Admin Guide
Using admin guide you can manage entire product related settings. It will help you to automate product,manage various modules ,adding emails,staff etc
We have explained what is the use of the functionality and label wise help for various settings available under admin setting.
1. System
Module
Vision Helpdesk provides various modules in the system which you can enable or disable as per your requirement. Each module consists of general settings which you can manage as per your business requirements.
In this section you are able to create and manage the modules. The development of your own modules is also possible where you can extend the functionality of the system according to your requirement.
System offers three types of modules:
Default modules: There are 13 modules that are provided as the default modules. Those are home, Incident, client, solutions, billing, blabber, report, gamification, task, forums, drive, ITIL, and Asset (user using service desk).
Core modules: Core modules consist of client, home and Incident which cannot be disabled.
Custom/ user developed modules: You can create a custom module according to your needs.
Home
Home also known as Dashboard which provides you a quick overview of all the modules present in the helpdesk like Incidents, clients, task etc. and it also shows the recent Incident activities performed.
Home module gives an overview of various modules. It incorporates all the functionality related to the dashboard. It is a core module which cannot be disabled.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles. By default, it is Home in this system.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title.
Update : You can update the details from here.
Incident
Incident module allows to manage all Incident related settings. This module is core model hence cannot be deleted or disabled.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles. By default, the title is “Incident” in this system.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title.
Domain: This will allow you to select the domain with which you can operate the following settings.
Number of attachments: Permit clients to attach number of attachments in various formats to one Incident.
Allowed attachment extensions: Specify the extension type of attachments which clients should attach over a Incident/Problem/Change (For example: Doc, pdf, html).
Note: If there is no input to this field then all the extensions will be allowed.
Max allowed size for attachment (in KB): Specify the maximum size for the attachment here. Hence the size of the attachment should not exceed from the one that is specified.
Add merged Incidents email as recipients: When multiple Incidents are merged then all the Incident posts get merged into one Incident and the email of these merged Incidents can be added as the recipients. When Staff replies to the merged Incidents then all the merged email recipients will receive staff reply.
Incident hash generation: Incident hash is the unique Incident ID which is system generated. Below are two types of the Incident hash:
1) Random: The Incident hash will be generated randomly.
2) Sequential: The Incident hash will be generated sequentially depending upon the prefix and number specified in the fields.
If sequential Incident hash generation is selected then the below two fields will appear:
1) Incident hash prefix: When sequential Incident hash generation is selected then the “prefix” for the Incident hash can be specified here.
2) Numbering starts from: The numbering from which the Incident hash should begin is specified here.
Incident post count: The maximum numbers of the post that should appear for a Incident on one page can be set from here.
Priority: The priority field can be made visible on the Incident by selecting the either of the option (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both). For instance, if you want priority on “manage” portal Incidents, then you can select “manage” in the drop-down option available.
Display justification for priority change - Here you can select yes or no and if you select yes you need to specify reason for the change of priority.
Urgency : The urgency field can be made visible on the Incident by selecting either of the options. (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both) For instance, if you want the urgency only on the “manage” portal Incidents you can select just manage in the drop-down option available.
Impact : The impact field can be made visible on the Incident by selecting either of the options. (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both) For instance, if you want the impact only on the “manage” portal Incidents you can select just manage in the drop-down option available.
Impact details :Here you can select yes or no and if you select yes you need to specify reason for the change of impact.
Incident type: The Incident type field can be made visible on the Incident by selecting either of the options. (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both) For instance, if you want the Incident type only on the “manage” portal Incidents you can select just manage in the drop-down option available.
Incident category: The Incident category field can be made visible on the Incident by selecting the either of the option. (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both) For instance if you want Incident category only on manage portal Incidents you can select “manage” in the drop-down option available.
Display subcategory: Set permission to display sub-category on either of the portals. (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both)
Display item: Set permission to display the item of the sub-category on either of the portals. (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both)
Level: The Level field can be made visible on the Incident by selecting either of the options. (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both) For instance if you want level just on manage portal Incident you can select manage in the drop-down option available.
Location: The location field on the Incident can be made visible by selecting the portal option in the drop down. (Manage Portal / Client Portal / Both) For example: If you select the manage portal, the location field of the Incident will be available only for the manage portal.
Attach CI: You can enable or disable the option of CI to be displayed on the client portal.
Append Incident post: This is the subject matching option where you can append the post either subject wise or by using the Incident hash.
Display inline images: If set to –
Yes – Inline images will be displayed in Incident post.
No – Inline images will be hidden and a link on Incident post will be shown which user can click and see inline image.
Display IP address to staff: Whether the IP address of the customer should be displayed or not on the Incident post can be mentioned here.
Display reason for Incident closure : Here you can select yes or no and if you select yes you need to specify reason for Incident closure.
Add Incident read entry to audit log: Incident read entry will be added into audit log when staff/agent will open the Incident.
Display amount on time track: Amount field on the time tracking is optional so if you don’t want your staff to add or view the amount, you can disable the amount column from being viewed.
Update :You can update the changes done in Incident module from here.
Client
Client module allows you to manage the client related settings. It is one of the core modules which cannot be disabled.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles. By default, it is termed as “client” in the system.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title.
Domain: Select the Domain or Company name for which you want to apply below settings.
Auto approve registration: If you set the Auto approve registration to “Yes” then all the registered client would be auto approved and they would be able to submit the Incidents directly. If it is set to “No” then staff has to manually approve the clients after registration.
Enable captcha on register: It will decide whether to enable captcha during the client registration or not. One can enable or disable captcha on register page and submit Incident page of client portal. This will allow you to reduce the spam occurrence. There will be no captcha for logged in clients while submitting Incident.
Auto generate organization: The client’s email id domain will be automatically converted into the organization after receiving the email.
For example: Suppose the clients email id is john@redstar.com then redstar.com organization will be generated automatically.
Ignore organization: After selecting “Yes” in auto generate organization this field will appear. Here you can set the repeated and common domain of emails like Gmail, yahoo mail etc. which need to be ignored and not converted to organizations.
Additional emails: This will allow the client to add the additional emails to their profile.
Solution module settings allow you to manage the knowledge base/solutions. This section allows you to manage the changes to global settings for solutions module.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles. By default, it is “solution” in this system.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title. Here it is Solution.
Domain: Select the Domain or Company name for which you want to apply below settings.
Solutions suggestion: Solution suggestions can be made available for manage or client portal which will suggests available articles based on the keywords specified for the articles.
Allow comments: Set permission for clients to add comment over the solutions.
Allow ratings: Set permission for clients to rate the solutions.
Auto approve comments: If you set it as “Yes” the comments for the solutions get approved automatically without consent otherwise you have to manually approve the comment each time.
Enable captcha on solutions: When a client needs to submit a comment through knowledge base or make any type of suggestion then he needs to undergo image verification for this. The captcha for the solution can be enabled or disabled from here.
Update : You can update the changes done in solutions module from here.
Billing module incorporates Incident billing features. It allows you to bill your end user either time base or Incident base. This section allows you to enable or disable this module in system and also offers some global settings.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles. By default, it is billing in this system.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title.
Domain: Select the Domain or Company name for which you want to apply below settings.
Note: Below fields are used to display company information on Invoice page
Company name: Company Name specified here is displayed over the generated Invoice.
Email address: Mention company email address.
Pay to text: It is the text that can be seen on the invoice generated for the client.
Website URL: Add your company’s website URL.
Logo URL: Add your company’s logo URL.
Invoice due on(days) : You can select the invoice due days.
Update: You can update the changes done in billing module from here.
Blabby
Blabby is the social hub and also the collaboration tool for the staff members in an organization to communicate among themselves. All the settings related to blabby can be done from this Blab module.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles. By default, it is Blab in this system.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title. Here it is Blab.
Blab count: Blab count specifies the number of the blabs that will appear per Blab page. It can be set up accordingly. By default, there are 10 blabs that are displayed per page.
@Send notification for new blab: This will allow to send a notification to the staff whenever new blab is created
Update : You can update the changes done in Blabby module from here.
To create a new Blab conversation, go to Blab module.
Click on top right corner menu icon. You can create a One to one blab or Group chat using this option.
Go to top right corner menu icon --> Click on New Blab.
Search for staff or group .
It will give you suggestion available for chat within the organisation.
Then select the appropriate contact to chat.
2. To create Group chat:
Go to type right corner menu icon--> click on create group.
Group Name: Provide the group name for blab chat.
Search for the staff name to create the group.
Create: Click on this option after adding the staff members.
On left hand side of the Blab module, you can see icon to see available groups and staff in system.
Reports module manages analytics part in system. You can enable or disable this module according to your requirement.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles and which is Report over here.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title. Here it is Reports.
Update : You can update the changes done in report module from here.
Gamification module is for employee engagement. It also helps to trace out staff performance based on how they are handling Incidents and other activities. Below are the general settings related to Gamification.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles and which is gamification over here.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title. Here it is gamification.
Update : You can update the changes done in gamification module from here.
In this service desk system, you are able to manage the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) feature of ITSM (IT Service Management).
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles and which is ITIL by default.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title. Here it is ITIL.
Domain: Select the Domain or Company name for which you want to apply below settings.
ITIL Hash generation:
Here you can specify the way you want the hash generated for problems, changes, releases, service requests and contracts.
There are two ways for it:
1) Random: The hash will be generated randomly using combination of alphabets and numbers.
2) Sequential: The hash will be generated sequentially depending upon the prefix and the number that is specified for the field.
If sequential ITIL hash generation is selected then the below fields will appear for it.
1) Services prefix: Add prefix for Service Request to display on Incident Hash.
2) Problems prefix: Add prefix for Problems to display on Problem Hash.
3) Changes prefix: Add prefix for Changes to display on Change Hash.
4) Releases prefix: Add prefix for Releases to display on Release Hash.
5) Contracts prefix: Add prefix for Contracts to display on Contract Hash.
6) Numbering starts from: The numbering from which ITIL Incident hash should begin is specified here.
Update :You can update the changes done in ITIL module from here.
Task module incorporates settings related to task management feature. Task management allows staff members to create internal task, sub tasks and recurring tasks.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles and which is task over here.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title.
Task list count: Here you can enter the number of task you want to display in task list.
Task email notification: You can notify your staff members on their registered email address regarding Task operations.
Update : You can update the changes done in task module from here.
Forums are online community where you can share organized discussion with your clients. Here your clients can communicate with Staff as well as with other clients on any topic, question, answer related to products and services. Below are general settings related to Forums
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles of this module.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title.
Domain: Domain will specify the name of the company for which you will be making changes in rest of the settings followed below.
Auto approve comments: This setting decides if you wish to auto approve comments posted by customers.
Forum notification: If you want to allow some staff or all staff for getting all the notification coming in the forum you can select the option according to your choice.
Update : You can update the changes done in forum module from here.
Drive module is used for the storage and file backup of the data in this system. That can include documents, presentations, spreadsheets, etc.
Entry fields
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles of this module.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title.
Drive list count: Here you can add the list count on a single page of the drive.
Update :You can update the changes done in drive module from here.
Assets
Title: Title is the text that will be used in tab titles of this module.
Header title: Header title is the text that will be used in browser page header title.
Ongoing Audit: Here if you mark the ongoing audit as Yes- you cannot modify/make changes to the asset module. And if it is marked as No - you can modify/make changes to the asset module.
Auto mapping of software-contract :
If you select yes, then asset will be automatically mapped to contract.
Update: You can update the changes done in Asset module from here.
We provide Help Desk in multiple languages so that it would be easy for businesses to support their clients in their own language. You can use helpdesk in your own language to support your clients and even your client can select their own language from the dropdown in the client portal. We provide localization for languages using which you can translate the default words in Helpdesk. English is the default language set for Manage portal and Client portal.
You can change the client and manage portal language.Also there are default language added in the system which can be enabled or disabled as per requirement.
Additional languages can be updated on your setup upon request.
Note: This system provides you with some language files which may not be 100% accurate (based on Google Translator). English is the default language.
Setting default language:
It is also possible to set a default language for the client portal from:
Admin Setting >>> Incident section >>> domain >>> default client portal language
Note: You can utilize any of the language by enabling it from the listing.
Steps to add additional language -
Let say you want to add French language then you need to follow below steps- Click on add button.When you click on add you will have the following fields:
Title: The name of the language to be added is specified here.
Code: The ISO (International Standard Organization Code) for language is specified here. (For example- French ISO code is fr).
Character set: A defined list of characters recognised by the computer hardware and software.The default character set for the language is to be specified here.
It uses UTF-8 for languages that require Unicode.
Display order: If there are multiple languages available then sorting for the language listing can be done from display order. Languages get sorted as per the display order of the language specified.
Direction: All the languages will have left to right setting except for Arabic language that has direction from right to left.
Status: It is possible to enable or disable a particular language. If any of the language is disabled then it will not be used by the system.
Now ,click on gear icon on top right corner to import language.
The details to be filled are:
Language: You have to select the language you wish to import.
Upload CSV: CSV known as Comma Separated Values is the mainly the database in form of like spreadsheet which will be used for importing the language.
Note: You can contact support team if you need any help for the same.
Click on import and here you can upload a csv file.
Export language
You can export the language file in CSV Format (Comma Separated Value) and make certain localization.
Language: In this you have to select the language you wish to export.
Export button: When you click on export button the excel sheet of the localization you made in that language is downloaded.
Localization helps you to translate the language you want to adapt while working with the software. You can change the default words and phrases into language parameters for both the portal. Hence, in order to change the language for client and staff portal localization is used.
The fields of localization are as given below:
Select language: The particular language is to be selected from the drop-down list.
Locations: The location is to be selected where you want the particular language either on client portal or manage portal.
Search word/phrases: You can convert the common English language phrases to the language you are selecting. It will consist of two columns that are default language and that the language which is selected from the drop down.
Also, the particular language can be easily updated from the update button present at the bottom.
Update : You can update the changes done in localization module from here.
The end user/ customer portal is one of the channel through which customers can interact or raise their queries in the form of Incidents. Through this section admin can manage client portal branding, modify the theme, and logo and also decide several display settings as described below.
Domain: Select the Domain or Company name for which you want to apply the below settings.
Note: In case of satellite and service desk you can add multiple domains and each domain can have its own customer portal so this section will allow you to make modifications to respective companies’ client portal.
Client portal logo: Manage the branding of your company by uploading Company’s logo or text.
Image/Text: The text or the image can be uploaded that would appear and will be displayed on the client portal page.
Favicon: Upload the Favicon icon for better visibility of client portal.
Theme: Match up theme of the client portal with your website or any theme of your choice.
Template:[Possible only in case of download version] System offers default template for selection, if you wish modify the layout of client portal, you can create new template.
Follow the below steps for creating new template:
1) Copy /template/client/default to /template/client/new-template
2) Modify new template files under new-template folder
3) Now you should be able to select new-template here
Date time format: The date time format for the client portal can be edited from here. By default the standard Php date time format is M-jS, Y G:i
Time zone: The time zone for the client portal can be set and changed from here. Staff can override this setting from their own profile to modify time zone and to view Incidents in their own time if they are located in different time zone.
Disable client portal: Using this option you can disable the client portal.
Display pages: In this section it will decide the pages that would be displayed on the client portal.
Solutions: This will allow you to enable or disable the solutions on the client portal. If display after login is selected then solution option will be available after the client has logged in.
Submit Incident: The submit Incident option can be enabled or disabled from here. If display after login is selected then the submit option will be available after the client has logged in.
View Incidents: The view Incidents option can be enabled or disabled here for client portal. If yes is selected then clients can view their Incidents along with the details for solved as well as unsolved Incidents.
Login: This will allow you to select whether there should be login or not on the client portal.
Register: The register option on the client portal can be enabled or disabled from here.
Billing: This will allow you to display the details of the billing such as the invoices, products and orders on the client portal.
Service catalog: From here you can enable or disable the service catalog in the client portal.
Forums: If you wish to keep the forums visible so that client using the software can get updated with the activities happening in the forums then select yes.
Assets: You can define if the assets are to be displayed on the client portal or not.
Incident rating: The Incident rating can be enabled or disabled from here.
Assigned to: This will allow you to show the names of the staff member to whom the Incident is assigned. If the Incident is not assigned to any staff member then the term “nobody” appears on it.
SLA: This will allow you to select whether the SLA (response time and resolution time) should appear for the Incidents in the client portal or not.
Html editor: The html editor can be activated while submitting and replying to the Incident in client portal by selecting yes.
Staff name and profile image: The name of the staff and profile image can be displayed on the Incidents in client portal by selecting yes.
Can client close the Incident?
If you wish to grant the right to the client for closing the Incident, you can define it here.
Client feedback: The permission for allowing the client to provide a feedback is from here.
Solutions and Incident search: We have provided the Incident search option in the client portal for searching solutions. You can keep this option available on the client portal as per your requirement.
Default Page before login: You can define which web page should be visible before login when the client opens the client portal.
Default Page after login: You can define which web page should be visible after login when the client opens the client portal.
List Count : Here you can define the number of incidents to be displayed
Privacy policy : If you want some agreement from your clients while they are submitting the incident, you can enable this privacy policy field
Update : You can update the changes done in client portal from here.
Manage portal is the area where your support team/agents will be logged in. From here you can manage the branding for the manage portal by uploading logo, changing theme, setting the language, etc. Below are the settings available for manage portal:
Primary color : You can select the primary color for manage portal.
Primary lightest color : You can select the primary color for manage portal.
Reset theme : If you want to reset the theme color to the default theme color.
Language: The language you want to use for the manage portal can be selected from here.
Date time format: The date and time format for the manage portal can be edited from here. By default the standard Php date time format is M-jS, Y G:i
HTML editor : If you want to enable HTML editor while drafting the client reply, you can enable it from here.
Sent email tracking : If you want to track the emails sent from your system, You can enable it from here and you will be able to see all the sent emails in Sent emails filter.
Favicon: Here you can add the favicon image for the browsing tab of the manage portal.
Update: Changes made in the manage portal settings can be updated using the Update button.
We help you to secure your helpdesk from any unwanted intrusion. For better security, there is always need for certain authentication process and access restriction for staff as well as for clients. Vision Helpdesk encompasses three types of security for staff and clients.
1) IP security
2)Banned IP
3) Password security
4) Client email verification
IP security (Restricting staff IP address to login to manage portal) -
You can provide a range for IP address limiting the staff to access the manage portal.
For example : IP Range 78.68.1.10 - 78.68.1.50 so staff whose IP falls within the specified range can access the portal.
Note: If you are facing any of the trouble in whitelisting the IP addresses then the network administrator can be contacted to whitelist the IP addresses. Also one can refer whatismyipaddress.com to get all the basic information about the IP addresses.
We also offer an option for
Fetching Staff IP address using API.
Banned IP :
You can also check the banned IP addresses under Banned IP option.
You can also enable the "Brute force attack IP ban" under which you can define the maximum incorrect login attempts after which an IP will be banned.
Password security
You can set password strength like weak,medium and strong where weak can be simple and small password ,medium is alphanumeric and strong is combination of special character and alphanumeric.
We also provide an option of "Forced expire staff password" wherein the password would expire automatically after a particular duration.
Client email verification:
To validate clients email address you can enable “Client email verification” from Admin Settings >>System>>Security.
For example : when client tries to register on the client portal a link is sent on their email address for authentication and once their are authenticated they can login to the client portal with username and password.
Diagnostics contains the detail of the technologies used while developing the software. If you want to know more about the technical specification of the software you can go through the diagnostics section of the setting.
This software uses PHP for interfacing the detail specification about all Technical Specification is provided in this system
Check all the information regarding the license of the software that you are currently using.
System clean up
If you need to delete some of the unwanted records or logs you can do that operation using this setting. Different helpdesk logs can be cleaned from here depending upon the date that is selected for the logs.
Clean logs before: “Date” and “time” can be selected and the logs that are present before that particular date selected will be cleaned.
Error log: All error log files will be cleared.
Parser log: Parser log are details about all incoming e-mails which can be emptied by selecting this option.
Sent email log: It will clear all the sent mail logs for the date that is mentioned for it.
Gateway transactions log: It will clear all Gateway transactions log for the date that is mentioned for it.
Activity log: It will clear all Activity log for the date that is mentioned for it.
Audit log: It will clear all Audit log for the date that is mentioned for it.
Data which is not required frequently can be moved to archive table. You can say archive data is historical data. Say archive the data from previous year.
Archiving also improves the performance of the system, since the historical data is stored in archive table.
You can archive incidents, problems , change, releases and Service catalog or request.
Archiving of Incidents : You can archive the old incidents.
Steps to archive Incidents:
Archive data before: You can select the date before which you want to archive the data.
Archive data from : You can select the module for which you want to achieve the data.
Here you can select Incident module.
The archive incidents can be found under filters>>Archive.
Archiving of Service requests
We offer an option to archiving a Service request / catalog under admin settings > Archive
You can also archive a service request based on the status.
Steps to archive Service catalog/Service request:
Archive data before: You can select the date before which you want to archive the data.
Archive data from : You can select the module for which you want to achieve the data.
Here you can select Service catalog or Service request.
The archive Service catalog or Service request can be found under filters>>Archive.
Archiving Asset Records.
You can archive the asset records and keep only the required ones in the asset management folder.
Steps to archive Asset Records:
Archive data before: You can select the date before which you want to archive the data.
Archive data from : You can select the module for which you want to achieve the data.
Here you can select Asset Records.
The archive asset record can be found in left panel >>Archive tab.
Achieving Data for Problems
You can archive the Problem requests and keep only the required ones in the Problem management folder.
Steps to archive Problems:
Archive data before: You can select the date before which you want to archive the data.
Archive data from : You can select the module for which you want to achieve the data.
Here you can select Problems.
The archive problem can be found in problem listing page>>Click on drop down >>Archive.
Archiving data for Change : Old changes can be archive to clear the change queue.
Steps to archive Change:
Archive data before: You can select the date before which you want to archive the data.
Archive data from : You can select the module for which you want to achieve the data.
Here you can select Change.
The archive change can be found in change listing page>>Click on drop down >>Archive.
Archiving data for Releases :
Steps to archive Releases:
Archive data before: You can select the date before which you want to archive the data.
Archive data from : You can select the module for which you want to achieve the data.
Here you can select Releases.
The archive releases can be found in releases listing page>>Click on drop down >>Archive.