SATYR On-line Support Request Tracking System

v0.1.0

Contents

Introduction

Project Overview

The User Experience

The ICT Support Team Experience

Design Objectives

Technical Overview

Database

PHP

Apache

Additional Software

Additional Listings

Introduction

SATYR is an On-line Support Request Tracking System, part of the School Tools for Online Resource Management project.

The working name for the project is the acronym SATYR (Submit and Track Your Request). The name was derived from the primary services that the project aims to provide to the user.

Project Overview

The SATYR project uses a web-based interface to allow users to log support requests from any PC within the site. The SATYR system will also enable the ICT Support Team to view and update request information from any PC.

SATYR allows easier analysis of support requests, allowing the ICT Support Team to develop content for Professional Development sessions, monitor maintenance performed on individual computer systems and manage the deployment of human resources within the team.

Support requests for a PC with a problem that prevents that PC from being used to make the request can be made from another PC. Urgent support requests can continue to be made through traditional methods (e.g a telephone/pager system), but then logged by the ICT Support Team to ensure support requests can be accurately monitored. An institutional definition of support requests classified as “Urgent” should be developed.

The User Experience

The SATYR project should provide the following facilities to the end-user:

Allow only authenticated access.

Allow user to submit new support requests.

Allow user to review submitted support requests.

Display new and open support requests first.

Allow user to view the information as they submitted it.

Allow user to view ICT Support Team comments on the request.

Allow user to view which member of the ICT Support Team is dealing with the request.

Display closed support requests further down the page.

Allow user to view all relevant information on closed support requests.

Hide closed requests after a defined period.

Provide information on how to use SATYR.

Provide information about SATYR and how it works.

Authentication

Access to the SATYR module is granted following a successful login to the “login” module.

SATYR Start Page

Following authentication the user should be presented with the option to submit a new request, get help on using the SATYR system and a summary of their new, open and recently closed requests.

Review Submitted Requests

Support requests will be primarily reviewed on the SATYR start page, which should display a summary of the user's open and recently closed support requests.

For newly submitted (unevaluated) requests, the information displayed on each request should include the following fields:

The support request number.

The current status of the request.

The name or username of the user who submitted the request.

The system with regard to which the support request was submitted.

The information included by the user with the submittal.

The user’s rating of the urgency of the support request.

The date and time the support request was submitted.

For open requests, the information displayed on each request should include the following fields:

The support request number.

The current status of the request.

The name or username of the user who submitted the request.

The system with regard to which the support request was submitted.

The information included by the user with the submittal.

The user’s rating of the urgency of the support request.

The date and time the support request was submitted.

The category assigned the request by the ICT Support Team.

The evaluation of the request by the ICT Support Team.

The date and time of the evaluation by the ICT Support Team.

Further comments and action from the ICT Support Team.

The ICT Support Team member primarily dealing with the request.

The sections showing fields submitted by the user should be visibly differentiated from the fields submitted by the Team Member.

Review Closed Requests

Recently closed support requests will be displayed on the SATYR start page, although all closed requests should be viewable from a link from the SATYR start page. The information displayed in regard to closed requests should include the following fields:

The support request number.

The current status of the request.

The name or username of the user who submitted the request.

The system with regard to which the support request was submitted.

The information included by the user with the submittal.

The user’s rating of the urgency of the support request.

The date and time the support request was submitted.

The category assigned the request by the ICT Support Team.

The evaluation of the request by the ICT Support Team.

The date and time of the evaluation by the ICT Support Team.

Further comments and action from the ICT Support Team.

The ICT Support Team member primarily dealing with the request.

The date and time the support request was closed.

The sections showing fields submitted by the user should be visibly differentiated from the fields submitted by the Team Member.

Submit a Support Request

After selecting to submit a new support request the user should be presented with a form allowing them to enter the details for their support request. The user should be presented with the following fields:

The forename of the user, blank.

The surname of the user, blank.

The system with regard to which the support request was submitted, with the value “Unspecified”.

The information included by the user with the submittal, blank.

The user’s rating of the urgency of the support request, with the value “Unrated”.

"Submit Query" button

Information On How To Use SATYR

Although it is envisaged that the SATYR system should be as easy and intuitive to use as possible and that the users will be provided with training in the use of the system as part of their professional development, the SATYR web pages should also provide information on how to use the system. This will serve as a useful reminder to users who have used the system previously and will help users who are new to the system but have not received any Professional Development.

Information about SATYR and how it works

For users of the system that want to know more about SATYR and the technical mechanisms behind its functionality, information about the SATYR project will be provided.

The ICT Support Team Experience

The SATYR project should provide the following facilities to the members of the ICT Support Team:

Allow only authenticated access.

Allow ICT Support Team member to submit new support requests.

Allow ICT Support Team member to review newly submitted support requests.

Allow ICT Support Team member to review open support requests assigned to them.

Display new and open support requests first.

Allow ICT Support Team member to view details of the support request.

Allow ICT Support Team member evaluate unassigned requests, and assign them to an individual ICT Support Team member.

Allow ICT Support Team member to add comments on the submitted request for viewing by the user.

Transfer support requests to other members of the ICT Support Team.

Display closed support requests further down the page.

Allow ICT Support Team member to view information on closed support requests assigned to them.

Sort/view support requests by any field in the support request.

Hide closed requests after a defined period.

Provide information on how to use the administrative features of SATYR.

Authentication

Access to the SATYR module is granted following a successful login to the “login” module.

SATYR Start Page

Following authentication the ICT Support Team member should be presented with a summary of open requests assigned to them. They should also have options to submit a new request themselves, and to review unassigned requests.

Review Unassigned Requests

For newly submitted (unevaluated) requests, the information displayed on each request should include the following fields:

The support request number.

The current status of the request.

The name or username of the user who submitted the request.

The system with regard to which the support request was submitted.

The information included by the user with the submittal.

The user’s rating of the urgency of the support request.

The date and time the support request was submitted.

An option to evaluate and assign the support request.

Review Assigned Requests

For open requests, the information displayed on each request should include the following fields:

The support request number.

The current status of the request.

The name or username of the user who submitted the request.

The system with regard to which the support request was submitted.

The information included by the user with the submittal.

The user’s rating of the urgency of the support request.

The date and time the support request was submitted.

The category assigned the request by the ICT Support Team.

The evaluation of the request by the ICT Support Team.

The date and time of the evaluation by the ICT Support Team.

The priority assigned to the support request by the ICT Support Team member who evaluated the request.

Further comments and action from the ICT Support Team.

The ICT Support Team member primarily dealing with the request.

An option to edit the ICT Support Team contributed information.

An option to close the request.

The sections showing fields submitted by the user should be visibly differentiated from the fields submitted by the Team Member.

Review Closed Requests

The information displayed in regard to closed requests should include the following fields:

The support request number.

The current status of the request.

The name or username of the user who submitted the request.

The system with regard to which the support request was submitted.

The information included by the user with the submittal.

The user’s rating of the urgency of the support request.

The date and time the support request was submitted.

The category assigned the request by the ICT Support Team.

The evaluation of the request by the ICT Support Team.

The date and time of the evaluation by the ICT Support Team.

The priority assigned to the support request by the ICT Support Team member who evaluated the request.

Further comments and action from the ICT Support Team.

The ICT Support Team member primarily dealing with the request.

The date and time the support request was closed.

An option to re-open the support request

The sections showing fields submitted by the user should be visibly differentiated from the fields submitted by the Team Member.

Submit a Support Request

After selecting to submit a new support request the ICT Support Team member should be presented with a form allowing them to enter the details for their support request. The user should be presented with the following fields:

The forename of the user, blank.

The surname of the user, blank.

The system with regard to which the support request was submitted, with the value “Unspecified”.

The information included by the user with the submittal, blank.

The user’s rating of the urgency of the support request, with the value “Unrated”.

The category assigned the request by the ICT Support Team.

The evaluation of the request by the ICT Support Team.

The priority assigned to the support request by the ICT Support Team member who evaluated the request.

Further comments and action from the ICT Support Team.

The ICT Support Team member primarily dealing with the request.

"Submit Query" button

Information On How To Use SATYR

Instructions for use of the functions available to the ICT Support Team should be available through the SATYR pages.

Design Objectives

The pages will be designed so that they can be used in an in-line frame, part of a navigational structure on a broader intranet. The design of the pages should present the user, whether a member of the ICT Support Team or a general user, with a page summarizing the information that they are most likely to want, together with links for the options that they are most likely to want.

New, open and closed support requests should be clearly distinguished. Fields within a support request submitted by the user should be visually distinguished from the fields completed by the ICT Support Team member.

Technical Overview

SQL

The key to the successful development and use of the SATYR system is the structure of the underlying database.

Database Name: STORM

Table: SATYR

Object: request

Primary Key: job_id

Attribute	Data Type	Default Values	Required Field?	Description
job_id	INT(6)		Yes	Unique Job ID
status	ENUM ("New", "Open", "Closed")	New	Yes	Current Request Status
nickname	VARCHAR(255)		Yes	Helpful name given by the user for use in summary display
username	VARCHAR(30)		Yes	Domain username
systemID	CHAR(20)	Unspecified		The ID of the system, if applicable. This could be its room and number, NetBIOS name etc.
room	CHAR(15)			Location of machine submitted by the user
machineNumber	CHAR(3)			Machine number submitted by the user
initialInfo	TEXT			Information submitted by user
userRating	ENUM ("Urgent", "Quite Urgent", "Not Urgent", "Unrated")	Unrated		The user's perception of the urgency of the job
submitDate	DATETIME		Yes	Date and time of initial submittal
category	VARCHAR(20)	Unassigned	Yes	Category assigned to request by Team Member
evaluation	TEXT			Evaluation by Team Member
evalDate	DATE			Date and Time of evaluation
priority	INT(1)			Job Priority assigned by Team Member, value 1 to 5
furtherComments	TEXT			Continuing feedback info
teamMember	CHAR(10)	Unassigned	Yes	Team Member dealing with request
closeDate	DATE			Date and Time request closed
ActiveEdit	INT(1)	“0”		An “op-lock” field for when job is being edited.

SATYR table permissions

The account structure should take into account the following:

The SATYR administrator needs to be able to: DELETE, INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE. Default account name: admin

The ICT Support Team members need to be able to:

SELECT on all fields for producing tables and search queries.

UPDATE on all fields for evaluating / updating support request details.

INSERT to create new MySQL table entries.

Default account name: ict

Users need to be able to:

SELECT on all fields for producing tables

INSERT to create new MySQL table entries.

Default account name: users

Database Name: STORM

Table: SATYRcategory

Object: request

Primary Key: name

Attribute	Data Type	Default Values	Required Field?	Description
name	VARCHAR(50)		Yes	Unique Job ID

SATYRcategory table permissions

The account structure should take into account the following:

The SATYR administrator needs to be able to: DELETE, INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE.

The ICT Support Team members need to be able to:

SELECT on all fields for producing drop down boxes.

Users do not need to access this table.

Common Processes and Page Elements

PHP processes and page elements that recurr across pages should be coded in separate "include" files or functions to allow changes to be made to a single file but reflected across the whole SATYR site.

Laura Cowen

1995-11-21T17:41:00