Managing categories for Self Service and Remedyforce Chat

This topic covers information on adding and updating categories for Self Service and Remedyforce Chat.

For more information, refer to the following topics.

To configure categories in Remedyforce Chat

Note the following points about the categories that you enable for Remedyforce Chat.

The configured categories for Remedyforce Chat are added as options in the Category list on the Pre-Chat form. If you have enabled the Pre-Chat form, when clients initiate a chat, from the Select a Category list they can select a category related to the issue that they are facing.

Note

You must configure suggested owners for the categories that you enable for Remedyforce Chat. For more information, see Configuring suggested owners and How chat assignment works if suggested owners are configured.

For example, if a client is facing an issue with the mobile, when the chat is initiated, the client can select Mobile as category, enter the query, and click Start chat to start the chat. For more information about Remedyforce Chat, see Configuring BMC Remedyforce Chat.

Note the following important points about configuring the categories for Remedyforce Chat:

  • The Available Categories list shows only the categories that are enabled for Self Service. If no categories are enabled for Self Service, there are no categories displayed in the Available Categories list for Remedyforce Chat. 

  • Only parent categories which are enabled for Self Service are displayed in the Available Categories list for Remedyforce Chat.

For example, the parent category Mobile Administration has a child category iPhone, and is enabled for Self Service. In this case, in the Available Categories list for Remedyforce Chat, only Mobile Administration is shown.

To manage categories for Self Service and Remedyforce Chat Pre-Chat form

  1. Click the Remedyforce Administration tab.

  2. On the Home page, click the Configure Self Service tile, and select Category.

  3. Click  and then click Manage Categories.

  4. On the Manage Categories page, from Categories for list, perform one of the following actions:

    1. To enable categories for Self Service, select Self Service.

    2. To enable categories for Remedyforce Chat, select Remedyforce Chat.

      Note

      The Available Categories list for Remedyforce Chat shows the categories that are enabled for Self Service. If no categories are enabled for Self Service, there are no categories displayed in the Available Categories list for Remedyforce Chat.

  5. From the Available Categories list, select the categories that you want to enable.

  6. To move the selected categories from the Available Categories list to the Selected Categoriesfor <Chat> list, click the right arrow.

  7. (Optional) To remove categories, select the categories in the Selected Categories for <Chat> list and click the left arrow to move the selected categories to the Available Categories list.

  8. Click .

To change the tree view of category lookup field to list view in Self Service

If a lookup filter is created for Category lookup field, it applies to both parent and children in the tree view. But, when the parent category does not satisfy the criteria, it will not show up when you click the lookup. As a result, the child categories are not displayed either, unless explicitly searched for. This is seen only when the you type the characters that match the child category names.

The Category lookup field in Self Service 3.0 displays tree view by default. However, you can use custom settings to switch to list view using the steps given below.

  1. Go to Setup > Custom Settings > Remedyforce Settings.
  2. Click Manage.
  3. If the setting SS_ShowListViewForCategory does not exist, click New to create it.
  4. Set the value as True and click .

Note

This setting is applicable only for Self Service 3.0.

For example, consider the following hierarchy for an OOTB Category.

Parent category

Child category

Human Resources (CategoryType = Blank)

Employee Name Change (CategoryType = HR)

Employee Onboarding (CategoryType = HR)

When there is a request definition with lookup input field for Category, a lookup filter (CategoryType = HR) will be added.

Based on whether the custom setting is enabled or not, we have the following cases when we visit SS 3.0 and open the service request form.

Case 1

Expected behaviour when the custom setting is created and value set as True (List View Format)

  • The Category lookup will display results in a list view format.
  • When you click the Category lookup, Human Resources will not be displayed as it does not match the lookup filter criteria. However, Employee Name Change and Employee Onboarding will be displayed.

Case 2

Expected behaviour when the custom setting is not present or value is set as False (Tree View Format)

  • The Category lookup will display results in a tree view format.
  • When you click the Category lookup, none of the three categories will show up as the parent category Human Resources does not match the lookup filter criteria. However, if you type and search for Employee then the Employee Name Change or Employee Onboarding categories will be displayed.

Related topics

Configuring BMC Remedyforce Chat

Displaying categories in Self Service.

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