desk. The Email Converter feature converts the email to a ticket.

Fully integrated with MS Office, Exchange Server and Active Directory

CCS Help Desk is built upon MS Outlook and fully integrated with Exchange

• Data resides in the Exchange public folders
• Automatically connects to Active Directory to pull in user details
• List of users comes from Active Directory
• Ticket assignments are made from Active Directory list
• Make appointments via Outlook Calendar from ticket
• Attach Word, Excel, PDF and HTML forms to ticket
• Uses Exchange web server to connect with tickets via browser (std)
• Exchange event sinks are used to convert emails to tickets

Keeps the end-user informed on ticket status

CCS HelpDesk provide the option to automatically update the user during each stage of the support process with auto notification features. Through the notification utility the help desk staff can set up the application to send the user emails when the ticket is accepted, assigned and completed.

Link to and attach existing forms to tickets

Your organization may have existing forms (examples - hardware requests, password changes etc.) that you wish to keep. With CCS HelpDesk Template Manager you can bring those forms to the requester to fill out right in the helpdesk ticket. Once filled out that form is attached to the ticket through out the workflow process.

Split Ticket into multiple tasks

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.

Bring hardware and software inventory information into ticket

Outlook Help Desk now links with CCS Network Inventory, an asset tracking and network auditing tool that is part of our support productivity tools. When you are working on a ticket, this will allow you to bring up information about the computer or asset involved. Our tickets can connect with the CCS Network Inventory audit database, providing information that is invaluable in solving problems quickly.

Already have an asset tracking package? Outlook Help Desk can integrate with other ODBC-compliant Asset tracking database or LAN audit software programs.We can work with you to integrate Outlook Help Desk with a system you already use. Contact us for information and customization costs for these packages.

Knowledge Base keeps reusable information

The Knowledge Base provides a valuable and easily accessible repository of information on Help Desk issues. It is built from completed tickets and from articles the Help Desk staff enters directly. By having a readily available list of articles categorized and sorted, the Help Desk staff and users have an important resource to draw from when issues arise. The Knowledge Base can be accessed directly or from within tickets. It isavailable through Outlook forms and Web interface.

Create Tickets from Email

Email can be converted to tickets manually and automatically. Using a "create ticket" button, the Help Desk staff can quickly and easily create a new Help Desk ticket from any email selected. Instead of dragging and dropping or manually moving an email, the staff can press the "Create Ticket from Email" button on their toolbar and a new Ticket is created in the Help Desk.

The Email Converter (std and Pro) runs on your exchange server and intercepts emails to the helpdesk and automatically converts them to tickets. Contact information is automatically populated and the summary and description fields are filled in.

Generate Reports with Report Builder

With our utility "Report Builder", ticket information can be selected based on status, category or filtered on any field then easily exported to an Excel spreadsheet or a Text file, great for running reports and tracking the performance of the Help Desk.

The Export to MS Access (standard version) and Export to SQL (Pro) pushes ticket data to external databases for reporting by Crystal Reports and other third-party reporting tools

Utilities to Manage the Help Desk

• List Manager gives you the ability to customize the contents of all drop-down boxes on the Help Desk Ticket forms.
• Notification Manager utility to setup staff notification emails based on selected problem category and allows you to set email addresses that receive notice of a new tickets. You can set a special address to receive notices of critical tickets.
• Popup Message lets you configure messages to display to the users whenever they fill out a new Ticket. The message is easily changed or turned on and off.
• Ticket Mode sets tickets to open in end user mode (end users create tickets) or help desk mode (help desk creates all tickets -- great for call centers!)
• Ticket Numbering sets up sequential numbering of tickets with prefixes and suffixes, if needed.
• Ticket Colors allows you to change the ticket colors on the fly and change the form headings.
• Upgrade Utility makes it simple to upgrade tickets and settings from previous versions.

CCS HelpDesk Pro Features - Coming Soon

• Escalation - We can provide scripts that escalate tickets based on your criteria. Escalation can be based on events such as the Ticket is overdue, or if it has not been modified, or the status has remained not started. The actions taken could include notifying the Tech or a manager, or raising the Priority level of the ticket. In this way, you the Escalation Scripts can meet the needs of your organization.

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• Task Recurrence - We can provide scripts that escalate tickets based on your criteria. Escalation can be based on events such as the Ticket is overdue, or if it has not been modified, or the status has remained not started. The actions taken could include notifying the Tech or a manager, or raising the Priority level of the ticket. In this way, you the Escalation Scripts can meet the needs of your organization.

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• Export to Access or SQL - The new Export Utility pushes the ticket data out to Microsoft Access, SQL or other ODBC-compliant database. This allows you to use the full power of a relational database to derive reports and statistics on Help Desk activity. We provide the Access database and sample reports and queries, which you can then build and expand upon to precisely meet your Help Desk management needs.

Platforms Supported

Fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook, Exchange Server, Active Directory and the web. Supports Exchange Server 5.5, 2000, 2003, & 2007, and all versions of Outlook, including Outlook 2007