Part 5: Customer Web Service site - Team Helpdesk for Outlook

Setup and configure an ASP.NET website for Customer Web Service in IIS Web Server, publish KB articles to the web, allow end-users to submit support requests directly to Team Helpdesk using a web form, and track status of support cases.

About Team Helpdesk for Outlook
Team Helpdesk System is an add-on solution for Microsoft Outlook that makes it very easy for your support team to manage support requests from your end-users submitted by email, phone calls or web. Designed in line with ITIL guidelines, Team Helpdesk enables your support staffs to log, analyze, track or escalate support requests in an organized and structured way in Outlook. The end result is an improved support team that utilize efficient processes for faster response and resolution time.processes for faster response and resolution time.

Learn more: http://www.assistmyteam.net/TeamHelpdesk/
Blog: http://www.bahrur.info/
AssistMyTeam SMB Solutions

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Closed Caption:

welcome to team help desk for Outlook
in this demonstration we will explore
how to install
configure and work with a customer
service website
that is connected with team helpdesk an
outlook
there are basically five steps required
for successful configuration other
customer web service site
the first step is to set up a web folder
as virtual directory and your II a
server
select your existing website in your eye
I S manager
and right-click to choose new and then
click
virtual directory
you will be prompted with this virtual
directory creation wizard
that will guide you to create a new
virtual directory on your existing
website
and type the alias for the virtual
directory say
CWS
and specify the physical folder on the
local server
to map to this alias
for this demo I will select this
physical folder
located in the C Drive on this server
care you need to specify read and run
scripts permissions
for this virtual directory
and finish the virtual directory
creation wizard
you can see the new virtual directory
CWS
with a gear simple under the eye I S
manager
now right click CWS and go to ASP dotnet
tab care you need to select the version
of ASP dotnet
select version 2.2 euro dot 50 727
click OK to save the changes
the second step is to set the CWS
virtual directory
as a shared network folder
right click the CWS folder and select
sharing and security
to invoke the Properties dialog
in this sharing tab select the option
share this folder
and go to permissions
by default any users on the local
network have
read permission over the shared folder
for our needs we need to allow all help
desk managers
to have full control permission
you can either add individual user or a
group
in our example we have defined a group
Service Desk
comprising I've all help desk managers
so that setting permission for all users
can be done in a single click check the
option
full control
likewise at the same helpdesk group
under the Security tab and grant
for control access
notice that the shared folder with now
appear
with a hand icon to signify a shared
resource over the network
the third step is to place other
customer web service files
and subfolders into the shared network
folder
go to the team help desk manager
programs file folder
and your system
there you will find his zip file
customer web service
that contains all the web files and
subfolders
extract all these contents to our CWS
shared network folder
the fourth step is to set the ASP da
net permission on the 10th subfolder
right click and go to properties &
Security tab
select the ASP dotnet account
different version up II a server has
different
ASP dotnet account name
for example and I S version 5 it is ESP
net
and I S version 6 it is I I S underscore
WPG group
whereas in iis7 version it is I I S
underscore US Rs group
in our case we have iis6 version
so we will allow the itis underscore WPG
group
full control over the 10 sub folder
the final step now is to configure the
customer web service specific settings
from the team help desk manager tool an
outlook
open the web access settings panel care
in this customer web service portion
enter the UNC path to the CWS network
folder
you can check this option to allow T
in helpdesk manager at an to update the
customer web service specific setting
state automatically
when there is any change and the
helpdesk settings in Outlook
check this option to create or update
knowledge base data specific files
in the CWS network folder
check this option to make the custom
fields available
in the support request submission
webform check this option
to make the asset fields available in
the support request submission web form
lastly here you can input the actual URL
to the customer web service site which
you your callers can have access
with a web browser
now we are all set click the Update data
to save and finish the customer web
service configuration
doing this will save or update the
customer web service specific metadata
files
in the CWS network web folder
if you open up in subfolder in the
virtual directory
you will find a number of XML files that
were generated
by team help desk manager at an from
Outlook
now our customer web service site has
successfully setup
we can now open it from the web browser
the customer web services a
SP dot net web pages that cater to the
help desk and users
on the web
it consists of a structured support
request webform
a support case status form a
self-service knowledge base
and a special web interface exclusively
for existing callers
to access their support cases online
this is the support
I'm you support requests are submitted
in customer web service site
via this web form
this form consists of fields for problem
description:
collar details and problem category and
type
if there are any active knowledge base
articles the relevant articles would
show up
based on the selected problem category
and type
this facilitates the end-user to look up
the related articles
for possible solution to their problems
before submitting a new support request
it not only addresses the problems at
the end users instantly
but also prevent any recurring or
redundant problems
to be reported to the help desk this
interns
helps in making the helpdesk resources
available to other tasks
and users can also upload any number of
files as attachments
when the end-user submit this supporter
est team help desk manager at an annual
outlook with process
and generate a new support case in the
ongoing cases subfolder
and the end user will be notified
automatically
with a unique case number
additionally the email can contain
credentials
that caller can use to log into the
collar web access site
to track their support cases online
this is the support case status webform
very often many support cases are logged
quickly
but the resolution to the problem may
take longer
in such situation it might not be
feasible
to keep the caller in the communication
loop regularly
more importantly the helpdesk might be
overwhelmed
with the status quo Aires on their
pending support cases
and that may unnecessarily divert
valuable resources and time
with this web-based status tracking form
curious callers can check the status and
other details
on their cases online very quickly
without having to write or call the
concerns help desk
it also avoids the additional load on
the Help Desk
and allows the technicians to focus on
problem solving
rather than answering status of the case
this is the web version out the team
helpdesk knowledge base
the KB articles present here are the
published version up the team helpdesk
knowledge base articles
an outlook
with these online articles end-users and
customers experiencing technical
challenges
can self-service the answer to their
problem by accessing this web based
knowledge base
and users may click through the problem
categories and types
to find a self-service answers they are
looking for
self-service articles may also be
searched by a key words:
now to the final feature collar web
access
the collar Web Access is a subcomponent
up the customer web service site
through which callers can login to track
the progress and status other support
cases
the site requires collar to authenticate
their credential
fine putting their email address and
password that was provided by the help
desk staff bio email
once logged on the caller will be able
to see all their support cases
under the my cases member area
the cases are sorted by the last
modified date and time
in descending order
the caller can click anyone out this
support case
and open the selected case in a new
window
to have a detail view
the support case form consists of many
fields including custom
and asset fields that might be used for
in-house properties
most other fields here are read-only
and few fields like the caller
information are editable by the collar
however to further escalate the case
caller can compose new problem
description:
into this box and submit
they can also have the flexibility
any number of files as attachments to
the current case
this will automatically get updated into
the support case item
in the ongoing cases subfolder an
outlook
it was also notify
the assigned technician to get their
attention to the new escalation
if the caller has already found a
solution to the problem
or was helped by solution recommended
earlier from the helpdesk
they can simply withdraw the case
in short with the collar web access a
collar can
submit new support request escalate
ongoing support case
withdraw ongoing support case and
reopen close support case
this concludes this video demonstration