Configuring Incident Management settings

You can configure the following Incident Management application settings:

• How the application searches for customer or contact information
• Whether the application displays the People form after you select a customer or contact

• How the customer's or the contact's name is shown on the incident request form

These settings are global, that is, they apply to all companies.

Configuring the customer and contact search type lets the user type some information in the field and then press Enter to return a list of partial matches from which they can select an exact match. You can configure the Customer and Contact fields to search against one of the following People form fields:

• Corporate ID
• First Name
• Internet Email (default)
• Last Name
• Login ID
• Phone Number

For example, using the default configuration, the application searches against the internet email address that appears on the People form. Therefore, if the user types AAl in the Customer or Contact field and then presses Enter, the application returns a list of all people whose email address starts with AAl (Arthur Albertson, Allen Allworth, Anita Alman, and so on).

If you configure settings so that the People form appears after the service desk analyst selects a customer or contact name when registering a new incident request, the service desk analyst can see and edit any of the People information on the People form.

By default, the Tasks and Categorization tabs appear on the Incident form, but you can control whether they appear. For example, if your organization does not use the Task Management System feature or does not use operational or product categorizations (which appear on the Categorization tab) when assigning incident requests, you can hide these tabs.

To configure the Customer and Contact search type

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Incident Management > Advanced Options > Incident Management Settings, and then click Open.
3. Click Show Settings to populate the Customer and Contact Search Type field with the current setting.
4. From the Customer and Contact Search Type list, select the type of search you want.
5. Click Add/Modify Settings.

To configure the People form to appear the service desk analyst selects a customer or contact

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Incident Management > Advanced Options > Incident Management Settings, and then click Open.
3. Click Show Settings to populate the Customer and Contact Search Type field with the current setting.
4. From the Display Customer Info Dialog list, select Yes to have the People form appear.
   The default setting is No.
5. Click Add/Modify Settings to save the setting.

To configure the Customer and Contact name format

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Incident Management > Advanced Options > Incident Management Settings, and then click Open.
3. Click Show Settings to populate the Customer and Contact Search Type field with the current setting.
4. From the Customer and Contact Name Format list, select the format.
   

   The name format choices are:

   • First name, middle name, last name
   • Last name, first name, middle name (default)
   • Last name, first name
   This option controls how the customer's or the contact's name appears on the Incident Request form.
5. Click Add/Modify Settings to save the setting.

To hide the Tasks and the Categorization tabs

1. Log in to the BMC Helix ITSM Suite using an account that has Incident Config permissions.
2. From the IT Home page, open the Application Administration console.
3. From the Custom Configuration tab, select Incident Management > Advanced Options > Incident Management Settings.
4. On the Incident Management Settings dialog box, click Show Settings.
5. From the Show Incident Task Tab menu, select No.
6. From the Show Incident Categorization Tab menu, select No.
7. Click Add/Modify Settings, and then click Close.
   If these tabs are hidden and you need to display them, reverse this procedure by selecting Yes in steps 5 and 6.