Tasks
Sometimes, a request might involve multiple technician work. In that case, the request can be divided into several tasks and each task can be assigned to a technician/group.
For example, consider a scenario where a new employee joins the organization. There is a list of tasks that need to be performed such as seating location, providing a computer/laptop, installing necessary software, connecting telephone links, entering his/her name in the active entry and so on. These operations can be considered as separate tasks and be can assigned to different technicians.
Adding tasks:
To add tasks,
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Log in to the ServiceDesk Plus - MSP application using your user name and password.
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Click the Request tab in the header pane.
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Click the Title of the request to which you would like to add tasks.
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Click the Actions menu -> select Add Tasks option. This opens the Tasks window.
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Select the Task Template from Select Template drop down menu.
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Specify the Title of the task in the given text field. This is a mandatory field.
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Specify relevant information about the tasks in the Description field.
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Select the Scheduled Start Time for the task based on the SLA from the calendar button. Also select the Scheduled End Time for the task from the calendar button.
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The Actual Start Time and Actual End Time of the task can be selected later by the technician who works on the task..
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Select the Group to which task has to be assigned. Select the Technician of the task from the combo box. Tasks can be assigned either:
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to a Group alone,
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to a Group and a specific Technician in the group,
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to a Technician alone without selecting the group,
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to no Group and no Technician.
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In some cases, the implementation of one task depends on the completion of one or more other tasks. Dependencies on tasks can be captured by clicking on the relevant tasks in the Depends on Task List. In the snapshot below, Task "Setting up user computer" doesn't depend on any other task so the Depends on Task List is not checked. However, the task "Installing softwares" depends on the current task "Setting up user computer". It is therefore marked in the Dependents List.
For example, the same scenario where a new employee joins the organization. The list of tasks that need to be performed such as seating location, providing a computer/laptop, installing necessary software, connecting telephone links, entering his/her name in the active entry and so on. Some of these tasks are dependent on the other, like installing necessary software can happen only after providing computer/laptop.
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Specify the Status of the task.
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Specify any relevant comment about the task in the Comments field.
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If you wish to be reminded of the task previously then select the time duration from the Remind me before combo box.
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Save the values. You can see a Tasks tab getting created next to the Resolution tab. All the tasks created for the request will be listed under the tasks tab in descending order. The tasks assigned to other technicians can be viewed in their Task summary list in the home page.
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When a task is completed, email notification will be sent to group/technician of the next dependent task to alert them about the completion of the previous task.
Editing tasks:
Task editing consists of capturing dependencies among tasks, and appending/removing/changing other task parameters.
To edit tasks,
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Log in to the ServiceDesk Plus - MSP application using your user name and password.
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Click the Request tab in the header pane.
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Click the Title of the request under which the task to be edited is present.
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Click on Tasks tab. This will show the list of tasks for the particular request.
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Click on the task that you need to edit. The task configuration window opens.
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Edit the necessary task parameters.
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Save the parameters.
Organizing tasks:
In specific cases, certain tasks have to be completed in a hierarchical order either depending on priority or on dependency. This can be done by the administrator after the creation of the tasks.
To organize tasks,
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Log in to the ServiceDesk Plus - MSP application using your user name and password.
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Click the Request tab in the header pane.
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Click the Title of the request under which the task to be organized is present.
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Click on Tasks tab. This will show the list of tasks for the particular request.
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Click on Organize Tasks. This opens the Organize Tasks window with the list of tasks.
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In the Organize Tasks window, click on the task that has to be moved. Re-organize the task by clicking on the Up or Down Arrow buttons and change the order of the tasks in the list.
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Re-ordering tasks will remove all dependencies associated with that task.
Deleting tasks:
To delete tasks,
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Log in to the ServiceDesk Plus - MSP application using your user name and password.
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Click the Request tab in the header pane.
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Click the Title of the request under which the task to be deleted is present.
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Click on Tasks tab. This will show the list of tasks for the particular request.
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Click on the check boxes next to the tasks that need to be deleted.
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Click on Delete.
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Deleting a task will also delete all the dependencies associated with the task.