Unicenter Service Desk Training

General Usage

USD Version 5.5

Revised 11/27/2003

This top-level document encompasses common usage issues associated with the USD software.  It has been assumed that analysts are familiar with the severity scale used to rate the priority of requests.  Information on IT Services SLA agreements and severity definitions are located at http://home.mcis.washington.edu/amcis/services/.

The Unicenter Service Desk web client is available on Windows based PCs running Internet Explorer 5.0 or Netscape v4.63 and higher.  The application can be accessed directly by utilizing the URL https://helpdesk.mcis.washington.edu or through the USD Help Desk Utility link located at http://home.mcis.washington.edu.  This document is tailored for technicians who have analyst access to the application.  Application errors or usage problems should be reported to the IT Services Help Desk at mcsos@u.washington.edu or via phone at (206)543-7012.

Creating Requests

Create requests for work to be done by any IT Services analyst.  USD Ticket creation gives IT Services and collaborating staff an easy way to track all work done for a customer or analyst and reporting mechanisms to ensure that issues are completed in a timely manner.

• Creating Requests
• Creating Child Requests
• Attaching Documents
• Accessing Attached Documents

Creating Requests:

1. From the main USD screen mouse over the File menu and choose New Request

2. Enter information into all required fields.  Required fields include Affected End User, Severity, Group, Summary, and Request Description.

Create New Request defaults:

• The Severity drop down box defaults to 3 w/in 3 days.
• The Assignee field defaults to the analyst logged into USD.
• The Group field defaults to Helpdesk.

When creating requests for analysts in groups outside your own leave the group field as Helpdesk.  The IT Services Help Desk will route these requests to the proper group and analyst.  If assigning to an analyst in your own group substitute Helpdesk with your group name and enter an assignee from your group in the box provided.

There are groups who are setup in USD to be notified by pager when a request is saved to their queue.  The information sent to their pager comes from the Summary line of the request.  In order for them to adequately address the issue without having to access USD directly we require all tickets to be formatted in the Summary line as follows:

Method of Submission: Building: Room #: Brief Issue Description

Example:

Email: UWMC EE402:  PC IP 128.95.150.2 boots to "non system disk or disk error"

3. Enter a thorough description of the issue in the Request Description field.  This field has a maximum size value of 5000 characters.
4. Select the Save button to create the request.

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Creating Child Requests:

Child requests are used to group work done for a single issue that is either reported by many people or that is multi-part and involves work to be done by numerous groups within USD.  In the case of a single issue reported by multiple end users when the primary source of the issue is resolved the parent request is closed and all children are closed with the same closing comments.  This gives significant time savings over having to enter the closing comments into each request individually. 

In the case of a multi-part request child tickets are spawned from the parent for a subset of work to be performed.  Once all the subsets of work have been completed the parent is closed.  This allows the ability to group work done for a single multi-part request.

Example:

A new PC installation requires that a port be activated, an IP address be assigned, the IP be entered, and the PC added to the domain.

A ticket is created to install a new PC.

A child ticket is created to have the port activated.

A child ticket is created to have the IP address assigned.

A child ticket is created to have the IP entered and the PC added to the domain.

Each portion is completed by a separate entity in USD.  When all children have been closed the "Parent" ticket to install a new PC is closed.

1. Perform the steps to create a request as outlined in the Creating Requests section of this document.  This will create the request that will be considered the parent.
2. Perform the steps to create a request as outlined in the Creating Requests section of this document but do not select the Save button.  Enter the CR: number of the ticket that will be considered the parent in CR:###### format in the Parent Request field and select Save.

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Attaching Documents:

Almost any file can be attached to a call request in USD.  If the attached document is viewable through an Internet Explorer window it will open automatically in that browser.  If it cannot be viewed this way you will be prompted to save the file locally.

1. Perform the steps to create a request as outlined in the Creating Requests section of this document but do not select the Save button.
2. Select the Attach Document button.
3. Select the Upload File button.

4. Select the Browse button.

5. Browse to the location of the file.  Double click the file you wish to attach.

6. Select the OK button to upload the file.

7. Select the Close button to return to the request.

8. Select the Save button to finish creating the request.

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Accessing attached documents:

1. Open a call request with an attachment.  Information on opening a single call request is located in the Viewing single call requests section of this document.
2. Select the Attachments tab.

3. Click on the name of the attachment.

4. If prompted select Save and specify a location to place the attachment.

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Request Searches

Searches are commonly used to find a single or series of tickets.  These searches are fairly granular as they can be used to find tickets for an individual or for a group, for the request creator or for whom it was assigned.  Time frames for ticket creation or ticket closure can also be specified to narrow the scope of the search.  Searches can even be performed on the text included in the summary line or body of the request.

To perform searches when only partial information is known use the global wildcard % sign.  For instance, searching for customers' last names using alb% would pull up all users in the database who had a last name starting with alb.  The % wildcard works for any text based field in the USD search screen.

• Viewing single call requests
• Opening the Advanced Search window
• Searching for Inactive Requests
• Searching for Active Requests

Viewing single call requests:

1. From any USD window type in the request number in the box indicated below. Format used should be CR:######.

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Opening the Advanced Search window:

1. From the opening screen of USD select the Search Menu and choose Requests.
2. Click the green funnel icon to show the full listing of search criteria.

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Searching for Inactive Requests:

1. Follow the steps to Open the Advanced Search Window as outlined in this document

2. Change the Active drop down box field from Active to Inactive.

3. Enter the Earliest Close Date and Latest Close Date in their respective boxes. Dates entered should be in MM/DD/YYYY format.  If date ranges are not specified the query will return all inactive requests for the group or assignee.
4. Enter the Group and/or Assignee you wish to search for in their respective boxes.
5. Select the Search button.

6. Mouse over the selected CR number and choose View.

Sample Call Request

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Searching for Active Requests:

1. Follow the steps to Open the Advanced Search Window as outlined in this document.
2. Enter the Group and/or Assignee whose request(s) you wish to search for in their respective boxes.  Omit the Assignee field when searching for group statistics.
3. If searching for open tickets for a particular time frame enter the Earliest Open Date and Latest Open Date in their respective boxes.  Dates entered should be in MM/DD/YYYY format.  If date ranges are not specified the query will return all active requests for the group or assignee.
4. Select the Search button.

5. Mouse over the selected CR number and choose View.

Sample Call Request

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Transferring Requests

Transfer requests to other members of your group or to individuals in other groups.  If transferring to members of other groups be sure to specify not only the individual who will receive the request but also the group to which they belong.  If both are not specified notification triggers like paging or emails are not sent.  You can determine what group an analyst is a part of by following the steps for Looking Up Contact Information in this document.  It is common practice to verbally notify the person who you have transferred a request to that they have been assigned a ticket.  Transferred requests must include detailed comments as to the reason for the transfer.  Only assign requests to analysts who are a member of at least one group in USD.

Transferring Requests:

1. Open the ticket you will be transferring by entering the ticket number or searching.
2. Select the Activities menu and choose Transfer.

3. Enter the name and the group of the person to transfer the request to and comments indicating the reason for the transfer.
4. Select the Save button.

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Looking Up Contact Information

A useful function of the application is the ability to perform queries for contact information.  Common examples include the ability to pull up information for everyone in the USD database with the same first or last name, and if recorded, a contact's phone number(s), AMC username, e-mail address, location, and UW IT Services group membership.

Viewing contact details:

1. From the opening screen of USD select the Search menu and choose Contacts.
2. Type in the contact’s Last Name, First Name, or System Login and click the Search button.  If only a first name or last name is known the application will offer a pick list of all users that match the criteria.  System Login should be a unique field for any individual.

3. Mouse over the contact record you wish to lookup and choose View.

• The Notification tab (Flagged below) contains Phone, Pager and Fax number (if available), e-mail address, and USD notification settings.

• The Organizational Info tab contains data on the organization, department, and location (room #) of the contact.

• The Groups tab contains information on the IT Services groups that the contact is a member of.  Regular customers are not members of any UW Medicine group and thus will have a blank listing for this field.

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Customizing Scoreboards

The scoreboard in USD is the left hand navigation pane available from the main window of the application.  The items listed in the customized scoreboard represent filters, or customized queries that contain a subset of all the tickets in the USD database.  An example of this is all open call requests assigned to your USD group.  Call requests may be viewable from a number of different bins in the customized scoreboard.  The bins available can be modified to show specific subsets of information specific to your job function.

If queries are missing that you may find useful it may be feasible for them to be added to the application.  Please direct these requests to the IT Services Help Desk at mcsos@u.washington.edu  or (206)543-7012.

All analysts using the USD system have the following queries by default  listed in the scoreboard:

My Open Requests

This query lists all Open requests where you are the Customer.

Assigned Requests

This query lists all Open requests that have been assigned to you.

Today's Req Callbacks

Call requests assigned to you that have been flagged for a callback with today's date.

My Group Requests

This query lists all Open requests assigned to the USD group in which you belong.

Requests - Assigned

Represents all Open call requests broken down by Severity level and actively assigned to an IT Services group.

Requests - Unassigned

Represents all Open call requests broken down by Severity level and actively unassigned to an IT Services group.

• All queries listed in the scoreboard are followed with a number in parenthesis which denotes the number of requests included within.

Customizing the Scoreboard

1. From the opening screen of USD choose the File Menu and select Customize Scoreboard.

2. Type a descriptive name for the query (Typically the query function, e.g. Helpdesk Open Requests) in the Node Label box.
3. Select the Stored Query link.

4. Select the Search Button for a list of available stored queries.  Choose the Next link to navigate through the pages of available queries.
5. Mouse over the query that you want displayed and choose “Select”.

6. Choose the folder that you want the query to be listed beneath.
7. Select the Add Node link. *You will be unable to save nodes directly under the Queues or Requests Folder.  The added query should now be visible from the Left Hand Navigation pane within USD

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Notification Methods

The USD system can be tailored to notify you via e-mail or by page when a request has been opened, closed, transferred, or the severity has changed.  Notifications can further be refined to trigger a page or e-mail when the request meets specific severity criteria.   In order to appropriately meet IT Services SLA standards when on call for a USD group set your personal notifications to page you for the opening of severity 1 and 2 requests.

Setting Up Notification

1. Open your contact record.  Instructions for opening contact records are outlined in the Viewing contact Details section of this document.
2. Select the Edit button.
3. Different types of notifications can be set for call request openings, closes, transfers, or severity changes.  A selection of None indicates no notification will be sent.  A selection of Email will cause an e-mail to be sent to the address specified in the analyst's contact record.  PageFull(Sev1-4) sends the Summary line and a portion of the body of the request to the alpha pager listed in the Pager Number section of the analyst's contact record.  PageSum(Sev1-4) sends only the Summary line of the call request to the analyst.  Specifying Sev 1, 2, 3, or 4 allows you to only receive pages for the Severity specified and lower (e.g. if PageFullSev2 is selected you will be paged for all Sev2 and Sev1 requests).
4. Select the Save button.

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Manual Notifications

Performing a Manual Notify allows you to send a message regarding a call request, either by e-mail or text page, to any user in the USD system providing their contact information is on file.  This function is often used to inform an analyst of the need to contact a customer or to provide them with additional information useful to resolve a request however notifications can be sent to any contact record in the USD database.

Sending Manual Notifications

1. Open the call request you would like to send a notification about.  Information on opening call requests is included in the Request Searches section of this document.
2. Select the Activities menu and choose Manual Notify.

3. Select the Add Recipient button.

4. Enter the First and Last name for the contact you wish to send the notification to and select the Search button.

5. Mouse over the account for the user you wish to notify and choose “Select”.

6. Select whether to e-mail or page the user to notify from the Preferred Method drop down box.  PageFull(Sev1-4) sends the Summary line and a portion of the body of the request to the alpha pager listed in the Pager Number section of the analyst's contact record.  PageSum(Sev1-4) sends only the Summary line of the call request to the analyst.  There is no need to be particular about the severity levels for the different paging methods.  By selecting any severity the person to be notified will be paged.
7. Type in any additional information into the Message Title and Message Text fields and select the Notify button.

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