ServiceDesk 4.8.41 Update 11/21/17

This one is especially important for triage. 

Slightly less than a month ago (scroll downward to see the third of "Four Very Big Items" in the 10/26/17 entry below) we announced our addition of a new online triage center.  Part of the concept in this new interface is it's a piece of cake for anyone anywhere, when given appropriate credentials, to provide triaging service for you.  Then of course the question arises, after someone has done needed triaging via that interface, how does the triaging information (that they've produced) get back into the office. 

Very simply, it's done via SD-Mails.  You designate who it is, within the office, that you want to have processing parts requests that the triage person has indicated are wanted.  Triage information is conveyed to that person via SD-Mails that appropriately list each such part, along with any such added notes as may have been provided. 

The new trick we've added is for the purpose of facilitating this office person's work. 

Imagine he or she is looking at a SD-Mail that says so-and-so, as a triage person, has requested, say, these three parts should be ordered to go out with the tech on a particular appointment.  Each part is shown as a line-item in the SD-Mail.  You can imagine it's a bit of work if this office person must look within the SD-Mail, notice what is the JobRecord number involved, hit F7 to bring up the JobRecord form, hit "i" to begin an invoice number search, type in the number, then hit Enter to search -- then, once the correct JobRecord is shown, click on its "Order Parts" button.  Of course, work is still not done because, absent automation otherwise, this operator still has to type appropriate information into the PartsRequest form. 

What's the solution?

We've made it so this operator may simply double-click on a part-request line-item as present in one of these triage-request SD-Mails, and the system will instantly link to and open the JobRecord involved.  It will likewise click on that JobRecord's "Order Parts" button and fully fill-in the PartsRequest form which then displays.  Thus, a single double-click sets up the entire thing. 

You may wonder why we have not made the system simply create the PartsProcess request directly, without an office person needing to be involved at all.  It's possible we'll indeed do that in the future.  However, for now our thinking is that you may want to keep an office person in the loop, thereby withholding from outside triage persons such absolute power as would be involved if their actions were permitted to directly create orders within your PartsProcess system. 

Aside from this double-click to create internal part request in the triage situation hyperlink, we've created a couple of other hyperlink opportunities there.  These can especially be useful if via ServiceDesk you've sent out an SMS text message and received back a reply.  That reply will always indicate the smartphone number the reply came from.  If applicable, it will also indicate the JobRecord number that the communication concerns. 

As you look at your customer's reply, odds are high that you're going to want to locate any such JobRecord as is relevant.  That's where this added hyperlinking ability comes into play.

Just double-click on the indication of JobRecord number, if present, and ServiceDesk will instantly display that JobRecord for you.  If there is no such indication, double-click instead on the indication of smartphone number the reply was sent from.  This will cause ServiceDesk to open the JobRecords form and self-initiate a search on the telephone number in question.  Thus, via that means it will instantly open the JobRecord of interest.  

Improved Analytics for Insight Into Which Parts Are Sensible for Pre-Ordering in Triage, and Which Ones Are Not:

Tony Lott takes the credit for this one. 

He called to describe the huge burden his operation endures in special-ordering parts for triage purposes, with a high percent ending up as having missed the mark, and then having to be returned to the vendor. 

Tony wondered if there might be a way to identify parts that have a particularly high "miss" rate in triage.  If so identified, there could be a warning -- when in triage a person is about to order such a part -- to say "Hey, maybe you shouldn't . . . this part has succeeded when ordered in triage only 5 percent of the time" (or something like that). 

To fulfill this need, we've added two columns to the export that is available in conjunction with running a Usage Analysis report (shortcut sequence to get there is Ctrl-F8-->U, indicate your date range, let the report run and display to your screen, then click on the "Send this Report to Excel" button). 

The two new columns are on the extreme right of the export.  One indicates the quantity of each item that was ordered but not used.  The other indicates the percent of items actually used, as compared to total quantity ordered overall. 

The general thinking is that, when loaded into Excel, you sort on that last column.  Thus, at the bottom of the sorted stack you'll see items that have scored very well, in terms of hitting the target of need.  At the top of the sorted stack, you'll see those that have scored badly. 

Given such visibility into items that have scored badly, you can use your judgment in deciding which items you want to add into your PartsHotList, and with appropriate notes accompanying. 

If you are not familiar with use of the PartsHotList, it's simply a file you maintain with part numbers that, if someone is about to order such a part, they are alerted with whatever note it is that you want them to see.  Facility for this was added 9/25/06 with release of Ver. 4.2.23 (search here on that "4.3.23" string and you'll instantly find the entry that announces the feature, and includes instructions on how to use it). 

We hope, via use of this mechanism, you will have enhanced visibility by which to intelligently curtail triage pre-orders that are unlikely to succeed.  

There has long been an option in this interface (Shift/F7) to show only ShopJobs.  Now there is an option to show only non-ShopJobs:

It's that simple.