Hibernating and Overdue Alarm

As you may have noticed, Callsheets not only store information, they also serve as a kind of to do note, like slips of paper you've placed on your desk to remind of particular things needing done. ServiceDesk helps you know when a Callsheet needs work done by following a simple convention.

• When work does need done, and needs done by you (i.e., the Callsheet's in 'Current' status and assigned to your desk), ServiceDesk keeps it illuminated at your desk.

• When work does not presently need done, on the other hand (i.e., the Callsheet's in any other mode), ServiceDesk keeps the Callsheet dim.

When you take any action on a CallSheet, such as when you create a job from a Callsheet, or transfer responsibility on it to another desk, the Callsheet goes dim, telling you at a glance that you presently have no work to do on it.

The above description is great for those items that you can actually dispose of, but obviously, there are many items that you might have dealt with only in terms of immediate need, and it may need to be revisted by you in an hour, a day, or whatever. Maybe it's something that doesn't require attention right away and you intend to put it off as long as you gracefully can. In either case, you don't want it in front of you cluttering your workspace, but you don't want to forget about something that does need to be done eventually.

The solution is to simply put the CallSheet to sleep for whatever period of time you intend to ignore it. This is what we call Callsheet Hibernation, and essentially, it involves making a Callsheet go dim for a specified period of time.

To put any Callsheet to sleep, either left-click on its hibernate button or press Alt-H. This will bring up the Hibernate form, from which you can easily select the period of rest. Note that, as in most other forms which offer a single set of options, here you can either click on your selection with the mouse or move over it using your cursor keys, then press Enter for your selection. You can also specify a wake-up time that is not provided in the direct options, by simply typing it in.

ALARM PERIOD

The Alarm period is the amount of time after the CallSheet wakes from hibernation before it starts sounding an alarm for your attention. You can think about this as a fallback for if you miss that the CallSheet wakes up.

The Alarm period that follows a Callsheet's awakening from hibernation is only one attribute of the Callsheet Sentry. For Callsheets in general (i.e., one's not subject to a specific post-awakening alarm period), the period is two hours. If any Callsheet that's not in a specific post-awakening alarm period does not receive attention over a space of two hours, ServiceDesk will begin sounding the alarm in its connection.

Of course, the beeping of an alarm can be annoying, and you may not have time immediately to satisfy its call. If this happens, you can silence the alarm by pressing Ctrl/Shift-LeftCursor (this combination is used because the keys are next to each other and are easy to press). Each press gives you one minute of silence. By holding down for three or four seconds, you'll get an hour or more of silence. Alternatively, if you do not like this alarm feature, you can turn it off entirely from within the Settings form.

Any saved edit to a CallSheet will immediately halt the alarm.