Web Help Desk GETTING STARTED GUIDE. Version Last Updated: November 14, 2017

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1 GETTING STARTED GUIDE Web Help Desk Version 12.5 Last Updated: November 14, 2017 Retrieve the latest version from:

2 2017 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the prior written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors. SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED HEREUNDER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS, NOR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY EVEN IF SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. The SolarWinds and other SolarWinds marks, identified on the SolarWinds website, as updated from SolarWinds from time to time and incorporated herein, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks may be common law marks or registered or pending registration in the United States or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks contained and/or mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. November 14, 2017 page 2

3 Table of Contents Web Help Desk Getting Started Guide 12 Product terminology 12 Installation 13 System requirements 13 Hardware requirements 13 Operating system requirements 14 Database requirements 14 Discovery connector requirements 15 Web browser requirements 15 Mail server requirements 16 LDAP requirements 16 Deployment recommendations 17 Mobile client requirements 17 Prepare the Microsoft SQL Server database 17 Enable TCP/IP on SQL Server 18 Create and configure your SQL Server database 18 Install Web Help Desk on Windows 19 Before you begin 19 Installation 19 Get started 22 Configure incoming and outgoing accounts 22 Create the default admin account 24 Create a request type in the Getting Started wizard 25 Log in and apply the activation key 25 Increase the JVM memory 26 page 3

4 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Client accounts 28 Methods for creating client accounts 28 Define client options 28 Manually create a client account 29 Add a client custom field 30 Import client account data from Active Directory 31 Determine whether to import all records or individual records 31 Individual synchronization 31 Bulk synchronization 31 Define a connection 32 Tech accounts and permissions 34 What determines a tech's permissions? 34 Tech account types 34 Tech permissions 34 Create a tech account 34 Define tech permissions 36 Create a new tech permission set 36 Assign techs to a tech permission set 37 Tech groups and request types 38 Request types, tech groups, and ticket assignment 38 Request types 38 Tech groups 38 Ticket assignment logic 39 Plan tech groups and request types 41 Considerations for planning request types 41 Map request types to tech groups 41 Define a request type 42 Define a tech group 44 page 4

5 Create a tech group 44 Configure tech group levels 44 Assign supported request types 46 Ticket options, status types, and custom fields 47 Define ticket options 47 Configure ticket status types 48 Modify a preconfigured status type 49 Creating a new status type 49 Create ticket custom fields 50 Ticket submission through 52 Options for submitting tickets 52 Submitting tickets through the web interface 52 Submitting tickets through 52 Default incoming account 52 Additional incoming accounts 53 Tasks to configure ticket submission 53 Review ticket and options 53 Review ticket options 53 Review options 53 Set up incoming accounts 54 Determine who will process tickets from the default incoming account 54 Update the default incoming account to enable ticketing 56 Create a second incoming account for sensitive tickets 56 Asset management 58 How asset management works 58 Centralized repository 58 Asset discovery 58 Inventory maintenance and record keeping 59 page 5

6 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Troubleshooting 59 Reporting 59 Create locations 60 Create an asset type, status type, and warranty type 60 Prerequisite 61 Create an asset type 61 Create an asset status type 62 Create a warranty type 62 Add a manufacturer and model 63 Prerequisites 63 Add a manufacturer and model 63 Add an asset 64 Prerequisites 64 Add an asset 65 Asset discovery 66 Configure the Discovery Engine 67 Configure the Lansweeper settings 69 Configure the NCM, NPM, and SAM settings 71 Ticket types 73 How ticket types work 73 Service request tickets 73 Incident and problem tickets 74 Link incident tickets to a problem ticket 75 Manage problem and incident tickets 77 Ticket automation 79 How ticket automation works 79 Priority types 79 Action rules 79 page 6

7 Tasks 80 Create a priority type 80 Create an action rule to change ticket priority 81 Configure a task to automate ticket creation 83 Create an action rule to run a task 85 Before you begin 86 Create an action rule to run a task 86 Change management 88 How approval processes work 88 Approvers 88 Approval process rules 90 Approval patterns 90 Plan your approval processes 91 Approval process scenario and prerequisites 91 Scenario 91 Prerequisites 92 Create an approval role 93 Assign a department and client to an approver role 94 Prerequisite 94 Assign a department and client 94 Create new status types 95 Prerequisites 95 Create a status type 95 Determine when a status type is applied to a ticket 96 Configure an approval process 97 Prerequisites 97 Configure an approval process 98 Test the approval process 100 page 7

8 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Prerequisites 100 Test the process 100 Test from the client Interface 100 Test from the tech interface 102 Reporting 104 Reports versus advanced search 104 Quick comparison 104 Reports 105 Advanced search 105 Conditions 105 Saved searches 106 Bar and pie chart configuration options 107 Category 107 Bar Stack Category 108 Chart Metric 108 Putting it together 109 View, print, or download reports 109 Modify an existing report 110 Create a custom report 111 Open tickets by tech 111 Tickets closed by request type with work time 113 Schedule reports 115 SolarWinds integration 117 SolarWinds Orion alert integration 117 Prepare request types for alert-based tickets 117 Alert-based ticket example 118 Learn more 119 Enable the SolarWinds Orion Platform to share alerts with Web Help Desk 120 page 8

9 Enter a SolarWinds Orion Platform alert source 121 Configure alert filtering rules 122 Filters 123 About rule configuration 123 Matching rules 124 Complex rules 125 Examples: Configure an alert filtering rule 125 Configure a matching rule 125 Add an And/Or block 126 Test alert filtering rules 127 Knowledge centered support 129 Web Help Desk and knowledge-centered support 129 Benefits of KCS 129 KCS process overview 129 Using Web Help Desk to build your knowledge store 129 Accessing FAQs in Web Help Desk 130 Create an FAQ 130 Manually create an FAQ 131 Create an FAQ based on a ticket note 132 Search FAQs 133 View or edit an FAQ 134 Link an FAQ to a support ticket 134 Get connected 135 Access the Customer Portal 135 Create your user profile 135 Explore the Customer Portal 136 Set up additional Customer Portal user accounts 136 Engage with the SolarWinds community 137 page 9

10 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Create a thwack account 137 Explore the thwack site 137 Tech training 139 Get started with Web Help Desk 139 What is Web Help Desk? 139 Web Help Desk Terms 139 Log in to Web Help Desk 140 Get more information about using Web Help Desk 140 Log out of Web Help Desk 141 Edit your tech profile 141 Create tickets 142 How Web Help Desk tickets can be created 142 Create a ticket through the Web Help Desk tech interface 142 Create a ticket through 143 How Web Help Desk assigns tickets 143 View and customize the ticket queue 145 Display a list of tickets 145 About the ticket queue 145 Sort the ticket queue 146 Customize your view of the ticket queue 146 Search for a ticket 146 Perform a basic search 146 Perform an advanced search 146 Advanced search examples 147 Update and resolve tickets 147 Ticket information 147 Edit a ticket from the Web Console 148 Update tickets using 149 page 10

11 Perform actions on multiple tickets 150 Create a new bulk action 150 Apply a bulk action to a group of tickets 150 Resolve a ticket 150 Client training 152 Ways to submit a ticket 152 Log in to Web Help Desk console 152 Review and update your Web Help Desk profile 153 Create a ticket using the web console 154 Locate a ticket 155 Add information to a ticket using the Web console 156 Add notes to a ticket using 156 Cancel a ticket 156 Closing a ticket 157 Getting additional help from FAQs 157 page 11

12 Web Help Desk Getting Started Guide Welcome to the Web Help Desk Getting Started Guide. This guide will take you from installation to full implementation of Web Help Desk. As you work through the topics in this guide, you will complete the following tasks: Gather requirements, install Web Help Desk, and perform initial setup Create accounts for Web Help Desk users Configure ticket request types and determine which techs will service each request type Enable clients to submit tickets through . Understand and configure asset management Automate ticket creation and configure change management workflows Track progress and monitor performance using advanced search and reporting Use FAQs to build a knowledge base that clients can use to find solutions to common issues This guide also includes role-based training materials that you can distribute to your techs and clients. Existing customers: Access your licensed software from the SolarWinds Customer Portal. If you need any implementation help, contact our Support Geeks. Evaluators: Download your free 30-day evaluation here. If you need assistance with your evaluation, contact sales@solarwinds.com. Product terminology The following terms define the roles and objects managed by Web Help Desk. Tickets: Support requests that are opened through and managed within Web Help Desk. Tickets can be initiated through , created in the Web Help Desk console, or imported from another application. Clients: End users or customers who can open tickets in Web Help Desk. Clients can enter tickets through or through the Web console. Techs: Web Help Desk users who troubleshoot and resolve tickets. Techs can also enter tickets. For example, when a client calls the IT Help Desk, the tech opens a ticket on the client's behalf. In addition, techs can open tickets that are not associated with a client, such as tickets to schedule routine maintenance or system upgrades. Admins: Techs with privileges to configure Web Help Desk. Tech Groups: A group of techs with similar skills and expertise. Request Types: A classification that identifies the type of support request. Request types are used to automatically assign tickets to the appropriate tech group. page 12

13 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Installation This section contains the following topics: System requirements Prepare the Microsoft SQL Server database Install Web Help Desk on Windows System requirements This section contains the following Web Help Desk system requirements: Hardware requirements Operating system requirements Database requirements Discovery connector requirements Web browser requirements Mail server requirements LDAP requirements Deployment recommendations Mobile client requirements HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE CPU RAM REQUIREMENTS Intel 64-bit Dual Core 2.0GHz or faster 3 GB (up to 10 technicians) Add 1 GB for every 10 additional technicians (See Recommendations for more information.) Hard Drive Space Application Ports 20 GB 8443 (default) (PostgreSQL) page 13

14 OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS If you installed macos 10.3.x (High Sierra) on your Web Help Desk server, some Tomcat web applications will fail when you start Web Help Desk after the installation. See Tomcat web applications fail after upgrading to macos x (High Sierra) for a workaround. OPERATING SYSTEM PLATFORM 1 Microsoft Windows Server SUPPORTED VERSIONS Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Windows Server 2012 (64-bit) Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit) Windows Server 2016 Microsoft Windows (Trial evaluation only) Windows 7 (64-bit) Windows 8.1 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) macos (Sierra) (High Sierra) Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) RHEL 6.5 (64-bit) RHEL 7.0 (64-bit) CentOS CentOS 6.5 (64-bit) CentOS 7.0 (64-bit) Fedora Fedora 24 (64-bit) Oracle Java Java 8.0 Fedora 25 (64-bit) 1 Only a Windows installation is addressed in this Getting Started guide. For other operating systems, see the Web Help Desk Administrators Guide. DATABASE REQUIREMENTS DATABASE 1 SUPPORTED VERSIONS PostgreSQL PostgreSQL 9.2 PostgreSQL page 14

15 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK DATABASE 1 SUPPORTED VERSIONS PostgreSQL 9.4 PostgreSQL 9.6 MySQL MySQL 5.6 MySQL 5.7 Microsoft SQL Server SQL Server 2008 R2 SP3 SQL Server 2012 SP2 SQL Server Only Microsoft SQL Server is addressed in this Getting Started guide. For other database types, see the Web Help Desk Administrators Guide. DISCOVERY CONNECTOR REQUIREMENTS DISCOVERY CONNECTOR SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) SolarWinds Network Performance Manager (NPM) SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM) SUPPORTED VERSIONS NCM 7.5 NPM 12.0 SAM 6.2 SAM 6.23 Absolute Manage (HEAT Lanrev) Absolute Manage 7.3 build 5642 Apple Remote Desktop Remote Desktop 3.8 Casper Casper 9.96 Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) SCCM 1511 (64-bit) WEB BROWSER REQUIREMENTS WEB BROWSER Google Chrome SUPPORTED VERSIONS Chrome 61 and later page 15

16 WEB BROWSER Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) SUPPORTED VERSIONS Firefox and later IE10 IE11 Apple Safari Safari 10 Safari 11 Microsoft Edge Edge 38 and later MAIL SERVER REQUIREMENTS MAIL SERVER SUPPORTED VERSIONS Microsoft Exchange Server Exchange Server 2010 Exchange Server 2013 CU7 Exchange Server 2016 Office 365 Supported protocols: IMAP POP3 SMTP LDAP REQUIREMENTS PRODUCT SUPPORTED VERSIONS Microsoft Active Directory 1 Active Directory 2008 Active Directory 2012 Active Directory 2012 R2 Open Directory Open Directory 4 OpenLDAP OpenLDAP 2.4 OpenLDAP Only Active Directory is addressed in this Getting Started guide. For other LDAP systems, see the Web Help Desk Administrators Guide. page 16

17 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK If you run a VMware vsphere or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual environment, you can install Web Help Desk as a virtual appliance. The appliance contains the Linux version of Web Help Desk pre-installed on a CentOS Linux distribution. For more information, see the Web Help Desk Administrators Guide. DEPLOYMENT RECOMMENDATIONS If your deployment supports 10 tech sessions or fewer, you can run Web Help Desk on a system with: A supported operating system A 32-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM) 4.6 GB RAM (3 GB for the tech sessions and 1.6 GB to support the JVM, operating system, and any additional services you need to run on the system) If your deployment supports more than 10 tech sessions, SolarWinds recommends installing Web Help Desk on a system running: A supported operating system A 64-bit JVM The sum of: 3 GB RAM for 10 tech sessions 1 GB RAM for each additional 10 tech sessions 1.6 GB RAM to support the JVM, operating system, and any additional services you need to run on the system MOBILE CLIENT REQUIREMENTS The following table lists the supported client operating systems for the SolarWinds mobile admin software. PLATFORM SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMS Apple ios ios 10 ios 11 Prepare the Microsoft SQL Server database If your Web Help Desk deployment requires database management features such as failover clusters, do not use the embedded PostgreSQL database included with Web Help Desk. Failover clusters are not available with the embedded PostgreSQL database. page 17

18 If you use SQL Server or MySQL as your primary database, install the database engine and management tools according to the instructions included with your software. Install the database on a dedicated drive with at least 20 GB of space to accommodate the database engine, management tools, help desk tickets, and ticket file attachments. You can also configure Web Help Desk to use a new SQL Server database instance on an existing SQL Server. SQL Server and Web Help Desk can reside on the same server or on a separate server. ENABLE TCP/IP ON SQL SERVER Configure the following settings in the SQL Server Configuration Manager. SETTING TCP/IP Protocol IP Address VALUE Enabled in SQL Server Network Configuration > Protocols for SQL 20xx (if installed on the Web Help Desk server) TCP Port 1433 IPAll Server IP address (if installed on a separate server) TCP Dynamic Ports Blank TCP Port 1433 CREATE AND CONFIGURE YOUR SQL SERVER DATABASE Configure the following settings in the SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server to create and configure SQL Server to the Web Help Desk database instance. SETTING SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode Login Name SQL Server Authentication: Password SQL Server Authentication: Enforce password policy SQL Server Authentication: Enforce password expiration SQL Server Authentication: User must change password at next login VALUE Enabled whd Enabled and configured Disabled Disabled Disabled page 18

19 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK SETTING Database name Database owner VALUE whd whd Install Web Help Desk on Windows Use this procedure to install a production copy or an evaluation copy of Web Help Desk on Windows. BEFORE YOU BEGIN Use an account with local administrative rights. Verify the account is not subject to any local or group policy restrictions. Use the Run as administrator option when launching the installer on a system running Windows Server Quit all other programs before running the installer. If you do not use the default embedded database, ensure that you know: The IP address or host name and port of the database server The name of the database The database user name and password INSTALLATION 1. Obtain a copy of the software and your activation key from the SolarWinds Customer Portal. The activation key limits your use based on the number of seats you purchased. See Access the Customer Portal for instructions. 2. Log in as an administrator to the server on which you are installing Web Help Desk. 3. Extract the contents of the downloaded installation ZIP file. 4. Run webhelpdesk-12.5.x-x64_eval.exe or webhelpdesk-12.5.x-x64.exe. 5. Complete the on-screen instructions. 6. When the installation is complete, click Done. The system opens your browser where you can Select the Web Help Desk database. page 19

20 7. To use the database included with Web Help Desk, select Use Embedded PostgreSQL database, and click Next. 8. To use an external database: a. Click Use Custom SQL database. b. In the Database Type field, select the database. c. Complete the remaining fields, and then click Test to test the database connection. d. To create an account on the database, click Create database and user account, enter the admin user name and password, and click Create. e. When you have established a connection with the database, click Next. page 20

21 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK The Getting Started wizard provides options for setting up accounts, which are described in the next topic. page 21

22 Get started This section contains the following topics: Set up the database Configure incoming and outgoing accounts Create the default admin account Create a request type in the Getting Started wizard Log in and apply the activation key Increase the JVM memory Configure incoming and outgoing accounts When you install Web Help Desk, you can continue through the Getting Started wizard to set up incoming and outgoing accounts if you are ready to do so. Each incoming mail account is associated with a specific request type, an optional tech group, and an outgoing mail account (SMTP server) used to deliver outgoing mail. For example, you could have an incoming mail account for all IT tickets, another account for HR tickets, and yet another for Facilities tickets. Web Help Desk checks the Incoming mail accounts each minute for new messages, processes the messages into tickets, and deletes the processed messages from the incoming mail server. If you are not ready to set up accounts, you can skip this step and configure them later from the Web Help Desk web console. To continue without configuring , click Skip this step. page 22

23 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 1. Complete the incoming and outgoing server options as required. 2. Expand Advanced. 3. In the Incoming Mail Port field, enter the port number for incoming mail. By default, Web Help Desk uses your first configured incoming mail account request type as the default. After you complete the Getting Started Wizard, you can update your account information at Setup > In the SMTP port field, enter the port number for outgoing mail. 5. Complete the remaining fields and check boxes as required. page 23

24 6. Click Test to test your address. 7. Click Next to continue. The Getting Started wizard provides options for configuring the default admin account, as described in the next topic. Create the default admin account When you install Web Help Desk, you can create the default admin account in the Getting Started wizard. The default admin account is a local super user account used to: Log in to SolarWinds Web Help Desk for the first time and configure the application. Access all Web Help Desk settings and accounts. Administrators with a default admin account can create all user accounts, including additional admin accounts. The default admin account includes tech account privileges, so you can create and process tickets with tech privileges. Techs can have either Tech or Tech Admin account privileges. page 24

25 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 1. In the Getting Started wizard, navigate to the Admin Account panel. 2. Complete the fields as required, and click Next. Next step: Create a request type in the Getting Started wizard Create a request type in the Getting Started wizard When you install Web Help Desk, in the last step of the Getting Started wizard you can add request types or edit preconfigured request types. This step of the wizard is optional. You might find it easier to add request types in the Tickets panel after Web Help Desk is configured. In most cases, SolarWinds recommends that you bypass this step in the wizard and take time to plan the request types you need. Planning and creating request types is addressed later in this guide. To bypass this step, click Finish. Next step: Log in and apply the activation key Log in and apply the activation key After you install Web Help Desk and run the Getting Started wizard, log in and apply the activation key. If you are evaluating Web Help Desk, you do not need to apply an activation key. For the next 30 days, you will have unlimited tech accounts. If you have not purchased and provided a license after 30 days, the application automatically switches to a 1-tech license. All tech accounts other than the initial admin account are marked as inactive, and some product functionality (such as asset management) is no longer available. You can continue to use Web Help Desk in this mode for up to one year. Applying a license reactivates all deactivated tech accounts and restores full product functionality. page 25

26 1. On the Get Started panel, click Login as admin to continue setup. 2. Accept the terms of the license agreement. 3. Click Setup. 4. On the General panel, click License. 5. Click the padlock to edit the license settings. 6. Enter the Activation Key, and click Activate. See Access the Customer Portal for instructions about obtaining a copy of your activation key. Next step: Increase the JVM memory Increase the JVM memory Web Help Desk requires more max heap memory than the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) default. After installation, increase the MAXIMUM_MEMORY value in the whd.conf file and restart Web Help Desk. page 26

27 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK The following procedure applies to Windows. For other operating systems, see this knowledge base article. 1. Use the following formula to determine the appropriate amount of memory for your deployment: (Average number of concurrent techs x 150) + (Average number of concurrent users x 25) = MAXIMUM_MEMORY value For example, if the average number of concurrent techs is 10 and the average number of concurrent users is 50, the recommended MAXIMUM_MEMORY value is 2750 (which is 2.75 GB): (10 x 150 = 1500) + (50 x 25 = 1250) = 2750 The MAXIMUM_MEMORY value should not be greater than the Web Help Desk server's RAM. 2. Open the whd.conf file in a text editor. The default file location is: C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf\whd.conf 3. Change the MAXIMUM_MEMORY value and save the file. 4. Restart Web Help Desk. a. Open the installation directory. The default path is C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk). b. Right-click whd_stop.bat and select Run As Administrator. c. After the command prompt window closes, right-click whd_start.bat and select Run As Administrator. page 27

28 Client accounts This section contains the following topics: Methods for creating client accounts Define client options Manually create a client account Add a client custom field Import client account data from Active Directory Methods for creating client accounts Clients are authorized Web Help Desk users who submit tickets. A client account must be created for each client. You can create client accounts using any of the following methods: Import client information from an Active Directory (AD) or LDAP server. If you can define a connection to the company's AD or LDAP directory, Web Help Desk can quickly create client accounts based on user records. See Import client account data from Active Directory for information about defining a connection, mapping attributes, and importing information. Import client information from a file. You can import client information from a file in TSV (tab-separated values), CSV (comma-separated values), or Excel format. See the Web Help Desk Administrators Guide. for details. Manually enter client information. If you cannot import client information from a server or file, you can manually create client accounts. For example, an import might not be possible because the AD or LDAP server is external to your network. Or an import might not be necessary because only a small number of users require Web Help Desk client accounts. Define client options Client options are general settings that affect all clients who log in to Web Help Desk. Review these options and update them as needed. page 28

29 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 1. In the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Choose Clients > Options. 3. If you want to allow clients to create accounts from the client interface, change the Client Can Create Account setting. 4. If you want to login information to new clients, select Client When Account Is Created. To change the text of the that Web Help Desk sends, choose Setup > > Templates and open the New Account Message template. 5. Review and update other settings as needed. See the tooltips for information about each option. 6. Click Save. Manually create a client account If client information is not in a format that can be easily imported, you can manually create each client account. The account information must include the client's name, , and Web Help Desk login credentials, as shown in the example below. 1. In the toolbar, click Clients. 2. Click New Client. 3. Enter the client's name, credentials, and contact information. Required fields are bold. 4. Update other options as needed. See the tooltips for more information. page 29

30 5. Click Save. If you selected the client option Client When Account is Created, Web Help Desk sends a confirmation to the client. Add a client custom field You can add custom fields to the Client Info tab to track additional client information. Custom fields can be used to track any client information that is relevant to your support organization. For example, if your company deals with sensitive data, you can add a custom field to track the client's security level. The security level might determine whether a client is granted access to certain network locations. Or, you can track whether the client is a contractor or a direct employee because certain services are available only to direct employees. Information can be manually entered into a custom field, or it can be imported. If the information is stored on an Active Directory (AD) or LDAP server, you can map the custom field to the AD or LDAP schema and import this value along with other client information. This example adds a custom field called Contractor. The field has two radio buttons labeled Yes and No. 1. Click Setup. 2. Select Clients > Client Custom Fields. 3. Click New. The Client Custom Fields screen displays the default values for a new custom field. 4. Enter a Label to identify this field. 5. On the Display Order drop-down menu, select this field's position within the Custom Fields section of a ticket. 6. In the Clients and Techs sections, specify whether each group can see or edit the custom field. Techs with admin accounts can edit all custom fields. 7. Select the Type of input this field will accept. The remaining fields change based on the Type you select. 8. Complete the remaining fields. Point to any field name to display information. page 30

31 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 9. Click Save. Import client account data from Active Directory To streamline the client setup process and reduce input errors, you can import client information from one or more Active Directory (AD) or LDAP servers. Web Help Desk automatically creates client accounts based on this information, and then updates the client accounts when the information changes. If you import data from an AD or LDAP server, the client login credentials are evaluated by AD or LDAP, not by Web Help Desk. When a client attempts to log in, Web Help Desk sends the credentials to the AD or LDAP server for authentication. DETERMINE WHETHER TO IMPORT ALL RECORDS OR INDIVIDUAL RECORDS Web Help Desk periodically performs a one-way synchronization with the AD or LDAP server. You can choose to synchronize individual records as needed (individual synchronization) or to synchronize all records at once (bulk synchronization). INDIVIDUAL SYNCHRONIZATION Individual synchronization creates and updates client account information as needed, which reduces processing time. Web Help Desk creates each client account the first time a user logs in to the website or submits a ticket through . The client account is updated whenever the client logs in again or submits another ticket. Individual synchronization is used unless you choose to enable bulk synchronization. BULK SYNCHRONIZATION Bulk synchronization creates a client account for every user record in the AD or LDAP directory. Each time bulk synchronization runs, Web Help Desk examines each user record to determine if a corresponding client account needs to be added or updated. If your organization includes a large number of users, bulk synchronization can affect Web Help Desk performance. page 31

32 If enabled, bulk synchronization runs at regular intervals based on the schedule that you specify in the connection definition. You can also run it manually by clicking the Sync Now button in the LDAP connection list. Even if you use bulk synchronization, Web Help Desk still performs an individual synchronization each time a client logs in or sends an . This keeps active client accounts up-to-date, even if bulk synchronization is not performed frequently. Most organizations do not need to perform bulk synchronization. However, bulk synchronization can be useful if you need to create all client accounts so that you can make configuration changes before clients log in. If most of the users in your AD or LDAP directory are not using Web Help Desk, SolarWinds does not recommend using bulk synchronization. DEFINE A CONNECTION To enable the client account data import, you must define a connection to each AD or LDAP server. The connection definition: Provides information that enables Web Help Desk to connect to the server Enables and schedules bulk synchronization (optional) Maps attributes in the AD or LDAP schema to the corresponding fields in the Web Help Desk client account Complete this procedure with the help of an experienced AD or LDAP administrator who is familiar with your existing structure. This person must have administrative access to the AD or LDAP server. This example provides connection information for an LDAP server, and maps the custom Contractor field to an attribute in the LDAP schema. 1. Click Setup. 2. Select Clients > AD / LDAP Connections. 3. To create a new connection, click New. To update an existing connection, click the connection name to open it, and then click to edit. 4. In the Connection Basics tab, select Enabled to enable the connection. page 32

33 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 5. Enter the required connection information. See the tooltips for more information. 6. Maximize the Advanced window and review or update the advanced settings. 7. If you want to use bulk synchronization, select Enabled and then specify when the synchronization should occur. To avoid affecting network performance, schedule the synchronization for a time when the network is least busy. 8. Click Save. 9. Click Test Settings to test your settings, and make adjustments if needed. 10. Map client account fields to attributes in the schema. a. Click the Attribute Mappings tab. b. Specify the AD or LDAP schema being used. c. Locate each client account field that will be populated with information from the AD or LDAP server. To map each field, enter the associated schema element as instructed by the AD or LDAP administrator. The client's last name, user name, and must be mapped. If you are using the default schema, these fields are mapped automatically. For custom schemas, you must map these attributes manually. Any field, including custom fields, can be mapped if the data is available in the schema. 11. Click Save. page 33

34 Tech accounts and permissions This section contains the following topics: What determines a tech's permissions? Create a tech account Define tech permissions What determines a tech's permissions? Techs are users who resolve Web Help Desk tickets. Permissions specify which tickets a tech can access and what actions the tech can perform. A tech's permissions are determined by: The type of tech account The set of permissions granted to the tech account TECH ACCOUNT TYPES Web Help Desk provides two account types for techs: The Admin account type provides unlimited access to all Web Help Desk functionality. All permissions are granted to admins. The Tech account type provides limited access to Web Help Desk functionality based on the tech's permissions. TECH PERMISSIONS A named set of permissions is granted to each non-admin tech account. Web Help Desk provides a default set of tech permissions. You can edit the default permissions to meet your organization's needs. You can also define other permission sets for specific roles within your organization. For example, you can define a permission set for senior techs to give them additional access (but not the unlimited access of an admin). Another permission set can be assigned to junior techs to restrict their access. Create a tech account Check out this video (9:16) on creating tech accounts and accounts. Each tech who logs in to Web Help Desk must have a tech account. This example describes how to create a tech account for Richard Acevedo. He will be granted the default tech permissions. A tech account for his supervisor (Sara Peterson) already exists. page 34

35 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Beginning in Web Help Desk , all techs who use LDAP authentication must have a Client account to access their Tech account. This process prevents unauthorized access to an LDAP account. When you create a non-admin tech account, you must specify the tech's supervisor. As a result, SolarWinds recommends creating the supervisors' accounts first. 1. In the toolbar, click Setup and select Techs > Techs. 2. Click New. 3. Enter the tech's name, Web Help Desk credentials, and contact information. All bold fields are required. For more information about any field, see the tooltips. 4. Specify the account type. For tech accounts, specify the tech's permissions and supervisor. A supervisor is required for tech accounts, but optional for admin accounts. 5. To enable the tech to access the Web Help Desk client interface, link the tech to a client account. When the tech account is linked to a client account, the Switch to Client Account icon in the upper-right corner. The tech can click this button to display the interface exactly as the selected client sees it. is available Tech accounts can be linked to actual client accounts or a demo client account. If you link to a demo client account with the same user name as the tech, a message warns you that the client won't be able to log in except as a tech linked to the client account. Because that is the intent, you can ignore the message. 6. Specify the number of notes and history entries to display on a ticket. Additional entries will be collapsed by default. 7. In the Asset Setup section, select the technologies that this tech can use to connect remotely to an asset. The Assets > Options configuration determines which technologies this section lists. 8. In the Setup section, specify the settings and select the events that generate an to this tech. page 35

36 9. To prevent Web Help Desk from escalating a ticket to this tech when the tech is not scheduled to work: a. Specify the tech's business zone. b. If the tech's work schedule is different than the default work schedule for that zone, specify the work schedule. c. Indicate if the tech is on vacation. d. Optionally, select a backup tech to receive this tech's escalated tickets. e. Indicate whether the account is active. 10. Click Save to save your changes. Define tech permissions Check out this video (6:23) on defining tech permissions. Permissions determine which tickets techs can access and which actions they can perform. This example creates a new permission set called Senior Tech. Techs with this permission set can edit the Due Date and Request Detail fields on a ticket. They can also edit approved FAQs and approve new FAQs. If your organization is implementing knowledge centered support, consider including the Approved FAQ Edit permission in the Default tech permission set. Granting this permission allows techs to update or correct FAQs as needed. CREATE A NEW TECH PERMISSION SET 1. Click Setup and select Techs > Tech Permissions. 2. Click New. 3. In the Permissions tab, enter a name to identify the permission. page 36

37 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 4. In Location Permissions, specify whether ticket access is restricted based on the company, location group, department group, or tech group a tech is assigned to. The tooltips provide more information about each permission. 5. In Ticket Permissions, define what actions a tech can perform within a ticket. 6. In Client Permissions, specify whether a tech can edit, delete, import, or download clients. 7. In Asset Permissions, specify whether a tech can view and edit assets and associated elements. 8. In Other Permissions, define the options that enable techs to edit locations, manage parts, edit and import FAQs, work with reports and surveys, view hourly billing rates, and create and edit new and existing FAQs for all categories. 9. Click Save. ASSIGN TECHS TO A TECH PERMISSION SET After defining the permissions, assign techs to the permission set. Each tech can be assigned to only one permission set. When you assign a tech to a new permission set, the tech is automatically removed from the previous permission set. In the following example, assigning Richard Acevedo to the Senior Tech permission set automatically removes him from the Default permission set. 1. From the tech permissions page, click the Assigned Techs tab. 2. Select the techs who will have these permissions. 3. Click Save. page 37

38 Tech groups and request types This section contains the following topics: Request types, tech groups, and ticket assignment Plan tech groups and request types Define a request type Define a tech group Request types, tech groups, and ticket assignment Check out this video (3:01) on tech groups, request types, and ticket assignment. Request types and tech groups work together to determine how tickets are routed through Web Help Desk and assigned to techs. REQUEST TYPES Web Help Desk uses request types to categorize and route help desk tickets. They define the basic structure of your help desk system. Users cannot submit a ticket without a defined request type. Request types are used to: Route tickets to the appropriate tech group or lead tech Specify which custom fields a ticket includes Initiate an approval process, if needed Facilitate reporting Configure workflows and action rules Display related FAQs to clients Web Help Desk provides several default request types, but you can define a set of request types that meet your organization's needs. TECH GROUPS You can define groups of techs with similar skills and technical expertise, and then map these groups to the request types they will service. A tech group can include multiple levels, so that complex or difficult tickets can be escalated to more experienced techs. Tech groups are optional. Small organizations with just a few techs probably don't need to define tech groups. Without tech groups, each ticket is assigned to the lead tech for the ticket's request type. page 38

39 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Larger organizations can use tech groups to automatically route tickets to techs with the required skill set. Web Help Desk can assign tickets to group members using a load-balancing or round-robin algorithm, or you can route all tickets to the group manager or lead tech for manual assignment. TICKET ASSIGNMENT LOGIC The following diagram shows the logic that Web Help Desk uses to assigns tickets. page 39

40 page 40

41 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Plan tech groups and request types Before you begin creating request types and tech groups, consider what types you will need and which group will service each type. CONSIDERATIONS FOR PLANNING REQUEST TYPES As you plan request types for your organization, consider the following guidelines: Hide internal request types from clients. Some request types are used only by techs (for example, a request for a system to be shut down for maintenance). Hide these types from clients to avoid confusion. Client-facing request types should reflect the client's point of view (not the tech's point of view). Name request types to reflect the problem or symptoms that the client sees, not the solution or the underlying technical cause. Avoid specialized terms that clients would not know. Use nested request types to subdivide broad parent categories. Request types can have multiple levels. Nested request types can be used to: Provide more specific categories for reporting or categorizing FAQs. Route tickets to different tech groups. For example, "Facilities > Plumbing" and "Facilities > Landscaping" could be routed to different tech groups. Hide technical subcategories from clients. For example, a parent request type "Computer Problem" could have nested request types to describe specific types of problems (such as "VPN Connection Issue"). These nested types are hidden from clients to avoid confusion. Techs can use them to provide more accurate reporting on the types of issues users encounter. Do not make your system too complicated or granular. Create only the types you need to route and categorize requests. Users can have difficulty selecting a type when there are too many, and can be more likely to choose a generic type such as Other. If in doubt, start with fewer types and add more if needed. Before deploying the request types and tech groups in a production environment, test all request types in a QA or development environment. Verify that each request type is routed to the correct group. MAP REQUEST TYPES TO TECH GROUPS Create a list of your organization's request types, and map them to the tech groups who can support them. The following table provides an example of groups mapped to request types. page 41

42 TECH GROUP REQUEST TYPES Building Maintenance Facilities > General Facilities > Installation Facilities > Clean Up Facilities > Fixture / Office / Cubicle Repair Facilities > Heating or Cooling Issue Facilities > Light Bulb Replacement Facilities > Plumbing Issue Grounds Maintenance Facilities > Landscaping Issue Human Resources HR > Benefits HR > Benefits > 401K HR > Benefits > Insurance HR > Benefits > PSIP HR > Employee Complaint HR > New Hire Paperwork HR > Personal Records Define a request type Check out this video (5:11) on setting up request types. Request types are used to categorize Web Help Desk tickets. The request type specifies which users can create this type of ticket and what fields are included on the ticket. The following example defines the New Hire Paperwork request type. It is a subtype of the HR request type. This request type will be used to initiate the paperwork that the Human Resources department must complete when a new employee starts. Because tech groups have not been defined yet, this request type will be mapped to a tech group later. For more information about any field, see the tooltips. 1. In the toolbar, click Setup and select Tickets > Request Types. The Request Types window displays current request types. 2. Click New. 3. Enter a name to identify this request type. page 42

43 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 4. To create a nested request type, select the parent type. Optionally, click remaining fields from the parent type. To create a top-level request type, leave this field blank. to copy values for the 5. Select the tech group that will handle this type of request. If the tech group has not been defined, leave this field blank. You can map the request type to a tech group when you define the tech group. 6. Specify the default priority and whether fields are hidden or required. 7. In the Detailed Instructions field, enter additional information to be displayed on the ticket. For example, you can provide specific instructions for creating this type of ticket, or explain the request type's purpose so a client can choose the correct type. You can apply BBCode formatting to format lists, add emphasis, or include links to supporting information. See the Web Help Desk Administrators Guide for details. 8. Specify whether this type of ticket is listed in the menu displayed to clients. Clear this option for types that are selected only by techs (for example, a request type used by techs to schedule an equipment maintenance window). In this example, the New Employee request type should be visible to clients. 9. Optionally, restrict this ticket type to specific companies, locations, or departments. Only clients or techs associated with your selections will see this request type. For example, if the request type will be routed to a facilities maintenance group for a specific location, restrict the type to that location. In this example, the New Hire Paperwork request type is not restricted to specific companies, locations, or departments. 10. Identify the tech who will receive the highest level escalation (after the tech group manager). page 43

44 11. Select the survey that is sent to clients when this type of ticket is closed, or select None to disable surveys for this ticket type. 12. Click Save. Define a tech group Tech groups specify which techs are included in the group, the number of levels within the group, how tickets are assigned, and which request types the group can support. The following example creates the Human Resources group and maps it to HR request types. This group includes only one level, and tickets are assigned to individual techs using a load-balancing algorithm. CREATE A TECH GROUP 1. In the toolbar, click Setup and select Techs > Tech Groups. 2. Click New. The Tech Group Info page opens. 3. Enter a name to identify the tech group. 4. Select the group's manager. 5. If tickets should be assigned to the manager of the location group associated with the ticket (instead of the tech group manager), select When a Ticket's Location. Tickets are assigned to a group manager when auto-assignment is not enabled on the Tech Group Levels tab, or when auto-assignment is enabled but no techs in the group are available. 6. Click Save. CONFIGURE TECH GROUP LEVELS Group level options specify how tickets are assigned and which techs are members of that level. At least one level must be configured for each group. Add multiple levels if you want to be able to escalate tickets to more experienced techs. If you configure multiple levels, all new tickets are initially assigned to techs in Level 1. Techs in higher levels receive tickets only if they are escalated. page 44

45 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 1. Click the Tech Group Levels tab. 2. Click an existing level to open it, or click Add Level to add a new level. 3. Specify how Web Help Desk will assign tickets for this level. a. Select the type of tech Web Help Desk will assign tickets to. None A Level Tech Group Manager or Lead Tech Tickets are not automatically assigned to individuals, but belong to the group level. Each ticket is assigned to a tech in this level based on the tech's availability. All tickets are assigned to the manager or lead tech, who then reassign them to techs. b. If you selected A Level Tech, select the assignment algorithm: Load Balancing assigns each ticket to the tech with the smallest backlog (the lowest number of assigned tickets). Round Robin assigns tickets sequentially to all techs in the level, regardless of the tech's current backlog. 4. In the Force Notification To row, select who receives notifications when a ticket is created or updated by the REST API or a SolarWinds alert, or updated by a client. These notifications are sent regardless of the options selected for each tech account. 5. In the Default Selected Recipients row, specify who is selected by default to receive an when a tech clicks Save and in a customer ticket. 6. Select the techs assigned to this level. 7. Click Save. page 45

46 ASSIGN SUPPORTED REQUEST TYPES 1. Click the Request Types Supported tab. The tab displays the request types assigned to this tech group. 2. Click Edit. The tab displays all request types not assigned to any tech group. 3. Select one or more Request Types for this group to receive. 4. Click Save. page 46

47 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Ticket options, status types, and custom fields This section contains the following topics: Define ticket options Configure ticket status types Create ticket custom fields Define ticket options Ticket options define the rules that apply to all tickets. Review the default settings and update them if needed. In this example, clients can submit tickets only through the web interface. Additional configuration will be performed later to enable submission. 1. In the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Select Tickets > Options. 3. On the Tickets Options page, review and update settings in the General Options section. See the tooltips for information about each option. 4. Review and update settings in the Client Options section, including how clients can create tickets and who can update the priority. page 47

48 5. Review and update settings in the Tech Options section. 6. Click Save. Configure ticket status types The ticket status identifies the ticket's current stage of completion and indicates whether action is needed. By default, Web Help Desk includes the following status types. You can modify all preconfigured status types and create additional status types. STATUS Open Pending DESCRPITION The issue requires a resolution. This is the default status of a ticket when it is created. The ticket was received, but it is currently on hold. For example, a status indicates that a feature request was received but management has not yet decided if the request will be granted. This status can also indicate that the assigned tech is waiting for information from a client. You can also create a new status for this purpose. Resolved The tech has provided a solution and is waiting for the client to confirm the resolution. By default, when a tech changes a ticket status to Resolved, the client receives an asking if the issue is resolved to their satisfaction. If the client clicks Yes, the ticket status changes to Closed. If the clients clicks No, the ticket status changes to Open. Closed Canceled The client confirmed that the issue is resolved. You can also configure Web Help Desk to automatically close a ticket if the client does not respond to the confirmation request within the specified time period. The client is no longer experiencing the problem, or no longer needs the service requested in the ticket. You can create a Web Help Desk report to show the total amount of time or the average amount of time spent in each status. page 48

49 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK MODIFY A PRECONFIGURED STATUS TYPE By default, setting a ticket status to Resolved sends an asking the client to confirm the resolution. The following example configures the Resolved status to automatically close the ticket if the client does not respond within three weeks. 1. On the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Select Tickets > Status Types. 3. In the list of status types, click Resolved. By default, the Resolved status type is configured to send an prompting clients to confirm that their issue was resolved. 4. Set Automatically Close Ticket After to 3 Week(s). If a client does not respond to the confirmation within three weeks, the ticket status is automatically set to Closed. 5. Click Save. CREATING A NEW STATUS TYPE This example creates a new status type called Waiting on Client Response. 1. On the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Select Tickets > Status Types. 3. Click New. 4. Enter a Name and Description. 5. Change the Display Order so that tickets with this status are displayed above Closed, Canceled, or Resolved tickets. 6. Clear the Count Time check box. The time spent in this status is not included in the ticket's total open time, and the ticket's due date is extended by the amount of time spent in this status. page 49

50 7. Click Save. The new status type is displayed in the list. You must click Save on the Status Types tab before you click the Options tab. If you do not click Save, the information you entered on the Status Types tab is lost. 8. In the list of status types, click Waiting on Client Response. 9. Click Options. 10. In the Client Update Sets Status To field, select Open. When the client updates the ticket, the status automatically changes to Open. This indicates that information has been added to the ticket and the tech can resume work on it. 11. Click Save. Create ticket custom fields You can create custom fields to track additional ticket information. These fields can be displayed on all tickets or only certain types of tickets. This example defines the Start Date field. This field is displayed on tickets with a request type of HR > New Hire Paperwork. It is a Date type, which limits user input to a date selected from a calendar widget. 1. Click Setup. 2. Select Tickets > Ticket Custom Fields. 3. Click New. The Ticket Custom Fields screen displays the default values for a new custom field. 4. Enter a label to identify this field. 5. In the Display Order drop-down menu, select this field's position within the Custom Fields section of a ticket. 6. In the Clients and Techs sections, specify whether each group can see or edit the custom field. Techs with admin accounts can edit all custom fields. 7. Select the Type of input this field will accept. The remaining fields change based on your selection. page 50

51 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 8. Complete the remaining fields. Point to any field name to display information. 9. Click Save. The Request Types field and an Edit link is displayed on the Ticket Custom Fields screen. 10. Specify which request types apply to this custom field. Only tickets with the selected request type will display this field. a. Click the Edit link. A new tab displays a list of request types. b. Select one or more request types. To display the custom field on all tickets, click Select All below the list. c. Click Done to close the tab. 11. Click Save. page 51

52 Ticket submission through This section contains the following topics: Options for submitting tickets Review ticket and options Set up incoming accounts Options for submitting tickets Check out this video (3:30) on best practices for ticket submission. Web Help Desk tickets can be submitted through the web interface or . You must determine whether clients can use both options, or if they are restricted to only one. The following sections help you understand each option and determine which option is best for your organization. SUBMITTING TICKETS THROUGH THE WEB INTERFACE When clients submit tickets through the web interface, the ticket assignment process is streamlined. Tickets are automatically routed to a tech or a tech group based on the ticket's request type. You can also specify that certain fields on the web interface are required. For example, if you are using location groups, you can refine ticket assignment by requiring clients to select a location. You can also require customers to complete custom fields that apply to the request type. Collecting relevant information at ticket creation can help techs troubleshoot and resolve the issue more quickly. As a result, organizations might encourage or even require clients to submit tickets through the web interface. SUBMITTING TICKETS THROUGH submissions require additional processing, but many organizations choose to enable this functionality because it is convenient for their clients. When clients submit tickets through , Web Help Desk creates a ticket based on the content. All tickets are routed to the tech group associated with the incoming account. Techs within this group must evaluate each ticket and select the appropriate request type. DEFAULT INCOMING ACCOUNT All organizations must have a default account. Typically, this account is associated with a generic address that clients can easily remember (such as support@mycompany.com or helpdesk@mycompany.com). The default incoming address receives all general support s. page 52

53 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK ADDITIONAL INCOMING ACCOUNTS You can choose to set up other incoming accounts and link them to specific request types. For example, an organization might want to restrict potentially sensitive HR requests to the HR tech group. They can set up a second account (hr@mycompany.com) that routes tickets directly to the HR tech group. TASKS TO CONFIGURE TICKET SUBMISSION The following list outlines the tasks required to configure ticket submission. See the following sections for details. Verify ticket options: For the Clients Can Create Tickets Using option, select (or both). Verify options: Enable the Create Accounts for Unrecognized Senders option. Select Create New Ticket when the ticket ID is not recognized. Configure incoming accounts: If necessary, set up a request type to assign to tickets created based on s to the default account. Also, identify or create a tech group who assigns the appropriate request type to these s. Update the default incoming account to enable submissions. Optionally, set up a second incoming account for sensitive s. Review ticket and options To enable clients to submit tickets through , verify the values for the following ticket and options. REVIEW TICKET OPTIONS Select the option to allow clients to create tickets using In the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Choose Tickets > Options. 3. Specify that clients can create tickets using Click Save. REVIEW OPTIONS To allow ticket creation through , specify the following options. page 53

54 1. In the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Select > Options. 3. Specify whether Web Help Desk should create a new client account when it receives an account from an unrecognized sender. If you enable this option, SolarWinds recommends limiting account creation to s from accepted domains. 4. For the When ID in Subject Is Not Recognized option, select Create New Ticket. When an does not include a ticket ID in the subject line, Web Help Desk will create a new ticket based on the Click Save. Next task: Set up incoming accounts Set up incoming accounts Check out this video (9:16) on creating tech accounts and accounts. During the initial setup, you created the default incoming and outgoing accounts. To enable clients to submit Web Help Desk tickets via , you must edit the default incoming account. Optionally, you can create a second incoming account for specific request types. To enable clients to submit tickets via , you must also Review ticket and options. DETERMINE WHO WILL PROCESS TICKETS FROM THE DEFAULT INCOMING ACCOUNT Decide which request type will be assigned to tickets that are created based on s sent to the default incoming account. Also decide which tech group will be responsible for evaluating each ticket and assigning the appropriate request type. If necessary, create a new request type and tech group for this purpose. In this example, you will create a new request type called Incoming , which will not be visible to clients. Tickets with this request type will be routed to a tech group called Assignment. When an Incoming is assigned to the Assignment group, a member of that group reads the ticket details and selects the appropriate request type. When the request type is updated, Web Help Desk reassigns the ticket to the tech group responsible for that request type. page 54

55 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 1. Create a request type to assign to tickets created through a. In the toolbar, click Setup. b. Select Tickets > Request Types. c. Click New. d. Enter a name to identify the Request Type. e. Clear Visible to Clients to prevent clients from selecting this type when they create tickets through the web interface. f. Clear Use as FAQ Category to prevent techs from using this type to categorize FAQs. g. Click Save. 2. Create a tech group to assign the appropriate request type to these tickets. a. Select Techs > Tech Groups. b. Click New. c. Specify the group name and manager. d. Click Save. e. Click the Tech Group Levels tab, and then click Level 1. f. Specify the group members and other options. g. Click Save. h. Click the Request Types Supported tab, and then click Edit. i. Select the request type this group services. j. Click Save. page 55

56 3. Verify that the techs in this group have permission to reassign tickets. a. To find out what permission set is assigned to a tech, select Techs > Techs. Then click a name to view the tech's account. The Tech Permissions field is located on the Account Info tab. b. Select Techs > Tech Permissions. c. Click the name of the permission set to open it. d. Verify that Allow Re-Assignment is selected. If this option is not selected, you can either assign the tech to a different permission set or select this option for the current permission set. UPDATE THE DEFAULT INCOMING ACCOUNT TO ENABLE TICKETING To enable clients to submit requests, select this option on the default account and identify the associated request type. The following example updates the existing settings on the default account to enable clients to submit tickets via . All tickets sent to the default address will have a request type of Incoming Select > Incoming Mail Accounts. 2. Click the name of the default account to display the account settings. 3. Select Enable Tickets. 4. Verify that this account is the default incoming account. 5. Leave the Tech Group blank. 6. Select the Request Type that will be assigned to tickets created through this account. 7. Click Save. CREATE A SECOND INCOMING ACCOUNT FOR SENSITIVE TICKETS The following example provides instructions for setting up a second incoming account. This account will be used to process HR tickets. page 56

57 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 1. If the default account settings are open, click 2. Click New. 3. Select Enable Tickets. to return to the list of incoming accounts. 4. Verify that this account is not the default incoming account. 5. Enter the address for the account that Web Help Desk will check for new tickets. 6. Web Help Desk will delete all messages from this account. Do not specify an account that is being used for any other purpose. 7. Specify the account type, server information, credentials. and folder. See the tooltips for more information. 8. Select the outgoing mail account used to send replies to s sent to this incoming account. You can associate the same outgoing account with both the default incoming account and this incoming account. SolarWinds does not recommend using the same mail account as both the incoming and outgoing accounts. 9. Leave the Tech Group blank, and then select the Request Type that will be assigned to tickets created through this account. 10. If necessary, specify advanced properties. 11. Click Save. page 57

58 Asset management This section contains the following topics: How asset management works Create locations Create an asset type, status type, and warranty type Add a manufacturer and model Add an asset Asset discovery Configure the Discovery Engine Configure the Lansweeper settings Configure the NCM, NPM, and SAM settings How asset management works Asset management is a set of processes used to track the deployment, use, and maintenance of assets across an enterprise. An asset is any item owned by a company. For example, IT assets can include items such as servers, laptops, and monitors. SolarWinds Web Help Desk provides IT asset management functionality, including: A central repository for assets Discovering Windows-based assets and importing assets from other repositories Inventory maintenance and record keeping Integration with DameWare Remote Support software for troubleshooting A reporting engine that you can use to generate preconfigured and custom reports CENTRALIZED REPOSITORY Web Help Desk maintains a complete product catalog of all assets owned by your company, which includes price and warranty details. With a customizable asset details form, you can track your client assignments, purchase orders, warranty information, and configuration details. ASSET DISCOVERY Using a built-in scanning engine, Web Help Desk can discover your network systems based on subnet or IP range. Using scheduled WMI discovery, Web Help Desk can periodically poll endpoints to update hardware and software inventory information, including: page 58

59 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Host name Model Serial number Operating system Hard drive Memory Installed software You can also import asset inventory information from third-party asset discovery tools, spreadsheet records, and network management systems. If you are running SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM), Server & Application Monitor (SAM), or Network Configuration Manager (NCM), you can synchronize your Web Help Desk node and asset discovery in your corporate network. Web Help Desk also integrates with third-party asset discovery tools, such as Casper and Microsoft SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager). INVENTORY MAINTENANCE AND RECORD KEEPING You can use Web Help Desk to associate asset details with service requests so you can track the ticket history for each asset. You can also manage information about purchase orders, parts, and billing. For example, when you enter purchase order information for an asset, Web Help Desk calculates warranty and lease end dates, and notifies you prior to the expiration date. Techs and clients can use the Web Help Desk reservation center to select a checkout time and date range for a specific asset. You are notified when a checked-out asset is due, helping you to identify overdue, lost, or stolen inventory. TROUBLESHOOTING To simplify troubleshooting and support, you can launch remote desktop sessions directly from your asset inventory. With built-in integration with DameWare Remote Support software, in addition to native remote desktop protocol (RDP) and virtual network computing (VNC) connections, you can establish remote sessions with user systems and provide instant assistance. DameWare requires the user be within the network. REPORTING You can use Web Help Desk to generate asset reports based on location, department, asset type, asset status, and purchase and warranty dates. Reports can help you: page 59

60 Find assets approaching the end of warranty Identify the most problematic assets Report on reserved assets that are overdue Create locations This is the first task in the process of configuring asset management. Assets are deployed to various locations throughout an enterprise. A location is assigned to each asset. The following example shows how to create a location in Web Help Desk. The location will be assigned to an asset later in this guide. 1. On the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Click Locations > Locations and Rooms. 3. Click New. 4. Complete the remaining fields as needed and click Save. When you assign a location to an asset, you can generate preconfigured reports that count the number of assets for each location. In this scenario, two locations are created, and in a future topic, each location is assigned to assets. Next task: Create an asset type, status type, and warranty type Create an asset type, status type, and warranty type Assets are grouped into asset types for example, hardware and software. Asset types help you manage a large number of assets, and can be used when searching for assets and filtering asset report data. page 60

61 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Asset status describes the asset lifecycle state. For example, when a laptop is provisioned and assigned to a client, the asset status is Deployed. When an asset is decommissioned and no longer used, you can update the asset status to Retired. An asset warranty type helps you manage assets with an expiring warranty. When you track warranty information, you can generate reports that include the warranty expiration date, and use that information to purchase an extended warranty, if required. PREREQUISITE This is the second task in the process of configuring asset management. Before you start, you must complete the first task: Create locations CREATE AN ASSET TYPE In the following example, two asset types are created. An asset type is selected when an asset is created. 1. On the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Click Assets > Types. 3. Click New. 4. Enter a name to identify the asset type. 5. Click Save 6. Repeat steps 3-5 to add another asset type. page 61

62 CREATE AN ASSET STATUS TYPE In the following example, four asset statuses are created. Asset status is optional when you create a new asset. 1. On the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Click Assets > Types. 3. Click Asset Status Types, and click New. 4. Enter a name and indicate whether assets with this status are retired. 5. Click Save 6. Repeat steps 3-5 to add other status types. CREATE A WARRANTY TYPE In the following example, four warranty types are created. Warranty is optional when you create a model. 1. On the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Click Assets > Types. 3. Click Warranty Types, and click New. 4. Enter a name and indicate whether assets with this status are retired. page 62

63 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 5. Click Save 6. Repeat steps 3-5 to add other status types. Next task: Add a manufacturer and model Add a manufacturer and model When you create an asset in Web Help Desk, you must select a manufacturer and model. This example shows how to create a manufacturer and a model. You will assign these to assets later in this guide. PREREQUISITES This is the third task in the process of configuring asset management. Before you start, you must complete the previous tasks: Create locations Create an asset type, status type, and warranty type ADD A MANUFACTURER AND MODEL 1. On the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Click Assets > Manufacturers & Models. 3. Click New. page 63

64 4. Enter a name, complete the remaining fields as required, and click Save. 5. Click Model Editor. 6. Click New. 7. Enter a name, select an Asset Type, and select a Default Warranty. 8. Click Save. 9. Continue to add models for the manufacturer as needed. Next task: Add an asset Add an asset An asset is any item owned by an enterprise. For example, IT assets can include items such as servers, laptops, and monitors. This section describes some data you might find helpful in collecting when managing assets in Web Help Desk. PREREQUISITES This is the third task in the process of configuring asset management. Before you start, you must complete the previous tasks: Create locations Create an asset type, status type, and warranty type Add a manufacturer and model page 64

65 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK ADD AN ASSET The following steps show how to manually add an asset. You can also configure asset discovery. 1. On the toolbar, click Assets, and then click New Asset. 2. Complete the following fields as required. Click the tooltips for more information. page 65

66 3. Click Asset Details and complete the following fields as needed. Click the tooltips for more information. 4. Click Save. Asset discovery Web Help Desk supports several methods of automated discovery. Using one or more of these tools, you can synchronize Web Help Desk with your selected discovery tool and import the assets into the Web Help Desk database. Web Help Desk discovers assets using its native WMI discovery engine and can pull assets from the following asset discovery tools and databases: Apple Remote Desktop 3.x and later Casper Recon Suite LANrev Client Manager Systems Management Server (SMS) / Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) Database Table or View SolarWinds NPM asset synchronization page 66

67 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK SolarWinds SAM asset synchronization SolarWinds NCM asset synchronization Lansweeper 5.x This guide covers the WMI discovery engine, SolarWinds asset synchronization, and Lansweeper 5.x. Configure the Discovery Engine The Web Help Desk Discovery Engine (WMI) allows you to discover Microsoft Windows-based assets based on subnet or IP range. By using scheduled WMI discovery, Web Help Desk can periodically poll endpoints to update hardware and software inventory information, including: Host name Model Serial number Operating system Hard drive Memory Installed software The Discovery Engine uses a set of administrator credentials to scan at least one IP address range for a new discovery connection. Web Help Desk stores and encrypts all administrator credentials in the database with the connection parameters (such as IP ranges and schedule). Using this discovery connection, you can create separate Discovery and Auto-Sync job schedules. A Discovery job scans a selected IP address range and discovers endpoints that accept at least one of the saved credentials. The first time you run the discovery job, it forces an auto-sync (collection) that collects configuration data from endpoints retrieved by the discovery job. page 67

68 1. On the toolbar, click Setup > Assets > Discovery Connections. 2. Click New. 3. Enter a name for the connection. 4. Select WHD Discovery Engine (WMI). page 68

69 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 5. Enter the IP Ranges for the discovery engine to scan. 6. Enter the credentials. 7. Complete the remaining fields as required. 8. Click the Attribute Mapping tab and map the asset fields. All bold selections are required. The asset attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly to the values in the discovery tool s database. 9. Click Save. 10. Run the discovery job manually, or wait until the scheduled discovery job completes. 11. To view the imported assets, click Assets > Search on the toolbar. Configure the Lansweeper settings You can configure Web Help Desk to periodically discover assets stored in Lansweeper Network Management. Before you begin, locate the following Lansweeper information: page 69

70 IP address and port number Login and password Database logon and password To configure Web Help Desk to discover assets stored in Lansweeper: 1. In the toolbar, click Setup > Assets > Discovery Connections. 2. Click New. 3. In the Connection Name field, enter a name for the new connection. 4. Click the Discovery Tool drop-down menu, and select Lansweeper. 5. Enter the Lansweeper database host name, port number, database name, user name, and password. 6. Complete the remaining fields as required, and click Save. The Attribute Mapping tab displays. For more information about any field, see the tooltips. 7. Click the Attribute Mapping tab and map the asset fields as appropriate. All bold selections are required. 8. Click Save. To view the imported assets, click Assets > Search. page 70

71 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Configure the NCM, NPM, and SAM settings You can configure Web Help Desk to periodically discover assets stored in SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM), Server & Application Monitor (SAM), and Network Configuration Manager (NCM). Before you begin, locate the following information: SolarWinds Orion Platform system IP address and port number SolarWinds Orion Platform login and password System database s login and password To configure Web Help Desk to discover assets stored in SolarWinds NPM, SAM, or NCM: 1. In the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Select Assets > Discovery Connections. 3. Click New. 4. In the Connection Name field, enter a name for the new connection. 5. Click the Discovery Tool drop-down menu and select one of the following, depending on which connection you want to discover your assets: SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor To discover your assets using more than one SolarWinds product, you must configure separate discovery connections for each product. page 71

72 6. Enter the NPM, SAM, or NCM database host name, port number, database name, user name, and password. 7. Complete the remaining fields as required. For more information about any field, see the tooltips. 8. Click the Attribute Mapping tab, and map the asset fields as appropriate. All bold selections are required. 9. Click Save. 10. To view the imported assets, on the toolbar, click Assets > Search. page 72

73 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Ticket types This section contains the following topics: How ticket types work Link incident tickets to a problem ticket Manage problem and incident tickets How ticket types work By default, all Web Help Desk tickets are created as service request tickets. If necessary, a tech can change a service request to an incident or a problem ticket. SERVICE REQUEST TICKETS A service request is a planned request for a new or modified service. When you hire a new employee, you can create service requests for setting up a workspace, purchasing a laptop computer, and assigning a telephone number. If you want to track multiple service requests within one ticket, you can create one ticket as the parent service request and link the remaining service requests as children to the parent ticket. Use this option to view the status of all child service requests within one ticket. For example, Jessie Burns is setting up a new server room in her department. She decides to purchase 12 1U rack mount servers and 12 1U rack mount storage systems. She creates a new service request, and indicates that she wants to purchase this computer equipment for his department. She submits separate service requests for the servers, storage systems, and computer racks, because they are all purchased from separate vendors. To manage this project, she opens his initial request for computer equipment as the parent service request, clicks the Requests tab, and links the remaining service requests as children to the parent ticket. page 73

74 The parent ticket displays each service as a linked child ticket. Linking the tickets will help Jessie manage his service requests for new equipment. When all service requests are resolved, Jessie can close the parent service request ticket. When you close a parent service request ticket, all child service requests are not closed automatically. INCIDENT AND PROBLEM TICKETS An incident is an unplanned event that causes an interruption or reduction in service. If the new employee receives a laptop computer and cannot connect to the corporate network, you create a service request ticket that a tech can later classify as an incident. If you encounter two or more similar incidents, you can link the incident tickets to a problem ticket. A problem identifies the root cause of one or more incidents. If the new employee and several other employees cannot log in to the corporate network, you can create a service request ticket that a tech can later classify as a problem. The tech can then link all incident tickets as supporting incidents (or children) to the problem ticket. This process known as parent-child service relationships is used to group identical tickets together so you can troubleshoot and resolve all tickets as one problem. When the incident tickets are resolved, you can close all tickets simultaneously by closing the parent ticket. All incident tickets are resolved as a group. page 74

75 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Although linking incident tickets to a problem ticket is not required, it does make managing these tickets easier. For example, once linked, you can see the status of any incident and navigate to it within the properties of the problem ticket. In addition, closing a problem ticket automatically closes all incident tickets, which means that you do not need to close the incident tickets one at a time. For example, Janet, Ellen, and Bruce submit a service request ticket stating that they cannot access their in Microsoft Outlook. After researching the problem, you discover that your Microsoft Exchange server is down and needs to be restarted. To troubleshoot and resolve all client tickets in one ticket, you can change the request type on one client ticket to Problem and the remaining tickets to Incident. Then link all the incident tickets to the problem ticket so they are shown as linked incidents. When all incidents are resolved, you can close the parent ticket. When you close a parent problem ticket, all incident tickets are closed automatically. Link incident tickets to a problem ticket You can use Web Help Desk ticket types to link related tickets and manage them as a group. Perform this procedure to track multiple incidents in one problem ticket. This process can help you track all incidents related to a problem in your company, such as a network failure or power outage. page 75

76 1. Open the service request ticket that you want to change to a problem ticket. 2. Click Problem, and click Save. The problem ticket will be the parent of each incident ticket. 3. Open the service request ticket that you want to change to an incident ticket. 4. Click Incident. page 76

77 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 5. Within the incident ticket, click the Problems tab. 6. Search for the problem ticket that you want to make the parent of the incident. 7. In the Action column, click Link to make the selected ticket the parent of the current ticket. 8. Save your changes. 9. Repeat steps 3-8 for each incident you want to link to the parent. Next task: Manage problem and incident tickets Manage problem and incident tickets After you have linked a set of incident tickets to a problem ticket, you can manage these tickets as a group. To do this, open the problem ticket and perform the following actions, as necessary. For more information about Web Help Desk ticket types, see How ticket types work. page 77

78 Click a child ticket to open its details. Click delete if you want to remove the relationship between the problem and the incident. When you add a note to the problem, you can also propagate the note to linked incidents. When you close a problem ticket, all linked incident tickets also close. A tech cannot all Incident ticket recipients from a Problem ticket. However, if a Problem ticket is set to Closed, all Incident tickets are Closed. This action generates a Ticket Closed to all Incident ticket recipients. page 78

79 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Ticket automation This section contains the following topics: How ticket automation works Create a priority type Create an action rule to change ticket priority Configure a task to automate ticket creation Create an action rule to run a task How ticket automation works Automating ticket workflows is based on three principles: priority types, action rules, and tasks and task elements. PRIORITY TYPES Web Help Desk prioritizes tickets and sends automated alerts to techs based on how you configure your setup parameters. A ticket includes one of the following predefined priority types: Urgent High Medium Low Each priority type includes adjustable alert levels to automatically escalate an . Web Help Desk includes three alert levels, with level 3 as the highest severity. The Not Completed condition is considered more important than Not Updated, which is more important than Not Assigned. If alert levels include matching criteria, Web Help Desk uses the highest severity level. ACTION RULES An action rule defines the action Web Help Desk automatically performs on tickets based on your predefined conditions. For example, you can use an action rule to: Assign the ticket to a tech Change the priority level of the ticket Update the status of a ticket page 79

80 Run a task Modify a ticket Send an TASKS Web Help Desk uses tasks to create tickets. A task contains one or more task elements, and each task element provides settings for a new ticket. When the task runs, Web Help Desk creates a ticket for each task element, either sequentially or all at once, depending on the configured task. Tasks can run manually or automatically, at given intervals or based on specific criteria, depending on how you configure them. Tasks are especially useful for handling repetitive processes. For example, if your HR department has a set of routine onboarding tasks to complete for a new employee, you can create a task called New Employee and define each task element required to help a new employee get started in their new position. Related tasks can include: Completing tax and insurance forms Accessing network resources Configuring a new computer system Installing and configuring corporate and department-specific software You can trigger a new task when required for example, when you on-board a new employee. When you run the task, Web Help Desk generates a ticket for each task element. These tickets can be assigned to techs, who ensure each task element is completed. Create a priority type Check out this video (3:51) on priority types. You can use Web Help Desk to automate ticket workflows. For example, you can automatically change a ticket's priority type. In the following example, a Critical priority type is created. In the next topic, the Critical priority type will be used in an action rule that changes all tickets submitted by the CEO to Critical. 1. Click Setup. 2. Select Tickets > Priority Types and Alerts. page 80

81 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 3. Click New. 4. Enter a name, and select a display order and color. 5. (Optional) In the Due Time field, select the time when tickets with this priority should be closed. 6. (Optional) In the Client Reminder Interval field, select the amount of time to elapse before sending (or resending) a reminder to clients. 7. (Optional) In the Alert Repeat Interval field, select the amount of time between reminders to trigger an alert. 8. Click Save. 9. (Optional) In the Alert Level rows, set the conditions (such as time interval, criteria, and recipients) for each Alert Level, beginning with Alert Level 1 and ending with Alert Level 3. Next task: Create an action rule to change ticket priority Create an action rule to change ticket priority Check out this video (3:37) on creating an action rule. In the previous topic, the Critical priority type was created. The following example creates an action rule that selects all tickets submitted by the CEO, changes the ticket priority to Critical, and routes the ticket to a group. page 81

82 1. In the toolbar, click Setup and select Processes > Action Rules. 2. Click New. 3. Select a priority and enter a rule name. Only one action rule can be executed at a time. The action rule priority determines the trigger order of all action rules. 4. Select the Cascade check box to trigger all defined actions for a ticket. Do not select Cascade to trigger only the highest priority action. 5. Select the rule triggering options to define when and how often Web Help Desk applies the action rule. 6. Click Criteria. 7. Configure the conditions that tickets must match to trigger the action: Every condition in the All section must be true. If any condition is false, the action is not triggered. Web Help Desk evaluates these conditions using the Boolean AND operator. The Any section defines a group of conditions. At least one of these conditions must be true to trigger the action, but they do not all have to be true. Web Help Desk evaluates these conditions using the Boolean OR operator. page 82

83 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK If both sections include conditions, all conditions in the All section and at least one condition in the Any section must be true. Web Help Desk evaluates the two groups with a Boolean AND operator between the groups: (all_1 AND all_2) AND (any_1 OR any_2) If no conditions are defined in the All section, at least one condition in the Any section must be true. 8. Click Actions. 9. Specify the action to take when the conditions are met. 10. Click Save. Configure a task to automate ticket creation Check out this video (6:00) on automating ticket creation. You can use Web Help Desk tasks to automate ticket workflows. In the following example, a new hire setup task is created. This task contains the following task elements: Cubicle setup Access to the network New hire paperwork setup page 83

84 When the action rule runs the task, the task elements become tickets configured with a request type and associated tech. 1. In the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Select Tickets > Tasks. 3. Click New. 4. Enter a task name. 5. Click Shared. Sharing a task makes it available to other techs and for use in action rules. 6. Click Save. A task must be shared before you can configure an action rule to run it. 7. Click Task Elements, and click New. 8. Configure the child ticket to inherit field values from the parent ticket. a. Click Link to Parent. b. Select the Inherit Value check box for one or more fields. page 84

85 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 9. Select a Request Type, enter a Subject and Request Detail, and click Save. 10. Add your remaining task elements, and click Done. Next task: Create an action rule to run a task Create an action rule to run a task When you configure an action rule to run a task, the system creates a ticket for each task element. In the following action rule, the New Hire task creates four tickets when a client submits a ticket with a new hire request type. page 85

86 BEFORE YOU BEGIN Create a new hire request type. Create a task and task elements. CREATE AN ACTION RULE TO RUN A TASK 1. In the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Select Processes > Action Rule. 3. Enter a rule name. 4. In the Rule Triggering field, select the options to define when and how often Web Help Desk applies the action rule. 5. Click Criteria. 6. Create a condition that includes the new hire request type. 7. Click Actions. page 86

87 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 8. Configure the action to run the new hire task. 9. Click Save. 10. To test the action rule, submit a ticket with the new hire request type. The system creates the parent ticket first, followed by a child ticket for each task element. In this example, Ticket #27 is the parent ticket. 11. To view and manage child tickets, open the parent ticket. The parent ticket lists all child tickets, as shown in the example below. In the parent ticket, you can: Navigate to the child tickets. Add a note to the parent that propagates to the child tickets. Closing the parent ticket does not automatically close the child tickets. page 87

88 Change management This section contains the following topics: How approval processes work Approval process scenario and prerequisites Create an approval role Assign a department and client to an approver role Create new status types Configure an approval process Test the approval process How approval processes work Check out this video (8:14) on creating an approval process. You can configure Web Help Desk so tickets associated with specific request types are automatically routed to individuals for review and approval. This is useful in situations when you want to manage change, and those changes must be evaluated, approved, planned, and scheduled. For example, if you need to upgrade your Windows file server, you can configure a process that routes the request to one or more people for review and approval. Due to the complexity of a system upgrade project, an approval process can help control the project and communicate to concerned parties when the project is approved and ready to begin. APPROVERS An approval process can contain one or more steps, and each step of the process involves one of the following types of approvers: page 88

89 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Client. Only clients can be selected as an approver. If a tech is involved in an approval process, link the tech account to a client account. Pros: Cons: Because all clients are available as approvers, using clients provides a high degree of flexibility when you configure the approval process. For example, you can define a multi-step approval process that includes clients in various locations and departments. If a client leaves your organization and they are involved in multiple approval processes, you need to update each approval process with another approver. Department approver. You can configure a client to act as an approver for a department. Pros: Cons: If a department approver leaves your organization and they are involved in multiple approval processes, you only need to update the department approver once in the system. That change propagates throughout all approval processes. A department can only have one approver, and you cannot configure an approval process to include multiple department approvers. For example, you cannot configure the first step of an approval process to be approved by the IT department approver, and then configure the second step of the process to be approved by the Finance department approver. If you need individuals from multiple departments to approve a ticket, configure the approval process to use clients or a Change Advisory Board (CAB). Location approver. You can configure a client to act as an approver for a location. Pros: Cons: If a location approver leaves your organization and that person is involved in multiple approval processes, you only need to update the location approver once in the system. That change propagates throughout all approval processes. Unlike department approvers, an approval process can include multiple locations. A location can have only one approver. Change Advisory Board (CAB). A CAB is a group of approvers that review and vote on requests as a team. You decide how many members must agree before the ticket is approved or rejected. For example, if a seven-member CAB reviews an upgrade request ticket, you can configure the step in the approval process to be approved if only five members vote Yes. Pros: Cons: A CAB can approve requests even when some members disagree. Members of a non-cab approval process review tickets in series, and any member can reject the ticket at any step of the process. If you need a "majority rules" approval process, use a CAB. A CAB is not appropriate for ticket approval processes requiring one approval or a unanimous approval. page 89

90 APPROVAL PROCESS RULES When you create your approval process, use the following conventions: Only one client can be a department approver. Only one client can be a location approver. Only one department approver can be in a process. For example, you cannot have the Director of IT approve a ticket, and then have the Director of Finance approve the same ticket. You can include multiple location approvers in an approval process. For example, you can configure an approval process so the ticket is approved by the location approver in San Francisco, and then the location approver in New York City. You must link a request type to an approval process. An approval process can have multiple request types linked to it. The same process can be used for more than one type of ticket. A request type cannot be linked to more than one approval process. Multiple approval process cannot be required for the same ticket. If the request type associated with the approval process includes one or more children, select one of the children as the supported request type. You cannot select the parent request type as the supported request type. When a request is approved by the minimum number of CAB approvers, the ticket is removed from the approvals queue for the remaining CAB members. You can string multiple CABs together in an approval process. For example, the first step of an approval process can be approved by five out of seven approvers, and the second step can be approved by three out of four approvers. The client who submits a ticket can approve the ticket, provided they are set up as the approver. APPROVAL PATTERNS The simplest approval process includes a single step that is approved by a client, a location approver, a department approver, or a CAB. But you can configure more complex, multi-step approval processes that include any of these approver types. For example, you can configure an approval process so a client approves first, followed by a department approver and a location approver. An approval process can contain any combination of: Multiple client approvers A single department approver Multiple location approvers Multiple CAB approvers For example, you can configure an approval process so three clients approve the ticket first, followed by a department approver and a location approver. page 90

91 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK You can also configure an approval process so a location approver approves the ticket first, followed by two CABs. PLAN YOUR APPROVAL PROCESSES Consider the following questions before you begin configuring your approval processes in Web Help Desk: Do you have a simple approval process with just one step, or do you have a multi-step approval process? In an approval process, who (or what) approves each step? Is it a client approver, a department approver, a location approver, or a CAB? Do you need multiple department approvers? If yes, use client approvers instead of department approvers. Which request type are you using in the approval process? Keep in mind that a request type can be associated with only one approval process. Are there any steps in the approval process where you want a team of approvers to vote, and you can specify the required minimum number of approvers? Use a CAB to create a group of approvers and select the minimum number of Yes votes needed to approve the request or move to the next step in the process. Approval process scenario and prerequisites SCENARIO The following topics describe how to set up a software upgrade approval process using an example scenario. In this example, a server administrator submits a request to upgrade SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server The ticket is routed to the Director of IT for review and approval. This example scenario uses a department approver. To create this approval process, make sure you have completed the prerequisites listed in the next section. Then complete the following tasks: Create an approver role Assign a department and client to an approver role Create new status types page 91

92 Configure an approval process Test the approval process PREREQUISITES Before you begin the tasks to create an approval process, make sure the following tasks are already completed: Clients accounts are created All users involved in an approval process must be defined as clients, even if they are also defined as techs in the system. In this example, Janet Mull is the server administrator who requests the upgrade, and Richard Meyers is the Director of IT who reviews and approves the request. Each client must have an assigned department. page 92

93 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Departments are created A department is assigned to each client, and is used when you define a department approver. In this scenario, both clients belong to the Information Technology department. To define a department: 1. Click Setup > Locations > Options. 2. Select Use Departments and click Save. 3. Click Departments in the left menu. The Departments menu displays. Request type is created In this scenario, the server administrator submits a ticket using a request type created for upgrade requests. For example, the Upgrade Request type was added to the preconfigured IT General/Other request type. Create an approval role Creating an approver role is the first task in the approval process example scenario. page 93

94 An approver role provides dynamic approver assignments based on the department or location associated with a ticket. A department approver role approves or rejects tickets for a specific department. You can only use one department approver in a process. If you require multiple department approvers to approve a request, configure the process with client approvers. In the following example, the IT Department Approver role is created for the Information Technology department. 1. Click Setup > Processes > Approver Roles. 2. Click the Department Approver Roles tab. 3. Click New. 4. In the Approval Role Name field, enter a name that describes the role. For example: IT Department Approver 5. Click Save. Assign a department and client to an approver role PREREQUISITE This is the second task in the approval process example scenario. Before you start, you must complete the previous task: Create an approver role ASSIGN A DEPARTMENT AND CLIENT In this task, you designate a client as the department approver. For example, Richard Meyers, the Director of IT, is assigned to the IT Department Approver role. 1. Click Setup and select Processes > Department Approvers. 2. Click the department. For example, Information Technology. page 94

95 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 3. Click Add Role. 4. Select the Approver Role. For example, IT Department Approver. 5. In the Client Lookup section, search for and select the name of the person you want to assign as the department approver. 6. Click Save. Create new status types When you define an approval process, you can create new status types to track a ticket as it is routed through each stage of the process. These status types will be assigned to tickets that must be reviewed and approved. The following sections describe how to create new status types and then determine when a status type is applied to a ticket. PREREQUISITES This is the third task in the approval process example scenario. Before you start, you must complete the previous tasks: Create an approver role Assign a department and client to the role CREATE A STATUS TYPE This example uses three new status types: Request in process Request Approved Request Denied Complete the following steps to create these types. page 95

96 1. On the toolbar, click Setup. 2. Select Tickets > Status Types. 3. Click New. 4. Enter a name for the status type. For example, Request in process. 5. Complete the remaining fields as needed, and click Save. For more information about any field, click the tooltip. 6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 to add status types. DETERMINE WHEN A STATUS TYPE IS APPLIED TO A TICKET After you create a status type, use the Options tab to select the condition under which the status is applied to a ticket. For example, when a ticket is reopened, Web Help Desk automatically changes the status to Open by default. In the example below, the following status types are applied to tickets if the ticket's request type requires approval. page 96

97 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK When the ticket is submitted by a client, the system assigns the status type Request in process. If the ticket is approved, the system assigns the status type Request Approved. If the ticket is denied, the system assigns the status type Request Denied. To determine when a status type is applied: 1. After you create a status type, click Options. 2. Perform the following: a. In the Needs Approval Status Type field, select Request in process. b. In the Approved Status Type field, select Request Approved. c. In the Approval Denied Status Type field, select Request Denied. 3. Click Save. Next task: Configure an approval process Configure an approval process An approval process contains at least one step, and each step is approved by a client, a CAB, a location approver, or a department approver. In the following example, a one-step approval process is created, the IT Department Approver is assigned as the approver, and the IT General/Other > Upgrade Request type is associated with the process. PREREQUISITES This is the fourth task in the approval process example scenario. Before you start, you must complete the previous tasks: page 97

98 Create an approver role Assign a department and client to the role Create new status types CONFIGURE AN APPROVAL PROCESS 1. Click Setup > Processes > Approval Processes. 2. Click New. 3. Enter a name for the process and click Save. 4. Click Approval Steps, and then click New. 5. Enter a name for the approval step. 6. Click an approver type. For example, Department Approver. page 98

99 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 7. Select the approver to assign to the step. 8. Click Save. 9. If necessary, add additional approval steps. 10. When you have added all steps, click Request Types Supported. 11. Click Edit. 12. Select all request types to associate with this approval process, and click Save. page 99

100 13. On the Request Types Supported tab, click Done. Next task: Test the approval process Test the approval process Test the approval process to ensure that tickets go to the correct approvers, and that the correct status type is applied when the request is accepted or denied. PREREQUISITES This is the fifth task in the approval process example scenario. Before you start, you must complete the previous tasks: Create an approver role Assign a department and client to an approver role Create new status types Configure an approval process TEST THE PROCESS You can test the approval process from the client or tech interface. If the tech is configured with a linked client account, the tech can approve the ticket from within the tech interface. TEST FROM THE CLIENT INTERFACE 1. Log in to Web Help Desk as a client. 2. Complete the Help Request form. Make sure you select the request type associated with the approval process. page 100

101 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 3. Log in to Web Help Desk as the approver and click Approvals in the toolbar. Web Help Desk displays the Approvals button for clients that have been set up as an approver. If you do not see the Approvals option, log in as the administrator, and ensure that the client is selected as the approver. 4. Ensure that the ticket you submitted is displayed. 5. In the My Vote column, select Yes or No, and click Save. 6. Log in to Web Help Desk as the admin (or tech), and search for the ticket you approved or rejected. 7. Open the ticket and review the status. If you approve the ticket, the status changes to Request Approved. If you reject the ticket, the status changes to Request Denied. You can also use the Approvals field to track where tickets are in the approval process, and if necessary, you can override an approval step. page 101

102 TEST FROM THE TECH INTERFACE 1. Log in to Web Help Desk as the admin. 2. Verify that the tech account is associated to a client account. a. Click Setup > Techs > Techs. b. Click a tech account name. c. In the Account Info tab under Identity, ensure that Linked Client is configured to a client account. Click the help for more information. 3. Log out of Web Help Desk. 4. Log in to Web Help Desk as a client. 5. Complete the Help Request form. Make sure you select the request type associated with the approval process. 6. Log out of Web Help Desk. 7. Log in to Web Help Desk as the client from step 5 and search for the ticket you created in step Open the ticket and scroll down to the My Approvals tab. 9. Select Yes or No in the My Vote column. page 102

103 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 10. Enter an explanation (if required). 11. Select the Display as a ticket note check box to add a ticket note (if required). 12. Click Save. 13. Scroll up to the Status & Schedule tab and review the status. If you approve the ticket, the status changes to Request Approved. If you reject the ticket, the status changes to Request Denied. You can also use the Approvals field to track where tickets are in the approval process, and if necessary, you can override an approval step. page 103

104 Reporting This section contains the following topics: Reports versus advanced search Bar and pie chart configuration options View, print, or download reports Modify an existing report Create a custom report Schedule reports Reports versus advanced search Check out this video (5:16) on reporting and advanced search. Web Help Desk provides two methods for displaying customer support data: Reports are useful for comparing elements based on a numeric value (for example, comparing techs based on the number of tickets closed). They can show averages and aggregated values. Web Help Desk includes a set of predefined reports, which you can modify. You can also create custom reports. Advanced search can show detailed information about a group of tickets, assets, or clients that match the criteria you specify. Use advanced search to answer complex questions. Both reports and advanced search can be effective tools for monitoring progress or performance, identifying issues, and making decisions. The method you choose depends on the type of question you are trying to answer and how the information needs to be presented. QUICK COMPARISON ADVANCED SEARCH REPORTS Can show information about: Tickets Assets Clients Tickets Assets Billing External formats: Tickets: PDF or TSV (tab-separated values) Assets: PDF, TSV, or Excel Clients: TSV or Excel PDF Can be scheduled: No Yes page 104

105 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Can be shared with other techs: Yes Yes REPORTS Reports can represent data graphically (as bar and pie charts) to help you compare groups of tickets or assets. Reports can also show aggregated data about tickets and assets, such as the total or average number of tickets opened. These metrics can be used to compare a second element, such as techs, locations, or request types. Use reports to answer questions that are limited to two elements, such as the examples below. How many tickets did each tech close? How many tickets were opened against each asset? How many assets are checked out in each location? What is the average work time per ticket request type? How many tickets were opened against each request type? If your question involves more than two elements, consider using advanced search instead of a report. Reports can be displayed in the Web interface or generated in PDF format. You can also create schedules to automatically run reports and them to groups of recipients. From any report, you can click the ticket or asset total to display detailed information about the items included in that total. ADVANCED SEARCH Advanced search is a powerful tool that you can use to answer complex questions. Searches display lists of tickets, assets, or clients that meet the specified criteria. By selecting a column set, you can show detailed information that is relevant to the question you want to answer. CONDITIONS To determine which items are returned by a search, you can define multiple conditions and combine them using Boolean AND or OR logic. Boolean logic provides a flexible framework that can answer a wide variety of questions. Some examples of questions and the associated conditions are shown below. page 105

106 Which tickets assigned to a specific tech have not been updated within the last 10 days? Which assets in a location do not have a service contract or have a service contract that expires this month? Which tickets contain the words "network outage" in a client note or the request details or the subject? Which tickets assigned to a tech group have a priority of Urgent or have an escalation level of 2 or higher? SAVED SEARCHES You can save a search and run it at any time. A saved search is available from the Query menu at the top of a ticket, client, or asset list. page 106

107 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Saved searches can be shared with other techs, and they can be used as a source for dashboard visualizations. Bar and pie chart configuration options In Web Help Desk, ticket and asset reports can show information as a bar or pie chart, in addition to a table. To configure a bar or pie chart, you must specify the Category and Chart Metric options. Understanding these options helps you create reports that display the information you need. CATEGORY Each bar or slice represents a group of tickets or assets. The Category is used to group the tickets or assets. (It is the element that each bar or slice represents.) To select a Category, choose the element you want to compare. For example: In this bar chart, tickets are grouped by assigned tech. Each bar represents a tech. The Category is Assigned Tech. page 107

108 In this pie chart, tickets are grouped by request type. Each slice represents a request type. The Category is Request Type. BAR STACK CATEGORY For bar charts, you can also choose a Bar Stack Category. This setting can be used to subdivide the tickets or assets within each bar. In the example below, the Bar Category is Assigned Tech and the Bar Stack Category is Priority. Now you can see how many tickets are assigned to each tech, and whether any tech has a large number of Urgent or High priority tickets. CHART METRIC The Chart Metric determines the size of the bars or slices. In many cases, it is the total number of tickets or assets in each group. For ticket reports, it can also be a time measurement, such as the open time or work time. page 108

109 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK PUTTING IT TOGETHER In a bar or pie chart, the Category is the element being compared and the Chart Metric is the basis for comparison. The Category and Chart Metric are reflected in the questions a chart can answer. For example: Which techs closed the most tickets last month? Category: Chart Metric: tech ticket count Which assets are associated with the most tickets? Category: Chart Metric: assets ticket count Which tech has the shortest average first response time? Category: Chart Metric: tech average first response time Which location has the most open tickets? Category: Chart Metric: location ticket count View, print, or download reports You can manually run a Web Help Desk report at any time. Alternatively, you can create a report schedule to distribute reports at regular intervals. 1. In the toolbar, click Reports. The reports page lists all available reports. 2. Locate the report. If you created report groups to classify your reports, you can select a report group in the upper-right corner to filter the list. 3. Click a button in the right column to run the report. Displays the report at the bottom of the current Web Help Desk browser tab. Displays a printable web view in a new browser tab. Creates a PDF version of the report that you can download and print or distribute. page 109

110 Modify an existing report Check out this video (4:02) on customizing existing reports. Web Help Desk provides a set of predefined reports. You can use these reports as they are, or modify them to meet your needs. The following example makes changes to the Assets with most Tickets for the last quarter report. By default, this report shows the number of tickets for each asset during the past quarter. This helps you identify individual assets that generate a large number of tickets. Instead, the report will be modified to show which asset models generate the most tickets, and to show the information for the previous month. 1. In the toolbar, click Reports. 2. Click the name of the report to open it. 3. On the Report Details tab, change the Bar Category from Asset No. to Model. Each bar will represent an asset model instead of an individual asset. 4. For the Bar Stack Category, select Asset No. This subdivides each bar by individual assets to identify individual assets generating more tickets than others with the same model. 5. Click the Report Filters tab, and then click the name of the existing filter to open it. 6. Change the Time Range to include only the previous month. 7. Click the Report Basics tab, and then change the name of the report to reflect its new contents. page 110

111 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 8. Click Save, and then click Run. The bars represent asset models, and the subgroups in each bar represent individual assets. Create a custom report If the preconfigured reports in Web Help Desk do not show the information you need, you can add a custom report. The following sections provide examples of two custom reports: a bar chart showing open tickets by tech, and a table showing tickets closed by request type. OPEN TICKETS BY TECH This example shows how many open tickets are assigned to each tech. The information is displayed in a bar chart, which you can use to quickly identify techs with the highest number of open tickets. Each bar is subgrouped by ticket priority. 1. In the toolbar, click Reports. 2. Click New. 3. On the Report Basics tab, enter the report name and request type. 4. Report groups are optional. If you have a large number of reports, you can use them to classify the reports. 5. Click the Report Details tab. page 111

112 6. As the Chart Type, select Bar chart. 7. As the Bar Category, select what each bar represents. In this example, each bar represents a tech. For more information about bar and pie chart options, see Bar and pie chart configuration options. 8. As the Bar Stack Category, select Priority to subdivide each bar by ticket priority. 9. As the Chart Metric, select the measurement that determines the height of each bar. In this example, the height reflects the number of tickets. 10. Select Show Table to display this information in a table below the bar chart. 11. For this report, leave the time range blank so that it will include all open tickets. When the time range is blank the Date Attribute has no impact, so you can accept the default. 12. Click the Report Filters tab, and then click New. 13. Create a filter to include only tickets with a Status of Open. page 112

113 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 14. Click Save, and then click Run Report. The bar chart shows the number of open tickets for each tech. This information is also shown in a table below the chart. TICKETS CLOSED BY REQUEST TYPE WITH WORK TIME This example shows how many tickets of each request type were closed during the previous week. It also shows the total amount of work time for each group of tickets. The information is displayed in a table because tables can include multiple data points for each ticket. 1. From the report list, click New. 2. On the Report Basics tab, enter the report name and request type. 3. Click the Report Details tab. 4. As the Chart Type, select Table only. 5. Select the value used to define the table rows. In this example, the table will include a row for each request type. page 113

114 6. Select the value used to define the table columns. In this example, leave the Column Category blank. The table will include one data column showing totals for the week. To include columns that show subtotals for each day, select Date Closed as the Column Category. 7. Select the information that will be shown in each table cell. 8. Select the time range that the report will include. Select the Round back option to include the previous week from Sunday through Sunday (rather than today and the previous seven days). 9. To include only tickets closed during the specified time range, select Date Closed as the Date Attribute. page 114

115 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 10. Click Save, and then click Run. The report shows the total number of tickets and total work time for each request type. Schedule reports Use report schedules to automatically generate one or more reports in PDF format and them to the specified recipients via their default outgoing accounts. Recipients can be clients, techs, or people who do not have Web Help Desk accounts. This example schedules two asset reports to be distributed at the beginning of every month. 1. In the toolbar, click Reports and then select Report Schedules. 2. Click New. 3. Enter a name to identify this report schedule. 4. Specify how often the report is distributed and when the distribution begins. 5. (Optional) Update the message to which the reports will be attached. See the tooltips for more information about any field. 6. To distribute the report to clients, search for a client and then click the client name. If you defined a connection to an LDAP server, the Search LDAP check box is displayed. Select this option to include names from the LDAP directory in the search. Point to the Search LDAP label for more information. 7. To add recipients who are not Web Help Desk clients and techs, enter their addresses in the Other Recipients s field. page 115

116 8. To distribute the reports to techs: a. Click the Tech Recipients tab. b. Click Edit. c. Select the techs and click Save. 9. Select the reports to include. a. Click the Included Reports tab. b. Click Edit. c. Select the reports and click Save. 10. Click Done. The new schedule is activated and available in the Report Schedules screen. page 116

117 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK SolarWinds integration This section contains the following topics: SolarWinds Orion alert integration Enable SolarWinds Orion to share alerts with Web Help Desk Enter a SolarWinds Orion alert source Configure alert filtering rules Test alert filtering rules SolarWinds Orion alert integration Web Help Desk integrates with the following SolarWinds applications running on SolarWinds Orion Platform or later: Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Network Performance Monitor (NPM) Server and Application Monitor (SAM) Using a communication link (or SolarWinds connection) between Web Help Desk and a supported Orion Platform, Web Help Desk can generate help desk tickets that respond to monitored events occurring in your corporate enterprise, such as a failed hard drive or a change in server health. After you configure a SolarWinds connection in Web Help Desk and a shared alert is triggered (for example, a SolarWinds-monitored network node failed for any reason), the Orion Platform sends Web Help Desk an HTTP request to create an alert-based ticket. You can configure Web Help Desk to receive all or only specific alerts to generate a corresponding ticket that addresses the issue described in the alert. Integrating Web Help Desk with your Orion Platform applications helps you ensure that all monitored alerts are addressed in a timely manner. If your monitored servers and applications are located in a remote area or you have limited staff to monitor your corporate enterprise, Web Help Desk can automatically route the issue to the appropriate tech who can address the problem in the least amount of time. PREPARE REQUEST TYPES FOR ALERT-BASED TICKETS A request type determines how alerts are routed to the appropriate tech for problem resolution. When you create your SolarWinds connection, select the request type that closely matches the connection. You can select one request type for one SolarWinds connection. page 117

118 For example, if you are creating a connection to SolarWinds SAM to address alerts related to server health, click the WHD Request Type drop-down menu and select a request type linked to a tech group that troubleshoots and resolves server issues. ALERT-BASED TICKET EXAMPLE Below is an example of a Web Help Desk ticket generated from a SolarWinds Orion alert. The fields included in the ticket are not an all-inclusive list. Web Help Desk ticket fields can vary, depending on the data included in the Orion alert. The field names shown below are examples of what you can use in the filtering rules. page 118

119 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Below are some notes that are displayed in the Web Help Desk ticket based on triggering, updating, clearing, and acknowledging the Orion alert. LEARN MORE See the following topics for information about integrating Web Help Desk with Orion Platform products: Enable the SolarWinds Orion Platform to share alerts with Web Help Desk Enter a SolarWinds Orion Platform alert source Configure alert filtering rules Test alert filtering rules page 119

120 Enable the SolarWinds Orion Platform to share alerts with Web Help Desk You can configure your SolarWinds Orion Platform to generate alerts triggered in SolarWinds NPM, NCM, and SAM when a network event occurs for example, when a node fails for any reason. When specific alerts are shared with Web Help Desk, Web Help Desk automatically generates a ticket based on the alert. When a monitored event generates a shared alert in your Orion platform, the alert is transmitted to Web Help Desk through an integrated connection. Web Help Desk processes the request through a set of filters you configure in a SolarWinds server link, creates a help desk ticket, and forwards the ticket to the appropriate tech group for troubleshooting and resolution. Web Help Desk does not support the following condition introduced in Orion Platform : To enable the SolarWinds Orion Platform to share alerts with Web Help Desk: 1. In the Orion Web Console, create an alert or open an existing alert. See Creating and managing alerts in the Orion Platform Admin Guide for more information. 2. Scroll to the end of the Summary panel. 3. Maximize Alert Integration and select the Integrate alert check box. page 120

121 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 4. Select the properties you want to include in the alert, and click Submit. Web Help Desk uses the actual property names as alert fields in rules used to filter Orion alerts. Enter a SolarWinds Orion Platform alert source To retrieve and process alerts from a SolarWinds alert source (such as SolarWinds NPM), add the server link to Web Help Desk. This process creates a communications between the Orion platform and your Web Help Desk server. When an event occurs, Web Help Desk can generate a ticket from the alert and forward the ticket to the appropriate tech for troubleshooting and resolution. 1. In the toolbar, click Setup and select SolarWinds Integration > SolarWinds Connection. 2. In the SolarWinds Connection screen, click Add New SolarWinds Source. 3. In the Add New SolarWinds Source screen, enter the new SolarWinds source name in the Source Name field. page 121

122 4. Select a request type. 5. Enter the SolarWinds Server IP Address or Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). 6. Enter the SolarWinds administrator user name and password. To ensure Web Help Desk can access the required SolarWinds alerts, enter administrator-level SolarWinds account and credentials data into Web Help Desk. 7. Click Test. When Web Help Desk creates a connection with a SolarWinds Orion alert source, the checked areas in the window contain green check marks. 8. Click Next to continue. Configure alert filtering rules You can configure an alert filter to recognize a specific issue in your SolarWinds Orion Platform and create a help desk ticket based on that issue. page 122

123 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK FILTERS Web Help Desk creates help desk tickets from Orion alerts by matching the Orion alert contents or features to filters you set up in the application. To create alert filtering rules, apply the property names that exist in your Web Help Desk Orion alerts. These alerts can include default names or other types of name configurations assigned by the Orion user. After you set up the SolarWinds server in Web Help Desk and gather information about your Orion alerts and associated properties, configure Web Help Desk to transform Orion alerts into client tickets. ABOUT RULE CONFIGURATION By default, Web Help Desk does not monitor Orion Platform alerts. To transform alerts into Web Help Desk tickets, select and define the appropriate rules so the application can recognize the alerts. The following table describes the filtering rule types. FILTERING RULE TYPE Matching Rule RULE DESCRIPTION Defines the characteristics alerts must contain for Web Help Desk to recognize and transform the alerts into tickets or ignore them. These characteristics include: Severity level (such as Notice, Information, Warning, Critical, and Serious) Field name (such as Date, Alert Type, Operating System, and so on) Operator (such as equals, is not equal to, starts with, and so on) Value, which can be any type of alphanumeric data AND/OR block Child Rule Specifies whether Web Help Desk accepts or rejects alerts based on whether they meet Any or All child rules in a complex rule. Provides additional filtering on existing rules. For example, when an initial filtering rule transforms all alerts with a Critical severity into tickets, you can create child rules to transform only Critical severity alerts from Windows 2008 and Windows 2011 systems into Web Help Desk alerts. Complex Rule A set of rules that contain at least one parent rule (which can be a Matching rule or an AND/OR block), plus one or more child rules. page 123

124 MATCHING RULES Adding a new matching rule notifies Web Help Desk to match certain variables in alert text fields or a defined severity level. The following table provides the Web Help Desk filtering options. FILTER OPTION Accept alert Reject alert if Severity DESCRIPTION Enables Web Help Desk to recognize the alert. Enables Web Help Desk to ignore the alert. Matches alerts by severity level. If you select this option, choose one of the following: is equal to: Select this option to match alerts by one of the following Orion alert levels: Notice, Information, Warning, Critical, or Serious. is not equal to: Select this option to match all severity levels except the one selected. If you select this option, choose one of the following alert levels to ignore: Notice, Information, Warning, Critical, or Serious. if Alert Field To further define rules, enter an Orion alert field variable. In the following example, Web Help Desk will create a ticket from all Orion alerts containing Windows 8 in the Operating System field. The Operating System field must be added to the Orion Alert integration. page 124

125 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK COMPLEX RULES You can add an And/Or block to a create a filter rule based on more than one condition. The Any rule creates a ticket when any child condition is true. The All rule creates a ticket only when all child conditions are true. In the following All child rule example, a ticket is created when a node from an IP address is up and component availability is down. EXAMPLES: CONFIGURE AN ALERT FILTERING RULE You must configure an alert filtering rule with a severity or include a severity and a match to a specific alert field. You can add multiple alert field matches. CONFIGURE A MATCHING RULE The figures below show an example of a matching rule that accepts the alert if the value of the Node Status field is Up. 1. Click Add new matching rule. 2. Select Accept alert or Reject alert. page 125

126 3. Configure the rule based on the severity of the alert, or an alert field value. For both the Accept alert and Reject alert options, Ignore case and Ignore white space are active by default. To ensure the best results, leave these options selected. ADD AN AND/OR BLOCK The figures below show an example of an And/Or block that accepts the alert if the severity is Critical or if the value of the Node Status field is Up. 1. Click Add new And/Or block. 2. Select Accept alert or Reject alert. 3. Select if Any to configure an OR rule, or select if All to configure an AND rule. 4. Click Add Child Rule. page 126

127 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 5. Configure the rule based on the severity of the alert, or an alert field value. 6. To add another child rule: a. In the Filters pane, click the And/Or block. b. In the Configure Complex Rule pane, click Add Child Rule. c. Configure the rule. Test alert filtering rules Test your filter rules to ensure they are filtering properties correctly. Your test should include the severity and any alert fields that you configured in the filter rule. This example includes a test for the following filter rule. page 127

128 1. After you have configured the filter rule, click Test. 2. Select a severity. 3. Click Add New Property, select an alert field, and enter the value. 4. Add all alert properties defined in the filter rule, and click Test. If your rules are configured correctly, a message states that the filter rules match and the alert is accepted in the Test Results pane. Click Done. If your rules are not configured correctly, a message states that the filter rules did not match and the alert is rejected in the Test Results pane. Click Back to resolve your configuration errors. page 128

129 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Knowledge centered support This section contains the following topics: Web Help Desk and knowledge-centered support Create an FAQ Search FAQs View or edit an FAQ Link an FAQ to a support ticket Web Help Desk and knowledge-centered support BENEFITS OF KCS Knowledge-centered support (KCS) is a set of practices that make information available and easily accessible to both clients and techs. With KCS, knowledge is considered a fundamental asset of the technical support organization. The goals of KCS include: Improving efficiency within support organizations Making customers self-sufficient Reducing support costs while increasing customer satisfaction KCS PROCESS OVERVIEW When an organization implements KCS, content creation becomes an integral part of the support process. Each tech is responsible for contributing new content and updating or improving existing content. When a tech receives a ticket, the tech first searches existing FAQs to see if a fix is already documented: If so, the tech follows the instructions in the FAQ (and updates it if any steps have changed). The tech can also attach the FAQ to the ticket. If not, the tech: 1. Troubleshoots and resolves the issue. 2. Creates a new FAQ to document the resolution. USING WEB HELP DESK TO BUILD YOUR KNOWLEDGE STORE Within Web Help Desk, you can use FAQs to capture solutions to common problems and make that information available. Techs can quickly create a new FAQ based on a note within a ticket, or they can manually create an FAQ. page 129

130 As you increase the amount of useful information in your system, both clients and techs will be more likely to find the answers they need. Helping clients get answers from FAQs will reduce the number of tickets opened. Clients are able to provide feedback by rating articles. Use article ratings to recognize and reward useful content and to improve content that is incomplete or inaccurate. By default, only admins can edit approved FAQs. To implement the KCS process, consider including the Approved FAQ Edit permission in the Default tech permission set. When techs have this permission, they can update or correct FAQs as needed. ACCESSING FAQS IN WEB HELP DESK Web Help Desk promotes self resolution by displaying relevant FAQs to clients as they enter service requests into the Web portal. In addition, clients can search the FAQs that are available to them. An FAQ can be available to all Web Help Desk clients, or it can be limited to a specific audience (for example, only to clients from a certain company). Create an FAQ Techs can use FAQs to share information and quickly locate resolutions to common problems. In addition, clients can search the FAQ knowledge base within Web Help Desk to locate answers to their questions. Ensure that the tech permissions for FAQs are defined for each tech in Setup > Techs > Tech Permissions > Other Permissions. page 130

131 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK You can create a new FAQ manually, or you can automatically create an FAQ based on a ticket note. If your company is implementing knowledge-centered support, use this capability to quickly expand your knowledge base using information already captured in case notes. Before creating a new FAQ, search the knowledge base to determine if an existing FAQ answers the question. If so, you can link the existing FAQ to the ticket. MANUALLY CREATE AN FAQ 1. In the toolbar, click FAQs. 2. In the FAQ toolbar, click New FAQ. 3. In the Create FAQ screen, select the categories for this FAQ. Select All for all categories or Specific for selected categories. 4. If you selected Specific, click the Category drop-down menu and select one or more categories. This field is populated from the ticket request types. You can add additional request types. See Define request types for more information. If a parent or child category is disabled, you do not have the appropriate permissions to access the category level. 5. Enter the question and answer text for this FAQ. Question and answer text can include HTML links and formatting, as well as Bulletin Board Code (BBC) tags. 6. If you want to link this FAQ to a related FAQ, click. Then search for the FAQ and click Link FAQ. 7. Use the radio buttons to restrict who can view this FAQ or specify what model the FAQ applies to. 8. In the Attachments row, click Add File to add an attachment, such as a supporting document, graphic, or spreadsheet. 9. If you have permission to approve FAQs, select the Approved check box to publish the FAQ. Otherwise, notify an approver that the FAQ is ready for review. FAQs can be approved by all admins and by techs with the Approve FAQs permission. 10. If you want the FAQ to expire, select an expiration date and time. 11. Click Save, and then click Done. page 131

132 CREATE AN FAQ BASED ON A TICKET NOTE 1. Open the ticket and click the Ticket Details tab. 2. In the Date column of the Notes section, click in the note's creation date and time to open the note. 3. In the note editor, click Create FAQ. page 132

133 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 4. Click OK at the confirmation dialog to create the FAQ. The following elements are automatically populated with information from the ticket: TICKET Request Detail Note text Request Type FAQ Question Answer Category The FAQ is created, but it is not approved. Also, any attachments to the note are not attached to the FAQ. 5. Search for the FAQ, select it, and click Edit. 6. Make the following changes as needed: Edit the Question and Answer text to make it appropriate for a general audience. For example, remove people's names and company-specific information. Use the radio buttons to restrict who can view this FAQ or specify what model the FAQ applies to. If the note included an attachment, attach that file to the FAQ. If necessary, first download the attachment from the ticket to your computer, and then attach it to the FAQ. 7. If you have permission to approve FAQs, select the Approved check box to publish the FAQ. Otherwise, notify an approver that the FAQ is ready for review. FAQs can be approved by all admins and by techs with the Approve FAQs permission. 8. If you want the FAQ to expire, select an expiration date and time. 9. Click Save, and then click Done. Search FAQs 1. Click FAQs in the Web Help Desk toolbar. 2. Specify the search criteria at the top of the window. A disabled category in the Category drop-down list indicates you do not have the appropriate permissions to access the category level. 3. Click Search. The FAQs that meet your search criteria are listed. You can view any FAQ in the list. Techs with the appropriate permissions can edit FAQs. To sort the results list, click a column header. You can view any FAQ in the list. Techs with the appropriate permissions can edit FAQs. page 133

134 A Warning icon permissions. in a Category row indicates a category you cannot access based on your current Some category results may indicate that additional categories are available. Click Show Details to view the additional categories. View or edit an FAQ 1. To open an FAQ: a. Search for an FAQ. b. In the search results, double-click a row. The FAQ opens in read-only mode. If you do not have the required permissions to view an FAQ, a message displays stating that the FAQ is no longer available to you. 2. If you have the required permissions, you can edit the FAQ: a. In the search results, select a row and click the Edit button. b. Update any field. For more information see Create a new FAQ. c. Click Save, and then click Done. If you do not have the required permissions, a Warning icon displays next to Delete. This warning indicates that you cannot delete the FAQ because it includes categories you cannot access or delete. Link an FAQ to a support ticket When an FAQ describes the resolution to an issue or provides information associated with a ticket, you can link the FAQ to the ticket. 1. Open the ticket details page. 2. In the Notes section, click the creation date to open a new note, or click New to add a new note. 3. Click the Link FAQ button. 4. In the FAQ Search dialog box, search for the FAQ. 5. Click the Link FAQ button on the right side of the FAQ's row. A link to the FAQ is added to the note. 6. Click Save to save the note. page 134

135 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Get connected This section contains information on accessing the SolarWinds Customer Portal and engaging with thwack, the SolarWinds community of IT pros: Access the Customer Portal Set up additional Customer Portal user accounts Engage with the SolarWinds community Access the Customer Portal The SolarWinds Customer Portal provides access to license and maintenance information, support cases, and product downloads, as well as live and instructor-led virtual classroom training. CREATE YOUR USER PROFILE To create a user profile, you must know the SolarWinds customer ID (SWID) issued to your company. If you are a SolarWinds customer but do not have a SWID, contact SolarWinds Customer Support. Users with multiple SWIDs require only one user profile. Your user profile can be linked to multiple SWIDs. 1. Go to customerportal.solarwinds.com. 2. Click the Register tab. 3. Enter your organization's SWID and your address. If you have multiple SWIDs, enter any SWID to create your profile. Later, use the User Profile menu to link the other SWIDs to your profile. The account administrator will review the request, and you will receive an when it is approved. For more information about creating an account, see this FAQ page. page 135

136 EXPLORE THE CUSTOMER PORTAL Manage licenses and access license keys. Download purchased products. Open a new support case and monitor existing cases. Download free trials of integrated products. Sign up for instructor-led virtual classroom training. Set up additional Customer Portal user accounts If you have Account Administrator access to the SolarWinds customer portal, you can add additional user accounts and define each user's access level and contact type. page 136

137 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK For more information about user account types and permissions, see this FAQ page. 1. Log in to customerportal.solarwinds.com with your address. 2. In the user account drop-down menu in the upper-right corner, click Company Account Settings. 3. Click the Add User button. 4. Enter the user's information. 5. Specify the user's access level: Account Administrator: Can access all areas of the Customer Portal. Can also add and remove users, edit user profile information, and assign roles and contact types to users. Standard Access: Can access all areas of the Customer Portal. No Access: Cannot access the Customer Portal, but is listed as a contact on the account. 6. Specify the user's contact type: Primary Contact: Receive all account-related communications. Billing Contact: Receive communications relating to billing. Partner Contact: Receive communications related to partner support. Renewal Contact: Receive communications relating to maintenance renewals and product maintenance expiration. Support Contact: Receive communications related to technical support. Engage with the SolarWinds community Use the SolarWinds thwack community website to learn more about SolarWinds products, participate in discussions, and get help resolving issues. CREATE A THWACK ACCOUNT You can read content on thwack without an account. However, having an account allows you to take full advantage of the site by submitting feature requests, liking or following posts, and contributing content. When you create a thwack account, SolarWinds will not send you unsolicited s or add you to marketing lists. 1. Go to thwack.solarwinds.com. 2. Click Register in the top right. 3. Enter the required information and accept the license agreement. 4. Click Create Account. EXPLORE THE THWACK SITE After you create an account, click this link to begin exploring thwack. Participating in the thwack community earns points, which you can use to purchase items in the thwack store. As a member of the thwack community, you can: page 137

138 Participate in community discussions and get answers to your questions. In the product forums, you can post questions and view responses to other users' questions. Advice, resolutions, and troubleshooting tips are provided by community members and by SolarWinds employees. Extend product capabilities with custom templates, reports, and scripts. The thwack product forums include thousands of downloadable templates, reports, and scripts you can use to customize or extend your SolarWinds products. This content is contributed by SolarWinds employees and by other community members. View product roadmaps, which list the features currently being developed for future product releases. Be notified of User Experience sessions where you can share your experiences, and help make SolarWinds products better. Influence the direction of a product by submitting feature requests and voting for other users' feature requests. Read blogs about SolarWinds products and about general IT topics. page 138

139 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Tech training This section provide a template that you can use to develop training materials for your techs. Use this material as it is, or copy and revise it to reflect your organization's practices and Web Help Desk configuration. Get started with Web Help Desk Create tickets View and customize the ticket queue Search for a ticket Update and resolve tickets Get started with Web Help Desk This section of the Web Help Desk tech training introduces basic terms and provides instructions for logging in, logging out, and editing your tech profile. Use this material as it is, or copy and revise it to reflect your organization's practices and Web Help Desk configuration. WHAT IS WEB HELP DESK? Web Help Desk is a web-based automated ticketing solution that helps you manage your IT support requests for both internal and external clients. Use Web Help Desk to create and manage tickets through the web console. It also supports ticket creation, automatic ticket assignment and escalation, asset management, and incident and problem management. WEB HELP DESK TERMS The following terms define the roles and objects managed by Web Help Desk. Tickets: Support requests that are opened through and managed within Web Help Desk. Tickets can be initiated through , created in the Web Help Desk console, or imported from another application. Clients: End users or customers who can open tickets in Web Help Desk. Clients can enter tickets through or through the Web console. Techs: Web Help Desk users who troubleshoot and resolve tickets. Techs can also enter tickets. For example, when a client calls the IT Help Desk, the tech opens a ticket on the client's behalf. In addition, techs can open tickets that are not associated with a client, such as tickets to schedule routine maintenance or system upgrades. Admins: Techs with privileges to configure Web Help Desk. Tech Groups: A group of techs with similar skills and expertise. page 139

140 Request Types: A classification that identifies the type of support request. Request types are used to automatically assign tickets to the appropriate tech group. LOG IN TO WEB HELP DESK 1. Open a Web browser. 2. Enter the following URL: <your help desk URL> 3. Enter your login ID and password, and then click Log In. Web Help Desk sessions last for 120 minutes. After this period, the session expires and you must log in again. GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT USING WEB HELP DESK Use any of the following options to get more information about using Web Help Desk: Click the Help button in the Web Help Desk toolbar to open the Web Help Desk administrator guide. Get information about a specific item by clicking the Help button next to that item. Or click the information icon. page 140

141 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Hover over icons and some column headings to display additional information. For example on the Ticket History tab, hover over any icon on the right side to display information. The person icon displays the logic used to assign the ticket to this tech. LOG OUT OF WEB HELP DESK Click the Log Out button in the upper-right corner, next to your name. EDIT YOUR TECH PROFILE Your tech profile includes contact information (such as and cell phone) and preferences. Edit your tech profile to add or update information. 1. Click the gear icon in the upper-left corner to open your profile. 2. Click the pencil icon to enter edit mode. 3. Verify that your contact information is correct. 4. To be able to access the Web Help Desk interface that a client sees, select a client in the Linked Client field. If a demo client is available, select the demo client. When you link your account to a client account, the Switch to Client Account icon the upper-right corner. is available in page 141

142 5. To receive notifications on a mobile device: a. Select SMS Enabled. b. Enter the SMS address (for example, @tmomail.net). Click the information icon for the address formats of major carriers. c. Specify the minimum priority and alert level for notifications. In the following example, notifications are sent only when the priority is Urgent and the alert level is 2 or higher. 6. Update other preferences as needed. Click the information icon for details about any field. Create tickets This section of the Web Help Desk tech training describes how tickets can be created, how to create a ticket through the tech interface, how to create a ticket through , and the Web Help Desk ticket assignment logic. Use this material as it is, or copy and revise it to reflect your organization's practices and Web Help Desk configuration. HOW WEB HELP DESK TICKETS CAN BE CREATED Both techs and clients can create tickets: Clients can create tickets through or through the Web using the Web Help Desk client interface. The client interface is what clients see when they log in to the Web console. Techs can also create tickets through or through the Web. In most cases, techs create tickets through the Web using the Web Help Desk tech interface. The tech interface is what techs see by default when they log in to the Web console. A tech can access the client interface if the tech's profile is associated with a client account. In addition, techs with the required privilege can define Web Help Desk tasks (scripts) which will create certain types of tickets automatically. CREATE A TICKET THROUGH THE WEB HELP DESK TECH INTERFACE 1. In the toolbar, click Tickets. 2. Click New Ticket. 3. If the ticket is to report a client issue, use the Client Lookup box to select the client. page 142

143 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 4. If the ticket requires an asset, click the Asset tab and add the asset. 5. Click the Ticket Details tab. 6. Select a Request Type. The Assign To field is displayed, showing which tech group will receive this request based on the Web Help Desk ticket assignment logic. You can override the ticket assignment logic and assign the ticket to yourself. 7. Enter a Subject and Request Details to describe the issue. 8. Specify the Priority. 9. Click one of the following buttons: Save: Saves the ticket. Save and Send Saves the ticket and sends an to the specified recipients. (The tech, client, location, and ticket setup options determine who receives .) CREATE A TICKET THROUGH Clients and techs can create tickets by sending an message to the dedicated help desk address. Web Help Desk creates a ticket for each new message received through its dedicated address. Organizations can choose to set up help desk addresses. For example, an organization can have one for HR issues (hr@example.com) and another for all other issues (support@example.com). Tickets created through the HR address are assigned an HR request type, which routes them to a specific tech group. Tickets created through the general support address are assigned a general request type. Tech groups who receive general request types must evaluate the ticket and assign the appropriate request type to each ticket. Identify the help desk accounts your organization has set up: ADDRESS REQUEST TYPE TECH GROUP HOW WEB HELP DESK ASSIGNS TICKETS Web Help Desk uses the ticket request type, location, and department to determine which tech group should handle the ticket. Within the tech group, Web Help Desk looks at each tech's availability (the tech's work and vacation schedules) and workload. See the following chart for details. page 143

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145 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK View and customize the ticket queue This section of the Web Help Desk tech training describes how to display a list of tickets and how to customize your view of the ticket queue. Use this material as it is, or copy and revise it to reflect your organization's practices and Web Help Desk configuration. DISPLAY A LIST OF TICKETS Use Web Help Desk to quickly access lists of tickets that are assigned to you or to your tech group. 1. In the toolbar, click Tickets. 2. In the menu bar, select one of the following to display a list of tickets: My Tickets displays tickets assigned to you. Group Tickets displays tickets assigned to any tech in a tech group you belong to. Flagged Tickets displays tickets that you flagged. Recent Tickets displays tickets that you have edited recently. ABOUT THE TICKET QUEUE The ticket queue provides information about each ticket in the list. In the first column, you can select tickets for bulk actions, such as merging tickets. The second column provides color-coded ticket information: Blue: New ticket with no tech response Purple: Ticket reassigned to a new tech Yellow: Ticket with a new client update None: Ticket that does not meet any of the categories above Click the flag column to flag a ticket or to remove an existing flag. Flagging a ticket adds it to your Flagged Tickets queue, which you can access by clicking Flagged Tickets in the toolbar.use flags to mark tickets that require immediate follow-up or special attention. If a ticket is unassigned, the last column displays the Assign to Me icon the ticket to yourself.. You can click the icon to assign page 145

146 SORT THE TICKET QUEUE Click a column heading to sort the list of tickets by the values in that column. Click the column heading again to reverse the sort order. Sort the tickets by the Alert Level to ensure you see tickets that require immediate action. Sort by Date to see the oldest tickets first. CUSTOMIZE YOUR VIEW OF THE TICKET QUEUE You can customize your view of the ticket queue by creating one or more column sets. Each column set specifies which columns are displayed and in what order. 1. Display any ticket queue. 2. Click the + button in the upper-right corner to create a new column set. To edit an existing column set, select the column set and click the edit button. 3. Enter a name to identify the column set. 4. To choose which columns are included, drag column labels into or out of the Selected Columns list. 5. To specify the order of the columns, drag column labels up or down in the list to arrange them. 6. Click Save. Search for a ticket This section of the Web Help Desk tech training describes how to perform basic and advanced searches, and provides examples of advanced searches. Use this material as it is, or copy and revise it to reflect your organization's practices and Web Help Desk configuration. PERFORM A BASIC SEARCH A basic search locates tickets based on the search criteria you enter in a set of predefined fields. 1. On the top toolbar, click Tickets. 2. On the second toolbar, click Search Tickets. 3. Enter values in one or more fields to define the search criteria. 4. Click Search to display a list of tickets that match your criteria. When you locate a ticket, you can update it as needed. PERFORM AN ADVANCED SEARCH An advanced search locates tickets based on any number of search criteria you enter. The search criteria are a set of conditions that must be met. An advanced search may return results that do not populate in a basic search, even if you use the same query. page 146

147 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 1. On the top toolbar, click Tickets. 2. On the second toolbar, click Search Tickets. 3. Click the Advanced Search tab. 4. Specify the conditions that the ticket must meet, starting from the left and continuing to the right. Click + in the ALL or ANY section to add additional conditions. Every condition specified in the ALL group must be met for a ticket to be found. These conditions are evaluated with a Boolean AND operator. At least one condition specified in the ANY group must be met for a ticket to be found. These conditions are evaluated with a Boolean OR operator. Enter conditions in either or both groups. See the following section for examples of advanced searches. 5. To save this query so that you can run it again: a. Enter a name in the Save Query as field. b. Select Shared to make the query available to other techs. c. Click Save. 6. Click Search to run the query. ADVANCED SEARCH EXAMPLES Advanced searches can answer a variety of questions. Examples include: Which tickets assigned to a specific tech have not been updated within the last 10 days? A Date condition that includes 0 business days, business hours, business minutes, and so on does not return a result. Which tickets contain the words "network outage" in a client note OR the request details OR the subject? Which tickets assigned to a tech group have a priority of Urgent OR have an escalation level of 2 or higher? Update and resolve tickets This section of the Web Help Desk tech training describes how to update ticket information, perform actions on multiple tickets, and resolve tickets. Use this material as it is, or copy and revise it to reflect your organization's practices and Web Help Desk configuration. TICKET INFORMATION Tickets in Web Help Desk include information on the following tabs: page 147

148 Client Info: identifies the client who requested support. This information is populated automatically from the client account. Asset Info: identifies assets (PCs or servers, for example) that are associated with the client or with the support request. Ticket Details: contains specific information about this request, incident, or problem. This is the tab that techs update to add notes or change the status. Parts and Billing: identifies parts ordered to complete this request and information about billing for the part. EDIT A TICKET FROM THE WEB CONSOLE As you work to resolve a ticket, update the ticket frequently so your activity can be tracked. For example, add notes to record activities, track progress, and document the resolution. 1. Search for the ticket you want to edit, or locate it in your ticket queue. 2. Click the ticket number to open it. The Ticket Details tab is displayed. 3. Select a ticket type. A service request is a planned request for a new or modified service. When you hire a new employee, you can create service requests for setting up a workspace, purchasing a laptop computer, and assigning a telephone number. An incident is an unplanned event that causes an interruption or reduction in service. If the new employee receives a laptop computer and cannot connect to the corporate network, you create a service request ticket that a tech can later classify as an incident. If you encounter two or more similar incidents, you can link the incident tickets to a problem ticket. A problem identifies the root cause of one or more incidents. If the new employee and several other employees cannot log in to the corporate network, you can create a service request ticket that a tech can later classify as a problem. The tech can then link all incident tickets as supporting incidents (or children) to the problem ticket. 4. Select the request type that accurately reflects the type of ticket. The ticket is transferred to the tech group that services the request type you selected. Add a note to explain the reason you changed the request type. 5. Select the Priority. The priority determines the ticket's due date, and should reflect the severity of the issue and the people or affected business functions. Select one of the following: Urgent: a failure that severely impacts critical operations. High: an issue that degrades response times or affects normal operations. Medium: an issue that affects a small number of users or an individual user. A work-around is available. Low: questions or requests for information. page 148

149 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 6. Add or update the remaining ticket fields. 7. Click Save to save the ticket or Save & to save the ticket and send an to the specified recipients. To return to the ticket queue, click the arrow icon in the upper-left corner. UPDATE TICKETS USING When a ticket is assigned to you, Web Help Desk sends you an . Respond to the to update the ticket. 1. In the Notes section, select the action you want to perform. You can add a note, add a hidden note, or delete the ticket. 2. Hold down the Control key and click the ticket number. Web Help Desk creates an similar to the following example. In this example, the tech chose to add a note that is visible to the client. 3. Verify the options listed in the subject line. The Action is based on the action you selected. For example, if you select Add Note, the action in the Subject is Tech Update. The Client option defaults to YES. Enter NO if you do not want to the client. (This option is not case-sensitive.) 4. Enter your note as the body of the and send the . page 149

150 PERFORM ACTIONS ON MULTIPLE TICKETS Use bulk actions to apply a set of changes to multiple tickets at once. For example, you can use a bulk action to escalate all open, unassigned, urgent priority IT requests for laptop repairs. CREATE A NEW BULK ACTION Before you can apply a bulk action, you must create the bulk action that defines what change will be made to the ticket. After you create a bulk action, you can apply it at any time. You can also share the bulk action so that other techs can apply it. 1. In the toolbar, click Tickets. 2. In the menu bar, select a ticket screen. 3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and locate the Bulk Action box. 4. Click [+] next to Bulk Action. 5. On the Bulk Action Details screen, specify values in the fields that you want the bulk action to change. Leave all other fields blank. 6. In the Save Bulk Action as field, enter a name for this bulk action. 7. (Optional) Select Shared to share this bulk action with other users. 8. Click Save. The saved bulk action will be listed in the Bulk Action drop-down menu in the Tickets screen. APPLY A BULK ACTION TO A GROUP OF TICKETS After you create a bulk action, you can apply it to a selected a group of tickets. 1. In the toolbar, click Tickets. 2. In the menu bar, select a ticket screen, or select Search Tickets and Search for the tickets you want to change. 3. Select the tickets for bulk action. To select all tickets on the page, select the check box above the first column. To select individual tickets, select the check box in the first column of each ticket row. 4. Below the list of tickets, select an option from the Bulk Action drop-down menu. 5. Click the Run button to apply the bulk action. A message summarizes the changes that are applied to the selected tickets. 6. Click OK. A message confirms that the changes were applied. RESOLVE A TICKET When you have completed all activities required to resolve an issue, edit the ticket: page 150

151 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK Add a note to describe the resolution. Select the Solution check box because this helps other techs when they search for solutions to similar issues. If this resolution would be helpful for other Web Help Desk users, click Create FAQ to create an FAQ based on the ticket note. Change the Status to Resolved. When you change the status to Resolved, Web Help Desk sends an to the client asking them to confirm that the issue is resolved. If the client clicks Yes, Web Help Desk changes the Status to Closed. If the client clicks No, Web Help Desk reopens the ticket and notifies you. If the client does not respond within the specified number of days, Web Help Desk changes the Status to Closed. page 151

152 Client training This section provide a template that you can use to develop training materials for your Web Help Desk clients. Use this material as it is, or copy and revise it to reflect your organization's practices and Web Help Desk configuration. Clients can use Web Help Desk to submit support requests (called tickets). They can then view and update tickets as needed, and confirm that they have been resolved. Ways to submit a ticket You can submit a Web Help Desk ticket using any of the following methods: By Telephone: <your help desk telephone number> By <your help desk address(es)> Using the Web Help Desk web console: <your Web Help Desk URL> The most efficient and direct way to enter your request is through the Web Help Desk web console. Log in to Web Help Desk console 1. Open a Web browser. 2. Enter the following URL: <your Web Help Desk URL> page 152

153 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 3. Do one of the following: If you have an account, enter your login ID and password and click Log In. If you do not have an account, click New Account, enter account information, and click Submit. The Help Request page is displayed. Review and update your Web Help Desk profile Your profile includes contact information (such as and cell phone) and preferences. Edit your profile to add or update information. The information in your profile will be used to contact you about requests. SolarWinds recommends reviewing your profile before you create your first request. 1. In the Web Help Desk console toolbar, click Profile to display your profile. 2. Verify that your contact information is correct. Optionally, you can enter additional contact information. For example, you can add your mobile phone number to the Phone 2 field. 3. If your organization has multiple locations, verify that the Location field shows your work location. This information can be used to determine which support team receives your request. 4. Click Save to save any changes. page 153

154 Create a ticket using the web console 1. If the Help Request page is not displayed, click Request in the Web Help Desk console toolbar. 2. Select the Request Type option that best describes the reason for your request. After you select the request type, one or more subcategory fields might be displayed. Select an option in each subcategory field. If any FAQs are associated with the selected request type, they are listed on the right. FAQs can sometimes provide the information you need to resolve the issue. If one of the FAQs seems to be related to your issue, click the FAQ title to open it in a separate browser tab. 3. Enter a brief description of your request in the Subject field. 4. In the Request Detail section, provide a detailed explanation of your request or problem. 5. If you have supporting documents such as log files, screen shots, or configuration files, click Add File and attach them to the request. 6. Verify that your Location is correct. page 154

155 GETTING STARTED GUIDE: WEB HELP DESK 7. Select the Priority, using the following guidelines. If you select Urgent or High, make sure that you are available for the initial response, or provide the name and phone number of an alternate contact. Urgent High Medium Low A failure that severely impacts critical operations. The problem affects an entire location or a significant number of users. Customers are directly impacted, or critical operations such as shipping, manufacturing, or order entry are unavailable or severely impacted. An issue that degrades response times or affects normal operations. A website or service is functioning, but performance is degraded. The problem affects a small to medium number of users. Customers are directly impacted, or critical operations such as shipping, manufacturing, or order entry are available but negatively impacted. An issue that affects a small number of users or an individual user. A work-around is available. Questions or requests for information. 8. Complete any additional fields associated with the selected Request Type. A blue information icon identifies required fields. 9. Click Save to create the ticket. The system sends you a confirmation message containing your ticket number. Locate a ticket 1. In the Web Help Desk console toolbar, click History. The Ticket History screen lists all tickets you have entered. page 155