Automatic support requests
logging
When a service request email is received, it
needs to be converted into a trouble ticket or service work
order. In typical service desk environment where the email
is the main medium of correspondence, there is a feel of a
'disconnect' between the technicians and the ticket tracking
system. The reason is that a technician has to manually
create and log in new support case from email and this can
be a major drawback if there is considerable emails
traffic. It can increase response time affecting the overall
performance of the help desk.
 |
Automatic logging of support cases from emails in
Supportcalls
SupportCalls can intercept incoming emails to
automatically generate support cases out of the
emails, all instantly i.e., as and when emails hit the inbox. Helpdesk managers can set SupportCalls to monitor any number of exchange
mailboxes and mail-enabled public folders and
perform the auto-generation of support cases
from the incoming emails. With
this kind of setup, the managers are freed from
having to monitor inboxes
manually every now and then. Additionally, SupportCalls
can be extended to even assign default technicians to
newly logged support cases on the fly based on the
linked relationship between technicians and the
prefilled fields such as
sender and problem areas. This automates the support
case logging and assignment entirely on its own. The generated
support cases are then stored under the exchange
folder. Any file attachments will be automatically attached to the problem case
(Outlook item) as well; making
distribution of inbound requests simple and
informative. This way, all support submissions are
captured and centralized in order to execute
efficient and effective customer service.
|
 |
Permission on Mailboxes and public folders
A right set of permissions are required for helpdesk
technicians over the monitored mailboxes/public
folders. Without it, the monitoring for incoming
emails would fail, and the mailboxes would be
overwhelmed with unprocessed emails.
| For monitored
shared mailboxes, all helpdesk staffs need
to have 'Full mailbox access'. This can be
set under the Active Directory (AD) by the
domain administrator.
Setting mailbox access
for each technician can be cumbersome
especially when there are many of them. In
such scenario, the best solution is to
create a domain exchange group consisting of
all helpdesk users and then setting the
mailbox access permission to that group.
For example, in the 'Mailbox Rights'
screenshot on the right, the group 'ServiceDesk'
is given 'Full mailbox access'. |
 |
More on Assigning Mailbox Rights
in MS Exchange
Using the Mailbox Rights button on the
Exchange Advanced tab, you can assign
rights to the mailbox of a recipient to
users or to groups, add users to the
list, and then allow or deny them the
following rights:
- Delete mailbox storage -
The mailbox from the mailbox store
can be deleted. By default, only
administrators have permission to do
this. Users cannot delete their own
mailboxes.
- Read permissions - The
specified user can read or change
the permissions on a mailbox.
- Change permissions - The
user can modify or remove
permissions on the mailbox.
- Take ownership - The user
is granted ownership of a mailbox.
-
Full mailbox access
- The delegated user has the same
access rights as the owner.
- Associated external account
- This option is used when a user's
Windows account resides in a
different forest than the Exchange
mailbox.
|
|
| For monitored
public folders, there are varied permission
levels that can be specified by the folder
owner. In the context of SupportCalls, it is recommended
that the folder owner grant 'Editor'
or 'Publishing Editor' to the all members of the helpdesk.
If granting permission to each technician is
cumbersome and time consuming, then it is
advisable that you create a domain group
whose members consist of all helpdesk
users such that permission can be granted to
that whole group. For example, in the
'Permissions' tab on the right screenshot,
the group 'ServiceDesk' is granted
'Publishing Editor' by the folder owner. |
|
|
|
|
