Creating and managing assignments
An assignment is a task that technicians must complete to resolve a ticket. Depending on the complexity of an issue, technicians can link multiple assignments to a ticket. Technicians must resolve all linked assignments to resolve a ticket. Different technicians can work on different assignments linked to the same ticket. Technicians can view the linked assets to an assignment.
This topic contains the following information:
Key features and considerations
- You can create, manage, and close assignments.
- The data in the ticket form is copied to the corresponding fields in the Assignment form. You can also choose to overwrite the copied data according to your requirements. However, the data in fields such as Additional Information, Due, Expected Response, Expected Fix, and Callback Phone is not copied.
- You can link a solution to an assignment, and copy the text of the solution to the resolution of assignment.
- You can add user assignment notes and create solutions from the assignment notes.
- You can customize the Assignment form based on your requirements. For more information, see Customizing forms for groups.
System administrators can add the Total Time Spent field to the Assignment form by using form customization. The total time spent on an assignment is the sum of duration of all the user assignment notes.
Note
(2020 Release 02) Track-It! does not consider the duration of system notes while calculating the total time spent on an assignment.
(2020 Release 03) (For Assignment form and assignment grid view only) The Total Time Spent field is displayed in ddd:hh:mm:ss format on the Assignment form and the grid view. When you export the grid view, this field is displayed in the same format.
- You can create Business Rules specific to assignments. For more information, see Configuring business rules.
- If you have multiple assignments linked to a ticket, you can configure the status of next linked assignment. For more information, see Linking predecessors and successors to an assignment.
- Depending on your permission, you can view asset details and remotely control the linked asset. To remotely control assets, you must have the Edit permission.
- You can assign an assignment to a technician, a group, or to a support specialist. By default, a ticket or an assignment is assigned to the technician who creates it.
- For a closed record:
- You can add notes, but you cannot update or delete them. You can create solutions from notes.
- You can add and open attachments, but cannot delete them.
- You cannot link or unlink a predecessor and successor.
- You can create an assignment either by using a template or without using a template. If you apply a template to an already created assignment, the template data will overwrite the original data. However, if data is entered in some fields in the original assignment but not in the template that is applied, the original assignment data is retained. Track-It! provides seven out-of-the-box templates for creating assignments.
When you select a requestor, note the following points:
The Asset Name field displays assets owned by the requestor.
In the Asset Name field, select the More option to display all the assets from which you can select an asset.
If you do not have the View permission for assets, note the following points:
The Asset Name field only displays 100 assets.
In the Asset Name field, the More option does not display any assets.
When you select a requestor, the Asset Name field is auto-populated with the first asset from the list.
Creating and assigning assignments
You can create an assignment with or without using a template.
To create an assignment by using a template
Tip
For more information about templates and how they work, see Creating and managing form templates.
To help ensure the accuracy and completeness of data, you can use a template to create a record. A template ensures consistency of information and saves time. System administrators can define templates for tickets and assignments. Applying a template also adds a Template Used system note in the Details section.
- Navigate to the Ticket form (on the header bar, select ADD NEW > New Ticket).
- In the Ticket form, in the Details section, select Assignments > New.
- In the Assignments form, in the Select and apply template list, select the required template.
- Click Apply template
The Assignment form is populated with fields from the template. . - Enter other required information and click Save Assignment.
To create an assignment without using a template
- Navigate to the Ticket form (on the header bar, select ADD NEW > New Ticket).
- In the Ticket form, in the Details section, select Assignments > New.
In the Assignment form, enter details for required fields.
When you create an assignment, some fields on the Assignment form are populated from the parent Ticket form such as Summary, Ticket ID, Technician, Category, and so on.- Click Save Assignment.
After you save an assignment, you can perform following actions:
Performing additional actions on a record
After you save a record, you can perform additional actions. The following topics apply to both ticket and assignment records. For the purpose of documentation, the following topics might refer to ticket records.
- Sending an email message
- Assigning a record
- Performing quick actions on a record
- Searching and linking a solution to a record
- Adding notes to a record
- Creating a solution from record notes
- Adding attachments to a record
- Linking or unlinking assets to tickets
- Linking or unlinking assets to assignments
Sending an email message
Before you send an email, your system administrator must configure the email server and email accounts for incoming and outgoing email messages. For more information, see Configuring email. If the subject of an email is more than 255 characters, the email is not processed.
- On the header bar, expand the hamburger menu and select Help Desk.
- From the Views list, select an option to filter the records.
- Double-click the required record.
- On the recordtoolbar, click New email .
- To enter the recipient address, in the New Email dialog box, click Open Address Book
If you have selected a requestor in the record form, the To field is populated. However, you can overwrite it. next to the To field. - In the Select email address dialog box, perform the following actions:
- In the View list, select Requestors, Technicians, or All addresses.
You can use the Filter field to search for specific email addresses. - In the Email Address list, select the required email address, and click To at the bottom of the dialog box.
If the required address is not in the list, enter the address manually. - To populate the CC field, select the required email address, and click CC at the bottom of the dialog box.
- To populate the BCC field, select the required email address, and click BCC at the bottom of the dialog box.
- Click OK.
- In the View list, select Requestors, Technicians, or All addresses.
- In the Subject field, enter a subject for the email message.
- (Optional) To add attachments to the email message, click Browse to locate a file, and click Open.
Repeat the steps for each additional attachment. - In the Message Text field, enter the email message.
- To insert fields from the record form in the email message, in the Select Field list, select a field, and click the Insert in the message body link.
Only those fields that have values populated appear in the Select Field list. - Click Send.
After an email is sent, a confirmation message appears and an Email sent user note is created in the Details section that provides details about the email sent by the technician.
Assigning a record
The Assign To list allows you to assign the record using different options. The ticket is saved automatically as soon as any option is selected from the Assign To menu.
- Open a record from the Help Desk (hamburger menu > Help Desk > double-click the required record).
On the recordtoolbar, from the Assign To menu, select an appropriate option as described in the following table:
Options Details Assign to a Technician Select this option to assign the record to a technician belonging to your group or a group other than your group.
- In the Select Technician dialog box, select a group.
- Select a technician from the list.
- Click OK.
Assign to a Support Specialist Select this option to assign the record to a support specialist. This option is enabled only when the category selected for the record has a support specialist assigned to it. - In the Assign Support Specialists dialog box, select a group.
- Select a technician from the list.
- Click OK.
Assign to a Group Select this option to assign the record to a group. When you assign a record to a group, removes the Assign to technician details are removed.
- In the Select Group dialog box, select a group.
- Click OK.
Assign to a Technician of my Groups Select this option to assign the record to a technician belonging to your groups only.
In the Select Technician dialog box, select a group.
Select a technician from the list.
Click OK.
Assign to Myself Select this option to assign the record to yourself. Clear Assignment Select this option to clear the current technician details in the record form. However, the group remains assigned.
A record must be assigned to a group at least when it is not assigned to a technician.
Performing quick actions on a record
Use the Actions menu to perform certain actions on a ticket. These quick actions menu instantly performs a selected action without prompting you for confirmation. You must save a ticket to enable the Actions menu and then the ticket is saved again automatically each time you select an option from the Actions menu.
- Open a record from the Help Desk (hamburger menu > Help Desk > double-click the required record).
On the recordtoolbar, from the Actions menu, select an appropriate option as described in the following table:
Actions Details Close Ticket Select this option to close the ticket. The ticket status changes to the default status type Closed and the ticket becomes read-only. Reopen Ticket Select this option to reopen the closed ticket. The ticket status changes to the default status type Open and ticket is available for editing. Increment Call Counter
(For tickets only)Select this option to increase the count in the Call Counter field by one. On the out-of-the-box Ticket form, the Call Counter field is not present. However, you can contact your system administrator to add the Call Counter field to the form.
For example, you can use this field to increment the number of calls you had with the customers.Start Clock Select this option to start the stopped clock for an SLA milestone. The clock starts as soon as a ticket is created, so the Start Clock option is disabled by default. Stop Clock Select this option to stop the clock when required. This option also enables the Start Clock option. You can start the clock again when the issue that was blocking the ticket is resolved. A system note gets added when the clock stops or starts either through the Actions menu or through a Status change.
You can customize the form to add the Clock Stopped Time field that shows the time when the clock was stopped.Responded
(For tickets only)Select this option to populate the value of the Responded field. This field is populated based on the date and time when a technician selects this option.
Searching and linking a solution to a record
After you create and save a record, you can link a solution to it. If you do not have edit permission for a ticket, you cannot link a solution to it. Contact your system administrator to enable edit permission. You must save the ticket or assignment after linking a solution to it.
- Open a record from the Help Desk (hamburger menu > Help Desk > double-click the required record).
- On the recordtoolbar, click Search solution .
- In the Link: Solution dialog box, select a search option.
- In the Search field, enter your preferred keywords and click Search
By default, the Search field is populated with the record summary. However, you can overwrite it with your preferred keywords. . - From the results, select a solution and click Link.
- (Optional) In the Add New Ticket Note dialog box, if you want to add the summary of the solution into the resolution of the ticket, click Yes.
- (Optional) In the New Ticket Notes dialog box, enter details in the required fields. For more information, see Adding notes to a record.
- Click Add / Update Note .
The linked solution's ID is displayed in the Solution Information section of the Ticket form.
Adding notes to a record
After a record is created, the system adds system notes in the Ticket Notes section whenever a specific action is performed on the ticket. You can add user notes to keep track of the actions performed on the ticket. You can use these notes to generate specific reports.
- Open a record from the Help Desk (hamburger menu > Help Desk > double-click the required record).
In the Details section, select Ticket Notes > New.
Click Add/Update Note.
Enter details in the New Ticket Notes dialog box. The following table shows details of the fields on the New Ticket Notes dialog box:Field Details Note Type Select the type of note you want to add:
Ticket Description
Technician Note
Ticket Resolution
Activity Code Select the activity code for the note. For more information, see Creating and managing activity codes. Private note (hidden from Requestor)
(For tickets only)To make the note visible to requestors, clear the check box.
(2020 Release 03) To make all ticket notes private by default, select the Mark Notes as Private check box in the Ticket Notes Default Behavior section. After you have selected the check box, it continues to remain selected.
(2020 Release 03) To make all ticket notes public by default, clear the Mark Notes as Private check box in the Ticket Notes Default Behavior section. After you have cleared the check box, it continues to remain cleared.
For more information, see To configure system settings.
Enter note details Enter the actions performed on the ticket. Duration This value is populated automatically based on the time spent on an activity since the last note was added. For the activity codes which have the Track Time field selected, the Duration needs to have a positive value. For the activity codes that have the Track Time field cleared, Duration is not calculated. However, in both cases, you can override the Duration manually.
(2020 Release 03) The format of this field is ddd:hh:mm:ss.
Technician The value is populated based on the information in the Ticket form. Requestor
(For tickets only)The value is populated only if the note is added by a requestor from Self Service.
Based on the browser that you are using, you can insert or paste images to notes:
Browser | Details |
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Mozilla Firefox |
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Google Chrome Microsoft Edge |
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Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.0 |
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Creating a solution from record notes
After you have added a record note, you can create a solution depending on the note you added. You must add at least one ticket note to be able to create a solution from the Ticket Notes section. If there are multiple User notes, you must select an appropriate note to create the solution.
- Open a record from the Help Desk (hamburger menu > Help Desk > double-click the required record).
- In the Details section, select Ticket Notes > Create Solution
The ticket summary gets copied to the solution summary and the note text gets copied to the solution text but you can overwrite these values. For more information, see Creating a new solution. .
Adding attachments to a record
You can attach files up to 29 MB to your records. You can open or save an attachment using the Download Attachments
option. The download behavior—whether the attachment is saved or opened for viewing, depends on your browser settings.- Open a record from the Help Desk (from the hamburger menu , select Help Desk > double-click the required record).
- In the Attachments section, click New and perform any of the following actions:
- To locate and select the required file from the local storage, in the Attachments dialog box, click Browse.
- To select a web file, in the URL Link field, enter the required URL.
- Click Attach.
Linking or unlinking assets to tickets
In the Ticket form, you can link or unlink assets to tickets. It enables technicians to associate the asset with a specific ticket. Multiple tickets can be linked to a single asset.
- On the header bar, expand the hamburger menu and select Help Desk > double-click the ticket.
- In the Ticket form, from the Requestor Name field, select the requestor.
The Asset Name field is populated with the list of assets that are associated with the selected requestor. - To link the asset, from the Asset Name list, select the asset to link to the ticket.
- To unlink the asset, from the Asset Name list, clear the asset to link to the ticket.
- Click Save Ticket.
Linking or unlinking assets to assignments
In the Assignment form, you can link or unlink assets to assignments. It enables technicians to associate the asset with a specific assignment. Multiple assignment can be linked to a single asset.
- On the header bar, expand the hamburger menu and select Help Desk > double-click the ticket.
- From the Details section, click Assignments, select the assignment and click Edit .
- In the Assignment form, from the Requestor Name field, select the requestor.
The Asset Name field is populated with the list of assets that are associated with the selected requestor. - To link the asset, from the Asset Name list, select the asset to link to the assignment.
- To unlink the asset, from the Asset Name list, clear the asset to link to the assignment.
- Click Save Ticket.
Linking predecessors and successors to an assignment
You can link assignments of a ticket to each other as predecessors and successors to be completed in a certain order. This function helps you set a hierarchy of assignments to maintain the flow of tasks. Before you link predecessors and successors to an assignment, you must first ensure that your system administrator has configured the assignment status progression. For more information, see Configuring assignment status progression . You can add more than one successors and predecessors to an assignment. The predecessor-successor relationship is a tree relationship, not a sequential one, and can have different workflows. Depending upon the workflow, there can be two or more assignments that should be completed simultaneously.
You cannot link an assignment as both a predecessor and successor of an assignment, because this creates a circular loop in the workflow execution.
The following procedure uses an example to help understand this feature better. This example sets up a workflow where assignment 002 is worked on first and after it is closed, a technician is notified to start working on the next assignment in the flow. So assignment 001 is completed next. When assignment 001 is closed, assignments 003 and 004 are worked on. So the workflow hierarchy for assignments is set as 002 > 001 > 003 > 004.
Prerequisites
- Ensure you have created a ticket with at least three assignments linked to it, such as a ticket in our example that has four linked assignments having IDs 001,002,003, and 004.
- Ensure you have configured Assignment Status Progression with an appropriate condition, such as when a predecessor assignment status is Closed, update the successor assignment's status from Open to In Progress.
To link predecessors and successors to an assignment
- Open a Ticket from the Help Desk (hamburger menu Help Desk > double-click the required record).
- In the Ticket form, click the Assignments tab.
- Select an assignment, such as 001 and click Edit .
- To link a predecessor to the current assignment, in the Assignment form, select Predecessor > Link.
- In the Select from Assignments dialog box, select an assignment to make it a predecessor of the current assignment, such as 002, and click OK.
Assignment 002 is now the predecessor of assignment 001. So based on the condition in the prerequisite, only after assignment 002 is closed, assignment 001 goes in the In Progress state, and you can start working on it. - To link a successor to the current assignment, in the Assignment form, select Successor > Link.
- In the Select from Assignments dialog box, select an assignment to make it a successor of the current assignment, such as 003, and click OK.
After assignment 001 is closed, assignment 003 goes in the In Progress state, and you can start working on it. - To link one more successor to the current assignment, such as 004, repeat steps 6 and 7.
You can make 004 a successor of 003, so that 004 is completed after 003.
Editing or closing an assignment
You can edit a ticket or an assignment from the Help Desk or from the Assignment tab of the Ticket form. To edit a closed assignment, you must reopen it from the Actions menu first.
- On the header bar, click the hamburger menu and select Help Desk.
- In Views, select All Assignments.
- From the list, double-click the required assignment.
In the Assignment form, perform one of the following actions:
Action Steps To edit an assignment - Edit the required fields.
- Click Save Assignment.
To close an assignment - In the Assignment Information section, in the Status field, select Closed.
- In the message box, click OK.
Calculating Technician Charge of an assignment
If you customize an Assignment form to include the Charge field, Track-It! automatically calculates and tallies the total technician charges whenever an assignment note is created.
For this scenario, it is assumed that you:
- Created a custom Assignment form that includes the Charge field
- Specified a value in the Hourly Rate field of your technician profiles
Provided that the above conditions exist, Track-It! automatically calculates and tallies the charges for the Assignment based on the following behavior:
Technician action | Effect |
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Add Assignment Note in an Assignment and specify the duration | The following tasks are performed:
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Example
For this example, assume there are three technicians (Technician A, Technician B, and Technician C) with three different hourly rates and they are all working on a particular assignment. The following table describes how the charges are calculated and displayed in the Assignment:
Technician | Hourly rate | Actions on Ticket | Duration | Charges on Notes and Assignments | Ticket Charge after action |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Technician A | 100.00 | Added Assignment Note | 000:00:15:00 | 25.00 | 25.00 |
Technician B | 50.00 | Added Assignment Note | 000:02:00:00 | 100.00 | 125.00 |
Technician C | 25.00 | Added Assignment Note | 000:01:00:00 | 25.00 | 150.00 |
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