Copyright Leigh Business Enterprises Ltd. 2007
http://www.LbeHelpdesk.com
Help file Contents
Windows
How To (Miscellaneous)
How to ... (Record and Manage Helpdesk Jobs)Start the program with different databases
Re-load my windows every time I use the helpdesk
Log operators out after a specific time of inactivitySpeed up the loading of windows Have multiple windows of the same type open
Use a drop-down list to select items
Use search boxes instead of drop-down lists
Use keyboard macros to save typing
Change the name of the Custom fields
Remove the Custom fields from my windows
Hide Customer or Department information if you don't use it
Temporarily delete Customers, Departments, Contacts, Operators etc.
Show a list of Jobs Re-open a previously closed JobShow Job History without Actioning it
View a Job without Actioning it
Stop the Target Date/Time changing whenever you change a Job's priority
Control the information shown in the Job History
Send an e-mail to a Contact/Operator when I Action a Job
Automatically notify someone when a Job becomes overdue
Automatically escalate Jobs
How to … (Set up and Manage Customers)
How to … (Set up and Manage Helpdesk Operators)
Show which Operators are logged in
How to … (Manage Categories)
How to … (Manage Priorities)
How to … (Manage Knowledgebase)
How to … (Use Data Views)
Select multiple records in a view
Change the format of a View and rename it
Change the color and style of a view
Show only certain fields in a view
Change the format of particular rows in a View
Automatically refresh the data in a view
Share a view with other Operators
Make a View the default for other Operators
Re-order and remove columns in a View
How to … (Manage the Helpdesk Database)
Creating a new Access database
How to … (Report on the Helpdesk)
Welcome to LBE Desktop Helpdesk. This topic will get you up and running as quickly as possible.
Installation
Each machine that needs to use the helpdesk must have run the installation routine.
Please do not install it onto a single machine and just shortcut to that exe from other machines. You must install and run it from your machine. The database can certainly be moved to a network server so that several people can share it. Simply move the .mdb file and connect to it from the File menu, Select Database.
Log In
Run the helpdesk from your Start menu. The helpdesk will load. After showing
a splash screen then a Tip of the Day window, it will automatically connect
to the default database (helpdesk.mdb) located in the same folder as you installed
the helpdesk.
You will be asked to log in to the helpdesk:
If this is the first time select the user name 'Trial' and enter a password of 'password', then click the OK button.
The main window will be displayed:
Most of the buttons in the the toolbar at the top of the window are disabled at the moment.
On the left hand side of the window is a Tree view that shows you the main components of the system. The right hand side (empty at the moment) is used as a container for all the other windows in the system. You can click on the divider between these two areas and drag to resize their relative proportions if you wish.
On the tree view you can expand each level by clicking on the icon. The picture below shows the first three folders expanded:
These will be discussed in more detail later. For now, click the "Detailed" icon beneath the "Jobs" folder. This shows a list of all the helpdesk jobs:
It is empty at the moment because we haven't created any Jobs. To create a new Job, you can either:
Do one of these now please.
You should see the New Job Window:
Resize the window so you can see all the fields, either by dragging a corner of the window or using one of the options from the Window menu.
Insert Problem and Solution from Knowledgebase
Clicking this will display a list of knowledgebase items, selecting one will
insert the values into this Job. If the Solution field is not available (because
the job status is not "closed") then only the Problem will be copied
from the knowledgebase.
Problem Summary
Enter a description of the problem in the field labeled Problem e.g. 'Hard disk
is making a strange noise'. By default, the system will copy the contents of
a file named "newjob.txt" into the Problem summary. This is a simple
text file and may be edited by you as required.
To Do
Enter a description of any actions that must be carried out before a successful
completion of this Job e.g. 'Check if there is a backup of this user's data'.
Job Status
If the Job is completed, select Closed from the drop-down list and enter a description
in the Solution field.
Time/Money Spent
You can specify how much has been spent on this Job in terms of both time and
money. The Time Spent field will automatically increment for each minute you
have this window open. If you wish, you can overwrite this with your own value
(after which it will stop increasing automatically).
Contact
You must specify which individual raised this problem. The system uses a hierarchy
of:
Click the drop-down list to show a list of all Contacts (the database has one contact initially) and select one.
Notes
If you need to add more extensive notes, click the Notes tab on this window
and enter them there. Anything you type into the Notes will be moved to the
History when you save.
Finally
The rest of the information on the screen has already been completed for you.
We will come back to these later. For now, just click the
Save button.
After clicking Save on the New Job, the window will close and the Jobs - Detailed view that we opened earlier will be refreshed. You should see something like:
The new job you created is listed. You can resize each column by dragging the dividers in the column headings, or click and drag a column to a new position if you wish. You can also change the font color and size (see Data Views).
Show History
Right click on the Job and select Show History.
This will display a window showing the audit trail of what has happened on this
job so far. You should be able to see all the Customer/Department/Contact information,
plus a record of when the Job was actioned and your Problem/To Do and Notes.
Action this Job
Let's say that you telephoned the Contact and asked them to run some further
tests (e.g. defragment the hard disk). You need to record this Action. So, right
click on this job and select Action Job. You will be shown the same window
that you saw when you created the Job. If you select the History tab you can
view the Job's audit trail. Enter any new notes and click
the Save button.
When you return to the Jobs Detailed view, you will see that the 'Last Actioned' column has been updated, if you right click and select 'Show History', you will see a record of your last action has been made in the History.
Powerful HelpDesk Software
LBE Helpdesk will help you manage and control your helpdesk operation, without
forcing you to change the way you work.
Sensibly priced
We charge per concurrent user, not individuals This means you only pay for the
number of people you expect to be simultaneously using the helpdesk. By doing
so, we can make LBE Helpdesk affordable for small and medium sized enterprises.
Many of our customers have told us they looked at helpdesk software which is more than 10 times our price - but, in their words, "wasn't anything like as good".
Simple to use
No extensive training is required. Our customers tell us that one of the major
reasons they chose LBE Helpdesk is they found it very easy to understand and
learn how to use it.
Adapts to your needs
Choose the type of organization you support - e.g. multiple or single external
customers, and LBE Helpdesk will adapt to hide non-essential information.
Easy to set up
You don't need an expensive on-site visit from us to install LBE Helpdesk.
Scalable
LBE Helpdesk can be used with the supplied Access database, Microsoft Sql Server
or Oracle.
Extensive Reporting
Supplied with many reports. If you need further reports, you can build your
own reports using many of the commonly available reporting tools.
Integrated solution
Use a Web browser, a desktop application or email to interface with the helpdesk.
Web Address: http://www.lbesoftware.com/contact.asp
Up-to-date mail and telephone numbers can be found at our web site.
All our helpdesk products are available for download as 45 day trials. The trial versions are identical in function to the licensed versions except that after 45 day the programs will cease to run. Once you purchase, we will send you a licence file, which allows you to continue using the product and any data, created during the trial period.
Pricing information: http://www.LbeHelpdesk.com/helpdesk-price.htm
Order form: http://www.LbeHelpdesk.com/helpdesk-order.asp
We accept purchase orders, checks, bank transfers and credit/debit cards and PayPal Please complete the order form at the above address and select your payment method.
When you order on-line we will immediately provide you with temporary licence
files via e-mail, you can then continue to use the program and all the data
you have created during the trial period. Once your payment has been received,
we will send you the permanent licences.
We charge per concurrent user, not individuals This means you only pay for the number of people you expect to be simultaneously using the helpdesk. We believe this is the fairest pricing policy to suit businesses of all sizes.
When an operator logs in they consume a single licence. When they log out, this licence is released.
If an operator tries to log in and you do not have sufficient licences the system will not allow them entry, in which case you may need to purchase additional licences..
Please note, each licence is per database server. For example the following
situations would only require one 5 user licence:
" Up to 5 simultaneous users all in the same office.
" Up to 5 simultaneous users who may be in different locations but are
using a single, central database.
If you have several offices which all wish to use our Desktop helpdesk, and they each have their own database, they must each purchase a license for the appropriate number of users.
Here are just some of the features you will find in LBE Desktop Helpdesk:
Jobs
Jobs are the problems which users report to you or enter into the system themselves.
A Job may be Actioned many times before it is completed.
Child Jobs
These are Jobs that must be completed before their parent Job can be completed.
A Child Job cannot become a parent of another Job.
Action
An Action means that you have actually done something in relation to the Job,
anything from recording extra information to completing the Job. All Actions
are recorded with each Job in an audit trail called the Job History.
Customers
A Customer is an organization. If you are using LBE Helpdesk internally, it
will be the company you work for. Otherwise it is those external organizations
that you deal with.
Departments
A Department is a sub-division of a Customer. E.g. Sales, Finance, Marketing.
Contacts
A Contact is a person. All Jobs must be created against a Contact. The hierarchy
is as follows:
Customers may have one or more Departments.
Departments may have one or more Contacts.
Categories
Categories help you identify certain types of Jobs. For example, you might categorize
according to the probable cause, e.g. Hardware, Software etc.
Priorities
Priorities allow you to specify how important a Job is. The Priority also determines
the default target for completion of the Job.
Helpdesk Operators
These are the people who work for you and use LBE Helpdesk. They create new
Jobs and record whatever actions were taken.
Assets/Inventory
Assets are (usually) physical items. E.g. hardware, software, furnishings, fittings
etc.
Asset Types
Asset Types allow you to categorize Assets.
It may be that you are upgrading to LBE Helpdesk from:
" an in-house system
" another supplier's helpdesk system
or you wish to import e.g. Customer information from another database.
The best tool is probably Microsoft Access. This has very good data import wizards which should enable you to carry out this task with the minimum of problems. Before doing so, you must understand the structure of the database which LBE Helpdesk uses (see here).
If you do have any problems or need advice, we are happy to help.
The following diagram may be helpful if you are creating your own reports or importing data from other programs:
Please pay particular attention to the relationship Person-Dept-Customers. The Person table holds Customer contacts, but if you only import into the Person table, none will be visible as each Person record must have a link to a Dept record. In turn, each Dept record must have a link to a Customers record.
Desktop Helpdesk
Your support staff typically uses LBE Desktop Helpdesk. In addition to the features
it shares with our Web Helpdesk, it also provides a rich user interface that
will make your job easier:
LBE Desktop Helpdesk does all this yet still maintains a simple, clear and easy to understand interface. Your staff will be using it with the minimum of training.
Web Helpdesk
This is a helpdesk system which is hosted on a web server and accessed via a
web browser. You can access the helpdesk from any machine that has a web browser,
without having to install a special application.
By allowing your customers limited access, you can minimize the number of calls they make to your helpdesk.
It may be hosted on Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista and uses either a MS Access database (supplied), MS Sql Server or Oracle. The web helpdesk can share a database with our Desktop helpdesk.
Helpdesk Hosting
We can host your LBE Web Helpdesk on our website. This saves you the problems
of finding a suitable web host, installation and set up. You don't need to buy
a licence outright, we rent the application to you for the length of the hosting
agreement.
Mail-in Server
Lets your customers send a simple e-mail to automatically create new helpdesk
jobs, update their existing jobs and retrieve the current status. Works with
both the Desktop and Web helpdesks.
For more information on any of these products please see http://www.lbehelpdesk.com/
Working top to bottom, left to right:
Main Menu
The options available will depend on the type of information being shown and
your operator privileges.
Toolbar
Provides shortcuts to commonly used functions. If you hold your mouse cursor
over the button a tool tip will display the purpose of the button.
Tree View
Provides quick access to the major parts of the system
View Window
This is currently showing a data view. This is the
main work area in the application.
Status Bar
Shows the program version, current date/time and who you are logged in as.
This window allows you to add/edit a Customer Asset. The following fields are available:
Owned by Customer
All Assets are owned by a particular Customer. This will show either a drop
down or a search box depending on your personal
preferences
Asset Number
This, or Description are required.
Description
This, or Asset Number are required.
Type
Required. Enables you to classify Assets, typical values might be e.g. Software,
Printer, Monitor etc. If you click on the arrow in the Asset Type field it will
display a list of choices. If you wish to add a New Asset Type you can click
the '+' button next to it.
End-user
Optional. Specify which Contact normally uses this Asset. This can be helpful
when you are creating a new Job as you can then choose to only show those Assets
for the selected Contact. This will show either a drop down or a search box
depending on your personal preferences
Manufacturer
Model No.
Serial No.
Notes
Purchase Date
Disposal Date
Purchase Order
Invoice No.
Vendor
These are all optional.
Custom1, Custom2
Optional. These two fields will probably be have renamed (see custom
fields. You may enter up to 255 characters.
This window allows you to add/edit a Category.
Name
Type a description.
Custom1, Custom2
Optional. These two fields may have renamed (see custom
fields). You may enter up to 255 characters.
Default
If you check this box, all new Jobs will have this Category by default.
Notify Assigned Operator when a Job with this Category is auto-escalated?
You can use this to override the default auto-escalation option for when a job
with this Category is escalated
Notify this address
You can use this to override the default auto-escalation notification address
for when a job with this Category is escalated.
Notify this operator when end-user creates a new Job with the Web Helpdesk
Only applicable if you use the web helpdesk as well as the desktop. By default
when an end-user creates a new Job, an Operator named "Not assigned"
is assigned to the Job. Using this option, you can choose which Operator is
assigned based on the Category of the Job.
Priorities
You can restrict which Priorities are allowed
for Jobs with this Category.
Working Hours Button
You may override the default Working Hours (set from the Priority
window) for specific Categories.
This window allows you to add a new Contact or edit the details of an existing Contact. The following fields are available:
Title
This displays a list of titles, or you may type in your own.
ForeName, Surname
The Contact's name.
Job Title
E.g. Managing Director
Address, Tel. No., Fax, Mobile Tel. No.
E-Mail
If you are using Outlook to send emails, and you already have an entry in your
Address Book for this person, then you may leave this field empty, when an E-mail
is sent your mail software will resolve the name into a valid e-mail address.
If you do enter an e-mail address, you may enter multiple addresses, separated
by a semi-colon (;).
Custom1, Custom2
These two fields will probably be have renamed by you (see custom
fields). You may enter up to 255 characters.
Department/Customer
The Contact must belong to a Department and a Customer, select one from the
drop-down list. If the department you want is not listed, click the '+' button
next to the drop-down arrow.
If you have chosen to use Search boxes, then you will see a text box instead of a drop down list.
Default Contact for department?
If you select a Department and then create a new Job (i.e. without explicitly
selecting a Contact), the system will choose whoever has been defined as the
default Contact as the person the Job is created against. Similarly if you select
a Customer, then create a new job, the system will use the first Contact marked
as default in that Customer's Departments.
Notes
Use this to keep any general notes.
OK button
Click to save your changes.
Cancel button
Click to cancel your changes.
If you wish, you can make the custom field appear as drop-down list of options. See the instructions on the window for more details.
This window allows you to add a new Customer or edit the details of an existing Customer. The following fields are available:
Name
The Customer's name.
Reference
Use this as you as you wish, e.g. you may have your own Customer numbers.
Tel. No., Fax, Mobile Tel. No.
E-Mail
This address is only used to provide a default for when you create a new Contact.
Normally the Contact's name or e-mail address will be used for any automatic
emails.
Custom1, Custom2
These two fields may have been renamed (see custom fields).
You may enter up to 255 characters.
Contract Expiry Date
If you wish, you may set the expiry date for this customer's support contract.
After this time, you will no longer be able to Action Jobs for this customer
(unless you have override privilege ). If you
don't wish to use this facility, set it to a date far in the future.
Contract New Jobs Allowance
If you wish, you may limit the number of new Jobs this customer's support contract
allows. Each time a new job is created, this figure will reduce, when it reaches
zero, you will no longer be able to create new Jobs for this customer (unless
you have override privilege ). If you don't wish
to use this facility, set it to a large value.
Notes
Use this to keep any general notes.
OK button
Click to save your changes. NB If you are creating a new Customer, the system
will automatically create a new Department and Contact record for you.
Cancel button
Click to cancel your changes.
This window allows you to add a new Department or edit the details of an existing Department. The following fields are available:
Name
The Department name.
Location
If you wish, use this to indicate the location of the department
Custom1, Custom2
These two fields may have been renamed (see custom fields).
You may enter up to 255 characters.
Customer
Specifies the Customer this Department belongs to. This might be either a drop
down list of Customers or a text box allowing you to type a Customer Name (see
personal preferences )
OK button
Click to save your changes.
Cancel button
Click to cancel your changes.
Notify assigned operator
The system can notify the Operator assigned to any Job that is escalated.
Notify this e-mail address
The system can notify a specified address for each Job that is escalated. You
may enter multiple e-mail addresses separated by a semi-colon (;).
The above two settings may be overridden by Category-specific values.
Check every....
Specify the interval at which the system will check for Jobs that should be
escalated.
Overdue Jobs e-mail notification
The system can notify a specified address about Jobs which are overdue (or about
to become overdue), in addition an e-mail can be sent to the Operator responsible
for an overdue Job. You may enter multiple e-mail addresses separated by a semi-colon
(;).
You can limit the Jobs that are included in this notification to those which
meet the criteria set in the Limit box. Once a Job has been included in a notification
it will not appear again, unless it is subsequently actioned and still remains
overdue.
Daily Database Backups
This only applies if you are using Access as your database. Enter the database
you wish to be backed up,and the location you wish the backups to be placed
in.
Enter a non-zero value for the number of backups to keep. The first time the helpdesk is used each day, it will create a backup of the database. The backup will be named in the range backup01.mdb to backupxx.mdb, where xx is the number of backups to keep. Once it has reached the maximum number, the next backup will overwrite backup01.mdb
Operator Timeout
Enter the time (minutes) of inactivity, after which the system will automatically
log Operators out of the system.
Files Linked to Jobs
Enter the default location where you keep your linked files. You should use
a UNC path (e.g. \\servername\c\foldername\filename) so that all operators can
access these files regardless of their drive mappings.
Allow changes to Linked files when Job is closed?
If this box is checked, you can still make changes to a Job's linked files,
even if the Job is closed.
Jobs
Allows you to control the contents of the Job History, the order in which the
Job History is arranged, and whether or not it is possible to enter a Solution,
even though a Job may not be completed.
Macros
Type the character that will be used to identify a word as a macro.
In the example above, if a user had a macro named 'Printer', when they entered
'!Printer' into e.g. the Jobs Problem description, the system would automatically
replace '!Printer' with the defined macro text.
Resize the window so you can see all the fields, either by dragging a corner of the window or using one of the options from the Window menu.
Insert Problem and Solution from Knowledgebase
Clicking this will display a list of knowledgebase items, selecting one will
insert the values into this Job. If the Solution field is not available (because
the job status is not "closed") then only the Problem will be copied
from the knowledgebase.
Problem Summary
Enter a description of the problem in the field labeled Problem e.g. 'Hard disk
is making a strange noise'.
To Do
Enter a description of any actions that must be carried out before a successful
completion of this Job e.g. 'Check if there is a backup of this user's data'.
Status
Either Open, On Hold or Closed.
"Closed" can be either Excl. Web KB" or "Incl. Web KB" , the distinction is only of relevance to users who have both the Desktop and the Web helpdesk. It allows you to determine which closed jobs appear in the knowledge base that is accessible to your customer contacts.
Time/Money Spent
You can specify how much has been spent on this Job in terms of both time and
money. The Time Spent field will automatically increment for each minute you
have this window open. If you wish (and you have the appropriate privilege),
you can overwrite this with your own value (after which it will stop increasing
automatically).
Contact
You must specify which individual raised this problem. The system uses a hierarchy
of:
Customers
Departments
Contacts
Click the drop-down list to show a list of all Contacts (the database has one contact initially) and select one.
Depending on your chosen Organization Structure, the Customer and/or the Department information may not be shown
If you have opted to use search boxes instead of drop-down lists, you will see a box you can type into. You may type a full or partial Surname or Forename. Shortly after you move to one of the other fields, the system will try to identify the contact precisely and complete the rest of the contact information for you. If there are several possible matching contacts or none, the system will display a list of matching contacts. You can also search for a Contact by clicking the Search button (labeled "...").
Asset
If you wish to record which Asset is causing the problem, select it from either
the drop-down list or the search box. |f you are using drop-down lists, you
will see an additional button (labeled "#"), which allows you to choose
which Assets are shown in the drop-down:
If you have opted to use search boxes instead of drop-down lists , you will see a box you can type into. This works the same way as the search box for Contact. You can enter a full or partial Asset number, Description, Manufacturer, Model Number or Serial Number and the system will attempt to find the closest match.
Category
This is always shown as a drop-down list, with a button labeled "+"
to allow you to add a Category. If you have specified Category-specific Priorities,
changing the Category may mean a change in Priority.
Priority
This is always shown as a drop-down list, with a button labeled "+"
to allow you to add a Priority. If you change the Priority, the system may wish
to change the target date/time - to disable this functionality, select Tools,
Personal Preferences. In the Jobs section, uncheck the box named "Reset
Target Date/Time when change Priority".
Actioned By
Select the Operator who carried out this Action. If you only have privileges
to see your own Jobs (see Operator Window) then
this drop down will be disabled.
Pass To
If someone else should deal with this Job next, select the Operator. It defaults
to the logged in Operator.
Target
This is the target date and time that the job should be completed by. When you
log a new job the target time is determined by the Priority chosen, but you
may change the value.
Actioned At
This defaults to the current date and time, however you may alter the value.
Custom1/23/4
Optional. These fields may have renamed (see custom
fields). You may enter up to 255 characters or select an item from the drop-down.
Display the Job Sheet report for this Job when saved
The job sheet is designed to be printed and completed on-site by an engineer,
it is input to the system when they return. If you understand html, you can
modify this report yourself
Notes
If you need to add more extensive notes, click the Notes tab on this window
and enter them there. Anything you type into the Notes will be moved to the
History when you save.
Linked Files
Click this tab to edit the files that are linked to this Job. NB any changes
to the links are saved even if you cancel the main Job Window.
History
This shows the complete audit trail of everything that has happened to this
Job. You cannot edit the History and it will be empty for new jobs.
Mail Contact, Mail Pass-to
Determines if an e-mail is sent to the Customer Contact and the Operator which
this Job has been assigned to.
Preview Message
Check this if you wish to see the e-mail before it is sent.
Save Button
Saves all your changes and closes the window.
Save and Create Child Job
Just like the Save button, in addition it will create a Child Job with this
Job as its parent.
This window allows you to add/edit a new Macro. The following fields are available
Public
Check this box if you wish to share this macro with other Operators. They will
not be able to amend/delete this macro.
Find Word
Enter a short word that will use to invoke this macro. You may not use spaces,
full stops or commas. The word must be unique - i.e. no other macro from any
other operator can be the same. Case insensitive
Replace With
Enter the phrase or paragraphs that you want the system to replace the Find
Word with.
System Macros
There are four built-in macro words which are used to insert date and time information:
LDT: Long date & time
LD: Long date
SDT: Short date and time
SD: Short date
The date/time formats are derived from your Windows settings.
This window allows you to add/edit helpdesk Operators. The following fields are available:
Name
This is how the Operator is identified by the system. It is also the name they
will log into the system with.
Password
This must be entered twice to change the password.
E-Mail Address
If you are using Outlook to send email and the Name (above) is in your Address
Book, you may leave this blank. If you do enter an e-mail address, you may enter
multiple e-mail addresses separated by a semi-colon (;).
Maintenance Privileges
These specify whether or not this Operator can Add/Edit/Delete records in the
helpdesk. The Active Operators privilege determines if this Operator can log
out a currently logged in Operator (see Licenses).
Job Privileges
These privileges relate to Jobs. Most are obvious, although some need further
explanation:
System Options Privileges
These privilege control access to the System Options from the Tools menu.
Views Privileges
This determines if the Operator is able to define one of their views as a Template.
Custom1, Custom2
These two fields may have been renamed (see custom fields).
You may enter up to 255 characters.
Can see data relating to the following Customers
By selecting anything other than "All Customers", you will restrict
this operator to only seeing data related to the chosen customer, (N.B. This
also affects those reports with "Customer" in their title, but not
any others).
From the main menu select Tools, Personal Preferences:
Re-load windows
Check this box if you want the system to re-load the windows you had open last
time you used the helpdesk.
Show tip of day
Check this to show the tip of the day each time you run the helpdesk.
Reset target time when change priority
If this is checked, when actioning a Job and you change the Priority, you will
be prompted to change the target date/time to the new one based on the new Priority.
If it is left unchecked, when you change Priority, the target date/time will
remain unchanged. See Priorities.
Reports Location
Specify where you would like the reports to be generated to. If you wish, you
could specify a folder on an internal web site. See Reports
Selection Lists
Choose whether you wish to use drop-down lists or search boxes for certain items.
Mail Client
Choose the type of email software you use.
Priorities determine the target completion date/time for Jobs. You might use them to determine the order in which work must be carried out.
Priority Name
Enter a description.
Sequence
Determines the order they are displayed in AND how Jobs are escalated.
Default
Check this box if you want this Priority to be the default for all new Jobs.
Automatic Escalation
When a Job with this Priority goes overdue by the specified number of hours,
it's Priority will be changed to the next highest in sequence.
Target Date/Time
For each Priority you may specify a different target for completion of a job.
The target can be specified as one of the following:
Default Working Hours button
This displays a window to specify the hours each day that your helpdesk is open.
It is important because the calculation of Target Completion dates for Jobs
is based on the working hours. Each day of the week is listed along with hours
and minutes for the start and end of the day. By default Mon-Fri are set to
be working from 09:00 to 17:00. If you wish to mark a day as non-working then
set all values for that day to 0.
These working hours will be used if you have not specified ones for a particular Category.
Custom1, Custom2
Optional. These two fields may have renamed (see custom
fields). You may enter up to 255 characters.
Knowledgebase items are a good way to record common problems/solutions.
Problem
Describe the issue
Solution
Describe the solution
"C:\Program Files\lbe\LBEHDesk.exe" PROVIDER=MICROSOFT.JET.OLEDB.4.0;DATA SOURCE=z:\SHARED\HELPDESK.MDB;PERSIST SECURITY INFO=FALSE
Please note, although the path to the exe should be enclosed in " marks, the database connection shouldn't. This allows you to create multiple shortcuts which automatically connect to different databases.
From the main menu, select Tools, Personal Preferences.
In the Startup section of the window, check the box named Re-load windows. The
next time you exit the help-desk it will store a list of all the windows you
had open at the time. When you next run the helpdesk it will re-load these windows
for you.
From the main menu: Tools, General Options.
In the "Operator timeout" section, enter the number of minutes. Enter
0 to disable this function. Every x minutes, the system will log out any operators
who have not made an update in that period of time.
See also: Personal Preferences
On some windows you need to select an item from what could be a very large number of choices (e.g. Contacts). If you have chosen to use drop-down lists, this means the system has to pre-load all the items in the list before displaying the window.
A better choice would be to use search boxes instead. That way, the system doesn't need to pre-load the list items. You can just type in the name of the item and the system will find the one that matches. If there is more than one possible match the system will show you a list of matching items in separate window.
When you click on one of the icons in the tree view of the main window, by
default it will open a new window or go to an existing window of that type.
If you hold down the SHIFT key whilst you click the icon, it will always open
a new window.
See also: Personal Preferences
On those windows where you need to choose an item (e.g. Customer Contact), you may use either a drop-down list or a search box. To use drop-down lists, from the main menu, select Tools, Personal Preferences. In the Select Lists section, choose "Drop-down lists".
See also: Personal Preferences
On those windows where you need to choose an item (e.g. Customer Contact), you
may use either a drop-down list or a search box. To use a search box, from the
main menu, select Tools, Personal Preferences. In the Select Lists section,
choose "Free-entry input (searchable)".
From the main menu, Tools, Change Password.
If you have the appropriate privileges you can also change an Operator's password from the Operator window.
Quite often you find yourself typing the same paragraph again and again to answer common questions from your users. Macros are an easy way to store common text items and re-use them (see Using Macros). You can also use them to store scripts of commonly asked questions. To see a list of macros, open the System Maintenance folder in the tree view at the left of the main window then click the Macros icon :
This will display a View of your personal macros, plus any which other Operators have decided to publish.
In the example above, you can see that the current operator (Trial) has 2 macros defined, one of which they have decided to make public. The Admin operator has also published one of their macros, which is why it is visible here.
Create a new macro
Do one of the following:
This will display the Macro window.
Edit an existing macro
Do one of the following:
This will display the Macro window. If the macro is not your own, you will not be able to make changes.
Delete a macro
Do one of the following:
This will display a confirmation that you wish to delete. You can only delete
your own macros. NB. This action cannot be undone.
LBE Helpdesk uses e-mail to keep both Operators and Contacts informed. E-mail
is used:
LBE Desktop Helpdesk supports the following e-mail clients:
*depends on version
Alternatively, you can select SMTP and you don't need a local email client.
The system defaults to using Outlook (Express, 98 or 2000) as your e-mail client. If you have one of the other e-mail clients installed, select Tools, Personal Preferences from the main menu and select your mail client from the list.
Most windows display two custom fields which can be renamed and allow you to store up to 255 characters in each field. To rename these fields (see custom fields).
If you don't use some or all of the Custom Fields, you can prevent them from being displayed by setting their names to blank (see custom fields).
LBE Desktop Helpdesk uses a hierarchy of:
Depending on whom you are supporting, you may not need all of these levels. For example if you are a small company, Customers and Department may not be relevant to you as you only have one. In that case you can specify your Organization Structure and the system will hide the irrelevant information.
NB any views that you created before changing the Organization Structure may still show e.g. Customer or Department information. But you can remove these columns yourself (see Data Views)
Deleting records is permanent and when e.g. you delete a Customer, all related records are deleted as well. This will obviously affect your reporting. Sometimes you might want to disable e.g. a Customer or Operator so that they can't be used. To do this you will need to open the database in the relevant tool and update a record manually. Most tables in the database have a column named Deleted. Normally this is set to 0. To disable this record, set the value to 1.
For example, to hide a particular Customer, open the Customers table, locate the Customer record you wish to disable and set the Deleted value to 1. You can do this for Customers, Departments, Contacts, Operators, Assets, Asset Types, Categories and Prioirities.
The following function keys are available:
F1 - Help
F2 - View History *
F3 - New Job
F4 - New Item
F5 - Edit Item
F6 - Delete Item
F7 - Create Child Job *
F8 - View History *
*only available on Jobs-Detailed, Jobs-Summary and Jobs-Operator Activity views.
Whilst entering information in most fields, you can perform a spell check by pressing the F7 key. You must have MS Word installed for the spell checker to work.
To see a list of Jobs, open the System maintenance folder in the tree view and select either the Detailed or Summary icon:
As the name implies, the Detailed view shows everything there is to know about a Job, including all related information such as Customer address details. Obviously, the more information the system has to retrieve the slower retrieval may be. You may find it better to use the Summary icon instead.
You can then do one of the following:
Create a new Job
Action an existing Job
View Job (same as Action Job, but can't edit)
Delete a Job(s)
Create a Child Job
Show History
Once you have logged in, you can create a new Helpdesk Job by one of the following methods:
If you are on a Customers View and have highlighted a particular Customer, creating a new Job will display the new Job Window and automatically select one of the Contacts from this Customer (actually the first default Contact for this customer - see Contact Window).
If you are on a Department View and have highlighted a particular Department, creating a new Job will display the new Job Window and automatically select the default Contact for this Department.
If you are on a Contacts View and have highlighted a particular Contact, creating a new Job will display the new Job Window and automatically select this Contact.
If you are on an Assets View and have highlighted a particular Asset, creating
a new Job will display the new Job Window and automatically
select this Asset.
Open one of the following Data Views from the tree view in the main window:
Highlight a Job in the Data View, then do one of the following:
This will display the Job Window.
A closed Job is one that has been previously marked as completed. If you have the appropriate privileges you may re-open a Job.
Open one of the following Data Views from the tree view in the main window:
Highlight a Job in the Data View, then do one of the following:
After confirming that you wish to re-open this job, the Job Window will be
displayed.
A Child Job is one that must be completed before the Parent Job can be completed. Use the Jobs - Detailed view to identify Parent/Child Jobs
| Parent Job Id Value | Meaning |
| Empty | Neither a parent or a child |
| Same as own Job Id | This is a parent Job |
| Different to own Job Id | This is a child Job |
To create a Child Job, open one of the following Data Views from the tree view in the main window:
Highlight a Job that you wish to become a Parent in the Data View, then do one of the following:
You can also create a Child Job whenever you are on the Job window, by clicking
the "Save and create Child Job" button. NB, it is not possible to
have 'grandchild' Jobs, i.e. if a Job is already a Child of another Job, it
cannot become a Parent.
Open the System maintenance folder in the tree view and select either the Detailed or Summary icon, then highlight a Job and do one of:
Open the Jobs folder in the tree view and select either the Detailed or Summary icon, then highlight a Job and do one of:
From the main menu, select Tools, Personal Preferences. In the Jobs section,
uncheck the box named "Reset Target Date/Time when change Priority".
Now, whenever you are actioning a Job and change the priority, you will not
be shown the message box which asks if you wish to change the Target Date/Time
and the target date/time will be unchanged.
The Job History is a complete audit trail of every action that has happened against a Job. When you create a new Job, the system will insert Customer, Department and Contact address information at the top of the History (dependent on the Organization Structure you have selected). You can control the amount of address information shown in the History from the Tools, System Options, General menu item:
By checking/unchecking the appropriate boxes, you can select the Customer, Department and Contact information that is included in the History.
On the Job window, there are 3 checkboxes toward the bottom of the window:
These control the e-mail notifications
Mail Contact
Check this to send the e-mail to the Customer Contact.
Mail 'Pass To' Operator
Check this to send the e-mail to the Operator this Job has been assigned to.
Preview Message
Check this if you wish to see the message before it is sent (not available with
all mail types)
The system can notify a particular e-mail address with a list of overdue Jobs. To set this, go to Tools, System Options, Escalation:
The system will generate an e-mail listing every overdue Job matching the conditions set. Once a Job has been included in this list, it will not appear in future Overdue Jobs e-mails until it has been Actioned again.
Check Every x mins
Whilst the helpdesk is running, specify how often you wish it to check for overdue
Jobs. This also specifies how often the system should check for Jobs that need
escalating.
Jobs Overdue by x hours
Only include Jobs which are overdue by the specified number of hours. You can
set this to a negative number if you wish to be notified before a job becomes
overdue.
Mail this Address
Specify the e-mail address that the notification should be sent to. You may
enter multiple e-mail addresses separated by a semi-colon (;).You may enter
multiple e-mail addresses separated by a semi-colon (;).
Mail Assigned Operator
Check this box if you wish to notify the Operator who has been assigned to the
overdue Job.
Limit to Jobs....
You can limit the Jobs that are included in this e-mail by adding up to 4 conditions.
How Jobs are escalated is determined by the Priority assigned to them. On the Priority Window you may specify the number of hours overdue that a Job with a particular Priority will be escalated to the next highest Priority in the sequence.
For example, let's say you have the following Priorities:
Name: High
Sequence: 1
Hours Overdue: 5
Name: Medium
Sequence: 2
Hours Overdue: 2
Name: Low
Sequence: 3
Hours Overdue: 1
In this example, if a particular Job is created with Low priority. When it becomes 1 or more hours overdue, its Priority will change to Medium. When it becomes 2 hours overdue, its priority will be changed to High. It is now at the highest priority, so even when it becomes overdue by 5 hours, its priority will not change.
The system will check at the interval specified in the Escalation
window. Only jobs with a Status of 'Open' will be escalated.
Customize e-mails sent by the helpdesk
The content and subject of each of these message types is read from a template text file, which you are free to modify. They are:
Templates for emails sent to the operator and contact when a Job is actioned:
email_job_closed_contact.txt
email_job_closed_operator.txt
email_job_hold_contact.txt
email_job_hold_operator.txt
email_job_open_contact.txt
email_job_open_operator.txt
Templates for emails sent to the operator and and the manager when a Job is escalated:
email_job_escalate_manager.txt
email_job_escalate_operator.txt
Templates for Overdue Jobs Notification emails sent to the manager and operator:
email_job_overdue_manager.txt
email_job_overdue_operator.txt
These files must be placed in the same folder as you installed and run the helpdesk from. If you delete them, a default subject and message body will be used.
You may edit these files using Notepad or similar text editor only. Here is an example of one:
'JOB EMAIL TEMPLATE - JOB STATUS = OPEN
'SENT TO - CONTACT
'
'Please see the helpfile for information on using/modifying this file
#SUBJECT=Helpdesk Job #JOB_ID
Your helpdesk job has been updated/created:
#HISTORY
Please note:
Special Keywords
#BCC=email1@yourdomain.com;email2@yourdomain.com - ; separated list of addresses
that will receive a blind carbon copy of this message
#JOB_ID - the job id
#PARENT_ID - the job id of any parent job
#CREATED - the date time the job was created.
#LAST_ACTIONED - the date time the job was actioned (same as CREATED if this
is the first action).
#ACTIONED_BY - the name of the operator that actioned the job
#TO_COMPLETE_BY - the target completion date.
#COMPLETED_ON - date the job was actually completed.
#JOB_STATUS - the current job status,
#HOURS_OVERDUE - how many hours overdue (negative if not)
#DAYS_OVERDUE - how many days overdue (negative if not)
#ELAPSED_HOURS - number of hours elapsed since first created (ignoring office
hours).
#ELAPSED_DAYS - number of days elapsed since first created (ignoring office
hours).
#PROBLEM - Problem description
#TO_DO - To Do description
#SOLUTION - Solution description
#HISTORY - the complete job history
#PASSED_TO - the operator this job was passed on to
#CURRENTLY_OPENED_BY - who has the job open at the moment (if anyone)
#EMAIL_PASSED_TO - the email address of the operator it was passed to
#TIME_SPENT - the amount of time logged against this action ONLY
#MONEY_SPENT - the amount of money logged against this action ONLY
#TOTAL_TIME_SPENT - the amount of time spent so far
#TOTAL_MONEY_SPENT - the amount of money spent so far
#NOTES - the notes of the last action
#CATEGORY - Current job category
#PRIORITY - Current job priority
#JOB_CUSTOM1 - Job Custom1 field value
#JOB_CUSTOM2 - Job Custom2 field value
#JOB_CUSTOM3 - Job Custom3 field value
#JOB_CUSTOM4 - Job Custom4 field value
#ASSET_NUMBER - Asset information (if relevant)
#ASSET_DESCRIPTION
#ASSET_MANUFACTURER
#ASSET_MODEL_NUMBER
#ASSET_SERIAL_NUMBER
#ASSET_PURCHASE_DATE
#ASSET_COMMENT
#ASSET_DISPOSAL_DATE
#ASSET_PURCHASE_ORDER
#ASSET_INVOICE_NUMBER
#ASSET_PURCHASE_PRICE
#ASSET_VENDOR
#ASSET_TYPE_DESCRIPTION
#CONTACT_TITLE - customer contact information:
#CONTACT_FORENAME
#CONTACT_SURNAME
#CONTACT_JOB_TITLE
#CONTACT_TELEPHONE
#CONTACT_FAX
#CONTACT_MOBILE
#CONTACT_EMAIL
#DEPARTMENT_NAME
#DEPARTMENT_LOCATION
#CUSTOMER_NAME
#CUSTOMER_REFERENCE
#CONTRACT_EXPIRY
#JOB_ALLOWANCE
The following tags only apply to the overdue Jobs notification in the desktop helpdesk only:
#OVERDUE_WARNING_HOURS - as specified in Tools, System Options, Escalation,
"Overdue Jobs e-mail notification"
#OVERDUE_JOBS_LIST - comma separate list of jobs included in the overdue notification
to the manager
The job sheet is designed to be printed out, and taken on-site for completion. The information is then input into the helpdesk on return to your office. The layout of the job sheet is determined by a text file called jobsheet.txt located in the helpdesk installation folder. If you understand html you can modify this yourself. Just like the email templates, you can use a number of tags in this template to insert information relating to the jobs:
<!-- ##CUSTOMERSTART -->'marks start of customer information
<!-- ##CUSTOMEREND -->
<!-- ##DEPTSTART --> 'marks the start of dept informaiton
<!-- ##DEPTEND -->
<!-- ##DATE -->'today's date
<!-- ##JOBID -->
<!-- ##CATEGORY -->
<!-- ##PRIORITY -->
<!-- ##LOGGEDAT -->
<!-- ##LASTACTIONED -->
<!-- ##TOCOMPLETEBY -->
<!-- ##HOURSSPENT -->
<!-- ##COST -->
<!-- ##JOBCUSTLABEL1 -->'Custom 1 field label from the job
<!-- ##JOBCUSTOM1 -->'Value of the custom1 field
<!-- ##JOBCUSTLABEL2 -->
<!-- ##JOBCUSTOM2 -->
<!-- ##CONTACTNAMEADDRESS -->
<!-- ##CONTACTTEL -->
<!-- ##CONTACTFAX -->
<!-- ##CONTACTMOBILE -->
<!-- ##CONTACTEMAIL -->
<!-- ##CONTACTCUSTLABEL1 -->
<!-- ##CONTACTCUSTOM1 -->
<!-- ##CONTACTCUSTLABEL2 -->
<!-- ##CONTACTCUSTOM2 -->
<!-- ##DEPTNAME -->
<!-- ##DEPTLOCATION -->
<!-- ##DEPTCUSTLABEL1 -->'Custom 1 field label from the dept
<!-- ##DEPTCUSTOM1 -->'Custom 1 field value from the dept
<!-- ##DEPTCUSTLABEL2 -->
<!-- ##DEPTCUSTOM2 -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERNAMEADDRESS -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERREFERENCE -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERTEL -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERFAX -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERMOBILE -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERCUSTLABEL1 -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERCUSTOM1 -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERCUSTLABEL2 -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERCUSTOM2 -->
<!-- ##CUSTOMERNOTES -->
<!-- ##PROBLEM -->
<!-- ##TODO -->
<!-- ##SOLUTION -->
<!-- ##OPERATOR -->
<!-- ##ASSETNUM -->
<!-- ##ASSETDESC -->
<!-- ##ASSET_SERIALNUM -->
<!-- ##ASSET_MANUF -->
<!-- ##ASSET_CUST1 -->
<!-- ##ASSET_CUST2 -->
<!-- ##ASSET_MODELNUM -->
<!-- ##ASSET_INVOICNUM -->
<!-- ##ASSET_PURCHPRICE -->
<!-- ##ASSET_VENDOR -->
<!-- ##ASSET_TYPE -->
LBE Desktop Helpdesk uses a hierarchy of:
Depending on the type of organization you are supporting, you may not need all of these levels. For example if you are a small company, Customers and Department may not be relevant to you as you only have one. Internally, the system will still use this hierarchy, but it can be set to hide most of this information dependent on the organization structure you choose.
From the main menu, select Tools, System Options, Organization Structure. The following window will be displayed:
There are 4 options:
| Option | Typically used by |
| (A) Single Customer, single Department, multiple Contacts |
Helpdesk of a small company supporting internal users only. |
| (B) Single Customer, multiple Departments, multiple Contacts | Helpdesk of a medium to large company supporting internal users only. |
| (C) Multiple Customers, not split into Departments, multiple Contacts | Helpdesk supporting a number of small external companies. |
| (D) Multiple Customers, Departments and Contacts | Helpdesk supporting a number of medium to large external companies. |
Select the appropriate Organization Structure from the drop-down list at the bottom of the window. If in doubt, choose the default Organization Structure (D).
You may change this value at any time as long as your data supports it. For example if you already have several Customers defined, the system will not let you select options C and D. In this case you will need to delete all but one Customer before you can make these choices.
N.B. It is possible to e.g. create multiple Customers after you have set your
organization structure to option A or B. However if you do so, the system will
automatically reset the Organization type to the appropriate value.
In LBE Helpdesk, Customers are the top level of a hierarchy:
How you use this structure depends on your own business.
If you are using LBE Helpdesk for internal support you might set up a single customer, with multiple departments and multiple contacts. If you wished to further subdivide your business, you might e.g. set up each Division as a separate Customer.
If you are using LBE Helpdesk to support external customers then you will normally set up multiple Customers.
To see the list of Customers, open the Customer Information folder in the tree
view at the left of the main window then click the Customers icon. This will
display the default view for Customers:
This shows the default Customer supplied when you first use the helpdesk.
New Customer
To create a new Customer do one of the following:
This will display the Customer window where you can add the new Customer information. NB When you create a new Customer, the system will automatically create a new Department and Contact record for you.
Edit Customer
To edit a Customer do one of the following:
" File Menu, Edit Customer
" Press the F5 key
" Right click on the Customer and select Edit Customer
" Double click the Customer
This will display the Customer window where you can amend the Customer information.
Delete Customer
To delete a Customer do one of the following:
NB Deleting a Customer will also delete all Departments, Contacts, Assets,
Jobs and Operator Activity information that relate to this Customer. This
action cannot be undone.
In LBE Helpdesk, Departments sit below Customers:
How you use this structure depends on your own business:
If you are using LBE Helpdesk for internal support you might set up a single customer, with multiple departments and multiple contacts. If you wished to further sub-divide your business, you might e.g. set up each Division as a separate Customer.
If you are using LBE Helpdesk to support external customers then you will normally set up multiple Customers.
To see the list of Departments, open the Customers Information folder in the
tree view at the left of the main window then click the Departments icon. This
will display the default view for Departments:
This shows the default Department supplied when you first use the helpdesk.
New
To create a new Department do one of the following:
This will display the Department window where you can add the new Department information.
Edit Department
To edit a Department do one of the following:
This will display the Department window where you can amend the Department information.
Delete Department
To delete a Department do one of the following:
NB Deleting a Department will also delete all Contacts, Jobs and Operator Activity
information that relate to this Department and its Contacts. This action
cannot be undone.
A Contact is a person. All Helpdesk Jobs are recorded against a person. A Contact is a member of a Department that is, in turn, a member of a Customer:
How you use this structure depends on your own business.
If you are using LBE Helpdesk for internal support you might set up a single customer, with multiple departments and multiple contacts. If you wished to further subdivide your business, you might e.g. set up each Division as a separate Customer.
If you are using LBE Helpdesk to support external customers then you will normally set up multiple Customers with one or more Departments.
To see the list of Contacts, open the Customers Information folder in the treeview
at the left of the main window then click the Contacts icon. This will display
the default view for Contacts:
This shows the default Contact supplied when you first use the helpdesk.
New
To create a new Contact do one of the following:
This will display the Contact window where you can add the new Contact information.
Edit Contact
To edit a Contact do one of the following:
This will display the Contact window where you can amend the Contact information.
Delete Contact
To delete a Contact do one of the following:
NB Deleting a Contact will also delete all Jobs and Operator Activity information that relate to this Contact. This action cannot be undone.
Assets are items (usually physical) such as hardware, software, furnishings, fittings etc. By identifying the Asset which is involved in a Helpdesk Job, you may be able to reduce future problems.
Assets belong to Customers, and can optionally be assigned to Contacts:
To see the list of Assets, open the Customers Information folder in the tree view at the left of the main window then click the Assets icon. This will display the default view for Assets:
This list is empty, as the default database does not contain any Assets.
New
To create a new Asset do one of the following:
This will display the Asset window where you can add the new Asset information.
Edit Asset
To edit a Asset do one of the following:
This will display the Asset window where you can amend the Asset information.
Delete Asset
To delete a Asset do one of the following:
NB Deleting a Asset will also delete all Jobs and Operator Activity information that relate to this Asset. This action cannot be undone.
Operators are your support staff who use LBE Desktop Helpdesk to Action Jobs. Each Operator must be defined and given permissions which determine which parts of the system they can use.
To see a list of your Operators, open the System Maintenance folder in the
tree view at the left of the main window then click the Operators icon. This
will display the default view for Operators:
This shows the default Operator supplied when you first use the helpdesk.
New Operator
To create a new Operator do one of the following:
This will display the Operator window where you can add the new Operator information.
Edit Operator
To edit a Operator do one of the following:
File Menu, Edit Operator
This will display the Operator window where you can amend the Operator information.
Delete Operator
To delete a Operator do one of the following:
NB Deleting a Operator will also delete all Jobs and Operator Activity
information that relate to this Operator. This action cannot be undone.
If you delete all Operators, the system will automatically create a new Operator
called 'Trial' with a password of 'password'
Each Operator log-in is recorded and your licence determines how many Operators may log in at any one time.
The system will automatically log Operators out after a period of inactivity (see here however there may be occasions when you wish to see which Operators are logged in, or you need to log an Operator out.
To see a who is currently logged in, open the System Maintenance folder in
the tree view at the left of the main window then click the Active Operators
icon. This will show the list of all Operators which the helpdesk thinks are
logged in:
You cannot edit any of the entries in this list. The only option is to Remove Operator (either from the File menu, or right click on the item or press F6).
If you remove an Operator they will be notified that they have been logged
out the next time they try to do something.
To set this option, select Tools, System Options, General from the main menu:
In the Operator Timeout section you can enter the period of inactivity, set it to anything other than 0 to enable.
Each time a Job is actioned, the helpdesk records what has happened in the Job History and any spending is added to the total for the Job so far.
However, several Operators may work each Job on during its life, so it is important to record each Action individually. The helpdesk keeps this information in the Operator Activity. To see this, open the Helpdesk Jobs folder in the treeview at the left of the main window then click the Operator Activity icon. This will display the default view for Operator Activity:
In the example above it shows you that Job Id 21 has been worked on by two Operators: Operator 1, and Trial. It also shows that that Operator 1 spent 20 Hours on it the first time, then 0.5 hours.
The Operator Activity also has a column called Notes (not visible above), which stores what happened on this particular Action.
You can delete one or more Operator Activity records, by highlighting them and doing one of the following:
NB this will not delete the Jobs
You can also delete all Operator Activity within a specified period from the Tools, Clear Operator Activity menu option.
By selecting a Job, you can also do all the normal Job related functions from this Operator Activity window:
Before you start to create Jobs you should think about how you are going to classify them into Categories.
Categories are important because they enable you to fine-tune the reports that LBE Helpdesk can provide. For example, if you are using LBE Helpdesk purely as a helpdesk system, then you would probably wish to set up the following categories as a minimum:
That way, you can produce reports on just one of these categories if you wish.
To make it easier for your users, don't have a large number of categories, but if you must, try to group them together. For example, if you were using a single LBE Helpdesk database for both helpdesk and order processing, you might have the following categories:
This way, users can easily find the Category they need when logging a new job.
To see a list of Categories, open the System maintenance folder in the tree view and select Categories. This will display a data View listing your existing Categories, you can then:
To create a New Category
This will display the Category Window.
To edit an existing Category
This will display the Category Window.
To Delete a Category
NB, this will also delete all Jobs and related Operator Activity with
this Category - this action cannot be undone.
Before you start to log jobs you should think about how you are going to prioritize them. When you first start LBE Helpdesk, it defaults to three priorities:
1 High
2 Medium
3 Low
When priorities are displayed they are sorted according to their sequence number. To see a list of Priorities, open the System maintenance folder in the tree view and select Priorities.
This will display a data View listing your existing Priorities, you can then:
To create a New Priority
This will display the Priority Window.
To edit an existing Priority
This will display the Priority Window.
To Delete a Priority
NB, this will also delete all Jobs and related Operator Activity with
this Priority - this action cannot be undone.
To see a list of Knowledgebase Items, open the System maintenance folder in the tree view and select Knowledgebase.
This will display a data View listing your existing Knowledgebase Items, you can then:
To create a New Knowledgebase Items
This will display the Knowledgebase Window.
To edit an existing Knowledgebase Items
This will display the Knowledgebase Window.
To Delete a Priority
NB, this action cannot be undone.
A Data View is a list of your data, e.g. Customers or Contacts or Jobs etc. You can see a data view by selecting one of the items from the main window's tree view:
A data view allows you to control practically every aspect of how the data is displayed and what data is displayed.
You can create new views of the same type of data e.g. Jobs, show multiple windows each with a different view or easily switch between views. Views are specific to the type of data they were created against, e.g. you can create several views against Categories, but these would not be available when you view Jobs information
Because you have such great control over the view, you can also use them as a simple report writer.
How you use the Data Views is entirely up to you. However we can make some recommendations:
Have a "My Jobs " window
Open a new window for e.g. "Jobs-Summary" and create a new view. Filter
this view and select "Open Jobs assigned to me" from the drop down
list.
Have a Contacts window
Open a new Contacts window from the main window's tree view. Create a new view
and remove any columns that you don't need. Set the Quick find drop-down at
the top of the data view window to "Surname". Then, when a user contacts
you, ask for their surname and type this into the "Quick find" box
- the data view will scroll directly to that Contact. If you then press F3,
you will create a new Job for this Contact.
Leave these windows open
If you leave these windows open when you exit the Helpdesk, the next time you
run it they will be loaded automatically, with the view you used last time.
To select a block of records:
To select additional records whilst you have a block selected, hold
down the CTRL key while you left click the record.
Open a data View (e.g. Jobs - Detailed) from the main window's tree view. From the main menu, select View, then General (or right click on the view and select General). You will be shown the General Formatting window:
View Name
This is the name that is shown in the drop down list at the top of each view.
Printed Report Title
This will be displayed when you do a Print Preview or Print the view.
Display Style
You can switch between Table (the default) or Card. In Table, each record occupies
a single row. In Card, each record is shown in a box of its own.
Public View
If you check this box, other operators will be able to select this view when
using the same type of data. They will not be able to edit your view.
Template for new views
When you create a new view, the system will create it with default formatting.
However, if any views have been defined as a template, they will be used instead.
For example, you might decide that for your operation, there is no need to
show Asset information in Jobs - Detailed. Simply create a view which doesn't
have these columns then set it to be a template. The next time anyone creates
a new view against Jobs-Detailed, these columns will not be shown.
Open a data View (e.g. Jobs - Detailed) from the main window's tree view. From the main menu, select View, then Format View (or right click on the view and select Format View). You will be shown either the Format Table View or Format Card View window dependent on the General Format you have selected:
Column Headings Font and Color
Select the font, fore and background color to be used for the column headings
Automatic Column Sizing
If you select this option, the system will resize each column so that all of
them are visible in the window, in most cases this will mean the columns are
very narrow, so it is not recommended.
Rows Font and Color
Select the font, fore and background colors to be used for the rows. This may
be overridden by any Alternate Row Colors or Conditional formatting that you
set up.
Preview Lines
You can select a Preview Column, which will be show beneath each row of data.
You can also specify how many lines it should occupy and how many pixels (each
dot on the screen) that it is indented from the main row of data.
Alternate Color Rows
Check this box and specify the colors to be used for alternate rows.
Grid Lines
You can specify the type of grid lines used to separate rows and columns - solid,
dashed, small dots, none.
Shade Group Headings
When you have grouped data on the view, you can specify if the group headings
are shaded (like the column headings) or not by checking/unchecking this box.
Card Headings font and background color
Change the font, fore and background color used in the card heading.
Card body font and back color
Change the font, fore and background color used in the body of the card
Card Width
Change the width of each card, you cannot change the card height.
You can control which fields are shown in a view.
First, open e.g. a Jobs -Detailed view from the main window's tree view.
Right click on the view and select Show Fields... (you can also do this from the View menu). The following window will appear:
You can add, remove and re-order fields in the view.
As well as controlling the format of all rows, you can specify particular formats for rows that meet criteria you define. For example, we want to show all overdue jobs in bold red Arial:
First, open e.g. a Jobs -Summary view from the main window's tree view.
Right click on the view and select Conditional formatting (you can also do this from the View menu). The following window will appear:
Column
Click here and select the column from the drop-down list that you wish to set
the condition on - in our example we are going to select "Completion Status".
Operator
This allows you to select the type of operation you want. In our example we
want to change the formatting of rows where the Completion Status is "Overdue",
so select "equals" from the drop down
Value1
Enter "Overdue" (without the quote marks).
Value2
This only applies if you have chosen "between" or "not between"
in the Operator column. Leave it empty in our example.
Font
Click here and select the font you want rows that meet this condition to be
displayed in. For our example, select Arial 12pt Bold and choose red as the
font color.
Back color
This controls the background color of rows that meet the condition. We will
leave it at the default (white).
As soon as you enter anything in the row on this window, the system will automatically generate a new empty row beneath it. If you wish, you can add further conditional formats.
Please note, it is not possible to combine conditions together - e.g. Completion Status = "Overdue" AND Job Status = "Open". In this case it is better to create a view filtered on Open Jobs then set a conditional format to show Overdue jobs in the required format.
Click OK and, assuming you have Overdue jobs, these should now be formatted in bold red Arial 12pt on the Jobs Summary.
Deleting a Conditional Format row
To delete a condition, click on the arrowhead at the start of the row to select
the entire row, then press the Delete button on the keyboard.
At the top of each data view you will see the following controls:
Enter a non-zero positive value for the Auto-refresh and the data view will automatically re-retrieve at the interval specified.
Open a Data View window from the main window's tree view, e.g. Jobs-Summary.
Right click and select New View. You can also do this from the View menu. A new view will be created for this particular type of window based on the default template or a published template if there are any. The new view will be named "New View" and will appear in the drop-down list of views at the top of the window. You can rename this view if you wish.
At the top of each data view you will see the following controls:
All your personal and any public views are shown in the View drop-down list. To switch views simply select one from the list. Any changes to the current view are automatically saved.
At the top of each data view you will see the following controls:
The Quick Find allows you to type and the Data View will automatically scroll to the matching record. For example, if you were viewing "Jobs-Summary" and had selected Surname from the "in" drop-down list above. Assuming you have one Contact with a surname of "Smith" and one with a surname of "Stevens". If you type "S", the data view would scroll to the first record with a surname containing "s", e.g. "Smith". If you then carried on typing and pressed "st" so that the Quick find contained "st", the data view would scroll to "Stevens".
By clicking the "Find Next" button, the search will continue from
the current position.
Open a Data View window from the main window's tree view, e.g. Jobs-Summary.
Right click and select Copy Current View. You can also do this from the View menu. A new view will be created with the same formatting and layout as the current view. The new view will be named "Copy of " plus the name of the original view. This name will appear in the drop-down list of views at the top of the window. You can rename this view if you wish.
Copy View is particularly useful if e.g. you would like to make changes to
another Operators' public view. This is not possible, but you can make changes
to your copy of that view.
There is no explicit command to save a view. Every time you make a change to
the current view, it is saved automatically. A view will remember all it's layout,
formatting, conditional formatting, filter and printer settings.
Open a Data View window from the main window's tree view, e.g. Jobs-Summary.
Right click and select Delete Current View. You can also do this from the View menu. Assuming this view is not another Operator's public view, the system will delete this view.
If this means you no longer have any views defined for this type of window,
the system will automatically create one for you called "New View".
Each view an operator creates belongs to them. However it may be that you have a really great view that you wish to share with others.
Right click on a view and select General Formatting.
Check the box marked "Public View". Other
operators will be able to select this view when using the same type of window.
They will not be able to edit this view.
Whenever you open a Data View window from the main window's tree view, the system will check to see if you have defined any views for this type of window. If there aren't, and there aren't any public views, it will automatically create one for you called "New View".
This default view is built according to a specification decided by the helpdesk system.
However you can specify a view that should be used in place of the default system view. This might be appropriate if e.g. you never use Asset information - in which case you might create a Jobs-Summary view with these columns removed and specify this view to be a template.
To make a view a template, right click on the chosen view
and select General Formatting. Check the box marked "Template".
Open a Data View window from the main window's tree view, e.g. Jobs-Summary. Select File, Page Setup to specify the Paper size, orientation, paper bin and margins. Select File, Print Preview then either All Items or Selected Items depending on what you wish to include in the print.
The Print Preview window has both a Page Setup and a Print button. You can also print directly from the File, Print menu item.
Open a Data View window from the main window's tree view, e.g. Jobs-Summary.
To re-order columns in the view, left click on the column heading and drag the column to the new position. To remove columns right click on the view and select Show Fields.
You can also re-order and remove columns by right clicking
on the view and selecting General Summary, then clicking the Show Fields button.
Open a Data View window from the main window's tree view, e.g. Jobs-Summary. Right click on the view and select Filter. The Filter window will be shown:
The window has a drop-down list box - the contents of which vary depending on which type of data you are filtering. The above example shows the filters available on Job related windows.
However, there are two filters that are common to all windows.
Selecting one of the other filters will normally result in another box appearing
where you enter the value to search for, e.g.:
Some filters might require you to enter two search values, e.g.:
Using AND OR and brackets for more complex filters
On those filters that require you to enter a search text, you can enter multiple
words and phrases, using AND, OR and brackets to specify more complex conditions.
The following examples assume you are setting a filter on the Job Problem:
| Search Text | Retrieves records which contain... |
| broken printer | the phrase "broken printer" |
| noisy and printer | the word "noisy" and the word "printer", but not necessarily together. E.g. Jobs with a Problem of "noisy office - I can't hear the printer" |
| broken or printer | either the word "broken " or the word "printer". E.g. Jobs with a Problem of "this PC is broken" and those with a Problem of "the printer doesn't work" will be returned. |
| broken printer or poor printouts | the phrase "broken printer" or "poor printouts". |
| (broken printer) and (laserjet or noisy) | the phrase "broken printer" - but only if the Problem also contains "laserjet" or "noisy" |
Custom Filters
This is only for advanced users, you will need to understand Structured Query
Language (SQL). If you select this from the drop-down list, the window will
change:
The box at the bottom allows you to enter a custom WHERE clause for the data view. The Columns drop-down list shows all the columns involved in the SELECT clause for this data view.
In a data view it is very easy to group records. Simply click on the column heading you wish to group by and drag it to the area just above the column headings labeled "Drag one or more columns here to group by that column". If that area is not visible, right click on the view and make sure the "Group By box" menu item is ticked.
To sub-group by another column, drag that column to the same area, e.g.:
To remove a group by, drag the column away from the Group By Box area. You can also do grouping by right clicking on the view an selecting Group By.
In a data view it is very easy to sort records. Simply
click on the column heading you wish to sort by, a small triangle will
appear in the column heading:
Click the same column heading again to change the sort direction. You can also sort by multiple columns, by right clicking on the view and selecting Sort.
Open a Data View window from the main window's tree view, e.g. Jobs-Summary.
Right click and select Export Records, then either
All Records or Selected Records. The Export window will display:
Filename
The location of the file you wish to export to. Click the Browse button to select
a file.
Type
Either html or text. Please note that the html export will always be as a table
(even if the data view is Card format) and is not always an exact replica of
the format used by the data view - but it is as close as we can get it.
Field Delimiter
Only applies when exporting to text. This is the separator that will be used
between the fields of a record.
Text Qualifier
Only applies when exporting to text. This is used to enclose text fields.
Include Column Names
Only applies when exporting to text. Check this box and the first line of the
export file will be the column names.
LBE Desktop Helpdesk ships with a Microsoft Access format database. You do not need Microsoft Access installed.
The first time you use the helpdesk, it will assume you are using the database file helpdesk.mdb which is installed with the helpdesk. This database has already been set up with some starter information for you.
Normally you will wish to share this database with other operators, so you should move the helpdesk.mdb to a shared folder on a network server. Sharing it from your workstation is likely to cause the database file to become corrupted.
If you do move the helpdesk.mdb, you will need to modify the database connection information in the helpdesk - see here. Thereafter, the helpdesk will automatically open this database by default.
Access is suitable for small numbers of simultaneous users (<20). It is not as robust or secure as other database systems such as Oracle and Microsoft Sql Server, however there are no licence fees payable to Microsoft for its use in our helpdesk.
The Access database can be shared with our LBE Web Helpdesk.
LBE Desktop Helpdesk ships with a default Access database called helpdesk.mdb, installed into the same location as the rest of the helpdesk.
You can move this database to another location, or you can create a new database in the desired location. To do so, select Tools, Create New MS Access Database from the main menu. The system will show you a file dialog that allows you to choose the location and name of the database. Once you click OK, the system will create a new database by copying the starter database (helpdesk.new in the helpdesk installation directory) to the desired location.
To use this new database, you will need to modify the database connection information in the helpdesk - see here.
Thereafter, the helpdesk will automatically open this database by default.
You will need MS Sql Server 7.0 or later. Please note the Sql Server installation must be case-insensitive.
To create a new helpdesk database in MS Sql locate the MSSql folder which was installed with the helpdesk. This contains the instructions and sql scripts to create your helpdesk database. To use this new database, you will need to modify the database connection information in the helpdesk (see here).
If you don't have Sql Server, you can use a free cut-down version - please
see http://www.lbehelpdesk.com/faq.htm#msde.
LBE Desktop Helpdesk has been tested with Oracle 8.0 but should work equally well with version 6 onward.
To create a new helpdesk database in Oracle locate the Oracle folder which
was installed with the helpdesk. This contains the instructions and sql scripts
to create your helpdesk database. To use this new database, you will need to
modify the database connection information in the helpdesk (see here).
Security
If you are using Oracle or Sql Server as your database, you may wish to modify
the standard scripts that are provided (see either MSSQL or ORACLE folders in
the helpdesk installation directory) so that the user and object security is
suitable for your organization.
The Access database could be secured, but we have chosen not to do so because we feel that this causes more problems than it solves.
Data
Access is not as robust as Oracle or Sql Server. It is more prone to corruption,
which can be caused by e.g. faulty network cards, 'blue screens', out of date
database drivers etc.
However, many people have used it for years without problems. Nevertheless it is vital you have a good backup policy in place. You can set the helpdesk system to back up your database every day (see Tools, System Options, General Options) but this is not meant to be a substitute for your own backups.
Sql Server and Oracle are much more robust, coping easily with 'blue screens' etc. However, you still need to have a backup policy which you know works (i.e. you have successfully restored a backup as a test).
Compacting your Access database
As your Access database grows, records are deleted and moved; you will find
that you need to compact it to recover lost space. Doing so also can prevent
corruption. To compact your Access database, select Tools,
Compact Access Database from the main menu.
When you install LBE Desktop Helpdesk it will use the MS Access database called helpdesk.mdb installed into the same directory as the helpdesk.
If you
then you will need to modify the database connection information in the helpdesk. To do so, select File, Select Database from the main menu:
Connection String
This is how the helpdesk knows which database to use and how to connect to it.
Here are some typical values:
Access
PROVIDER=MICROSOFT.JET.OLEDB.4.0;DATA SOURCE=C:\LBE\HELPDESK.MDB
MS Sql
Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=lbe_user;Password=lbe;Initial
Catalog=LbeHelpdesk;Data Source=inspiron
Oracle
Provider=MSDAORA.1;Password=lbe;User ID=lbe_user;Data Source=beq-local;Persist
Security Info=True
Build button
You don't need to write the connection strings from scratch. Click the Build
button, select the appropriate driver, (please use an OLE DB driver), then select
the database. For both Oracle and Sql Server you will need to provide a user
id and password. Don't forget to check the box "Allow saving of password".
Database Type
Select the matching database type from the drop-down list. If you select the
wrong type for your connection string you will probably see errors when using
the helpdesk.
Installation requirements
Every machine that you use the helpdesk on must have installed the latest Microsoft
Data Access components (MDAC) from www.microsoft.com/data/download.htm. If you
intend to use Oracle you must also have installed the Oracle client tools.
LBE Desktop Helpdesk ships with a large number of reports. Click the Reports
icon on the tree view in the main window and then click the Jobs and Spending
icons to see the entire list:
Charts are indicated by 
, text reports are indicated by 
When you select a report you will normally be asked to choose a date range for the report. All reports are generated as html pages so you must have a web browser installed to view them. By default, the reports are created in a folder named "reports" beneath the helpdesk installation folder. You can change the location from the Personal Preferences window.
You might wish to run reports regularly and put them onto your company's web site. Because the reports are generated as html pages, this is very easy.
Either copy them manually from the default location (a folder called reports underneath the helpdesk folder), or specify in your Personal Preferences the report location as a folder on your web site.
You have some control over the style of these reports; you can change e.g.
the background color, fonts etc. To do so you will need to edit the html style
sheet (lbe.css), which can be found in the reports location.
LBE Desktop helpdesk comes with many reports, however you may reach a point at which you need to write your own.
There are a number of options:
Probably the best option is to use Access. If you are using an Access database for the helpdesk then you can create the reports directly into the same database.
If you are using either Sql Server or Oracle, then it is probably best to create a new Access database and link to the helpdesk tables.
When creating your reports, please bear in mind the database
structure.