Using the Solutions Diagnostic Aid


Overview

Tasks

Included with

Tivoli Problem Management

Overview

When do you use the Solutions Diagnostic Aid?

You use the Solutions Diagnostic Aid to find the solution to a problem when the other Diagnostic Aids and HyperTrees can not find the one you need. You also use the Solutions Diagnostic Aid to find a solution when you think you can find it faster searching for it with keywords.

The Solutions Diagnostic Aid does not use either the problem description or component information to find the solution to your caller's problem. Instead, you use the Solutions Diagnostic Aid to search through all the solutions present in Tivoli Problem Management to find the one you need to solve the current problem.

Solutions

All solutions activated in Tivoli Problem Management are kept in a Master Solutions table. As your help desk continues to use Tivoli Problem Management, you may accumulate hundreds of solution records in the system. These solutions are entered into the system by any of the following ways:
  • Help desk analysts add active solutions to the Solutions Diagnostic Aid when they type in a resolution in Call Registration, select the Make Active Solution check box, and choose Done.
  • When system administrator add Diagnostic Aid records, they also provide the solutions for those records.
  • When system administrators build HyperTrees, they add numerous solution nodes to the system.
  • System administrators can also add solutions to the Solutions Diagnostic Aid without actually applying them to specific problems. These are records of potential solutions for problems.

Tasks

Searching for solutions records

Unlike other Diagnostic Aids, neither description nor component information from the Call Registration dialog box or the Problem Status dialog box is used automatically to search for solution records.

You can choose Inquiry or SQL in the Work with Solutions dialog box to search for solution records. In the Inquiry dialog box, you can also use the advanced text searching functions available in IBM Intelligent Miner for Text, if your system administrator has installed and configured it for use at your site.

Note: For more information on using IBM Intelligent Miner for Text, see Searching for Text.

Perform the following steps to find a solution using the Solutions Inquiry dialog box:

  1. Use this table to determine your first action.
    If you are using the... then...
    Diagnostics menu choose Solutions.
    toolbar click the Work with Solutions tool.

    In the Work with Solutions dialog box, all the "active" solutions are listed. These solutions appear in order by the number of times they have been used to solve a problem: the most-used solutions appear at the top of the list.
    Note: Your system administrator can make the Solutions Inquiry dialog box appear before the Work with Solutions dialog box. If it does, skip to the next step.

  2. Choose Inquiry.
    Result: The Solutions Inquiry dialog box appears.
    Note: For information on performing an SQL search, see Searching and Inquiring.

The following table describes the search parameters available in the Solutions Inquiry dialog box:

Name Description
Starting ID
Ending ID
Specify a range of solutions ID numbers.
Starting Date
Ending Date
Specify a range of dates when these solutions were last activated.
Adding User Type the User ID code of the user who added the solutions.
Severity Select a problem severity code.
System Component Item Module If you use SCIM information to narrow your search, these lists must be completed from the top down.
Problem Type When a component is selected, Problem Type may be automatically filled in. You can select a problem type if the Problem Type box was not automatically filled in when you selected a component.
Active Solution Select this to include only active solutions in your search. When this is deselected, solutions that have been deactivated because they duplicate other solutions or are no longer current are included in your search.
Description and Solution Use the Description and Solution boxes to specify additional criteria for your query. Use wildcards as needed. You can also use IBM Intelligent Miner for Text to search for keywords in these boxes.

Note: For more information, see Searching and Inquiring.

Viewing solution records

In the Work with Solutions dialog box, you may see enough information in the Description and Solution columns to decide if you want to use this solution to resolve a problem. If not, you can use the View button to view the entire solution.

Tip: You do not have to view a solution prior to activating it. When you activate a solution, Tivoli Problem Management displays the details of the solution record. If you decide that this is not the correct solution, you can cancel the activation process and return to the Work with Solutions dialog box.

Perform the following steps to view solution records:

  1. In the Work with Solutions dialog box, select a solution.
  2. Choose View.
  3. In the View Solution dialog box, review the solution information in the View Solution dialog box with your caller.
  4. When you finish, choose Close to return to the Work with Solutions dialog box.
  5. Now that you have reviewed the solution, you can decide whether to:

Viewing related problems

Before you activate a solutions record to resolve a problem, you may want to view the problems that were resolved using the solution from this solutions record.

Perform the following steps to view problems resolved using the solution from a selected solutions record:

  1. From the Solution List in the Work with Solutions dialog box, select a solution record.
  2. Choose Problems.
    Result: The Work with Problems dialog box appears.
    It contains a list of all problems solved by applying the solution from the selected solution record.
  3. Resume, view or print any of the problems appearing in this dialog box.
  4. When you are ready, choose Close to return to the Work with Solution dialog box.

Activating a solution

When you locate the correct solution, you are ready to activate it. Activating a solution tells Tivoli Problem Management that you have solved the problem. Tivoli Problem Management updates the Call and Problem with the solution record information.

Perform the following steps to activate a solution:

  1. In the Work with Solutions dialog box, select the appropriate solution.
  2. Choose Activate.
  3. What happens next depends on where you started:
    • Result if you accessed the Solutions Diagnostic Aid without the Call Registration dialog box open:
      • The Call Registration dialog box opens automatically
      • The solution record description and solution automatically appear in the Call Registration Description and Resolution boxes
      • The solution record SCIM, severity and problem type (if they exist) automatically appear in the Call Registration dialog box

      Complete all the remaining required Call Registration information, then handle the problem just as you would any other one by resolving, freezing or transferring it.
      Note: For more information, see Registering a call.

    • Result if you accessed the Solutions Diagnostic Aid with the Call Registration dialog box open:
      • The solution text from the solution record is automatically copied to the Call Registration Resolution box
      • The solution record SCIM, severity, problem type, and solution (if they exist) overwrite anything in the corresponding boxes in Call Registration
      • The solution description is automatically copied to the Call Registration Description box only when the Call Registration Description box is empty

      As in the previous example, complete all the required Call Registration information, then handle the problem just as you would any other one.

    • Result if you accessed the Solutions Diagnostic Aid with the Problem Status dialog box open:
      • The solution text from the solution record is copied to the Status box in the Problem Status dialog box.
      • The solution severity, SCIM, and problem type information (if they exist) overwrite the corresponding boxes in the Problem Status dialog box.
      • Depending on your configuration, the Save Problem dialog box appears. The solution text from the solution record is automatically copied to the Save Problem Result box. Choose OK.
      • Tivoli Problem Management assigns the Default Problem Close code to the problem.

      Complete all required Problem Status information, then handle the problem just as you would any other problem.

Quitting the Solutions Diagnostic Aid if you do not find a solution

If you do not find an appropriate solution, choose Close in the Work with Solutions dialog box to quit the Diagnostic Aid without activating a solution.

You return to wherever you were when you accessed the Solutions Diagnostic Aid: the Call Registration dialog box, Problem Status dialog box, or Tivoli Service Desk window.

You can access any other Diagnostic Aid to solve the current problem or you can choose to freeze or transfer the problem, or transfer the call.