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Registering a call is the first phase of the
Tivoli Problem Management workflow. Call registration is the process used to gather
information about callers and the details of their problems when they contact the help
desk. When you register a call, you ask the caller for his or her location, name, type of
problem, and various other information. You record this information in the Call Registration dialog box.
Note: You must register every call that comes in to your help desk. |
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Call registration is a detailed, yet flexible
process. For a new problem, you complete information in the Call
Registration dialog box in this order.
- Specify the Contact Information.
You use a name, contact ID, phone number, location, and organization to identify who
called.
- Describe the call.
You use call codes to classify the call and a severity code to rate the urgency of the
call.
Tivoli Problem Management includes a set of default call codes that classify the call.
Your system administrator can create customized call codes that reflect your
organization's call classification system.
Severity indicates the call's importance or urgency. You track calls and problems
on the basis of severity. Escalation capabilities also relate to severity. In general,
severity is a numeric quantity ranging from 1 (most severe) to some higher number (least
severe).
- Identify the Component Information or specify the Inventory ID.
Tivoli Problem Management organizes the products your company supports into a component
hierarchy. This hierarchy is composed of four levels: System, Component, Item, and Module.
An additional piece of information, Problem Type, is associated with the component level.
The component information for each problem can be used to search for a solution with
Diagnostic Aids. System is the only required box in the Component Information section.
Completing the Component, Item, and Module boxes, however, helps Tivoli Problem Management
find the best solution to your caller's problem. A more precise SCIM helps Tivoli Problem
Management find a more precise solution.
If your help desk chooses to do so, you can maintain a list of all systems supported at
particular locations and assign them an Inventory ID. SCIM information associated with an
Inventory ID is automatically supplied in the Call Registration dialog box when you
specify an Inventory ID.
- Describe the problem.
This is the point at which you enter information about the caller's problem. The
description is used by Adaptive Learning Diagnostic Aid to search for a solution.
- Determine a resolution.
You can supply the solution yourself, use Diagnostic Aids, or transfer it to another
analyst.
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The information you gather during call
registration creates both a call record and a problem record. Other analysts may use the call record if they
want to re-examine a caller's problem or problems. Tivoli Problem Management uses
information from the problem record to search for a solution. |
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A dispatcher answers and registers calls, then
transfers the calls to an analyst or group of analysts. If you intend to register a call
but not make an attempt to solve the caller's problem, you might prefer to use the Call Dispatch dialog box. |
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You can attach calls to an existing problem.
This saves time when you receive many calls about the same problem. For more information,
see Attaching Calls to Problems. You
can also copy information from a problem that was reported and resolved in the past to a
new call. See Copying Existing Problems to New Calls.
If you work on a problem before you register the call, you can add work history notes
in the Call Registration dialog box. See
Adding Work History to a New Call. |
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Problem History is the second tab of the Call Registration dialog box. You use this tab to assemble a list
of problems that matches location or component information you specify. When you use the
Problem History tab, you can search for problem histories for one, some, or all of the
problems in your help desk's database. For more information, see Using
the Problem List during Call Registration. |
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The following buttons are found on the Call
Registration tab of the Call Registration Dialog box.
Choose... |
to... |
Work History |
record work you have done on a problem in the Work History dialog box. |
Cancel |
closes the Call Registration dialog box and
doesn't save any information on the Call Registration dialog box. |
Clear |
clears the Call Registration dialog box. |
Diagnose |
access Diagnostic Aids
to help you find a solution to your caller's problem. |
Done |
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Finishing call registration
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After you complete all the required fields on
the Call Registration dialog box, you can provide
the solution yourself, use Diagnostic Aids, freeze the problem, or transfer the call
and problem to another analyst. |
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You specify contact information to identify who
called the help desk.
- In the First Name, Last Name, ID, and Phone boxes, do one of the following:
- Enter the information in the appropriate boxes and press TAB.
- Choose Browse next to the Last Name box to search for a contact using the Quick Contact dialog box.
- From the Location list, select a location.
- From the Organization list, select a organization.
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Describing the call
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Perform the following steps to describe the
call:
- From the Problem Code list, select a problem code.
- From the Call Code list, select a call code.
- From the Severity list, select a severity code.
- From the Cause list, select a cause code.
Note: Your system administrator can set default values for both the Call
Code and Severity boxes.
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Identifying component information
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After you describe the call, your pointer moves
to the section where you identify the components involved in the problem. There are two
ways to identify components.
- Specify the SCIM (System, Component, Item, and Module) information item by item or go to
the Inventory box and type an inventory ID.
Note: Because the component setup is hierarchical, if you specify the
SCIM, you must identify the components from the top down (from system level to module
level.)
- If your system administrator maintains a list of supported items at particular
locations, you can ask the caller if he or she knows the inventory ID of the system in
question.
Tip: If your caller knows the inventory ID number, go to Specifying the inventory ID procedure.
Perform the following steps to identify the Component Information:
- From the System list, select a system.
Note: Selecting a system fills the Component list with all the components
that are a part of the selected system.
- From the Component list, select a component.
Note: Selecting a component fills the Item list with all the items that
are part of the selected component. When a component is selected, Problem Type may be
automatically filled in.
- From the Item list, select an item.
Note: Selecting an item fills the Module list with all modules that make
up the item.
- From the Module list, select a module.
- From the Problem Type list, select a problem type if the Problem Type box was not
automatically filled in when you selected a component.
Note: For more information on components (SCIM), see Maintaining the SCIM Hierarchy. |
Specifying the inventory ID
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Inventory IDs are set up for each user. If there
is a inventory ID for the caller, use the inventory box. If there is no inventory ID,
enter information about the components involved in the problem in the SCIM. For more
information, see Identifying component
information. Note: Inventory IDs are only available if you run
Tivoli Asset Management.
Perform the following steps to specify the inventory:
- Choose the Inventory Browse button.
Result: The Quick Find Asset dialog box appears.
- Enter Search parameters and choose Find.
Note: For more information, see Searching and
Inquiring.
- Select an asset and choose Select.
Result: Tivoli Problem Management automatically completes the System,
Component, Item, Problem Type, and Inventory ID boxes in the Call Registration dialog box.
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Describing the problem
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Perform the following steps to describe the
problem:
- In the Description box, type a description of the problem your caller is having. This
description is used by the Adaptive Learning Diagnostic Aid to search for a solution.
Note: You can type as long a description as you like. This box has
word-wrap capability.
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