Having taken over technical support for 300 local people with PCs, I really want to move away from a paper-based technical support systerm which gets clutttered, sheets get lost etc.

Ideally I'd like a page on a website which would be password protected to allow only staff members to fill in calls on an online technical report sheet. When submitted, each call is assigned a number and the sheet gets forwarded to my email address.

Once I have the calls in my inbox I can allocate them to the technicians.

I know the online forms can work, but I've yet to see one that is user friendly. I'd like them to be sent to me as a word document rather than just text fields which I'd have to re-input into a technical form in Word anyway. Kind of defeats the purpose.

Once the technician has attended the call, I'd then need someway for him/her to sign it off - again maybe the website could be used?

Maybe theres some way to make use of my Access Database of users?

I don't know - I only had this idea 5 minutes ago as I'm fed up with all the paper! What do you think? Any ideas? Don't get too technical on me! I can't do SQL or anything

I'd like them to be sent to me as a word document rather than just text fields which I'd have to re-input into a technical form in Word anyway. Kind of defeats the purpose.

Wouldn't it be easier if they submitted a request to a web interface, and you managed these requests from a different web interface, one that showed who submitted the request, when, and the subject? Rather than managing a bunch of Word documents? There's a bunch of stuff out there to do it this way, if you're willing to look at the problem a little differently.

What's your overall infrastructure look like; is it a full MS house - Windows 2000 Server, Exchange , etc? Do you have some sort of directory service set up for authentication?

-jk

I'm prepared to look at this from any angle - or one thats efficient. I've inherited a messy, backlogged system.

How would the web interface work? Sounds better than messing about with word documents (which I was scared of!)

I have no idea whats running in the background until I speak to the web guy on Monday.

Sounds like you need Remedy Ticket Tracking system... or PVCS Tracker... look into it... Kinda pricey, but those are the two I am aware of.

Well, since you mentioned Access Database, I assume you are on a Windows network. I've been dealing with the same sort of thing over where I work and I found this nice little ASP app that works pretty well for helpdesk/workorder issues.

Liberum

Best of all - it's free! Yay.

It also can use NT authentication so you can set up a list of users that are allowed to use the system, and when they browse to it they are automatically logged in. Or, you can tell it to use a DB of users to authenticate off of.

Hope that helps!

- trs

This looks quite neat. I'll take a closer look, thanks.

You need to decide exactly what your requirements are for a call tracking system, but more importantly define your support processes first. Once you know HOW you would like to handle support requests, you can then define which call tracking system would support your processes. Create a workflow for your support process that is independant of tools. Example:

All users call a central number
A "triage" support person logs a request in your call tracking system
That "triage" support person then assigns the request to one of your on-site support team
The on-site support person is notified via the call tracking tool that he is responsible for a new request
The on-site support person fixes the problem on-site, then records the solution in the call tracking system
The "triage" support person can be contacted to determine the status of the call

There are call tracking systems that are very simple and free, some web-based, and others that have more features that you will ever need and are very very expensive. Determine exactly what you'd like to have, and then you can do the research on products that exist today (free or expensive). A very good system would be to have:

Web application where end-users could submit and track their calls.
Knowledge base that tied into above application to help users solve their own calls.
Web application where support personnel could manage their calls.
Knowledge base that support personnel could use to solve end users' calls.
Client application where administrators and support personnel could manage calls.
Database driven system where reports could be generated (what support problems are we having the most, who is taking which calls, etc).

Seems good, but unusable by us as we have a Linux web server

I've looked for alternatives with no luck. Is there anything else you know about?

Not to beat a dead horse, but what sort of infrastructure do you have available to run a ticketing system on? You have a Linux web server (apache?). Do you have a SQL server (linux or MS);what about a windows active directory/NT domain, LDAP or some other authentication system?

Also, are all 300 people local, or do you support multiple offices and remote users?

thanks,

-jk

Well, sorry 'bout that. I was assuming you were on a windows network from the things you mentioned in your first post. Of course, if you have a spare windows box around somewhere you could always just install liberum and run it on IIS from that box. It's not the type of system that would need a robust webserver running it. It just needs an IIS webserver and a DB of some sort.

As far as linux systems go, I'd suggest checking out hotscripts.com or sourceforge (a search for 'helpdesk' on sourceforge brought up a lot of hits).

- trs