Creating a New Request

 

When system users need a service from the system administration team relating to the assets or any other service such as software installation and so on, they can send a request to the team. There are different modes of placing a request to the system administration team, such as web-based form, e-mail notification, and phone call. SupportCenter Plus provides options to log details of a request originating in any of the above-mentioned forms.

 

To create a new request using the web-based form

  1. Log in to the SupportCenter Plus application using your user name and password.
  2. Click the New Request link available just below the tabs in the header pane or click the New Request button in the Request index page.

Quick Create

 

You can create a request quickly using the Quick Create - New Request form. This form is available in the SupportCenter Plus home page and in requests list page. Enter the Contact Name, Request Title, and Description in this form and click Save. You select the contact name by clicking the user look up buttonbeside the name field. If you feel you want to add more details before submitting, then you can do so by clicking the Add more Details link beside the Save button.

The Quick Create - New Request form comes in handy when help desk agent is loaded with work. He/she just has to enter the contact name, request title, and description. The other details can be filled in by the support rep who handles the request.

 

Providing Request Details

 

In the new request form, the first block - Request details has information regarding the request, such as status of the request, mode of request submission, and request level. All these are drop-down boxes containing predefined values that can be added from the Admin module.

 

While submitting a new request, the default entry of the Status of the request will be Open. Depending on the form of request submission (phone call/e-mail/form), you can select the Mode.

 

For example, if a user calls the SupportCenter Plus agent to report an issue and place a request, the SupportCenter Plus agent selects the mode as Phone Call and then record the other details of the request.

 

Based on the request content, the Level of the request also can be assigned. If unsure the default entry can be left as is.

 

Assigning Request to Queue / Support Rep

 

You need to provide the owner for the request. You can either assign to request to a specific queue or a support rep. Under the Owner Details block, from the Assign to list box, select Queue to assign the request to a queue or Support Rep if you want to directly assign it to a support rep. The owner list box will now display values depending on the choice you made.

 

For example, if you have chosen Queue, then the owner list box will be renamed to Queue and will list the queues that are available, from which you can choose the queue of your choice. Only a help desk team member will be able to assign a queue or support rep to the request. Others can create a request, but cannot assign a support rep or queue to the request.

 

Additional Request Details

 

You can define your own organization-specific fields that do not appear in the New Request form, from the Admin module. The fields defined there will be available in the Task Details block in addition to the default task details fields provided. Depending on the fields, enter the required values for the fields. To know more about how to add user-defined fields in the new request form, refer to the Configuring Additional Fields section in the request form under the Helpdesk configurations.

 

Selecting the Contact

 

You can select the contact from the list of users using the SupportCenter Plus application.

  1. In the Contact Details block of the New Request form, beside the name field, click the contact lookup button (). The Search Contact window pops up.
  2. From the above list of contacts, click the hyper-linked contact Name to choose the contact.
  3. If the contact list is huge, then you can choose to view only a select group of contacts by clicking the alphabets at the top, or by entering a search string and clicking Go. Now choose the contact name. The name of the contact is displayed in the Name field in the Contact Details block. If there are any other details associated with the contact, such as Contact Number, Product, and Account Name, then the relevant details will be populated in the respective fields.
  4. If there are more than one workstation associated with the selected contact, choose the relevant workstation from the drop-down box.

Classifying Request Category

 

Under the Task Details Block, there is a Category drop-down box. This lists the various categories under which a request can be classified. You can select the relevant category under which your request can be classified. Alternatively, if the list of categories are too lengthy, then you can click the choose category iconCategory Chooser Iconavailable beside the category list box. For more details on category, refer to Configuring Request Category under the Helpdesk Configurations section.

 

Prioritizing Request

 

In the Task Details block, is a Priority drop-down box. This lists the various priority levels that can be assigned to a request. You can choose the relevant priority for your request from the list displayed. For more details on priority, refer to Configuring Request Priority under the Helpdesk Configurations section.

 

Describe Request

 

Once you have assigned the category and priority for the request, you need to describe the request in detail. The detailed request has two components to it, namely Title and Description. In the Title field, provide a relevant title to the request that will exactly summarize your request content. Then, provide a detailed description with any other associated details relevant to the request in the Description text box.

 

Add Attachments to the Request

  1. In the Task Details block, below the Description text box, click the Attach a file button beside the Attachments field. This opens an Add/Remove Attachment pop-up window.
    Add / Remove Attachment window
  2. Click the Browse button and select the file to be attached from the file chooser window and click the Open button.
  3. Click the Attach button. The selected file will be listed below the Attached Files heading. If you have more files to choose, follow steps 2 and 3 repeatedly till you have attached all the relevant files. Please ensure that the total size of the attachments does not exceed 3 MB.
  4. Click Done. The selected files are attached to the request.

Once you have done all the above, click the Add request button. The request gets added to the list of requests and can be viewed from the request list view which can be invoked by clicking the Request tab in the header pane.

 

Modes of Creating a Request

 

You can create a new request in one of the following methods:

  1. E-mail the request to the help desk team. This e-mail will be automatically converted to a new request in the SupportCenter Plus application.
  2. Call the help desk agent and report an issue or explain the nature of your request. The help desk agent will manually feed in the details into the application through the web-based New Request form available in the Request module.
  3. Log in to the SupportCenter Plus application using your own user name and password and fill in the New Request form or Quick Create - New Request yourself and submit your request.

There can be other modes of requests also by which requests can get created. For more information on how to add additional modes, refer to Configuring Mode section.



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