New enhancements just added….
- NetSupport ServiceDesk now makes it even easier to manage each operator’s workload when automatically assigning tickets. The ‘Circular’ option automatically assigns new items to each operator in turn, allowing them to be evenly distributed – whilst the ‘Load balance’ option assigns new items to the operator with the least open items (any items that don’t have a closed status). Plus, with an “out of office” option now included, operators marked as ‘out of office’ will be excluded from any Circular or Load balance assigning options set.
- Save even more time by previewing image files attached to an incident, copying image files from the clipboard directly into the ‘add details’ section of an incident, and using the new dates fields in the search criteria.
- When an item is logged, a default category for ‘incidents’, ‘problems’ and ‘change requests’ can be added, helping to ensure all items have a category assigned to them.
- Additional SQL database connection provider options have been added to support different methods of connecting to the SQL server.
Extra enhancements
– The licence details page has been updated to include details of configured ServiceDesk operators, allowing organisations to keep track of users in just one glance.
– Specific heights and widths can now be assigned to text fields using the ‘custom data’ tool, making it easier for operators to add/read text in the box.
– Tickets that are linked to a ‘parent’ ticket now highlight additional information fields from the linked ticket in blue. This makes it much easier to follow an incident and view which notes are from the linked ‘parent’ ticket.
New option – Special permissions have a new setting available to allow/disallow users to “View the Audit Trail”. It simply allows this user type to view a history of any changes/updates made to an item.
This can be set for:
- The contact for an Incident and Change Request
- The “manager” of the department that contains the contact for an Incident and Change Request
- The “default contact” of the company that contains the contact for the Incident or Change Request.
Special permissions can be changed by setting the options on the Customise page.
v5.5
New features in v5.5
- Child categories
A new tick box has been added for Workflow rule conditions, allowing child categories to be included or ignored. For example, “Hardware” or “Hardware|PC”. This now helps ServiceDesk Operators to create a more filtered search, while reducing the number of rules needed.
- Assignee conditions
A new assignee value has been added to Workflow conditions, allowing the reallocation of tickets to other Operators. This includes “Not the logged on user” or “The logged on user”.
- Condition field – Item Type
A new condition field has been added to allow Operators to create conditions based on Item Type, for example: Incident, Problem, Change and Request. This enables actions to occur when a ticket is converted to another type or ticket is re-assigned to another operator.
A new option has also been added to allow workflow conditions to trigger/not to trigger when a ServiceDesk Operator is a contact of an Incident, Problem or Change Request.
- Enhanced multiple workflow conditions
ServiceDesk Operators can now set “Condition Logic” on multiple workflow conditions using ‘Use OR Statement’. Instead of creating individual workflow rules, Operators can now use “Condition Logic” to group them together as one rule.
- Updated summary screen
The ServiceDesk Operator’s summary screen now shows a summary of all departments they mange, allowing them to see at a glance all tickets in all departments for which they are responsible.
New features in v3
Naming and Terminology
To align more clearly with ITIL terminology, Tickets or Trouble Tickets are renamed Incidents.
There is now a clear distinction between Incidents, Problems and Change Requests.
Change Management
• Change Requests can now be created andmanaged by Helpdesk. Existing Incidents or Problems can be linked to a Change Request.
• Change Requests can use existing Categories and Statuses or you can define ones that specifically apply.
• Change Request Categories can have a Change Advisory Board (CAB) defined and rules can be associated to the CAB to define when a Change Request has been authorised.
• Unauthorised Change Requests cannot be updated by users other than those on the CAB.
• Change Requests are listed in a separate but similar list to Incidents, you are able to search and define custom searches for them.
Problem Management
• Problems can be created and managed by ServiceDesk. Existing Incidents or Change Requests can be linked to a Problem.
• Problems can use existing Categories and Statuses, or you can define ones that specifically apply to them.
• Unlike Incidents and Change Requests,Problems do not have an associated contact.
• Problems are listed in a separate but similar list to Incidents, you are able to search and define custom searches for them.
Work Flow
– Status Change Rules
When defining a Status you can specify which item types, Incident, Problem or Change Request,that status applies to. You can also assign other Status types that are applicable to that category.
– Workflow Rules
Workflow rules can be defined for Incidents, Problems and Change Requests. Each rule can have a number of conditions and actions.
The conditions included can be of any value and can change to any other value when an item is either updated, created or when it has been in a state for a particular length of working time.
Multiple actions can be defined for a rule and they can be one of the following:
• Change the value on Incidents, Problems or Change Requests.
• Create a Incident Problem or Change Request with specific values.
• Reassign the item.
• Increase the Priority of the item.
Stop the Clock
As an accurate gauge of how much physical time was spent dealing with an Incident, Problem or Change, when defining Statuses you can indicate if items with that status should accumulate working time.
Security
– Categories
When creating Categories, it is now possible to pre-define which of your service desk operators are specialised to deal with that type of Incident, Problem or Change.
– Users
It is now possible to assign service desk operators to specific Companies and Departments in the user hierarchy.
– Permission Templates
Permission templates can be created and thenused to apply permissions to users.
– Due date
You can now define which users can see the duedate of an item.
Linking Items
Problems, Incidents and Change Requests can be linked. When accessing a master item you can select to update all of the linked items.
Custom Data for Companies, Departments and Users
Custom Data fields can be associated to an Incident, Problem or Change Request and a Company, Department or User.
User Interface
– Toolbar
The Menu has been replaced by an enhanced ribbon style toolbar to give easier access to items.
– Recently accessed items
The most recently accessed items are displayed on the right of the page allowing quick and easy access to frequently used pages.
– Dialogs
Pop-up windows have been replaced by dialogs which provide a much faster load time.