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Walkie Ticket Trouble Ticket ExpressOperator Manualrev. 1.0.BY WORLD WIDE WALKIE TALKIECOMMUNICATIONSWalkie Ticket Trouble Ticket Express facilitates communication process. Communication is a sequenceof questions and answers, the call and response process. Any communication tool must be able to trackwho is responsible for the next action. If status is Open - the operator is responsible. Status isResponded - the operator did his or her job, an input (may be) awaited from a customer United Web Coders2
1. System Overview1.1. ConceptsThe Walkie Ticket - Trouble Ticket Express is a web based help desk system. The programallows efficient processing of customer inquiries. Each inquiry is referred by as a ticket. Aticket consists of one or more messages arranged in chronological order. A message is veryclose equivalent of email letter: it has author and date attributes, contains some text and mayhave file attachments. Each message represents a note posted by a customer or a service deskrepresentative - an operator.The help desk software allows tracking of ticket status, such as whether it is new or solved,which operator owns the ticket, what department the ticket is assigned to.2. Ticket Processing Workflow2.1. Ticket submission.A customer may submit a new ticket by either sending email message to a dedicated emailaddress or using web form. The email-based submission requires an optional softwaremodule and may be unavailable on your system. The web form is preferred method, as itallows collection of extended information (e.g. phone or order number, software version,location) and does not require publishing email address on your web site.The picture 1 shows sample contact form. All contact forms require name, email address andat least one of the subject or problem description. The Phone Number is an example ofcustom field and Access code is an optional feature.3
Pic.1. Ticket submission form.4
Upon submission, the Trouble Ticket Express assigns Pending status to the new ticket andshows a confirmation page (picture 2). The page provides instructions for accessing theticket. The customer does not need to register with and login to the help desk in order toaccess his or her inquiries. The program generates unique access key for each ticket. Usingthis key a customer may access the ticket for reviewing and submission of follow-upmessages. Normally there is no need to remember or enter this key, as each email generatedby the help desk includes a direct link that incorporates the access code.CONFIRMATIONPAGE.5
The Trouble Ticket Express also sends an email to the customer with a copy of submittedmessage and access instructions, see picture 3.Pic.3. Email confirmation.At the same time, the program notifies help desk operators about new ticket submission.Picture 4 shows sample email notification.Pic.4. Email notification.Summary: Upon a ticket submission the Trouble Ticket Express-- assigns unique ID to the ticket and appends it to the service queue;-- generates confirmation page with access instructions;-- sends confirmation email to the customer;-- issues email notifications to operators6
2.2. Ticket assignment.While any operator may add a message to a ticket, one of the operators must be designated asan owner of the ticket prior to any other activity. Unless your administrator activated optionaldirect assignment mode and a customer did specified an operator to assign the ticket to, thenew ticket will retain Pending status. An operator must explicitly claim the ticket prior tocomposing an answer or transferring it to another operator or department.To start working session an operator needs to login to help desk system first. The picture 5shows typical login page. Please contact your administrator for user ID and password.Pic. 5. Login page.After logging in an operator is directed to the ticket browser page. The page shows a list oftickets and provides numerous controls for navigating the list. The layout of the page may bedifferent on your system, as your administrator may change it using an optional LayoutDesigner module. By default, Trouble Ticket Express shows most recently updated ticketsfirst. See picture 6 for an example of ticket browser page. Please note, that using the linkprovided in the new ticket notification message (picture 4) you may skip the ticket browserand proceed directly to the ticket page (picture 7).Pic. 6. Ticket browser7
To select a ticket from the ticket list, one must click the ticket's subject. The picture 7 showsthe typical unclaimed ticket page. The form provides complete information about the ticketand allows either claiming or deleting the ticket. The Trouble Ticket Express ensures thatonly one operator may claim a ticket. An attempt to claim a ticket that already owned byanother operator will result in error message. Please note that your administrator may disablethe Delete ticket option for your account. Use Cancel button to return to ticket browser.Pic. 7. Unclaimed ticket page.8
2.3. Preparing an answer.The picture 8 shows typical ticket page. The form allows posting messages, changing ticketstatus and transferring ticket to another operator or group.Please note that ticket status now changed to Open. The Trouble Ticket Express is acommunication tool and it tracks state of communication flow using ticket status. The Openstatus means the ticket has been assigned to an operator and the operator is preparing ananswer. That is some action is expected from the operator.To prepare an answer just type it in the text area and press Add message button. Normallyyou should not care about specifying ticket status, as Trouble Ticket Express willautomatically update it to Responded (see picture 9). The Responded status is an indication ofsome action expected from the customer.Pic. 8. Ticket page.9
Pic. 9. Ticket page after submission of an answer.Please note that Trouble Ticket Express will not send notification about the answer tooperators, as it does not make sense notifying an operator about the message he or she justposted. In addition, broadcasting a conversation to the operators that are not involved intoprocessing of the ticket does not seem to be justified in the most cases. However, if anoperator that does not own the ticket posted an answer, the owner (admin as per the example)wouldgetanotificationemail.10
2.4. Submission of a follow-up message.When an operator posts a message the Trouble Ticket Express sends an email notification toa customer (see picture 10). The email contains text of the new message and provides a linkto access the ticket page. A customer may submit a follow-up message by either replying tothe email just received or using web form. The email-based submission requires an optionalsoftware module and may be unavailable on your system.Pic. 10. New message notification for a customer.11
The picture 11 shows the ticket page as shown to a customer. Please note that it lacks someinformation and controls. The page does not show IP addresses the messages were submittedfrom and does not allow transferring the ticket.Pic. 11 Ticket page, customer posts a follow-up message.Submission of a follow-up message results in email notification to the operator that owns theticket. Note that Trouble Ticket Express will not send notifications to all operators. Onlyowner will be notified.The system also sends an email message to the customer. The letter contains a copy of themessagepostedandaccessinstructions.12
2.5. Transferring a ticket.Very often processing a ticket assumes teamwork. Other employees may be involved toprovide additional information or perform specific tasks. To track the flow of processing theTrouble Ticket Express allows changing ticket ownership or transferring a ticket. To transfera ticket you need select an operator from a drop down list.Additionally, the program supports internal messaging - if a message was marked as Internal,it will not be shown to a customer.Pic. 12. Transferring a ticket using internal communications mode.13
The Trouble Ticket Express always notifies a recipient when a ticket is being transferred.The picture 13 shows sample ticket transfer notification.Pic. 13. Ticket transfer notification14
2.6. Closing a ticket.The picture 14 shows ticket page as seen by the operator the ticket has been transferred to.Please note that-- Operator field now shows that user with ID paul now owns the ticket;-- The last message is shown with gray background. By default the Trouble Ticket Expressuses gray background to show internal messages.-- Status of the ticket did not change, the ticket stays Open, that is some action is stillexpected from an operator. The status did not change because the last message was internal.Pic. 14 Second operator is closing the ticket.By default, Trouble Ticket Express will change ticket status to Responded after non-internalmessage posted by an operator. In order to close the ticket an operator must explicitly specifynewstatus.15
The closed ticket page is shown on pictures 15 (operator view) and 16 (customer view).Please note that-- Ticket status changed to Solved-- Customer page does not include internal message-- Customer page does not allow re-opening a ticket. Although the page still includesmessage box, any message posted will open a new ticket.Pic.15. Closed ticket, an operator view.16
Pic.16. Closed ticket, customer view.15
3. Using ticket browserThe ticket browser shows a list of tickets and provides numerous controls for navigating thelist. The picture 17 shows typical ticket browser page. The layout of the page may bedifferent on your system, as your administrator may change it using an optional LayoutDesigner module.Pic.17. Ticket Browser.16
3.1 Sorting ticketsBy default the ticket browser sorts tickets by the update date, most recently updated ticketson the top. Note that the active column is shown in bold typeface. You may use any columnfor sorting tickets, just click on the column header. Any subsequent click toggles sort order.The picture 18 shows result of clicking twice on the name column header (first click setsascending sort order, the second one toggles it).Pic 18. Ticket Browser, Sort by name, descending.17
3.2 Ticket abstracts.To make the screen more informative you may enable ticket abstracts. In this mode, TroubleTicket Express shows a few first lines of each ticket below each ticket record. See picture 19.Pic.19. Ticket Browser, Showing abstracts18
3.3 Text searchTrouble Ticket Express allows search tickets that contain specific text. To perform thesearch, just enter the words or phrase into the search box and click Search button. The picture20 shows result of searching tickets that contain phrase light bulb.In order to search for an exact phrase use double quotes. Example: "light bulb". Enteringlight bulb without quotes would result in a search for the tickets that contain both words lightand bulb in no particular order.To reset search filter click Show all button.Pic. 20. Ticket Browser, Using text search.3.4. Using multiple search conditions.You may combine multiple search filters. Trouble Ticket Express uses logical ANDoperation to combine search conditions. In other words, the final set f tickets is a result ofapplying all search conditions. The Picture 21 shows an example of searching high prioritytickets that are not solved yet (that is status is anything but Solved).Pic.21. Ticket Browser, Searching high priority tickets that are not solved yet.19
3.5. Ticket editorWhile in Ticket Browser, you may activate ticket editor. It shows in a pop-up window andallows changing customer email address, name, ticket subject and any of the custom fieldsthat your administrator marked as editable. To activate the editor please click on the ticketID. The picture 22 shows result of clicking the ticket #3.Pic.22. Ticket editor window.20
4. Using Answer Library.The Answer Library is an optional module that allows organizing answers to commonquestions. The link to the Answer Library is shown above the message editor box. Clickingon the link will bring the Answer Library pop-up window as shown on the picture 23.Pic. 23. Activating Answer Library.21
4.1. Using an answer template.To select an answer template choose the category (Common questions as per example on pic.23), than click on the question title. Doing this will show the template in the preview box.The picture 24 shows the Specific question template selected.Pic.24. Answer Library. Selecting an answer template.In order to append the answer template to the message click Use button. See picture 25.Pic.25. Answer Library. Answer template has been appended to a message.22
4.2. Creating new answer template.To create a new answer click the New button. In the new answer form (picture 26) fill in theTitle and Answer fields and select a category. Checking the Common box will add the answertemplate to shared library, thus all operators will be allowed to use the answer. However, youwill retain an ownership over the template, that is only you may apply changes to it. ClickUpdate button to save the answer. Click Done when ready.Important: The Done button will exit the answer editor form without applying any changes.Do not forget clicking the Update prior to leaving the form.Pic.26. Answer Library. Creating new answer template.4.3. Editing an answer template.To modify an answer template first select it (see picture 24), than click Edit. Please note thatyou may edit only the answer templates you own.4.4. Deleting an answer template.To delete an answer template first select it (see picture 24), than click Delete. Please note thatyou may delete only the answer templates you own.23
AppendixA. Understanding ticket status.Pending. Service ticket is queued for processing. No operator assigned to the ticket. This isan initial state of any inquiry.Open. Service ticket is taken by an operator. Response required from the operator. Acustomer may add a follow up message to the ticket.Responded. A response has been sent to a customer. The response may contain completeanswer or a request for further information. Response may be required from the customer. Anoperator may add a follow up message to the ticket.Solved. The service ticket is closed. A customer may not add a follow up message. Anoperator may reopen the ticket.Please keep in mind that the Walkie Ticket Trouble Ticket Express facilitates communicationprocess. Communication is a sequence of questions and answers, the call and responseprocess. Any communication tool must be able to track who is responsible for the next action.If status is Open - the operator is responsible. Status is Responded - the operator did his or herjob, an input (may be) awaited from a customer.The Ticket Browser shows additional options for status in the filter drop down selector.These options are aliases for a combination of status values. They may not be assigned to thestatus field and are for search filter only.Active. An alias for either Open or Responded.Hot. An alias for either Open or Pending (i.e. operator action required).Thank you for using Walkie Ticket – A Trouble Ticket Express system.Have Question ?Contact us @ [email protected] us: 1-888-833-2459 x80124
Walkie Ticket Trouble Ticket Express Operator Manual rev. 1.0. BY WORLD WIDE WALKIE TALKIE COMMUNICATIONS Walkie Ticket Trouble Ticket Express facilitates communication process. Communication is a sequence of questions and answers, the call and response process. Any communication tool must
