Track-It! is back!

I am extremely excited to announce the general availability of Track-It! 2018.

With this new platform, BMC not only continues to show innovation in IT Service Management, but also cements its position in the Track-It! market. This release represents a major step forward for Track-It! with a completely overhauled platform, new user experience and a great deal more flexibility and functionality than ever before. Track-It! 2018 adds the features that our customers need while continuing with the traditional of ease of deployment, ease of use and ease of management that Track-It! is known for. It also provides a platform which we can build upon more rapidly, allowing us to shift to a more frequent release cycle. That means customers will not only be getting a brand-new product, but will also be receiving new functionality and feature enhancements on a more frequent basis.

Best of all, this brand-new platform upgrade is completely free to our customers who are on active support contracts.

I am extremely excited to share this information with you. Some of the highlights of this release are included below.

User Experience – A completely new, modern, browser-based user experience provides technicians a way to connect from any system with a browser whether it is running Mac, Windows, Linux or even from a tablet. With a cross-browser compatible web interface, help desk technicians have instant access from any system without the need to install a client.

Free online training
Track-It! 2018 makes it easy to come up to speed on the new product. A full training class has been provided for you online and at no additional cost. Each session lasts 15-30 minutes so you can easily fit it into your busy schedule. Become an expert in no time.

Form Customization
Customize the Track-It! forms to your liking. Add or remove fields, customize their layout, remove menu options, buttons, etc. You can even create completely different forms for different groups of users.

Business Rules Engine
Business rules help you automate processes, communicate with your stakeholders, and ensure nothing is forgotten and every action is completed on time. Turn inbound emails into specific ticket types based on their content. Email an end user one hour after a ticket is closed to ensure they are satisfied, escalate to supervisors if work is at risk of not being completed on time. The opportunities to save time and improve service are almost endless.

Asset Management (powered by BMC Client Management integration)
Track-It! Asset Management is now powered by BMC Client Management. This provides much more robust discovery, auditing and remote-control functionality all at no additional cost to you.

Technician Groups
Groups allow you to easily assign a ticket, notify teams of people via email or change permissions for an entire group of technicians.

Data segregation by group
Data segregation further enhances the experience for multiple groups by allowing you to control which data each group can access. Combined with the new form customization this gives you flexibility to let each group see only what they need and in the way they want to see it.

Dashboards with Drill Down
Save time each day by popping open your own custom Dashboard and drilling right into the Tickets that need your attention just by clicking on a section.

Quick Reports
Need quick access to information and you don’t have the time to create a formal report in the reports module? Use the grid view capability in each Track-It! module to produce a quick report that can be exported to HTML or Excel. Simply customize the record view, columns, sorting, grouping, etc. Then click the actions menu and export the data.

Web based reporting
Track-It! 2018 has a new web based reporting tool that allows you to quickly and easily generate a report right from your browser. The new reports wizard helps you build a report quickly. No complex third-party software to install or manage

Web based Remote Control
Quickly solve user problems or walk someone through a training scenario right from your Track-It! interface using our web based remote control. You can even connect to users who are outside your company network.

Simplified Administration
Configuration is easier than ever. All settings are organized into logical groups that you can easily browse or search. Additionally, the application makes it clear which settings are critical for smooth operation by highlighting unconfigured settings in red, and showing the completed ones in green.

Multiple Email account support
Track-It! now supports processing of email from multiple accounts. Have users send the Facilities requests to one address, Help Desk requests to another and HR requests to another. Track-It! will monitor all configured mailboxes, creating tickets and routing them according to your preferences.

Additional Information

Here are some references to additional information about this release which may be helpful.

• Free Video Training
• Product Documentation
• Release Notes
• Track-It! Community

I would like to take a moment to thank all the customers who are active in the Track-It! Community and, the Track-It! Developers Circle. A special thanks to those customers who have submitted ideas that were included in this release and to those that were part of the Early Adopter Program. These programs are very active and your participation helps drive the product direction in ways that benefit you and all of our customers.

We hope you enjoy this release and we look forward to bringing you more great things on this great new platform.

Enjoy!

This blog is the fifth in a series on best practices for transforming help desk operations at small to medium-size businesses from reactive to proactive.

It’s estimated by Forrester Research, that about 20 percent of all support tickets involve passwords.

Password resets are simple to do, but their sheer volume makes them a drain on help desk staff. Sort of like a swarm of gnats – not harmful, but persistent and annoying.

As passwords become more complex to address growing security threats, reset requests will undoubtedly increase. This is a problem for several reasons:

• It’s time-consuming for both users and help desk staff.
• During non-business hours, help desk services may not be available – keeping users from their apps, data and other tools.
• Costs add up quickly due to the large number of tickets.
• Technicians may become bored or frustrated with spending so much of their time on elementary tasks – leading to high staff turnover.

Pass the buck on passwords

Fortunately, automated password reset tools, which are often included with help desk software, can minimize or eliminate these problems by shifting the task to users. Most users quickly feel comfortable handling this simple process themselves – and the benefits can be huge.

Typically, the automated reset tool is deployed to all devices on the network. Users are asked to pre-register for the service by entering their user ID and supplying answers to challenge questions.

If a user is locked out of their PC because of a forgotten password or locked account, they can simply press a password reset button right on their Windows login screen. After entering their user ID and answering the challenge questions correctly, they will be prompted to reset their password and/or unlock their account. A confirmation email will also be sent. Alternatively, the password reset system may provide a web portal for users to access the reset system from a coworker’s computer.

Those are the basics of a good reset tool. But some systems, such as Track-It! from BMC Software, add other features like automatic logging of a help desk ticket to provide usage metrics. Monitoring password resets is valuable because:

1. It can indicate trends and help identify training opportunities, such as repeated resets by the same users
2. It records unsuccessful resets that may actually be hacking attempts, helping to identify potential security threats
3. It documents the volume of resets to provide data for estimating ROI of the reset software

Another value-added feature is respect for the organization’s Windows network password policies regarding length, type of characters, reuse of passwords, etc.

Empower users, ease the burden on the help desk

The ROI from automated password reset software goes far beyond money, although cost reduction is a major benefit.

• Users gain control and convenience from the ability to reset their password at any time, without spending time and effort to contact the help desk.
• Because the system respects security policies, users are required to create strong, compliant passwords. This process strengthens the organization’s overall security posture.
• Technicians are freed from endless, repetitive reset tasks to handle more-complex and varied issues.

Track-It! Help Desk Software from BMC offers password reset functionality and an end-user self-service portal. Track-It! supports best practices and addresses your top pain points – at an affordable price. Find out more at http://www.trackit.com/.

This blog is the fourth in a series on best practices for transforming help desk operations at small to medium-size businesses from reactive to proactive.

So-called “tribal knowledge” or information known only to a group, can work against your help desk organization. If only one or two technicians have learned how to resolve a particular issue, their knowledge can easily be lost, either temporarily or permanently, if they depart on vacation, take a sick day, or accept a new job.

Meanwhile, others on the team are forced to figure out that fix on their own. And if they don’t have a way to capture, document, and share this hard-won solution, the cycle repeats itself. Reinventing the wheel is inefficient, time-consuming, frustrating to users, and wastes help desk resources. Plus, it can lead to variations in fixes from one technician to another.

That’s why most help desk organizations deploy some type of knowledge base and in many cases, make selected information accessible to users, not just their technicians.

Good knowledge base content is important to the success of a help desk and has even led to the development of formal knowledge base methodologies like Knowledge Centered Support (KCS), which is currently a hot topic among help desk organizations. KCS has its own certification (the KCS Foundation Certification), and focuses on knowledge as a key asset of the organization.

Knowledge base basics

For those just starting out, there are plenty of things to think about when selecting, operating and managing your knowledge base, so let’s discuss some of them.

1. Software structure: Should you choose a solution that provides a framework to be filled out with your own content, or one that comes with answers to commonly asked questions, such as Microsoft Office issues? The first option allows you to totally customize the knowledge base for your company, but it requires time and effort. The second may be easier up front, but asks you to pay for information that can easily be copied off public websites and turned into articles.

2. Usability: What types of functionality make it easier for technicians to turn new solutions into knowledge base articles, and to quickly locate existing articles in the system? Let’s face it technicians know they need to document successful fixes and use existing articles, but they’re very busy people. Automation can mean the difference between capturing important information and losing it.

Look for features such as these:

• Automatic search triggered by data entry. After typing a subject such as an error message into the ticket, the technician clicks a button and the system automatically searches the knowledge base for relevant articles.
• Integration between the ticket system and knowledge base. After typing a new solution into a ticket, the technician simply clicks a button and the software copies the information into a new knowledge base article.
• Another aspect of usability is content enhancement. Knowledge base software that allows you to embed HTML links and screen shots, and edit the text for better readability, can increase the value of the solution. If the article involves a process, it’s nice to be able to attach a form to it.

3. Access: A particularly valuable aspect of knowledge bases is the opportunity to share articles, so users can search for solutions to their issues before logging a help desk ticket. This saves time, gives users greater control, and lightens the load on technicians. However, there must be a balance between facilitating and controlling user access. On the one hand, you want users to think about choosing self-service when they’re logging a ticket. On the other, you don’t want them attempting something complicated, secure, or sensitive that should be referred to a technician.

• Some knowledge base systems have a mechanism for passing proposed articles through a reviewer/approver who decides if the content should be public or private. Others allow technicians to determine whether an article will be made available to users during a search.

• To help users find content appropriate to their issue, the system may prompt them to conduct a search of the knowledge base prior to logging a ticket. This brings up another delicate balance. Some tools actually force users to search the knowledge base first. But since people vary widely in their confidence and comfort level regarding IT, they could perceive this approach as a brush-off by the help desk. A better alternative may be to offer a neutral choice between a search and a ticket.

4. Management: A knowledge base full of articles isn’t enough. To make sure the content is accurate and relevant, you need a mechanism for overseeing, culling and updating entries.

• Some systems allow end users to indicate whether a solution was useful. Ratings provided by users help rank knowledge base content according to its value.

• Look for functionality that allows you to track the number of times a knowledge base article was utilized as the solution for a ticket, which provides another indicator of relevance.

• Another helpful tool is sorting capability, which allows you to prioritize the most recent additions and review older articles for possible deletion.

• Report generation is also helpful for spotting trends about knowledge base use.

Beyond the “tribe”

A robust, up-to-date and accessible knowledge base benefits your help desk team, your users, and the organization as a whole by turning tribal knowledge into a database of proven guidance, best practices, and tips and tricks.

1. Collect your thoughts: Documenting, organizing, and sharing successful solutions prevent them from vanishing if someone leaves the team or is temporarily unavailable.

2. Develop new expertise: Learning from each other is a great way to build technicians’ skills and orient new team members. For users, learning to solve a routine issue builds self-confidence and raises the comfort level with IT.

3. Minimize routine tasks: Encouraging users to solve their own simple issues can free your staff to tackle more-demanding problems, and helps avoid burn-out caused by fixing the same issue over and over again.

4. Become more efficient: Every help desk team is trying to do a lot with limited resources. Referring to successful fixes in the knowledge base reduces the time and mental effort needed to assist users.

This blog is the first in a series on best practices for transforming help desk operations at small to mid-size businesses from reactive to proactive.

Is your help desk team constantly in crisis mode?

Behind the curve, stressed out, and making mistakes?

And worst of all, failing to meet expectations of users (for fast resolution) and management (for high productivity and service levels)?

You are not alone.

Many help desks spend most of their time fire-fighting. They are often overwhelmed by a seemingly endless queue of calls and emails. It’s far from the ideal situation.

Why is this scenario so common?

Help desks in small to mid-size organizations like yours don’t have big budgets for expensive tools or large numbers of help desk staff. Plus, they lack metrics and reporting capability to make a business case for additional resources. The results aren’t pretty: overworked staff, issues falling through the cracks, impacts to service levels, and management and user dissatisfaction.

In my view, the fundamental issue is the need for better technology. Affordable software solutions are available to enable your help desk staff to advance from traditional methods of receiving, assigning, handling, documenting, and measuring issues to more modern and efficient processes. For example, software that offers users convenient new ways to submit requests (such as a web portal or an automatically monitored email box) can replace “fire alarms” – panicked phone calls, office drop-ins or emails to specific staff members. Collecting and tracking all of the reported issues in a central repository eliminates outdated solutions like overstuffed Exchange mailboxes and cumbersome Excel spreadsheets. The best tools also include knowledge bases and self-service portals to encourage users to solve their own issues and to improve overall efficiency.

A tale from the trenches

Below, you’ll see my recommended best practices for minimizing fire drills and maximizing efficiency, productivity, and satisfaction. In upcoming blogs, I’ll go into detail about each of them.  But before I present the list, here’s some food for thought.

A real, unnamed organization shared a few of the many drawbacks of its existing system. The Exchange email box – the only method for submitting issues — was shared by the help desk technicians. All five received every email. When a request landed in the box, someone was supposed to take ownership and reply to the rest of the team that it was being handled. Unfortunately, things did not always go as planned.

• Simple issues were popular, and sometimes two people jumped on a fix immediately and forgot to let their teammates know. The result: wasteful duplication of effort.
• Complicated issues – not so popular – were sometimes ignored.
• If the go-to person for a particular fix was out of the office, requests were postponed while everyone waited for the technician “expert” to return. As a result, many times this issues were buried in the email box and fell through the cracks.
• If someone resolved a particularly complex problem, that knowledge was not documented, forcing other technicians to reinvent the wheel over and over again.
• Lack of measurement and reporting capability prevented the team from determining metrics such as volume, productivity, and satisfaction, and tracking trends.

Bottom line, the box became jammed with hundreds of thousands of emails, some left unread. Meanwhile, technicians fell behind – and had no way to justify more people — because they did not have the right tools to lighten their load or document their challenges.

Top 5 best practices

This sad but familiar tale illustrates the need for my first best practice:

1. Automate processes: replace catch-all email boxes that are manually monitored with a software system that automatically receives inquiries, creates tickets from them, and then routes and prioritizes them. Ideally, the solution should also automatically generate notifications to users and launch a post-resolution survey.

The other best practices are:

2. Empower users: provide alternative channels to log and monitor their issues, including a self-service web portal or a mobile app.

3. Build knowledge: implement a searchable knowledge base that help desk staff can use as a guideline for resolving issues and users can consult to solve simple problems themselves.

4. Pass the buck on passwords: deploy a password reset utility that allows users to reset their own passwords (one of the most common issues, as you know only too well).

5. Measure and report: add reporting capability to identify problem/repeat users and problematic equipment, document workflow efficiency, pinpoint trends, and provide documentation to justify additional budget or staff.

Be sure to read the rest of the series to find out how your help desk organization can make better use of staff time, raise awareness of workflow bottlenecks, boost technical knowledge, increase user satisfaction – and make a bigger contribution to the business.

Track-It! Help Desk software from BMC is the perfect help desk fire extinguisher. It supports best practices and addresses your top pain points – at an affordable price. Find out more at http://www.trackit.com/.