[otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not communicate with end customers?

2009-01-16 Thread Christian Weiß
Hello,

we are using OTRS for the communication with our end customers (Helpdesk =
1st Level Support) as well as for our internal communications (“Accounting”,
“Websites”, … = 2nd Level Support).

Consider the following scenario:

-   An end customer sends a request to our „Helpdesk“. (Example: “I get
an error XYZ on the web page”)
-   The helpdesk agent cannot answer this request and has to pass this
problem to the 2nd Level Queue “Websites”.
-   The “Websites” agent is not allowed to communicate directly to the
end customer! He may only answer back to the “Helpdesk” agent.
-   So the “Websites” agent reports to the helpdesk agent when the
problem is marked as solved
-   The helpdesk agent sends an info to the end customer

So this is my question:

How can I setup the OTRS system in a way, that only 1st level support agents
are allowed to communicate with end customers. If there’s a need for
escalation to 2nd level support, the agent from this queue must not
communicate directly with the end customer. He may only communicate with the
1st level support agent.

I tried following approaches:

1.) Move tickets
=
The helpdesk agent “moves” the ticket to the 2nd level queue and attaches a
note with additional infos. The 2nd level agent answers to the 1st level by
moving the ticket back to the 1st level queue and attaching a note.

Positive: 
all the communication is in one ticket.

Negative: 
if the 2nd level agent (unintentionally) clicks on “Answer”, he communicates
with the end customer. But this must not happen! 
Also, you can’t clearly see in the ticket, which notes were written by 1st
level and which by 2nd level.

2.) Split tickets
=
The helpdesk agent “splits” the ticket and sets his own personal email
address as “sender”. he selects the 2nd level queue as target queue and
modifies the body. The 2nd level now gets a new ticket and communicate only
with the helpdesk agent.

Positive: 
2nd level is not able to communicate with end customers.

Negative: 
The 1st level agent sees the ticket as a child ticket in his 1st level
ticket. But he is not allowed to see the details of the ticket, unless I
give the helpdesk complete read access to the 2nd level. 
The 1st level agent has to communicate with the 2nd level through his mail
client because he set his own email address as sender. So the helpdesk has
to use two different systems (otrs and personal mail account)
1st level agent has to manually change the sender-address in the “split
ticket view”. If he forgets this, the end customer is set as the sender of
the new ticket.
And some other annoying problems.


I’m not happy with both approaches. (neither is my boss *g*) How do you
handle this scenario? Thanks for any hints and tricks!

With best regards,
Christian Weiss
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Re: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not communicate with end customers?

2009-01-16 Thread Obee, Daniel
If you don't want to have the agents answer out of a queue, simply remove the 
empty answer off that queue. No answer - no mail. You could as well fiddle 
around with ACLs and stuff, but I guess this would be the simplest opion. Move 
them into 2nd level queues and back when solved.

I had a system running where we used the split option. This was practical for a 
scenario where the customer never had to be informed about the outcome of a 2nd 
level task. 1st level took care about the customer - 2nd level solved the 
reported bug/error.

Greets
Daniel


Von: otrs-boun...@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-boun...@otrs.org] Im Auftrag von 
Christian Weiß
Gesendet: Freitag, 16. Januar 2009 09:13
An: otrs@otrs.org
Betreff: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not communicate 
with end customers?


Hello,

we are using OTRS for the communication with our end customers (Helpdesk = 1st 
Level Support) as well as for our internal communications (Accounting, 
Websites, ... = 2nd Level Support).

Consider the following scenario:

-   An end customer sends a request to our Helpdesk. (Example: I get an 
error XYZ on the web page)

-   The helpdesk agent cannot answer this request and has to pass this 
problem to the 2nd Level Queue Websites.

-   The Websites agent is not allowed to communicate directly to the end 
customer! He may only answer back to the Helpdesk agent.

-   So the Websites agent reports to the helpdesk agent when the problem 
is marked as solved

-   The helpdesk agent sends an info to the end customer

So this is my question:

How can I setup the OTRS system in a way, that only 1st level support agents 
are allowed to communicate with end customers. If there's a need for escalation 
to 2nd level support, the agent from this queue must not communicate directly 
with the end customer. He may only communicate with the 1st level support agent.

I tried following approaches:

1.) Move tickets

=

The helpdesk agent moves the ticket to the 2nd level queue and attaches a 
note with additional infos. The 2nd level agent answers to the 1st level by 
moving the ticket back to the 1st level queue and attaching a note.

Positive:

all the communication is in one ticket.

Negative:

if the 2nd level agent (unintentionally) clicks on Answer, he communicates 
with the end customer. But this must not happen!

Also, you can't clearly see in the ticket, which notes were written by 1st 
level and which by 2nd level.

2.) Split tickets

=

The helpdesk agent splits the ticket and sets his own personal email address 
as sender. he selects the 2nd level queue as target queue and modifies the 
body. The 2nd level now gets a new ticket and communicate only with the 
helpdesk agent.

Positive:

2nd level is not able to communicate with end customers.

Negative:

The 1st level agent sees the ticket as a child ticket in his 1st level ticket. 
But he is not allowed to see the details of the ticket, unless I give the 
helpdesk complete read access to the 2nd level.

The 1st level agent has to communicate with the 2nd level through his mail 
client because he set his own email address as sender. So the helpdesk has to 
use two different systems (otrs and personal mail account)

1st level agent has to manually change the sender-address in the split ticket 
view. If he forgets this, the end customer is set as the sender of the new 
ticket.

And some other annoying problems.


I'm not happy with both approaches. (neither is my boss *g*) How do you handle 
this scenario? Thanks for any hints and tricks!

With best regards,
Christian Weiss
___
OTRS mailing list: otrs - Webpage: http://otrs.org/
Archive: http://lists.otrs.org/pipermail/otrs
To unsubscribe: http://lists.otrs.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/otrs

Re: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not communicate with end customers?

2009-01-16 Thread Christian Weiß
Hello,

 

Thank you very much for this tip! 

 

Unfortunately, I think that’s not an option. We also have a workflow wherein
internal employees (which are not otrs agents) can send emails directly to
the 2nd level queue, so we need the “answers”-possibility.

 

I could add a queue “Websites::From Helpdesk” wherein I remove the
“answers”, but that seems a little bit weird for me too, because I need to
create another queue for every 2nd level main queue. And I also have to
restrict this queues in a way that they can only move the tickets back to
the 1st level queue and not to any other queue, where we again have the
“answers” problem.

 

Isn’t my scenario a common workflow? I really like OTRS in terms of end user
communication, but we are some experiencing problems in terms of internal
communications. (this scenario, internal tickets from agents, …)

 

Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance,

Christian

 

Von: otrs-boun...@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-boun...@otrs.org] Im Auftrag von
Obee, Daniel
Gesendet: Freitag, 16. Jänner 2009 09:38
An: User questions and discussions about OTRS.
Betreff: Re: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not
communicate with end customers?

 

If you don’t want to have the agents answer out of a queue, simply remove
the empty answer off that queue. No answer – no mail. You could as well
fiddle around with ACLs and stuff, but I guess this would be the simplest
opion. Move them into 2nd level queues and back when solved.

 

I had a system running where we used the split option. This was practical
for a scenario where the customer never had to be informed about the outcome
of a 2nd level task. 1st level took care about the customer – 2nd level
solved the reported bug/error.

 

Greets

Daniel

 

 

Von: otrs-boun...@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-boun...@otrs.org] Im Auftrag von
Christian Weiß
Gesendet: Freitag, 16. Januar 2009 09:13
An: otrs@otrs.org
Betreff: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not
communicate with end customers?

 

Hello,

we are using OTRS for the communication with our end customers (Helpdesk =
1st Level Support) as well as for our internal communications (“Accounting”,
“Websites”, … = 2nd Level Support).

Consider the following scenario:

-   An end customer sends a request to our „Helpdesk“. (Example: “I get
an error XYZ on the web page”)

-   The helpdesk agent cannot answer this request and has to pass this
problem to the 2nd Level Queue “Websites”.

-   The “Websites” agent is not allowed to communicate directly to the
end customer! He may only answer back to the “Helpdesk” agent.

-   So the “Websites” agent reports to the helpdesk agent when the
problem is marked as solved

-   The helpdesk agent sends an info to the end customer

So this is my question:

How can I setup the OTRS system in a way, that only 1st level support agents
are allowed to communicate with end customers. If there’s a need for
escalation to 2nd level support, the agent from this queue must not
communicate directly with the end customer. He may only communicate with the
1st level support agent.

I tried following approaches:

1.) Move tickets

=

The helpdesk agent “moves” the ticket to the 2nd level queue and attaches a
note with additional infos. The 2nd level agent answers to the 1st level by
moving the ticket back to the 1st level queue and attaching a note.

Positive: 

all the communication is in one ticket.

Negative: 

if the 2nd level agent (unintentionally) clicks on “Answer”, he communicates
with the end customer. But this must not happen! 

Also, you can’t clearly see in the ticket, which notes were written by 1st
level and which by 2nd level.

2.) Split tickets

=

The helpdesk agent “splits” the ticket and sets his own personal email
address as “sender”. he selects the 2nd level queue as target queue and
modifies the body. The 2nd level now gets a new ticket and communicate only
with the helpdesk agent.

Positive: 

2nd level is not able to communicate with end customers.

Negative: 

The 1st level agent sees the ticket as a child ticket in his 1st level
ticket. But he is not allowed to see the details of the ticket, unless I
give the helpdesk complete read access to the 2nd level. 

The 1st level agent has to communicate with the 2nd level through his mail
client because he set his own email address as sender. So the helpdesk has
to use two different systems (otrs and personal mail account)

1st level agent has to manually change the sender-address in the “split
ticket view”. If he forgets this, the end customer is set as the sender of
the new ticket.

And some other annoying problems.

 

I’m not happy with both approaches. (neither is my boss *g*) How do you
handle this scenario? Thanks for any hints and tricks!

With best regards,
Christian Weiss

___
OTRS mailing list: otrs - Webpage: http://otrs.org/
Archive: 

Re: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not communicate with end customers?

2009-01-16 Thread Obee, Daniel
In this case I'd recommend to go with different queues for internal requests. 
You might want the internal inquirers to get informed about progression of 
their tasks and maybe even have them use the customer interface - but maybe not 
for the external customers.

The 'move back in just one queue' is possible with a ticket ACL in the 
config.pm.

If not a simple work instruction perhaps gets you further than a system 
restriction. Depending on how many people work in 2nd level, it could be done 
by just telling them not to send emails to external customers?!

Greets
Daniel

Von: otrs-boun...@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-boun...@otrs.org] Im Auftrag von 
Christian Weiß
Gesendet: Freitag, 16. Januar 2009 10:05
An: 'User questions and discussions about OTRS.'
Betreff: Re: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not 
communicate with end customers?

Hello,

Thank you very much for this tip!

Unfortunately, I think that's not an option. We also have a workflow wherein 
internal employees (which are not otrs agents) can send emails directly to the 
2nd level queue, so we need the answers-possibility.

I could add a queue Websites::From Helpdesk wherein I remove the answers, 
but that seems a little bit weird for me too, because I need to create another 
queue for every 2nd level main queue. And I also have to restrict this queues 
in a way that they can only move the tickets back to the 1st level queue and 
not to any other queue, where we again have the answers problem.

Isn't my scenario a common workflow? I really like OTRS in terms of end user 
communication, but we are some experiencing problems in terms of internal 
communications. (this scenario, internal tickets from agents, ...)

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Christian

Von: otrs-boun...@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-boun...@otrs.org] Im Auftrag von Obee, 
Daniel
Gesendet: Freitag, 16. Jänner 2009 09:38
An: User questions and discussions about OTRS.
Betreff: Re: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not 
communicate with end customers?

If you don't want to have the agents answer out of a queue, simply remove the 
empty answer off that queue. No answer - no mail. You could as well fiddle 
around with ACLs and stuff, but I guess this would be the simplest opion. Move 
them into 2nd level queues and back when solved.

I had a system running where we used the split option. This was practical for a 
scenario where the customer never had to be informed about the outcome of a 2nd 
level task. 1st level took care about the customer - 2nd level solved the 
reported bug/error.

Greets
Daniel


Von: otrs-boun...@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-boun...@otrs.org] Im Auftrag von 
Christian Weiß
Gesendet: Freitag, 16. Januar 2009 09:13
An: otrs@otrs.org
Betreff: [otrs] how to handle internal tickets? 2nd level may not communicate 
with end customers?


Hello,

we are using OTRS for the communication with our end customers (Helpdesk = 1st 
Level Support) as well as for our internal communications (Accounting, 
Websites, ... = 2nd Level Support).

Consider the following scenario:

-   An end customer sends a request to our Helpdesk. (Example: I get an 
error XYZ on the web page)

-   The helpdesk agent cannot answer this request and has to pass this 
problem to the 2nd Level Queue Websites.

-   The Websites agent is not allowed to communicate directly to the end 
customer! He may only answer back to the Helpdesk agent.

-   So the Websites agent reports to the helpdesk agent when the problem 
is marked as solved

-   The helpdesk agent sends an info to the end customer

So this is my question:

How can I setup the OTRS system in a way, that only 1st level support agents 
are allowed to communicate with end customers. If there's a need for escalation 
to 2nd level support, the agent from this queue must not communicate directly 
with the end customer. He may only communicate with the 1st level support agent.

I tried following approaches:

1.) Move tickets

=

The helpdesk agent moves the ticket to the 2nd level queue and attaches a 
note with additional infos. The 2nd level agent answers to the 1st level by 
moving the ticket back to the 1st level queue and attaching a note.

Positive:

all the communication is in one ticket.

Negative:

if the 2nd level agent (unintentionally) clicks on Answer, he communicates 
with the end customer. But this must not happen!

Also, you can't clearly see in the ticket, which notes were written by 1st 
level and which by 2nd level.

2.) Split tickets

=

The helpdesk agent splits the ticket and sets his own personal email address 
as sender. he selects the 2nd level queue as target queue and modifies the 
body. The 2nd level now gets a new ticket and communicate only with the 
helpdesk agent.

Positive:

2nd level is not able to communicate with end customers.

Negative:

The 1st level agent sees the ticket as a child ticket in his 1st level ticket.