ocPortal Tutorial: Running a virtual support desk
Written by Chris Graham, ocProducts
Support ticket functionality described in this tutorial is only available in the enterprise version of ocPortal - now available for free from our community forums.
Configuring the support ticket and comment topic systems |
- PLACEMENT: the ability for issues to be placed, both by staff, and by the audience being supported
- NOTIFICATION: alerts, for staff to be made aware of issues
- CATEGORISATION: categorisation of issues
- PRIORITISATION: prioritisation of issues
- ASSIGNING: the issue is assigned to a specific member of staff
- TRACKING: tracking of issues
- COORDINATION: coordination with the resolution of issues between relevant parties
- RESOLUTION: the ability for issues to be marked as 'resolved'
- ARCHIVING: past issues may be browsed
Three different ocPortal systems may be used to provide such a support desk:
- The Support Ticket system
- Discussion Forums
- The Feedback system
Table of contents
The Support Ticket system
Managing support ticket types |
Viewing support tickets as staff |
Viewing a support ticket |
To use the Support Ticket system, you must not be using the 'none' forum driver, and you must have created the support forum that is referenced in the ocPortal configuration. It is usual to use page access permissions to restrict access to the support ticket so that only those that may request support, may access the page.
Support tickets are created simply by visiting the support ticket page, clicking to add a ticket, and filling in the appropriate details. Upon completion of this, an e-mail is sent to the staff, and the staff can then respond to the ticket as appropriate; it should be noted that staff should not reply to the support ticket forum-topic itself, because if they do so, no "staff have replied" message will be sent back to the ticket starter. This said, the forum interface should be used for any ticket post editing and deleting, as the support ticket system itself does not provide this.
Staff may see all support tickets when they visit the support ticket page, but users may only seen their own. If the support ticket list is left open then it will automatically make your computer beep if a new ticket is made, and refresh to show that new ticket. Likewise, if a support ticket is left open, your computer will beep and the ticket will refresh, if a new post is made in the ticket.
| Support feature | Method |
|---|---|
| PLACEMENT | A special interface is provided for this |
| NOTIFICATION | E-mail notifications are sent |
| CATEGORISATION | Support ticket types may be managed from the Admin Zone |
| PRIORITISATION | Not supported at the time of writing, although ticket types may be used in this way |
| ASSIGNING | If more than one member of staff are viewing the same support ticket then an alert will be shown |
| TRACKING | E-mail notifications are sent |
| COORDINATION | A topic-like reply feature is provided |
| RESOLUTION | Ticket may be closed |
| ARCHIVING | Ticket list is made available, according to permissions |
Discussion Forums
The Discussion Forum (our own OCF, at least) is designed to be an extremely efficient multi-purpose working environment: forums are at their heart, an interactive communication medium. There are also a number of special features, such as post templates, and multi moderations, that make the forums particularly appropriate for use to provide support.For more information on this, see the "Running a discussion forum based help desk" tutorial.
| Support feature | Method |
|---|---|
| PLACEMENT | Standard forum features may be used effectively |
| NOTIFICATION | Staff may subscribe (track) to forums as appropriate |
| CATEGORISATION | Sub-forums may be used for this |
| PRIORITISATION | Sub-forums may be used for this |
| ASSIGNING | Sub-forums or topic titles may be used for this |
| TRACKING | Members may choose to subscribe to their topics either automatically or manually |
| COORDINATION | A reply feature is provided |
| RESOLUTION | Topic may be closed |
| ARCHIVING | The forum-view allows browsing and searching |
The Feedback system
The feedback commenting system in action |
The advantage of the feedback system over the Discussion Forums is simply that the discussion is attached directly to actual content. For most forms of content, these discussions are unlikely to be classifiable as 'support', but the download system in particular may contain questions and answers relating to the download itself.
To use the feedback commenting system, you must not be using the 'none' forum driver, and you must have created the comment topic forum that is referenced in the ocPortal configuration.
| Support feature | Method |
|---|---|
| PLACEMENT | There is an implicit attachment to a related piece of content (such as a download) |
| NOTIFICATION | Indirectly, seeing that there is a new post on the forum either via subscription or "unread" status |
| CATEGORISATION | There is an implicit attachment to a related piece of content (such as a download) |
| PRIORITISATION | Sub-forums may be used for this |
| ASSIGNING | Not supported |
| TRACKING | Not supported |
| COORDINATION | A reply feature is provided |
| RESOLUTION | Not supported |
| ARCHIVING | Content may be searched and browsed |
Concepts
- support desk
- A virtual support desk is the virtual equivalent to a companies real-world equivalent, which might often be a support department, reception, or a call centre. Also known as a 'help desk'
- support ticket
- A ticket is an issue placed the support ticket system created for private discussion between the placer and the staff