Lisa Tomalty, ltomalty@uwaterloo.ca Information Systems and Technology Request Tracker (RT) Lisa Tomalty, ltomalty@uwaterloo.ca Information Systems and Technology Setup: Set up a test RT acct (e.g. ‘craswrkr’) with access to a limited group (e.g. ‘RT4Training’ which has access to the rt-testing queue) Create a couple of test tickets where the test account is the owner for 1 and the requestor for another Print demo slides for reference during presentation Send PPT to Matt Harford and also bring on USB key

RT Overview

RT The Request Tracker (RT) system is used by IST and other areas on campus for tracking problems and resolutions to a variety of issues/requests. RT is very exciting

RT for Requestors Requestors and ticket Ccs can view their tickets & submit requests at https://rt.uwaterloo.ca/SelfService/ Email Clients can submit requests via email, rt@uwaterloo.ca Some queues allow direct email submission to the queue: rt-queuename@rt.uwaterloo.ca (bypasses the –general- queue)

RT for Issue Solvers RT for people who manage/solve requests: http://rt.uwaterloo.ca

What happens in RT? Submitting requests: Ticket/request comes in (via email or form) Ticket assigned to a queue & owner Problem solved/ service provided (will require correspondence) Requestor notified, ticket updated and resolved Requestor receives feedback link (most queues) and can provide feedback Submitting requests: Use form from https://rt.uwaterloo.ca/SelfService Or email rt@uwaterloo.ca (NOTE: RT “Tickets” = RTS, tickets, requests)

Ticket roles (aka ‘People’) All of RT Owner Requestors Cc AdminCc CSCF/MFCF specific roles: Supporters "additional owners" who are doing work Accountable (optional) ST's "Responsible" such as for point-of-contact who isn't the manager for the queue

Queue roles AdminCc of queue Cc of queue Not used by CSCF/MFCF

Roles/Who gets email-1 Requestor of ticket (person who submitted ticket) Get email After the request is submitted After any correspondence/replies When the request is resolved Does NOT get email notification of comments (but can see comments if logged in) Admin Cc of queue (assigned to queues by administrators) When tickets are put into their queue

Roles/Who gets email-2 Owner of ticket (owner in People section - responsible for request) Gets email When a ticket is given to them After any transaction on the ticket that they did not do themselves Includes comments, replies, changing queue, etc. Cc of ticket After any replies/correspondence on the ticket Admin Cc of ticket

Roles/Who gets email-3 CSCF/MFCF specific roles: Supporters After any transaction on the ticket that they did not do themselves Includes comments, replies, changing queue, etc. Accountable

Demo Home screen and RT at a glance What is a queue? View queues View ticket screen (ticket number/link is in emails from RT system) New ticket in the queue Change owner (take, steal, change) Commenting, replying Status, Custom Fields Linking tickets Ticket Roles

Comment vs. reply When to comment? When to reply? Reply when you want the ticket Requestors and Ccs to receive an email. Comment To note ticket details/progress (could ‘One-time Cc’ someone if you like) An email will be sent to the ticket owner (if that is not you) The Requestors/Ccs will NOT receive an email when you add a comment Requestors/Ccs can see comments when they log in and look at the ticket

Replying to ‘comments’ results in a ‘comment’ back into RT What comment looks like as an email: Replies to comments:

Dependent/Linked tickets When requests involve multiple people/areas to do the work OR multiple steps, creating linked tickets can be useful From the main/initial ticket screen, look for the “Links’ section: Tickets with dependencies cannot be resolved until all dependencies are resolved. PRESENTATION TITLE

Email volume from RT Currently, when an owner is changed, 2 emails are sent to the old owner and to the new owner. IST is aware of this and are looking into how to reduce this to 1 each. Occasionally someone is: Requestor OR Owner, AND a CC, AND/OR are manually CC’d on a reply or comment This can result in multiple emails about the same thing Solution: remove people from multiple ticket roles (also see below) Sometimes people manually ‘CC’ someone AND that someone also has a role on the ticket Options to reduce email Ensure person has only one role on the ticket Report issues to rt-help@rt.uwaterloo.ca (there may be things we can do to help)

Managing ‘general’ queue requests How IST assigns requests submitted to the ‘general’ queue

Resolving tickets Ensure you click the Update Ticket  button after choosing Resolve  from the Actions  menu. If requestor replies after ticket is resolved, it does not re- open

Other RT notes Owning requests: ***All Requests/tickets should be ‘owned’ by someone This ensures someone receives an email when the requestor sends an update One time CCs on (reply/correspondence or comments): enter full email address or choose from list Requestors/Ccs can see tickets My day Do not put personal info into tickets (passwords, Social Insurance numbers, credit card info, etc.) Wednesday reminders

Searches for reporting, reminders, and more….

Using searches Step 1: create a good “Search” Step 2: save the search Step 3+: use the search Display custom content On your RT “Home” screen (Logged in…/Settings/RT at a glance) Create a dashboard accessible from “Home” menu Metrics/reporting: Export to excel Use build in “Chart” functionality Reminders Create dashboard email subscription (custom schedule and recipient list) PRESENTATION TITLE

Searching – ‘how to’ Search/Tickets/Simple Search Ticket number: enter ticket number, click Search Subject: enter search criteria in quotes (e.g. “printer”), click Search Queue: enter queue name (e.g. rt-testing), click Search Owner: type name of a privileged user, click Search to see open/new/stalled tickets owned by that user Search/Tickets/New Search RT documentation - click on “Searching”

Saving and re-using Searches Saving searches Under ‘Tickets’ enter the criteria for your search Click Add these terms Privacy: My saved searches (OR share the search with your group by choosing the group from the Privacy drop down list) Description: test search Save Adding searches to RT Home page: Logged in as userid/Settings/RT at a glance Under ‘RT at a glance: body’, scroll down to find your search and add it to the list on the right using the arrow icon Saving searches to Excel (alternate Reporting tool coming)

Search scenario A team would like a quick view of all RT tickets Created in the last 14 days In 2 specific RT queues With “Outlook” in the subject (they will use this when they are working on Outlook tickets, so that they can quickly see if others are submitting similar requests) They would like the option of: Seeing this list on their RT “Home” page OR Seeing this list in their own custom Dashboard OR Receiving an email with the search results every morning (Monday- Friday) PRESENTATION TITLE

Search scenario -2,3 Someone is covering for a staff member is away and would like to quickly see all of their active tickets A queue manager wants to check daily for any active tickets in their queue that are unowned PRESENTATION TITLE

Search Tips Search RT faster by Adding ‘queue’ to search (if you know it) Adding “Created after” search criteria (even if you just narrow it down to the last year) Search Custom Fields and more! Use your search in a customized dashboard Readily available under the Home menu Have results emailed to you/others on a schedule of your choice

Dashboards/reminders Ensure your search has been created and saved Choose Home/New Dashboard Beside Name type in a name for the dashboard Beside Privacy choose My Dashboards to save the dashboard just for yourself (or another option to save the dashboard for others in one of your RT groups) Click the Create button. Click Content to add searches to your dashboard Click on Subscription to set up an automatic email of the searches in the dashboard

Customize your RT

Modifying your “Home” page (RT at a glance) Logged in…/Settings/RT at a glance Bookmarks Saved searches Find user More… PRESENTATION TITLE

Preferences Your signature Logged in as userid/Settings/Preferences Logged in as userid/Settings/About me Logged in as userid/Settings/Preferences Default queue (for ‘New ticket in’ button at top) Ticket history ordering (Ticket display/Show oldest history first) WYSIWYG editor option When commenting/replying click on small arrow in top left of window to see formatting options

Reminders Email reminders: System generated (Wednesdays) Creating your own (will discuss in Dashboard section) In ticket screen – Reminders Create and how to use Bookmark tickets and add to Home screen

RT Roles

Ticket Owners Owner responsibilities Regularly review tickets that you own: Search/dashboard email subscription Wednesday reminder emails Daily task: log into RT and view your tickets (can change the sorting order/display based on needs – e.g. priority)

Queue managers Queue managers are assigned when queue is created Queue managers receive Wednesday email reminders for their queues (as well as tickets they own) Assign a queue ‘manager’ to: Ensure someone is assigned to watch tickets for staff who are away Options: dashboard and view tickets and sort by Last Updated Add self as a CC on the tickets so that you receive email that requestors send in (one ticket at a time or ‘bulk’ if other staff member will be away for a while) Review Wednesday reminder emails (most queues use these) Review open/new/stalled tickets with staff member Encourage staff to check tickets regularly Encourage staff to remind requestors if they are waiting on information

Process tips

Tips - handling tickets When you are given a new ticket, reply to the requestor as soon as possible. If you know you are busy and can’t get to the request right away: Ask them when they need the request completed by Let them know an approximate timeline Tickets put in incorrect queue/given to wrong person Move the ticket back to the –general- queue Change owner to ‘Nobody’ Add a comment regarding the incorrect assignment (and any other information you may have (e.g. correct queue if you know it) Do NOT reply to the email you get from RT (explaining it is not for you/your area) This will not  be sent to the person who gave the ticket to you

Tips-Resolving tickets-1 If the ticket is a request for something (rather than a problem/issue report) In most cases it will be OK to resolve the ticket as soon as the work is done. Include what has been done and let them know that they can reply if there are any issues/questions.  If the ticket is reporting a problem/issue It is important NOT to resolve the ticket until you hear back from the requestor that all is working again. If you are not hearing back from the requestor, after having sent them the solution, send them a follow up message or two If you still don’t hear back after a while (time will vary by area), resolving is likely OK, with a message such as: "Since I have not heard back from you for a few weeks, I will be resolving this ticket. If the problem still exists, please just reply to this email or create a new request ticket. Thank you."

Tips-Resolving tickets-2 After resolving, for any non-standard requests: Add information to the ticket regarding what was done to solve the issue (this can be added as a comment if it is not relevant to the requestor).  This will help when handling future requests that are similar to past requests.

Why is it important to resolve completed tickets Requestor does not get notified that work is complete Requestor does not get opportunity to provide feedback Managers spend time tracking open/new tickets that don’t need tracking

Help, questions, suggestions

RT access, questions and reporting problems Permissions to queues vary by individual Can’t see tickets you requested or were CC’d on? Check with ticket owner to ensure you are listed as requestor or a CC on the ticket Request access/report at problem Email rt@uwaterloo.ca

Have an idea? It is possible to Automate actions Create request forms Modify email sent from RT Add functionality Provide some administrator access Provide training And more! If you have an idea or suggestion, please email rt-help@rt.uwaterloo.ca and we will contact you to discuss options.

Request Tracker version 4.4 Coming April 22, 2017 Some new features include: Ticket ‘timer’ Improved Time tracking feature Modern file upload interface Default values for ticket Custom Fields Keyboard shortcuts

More Information Thank you! New RT information/help site: RT log in http://uwaterloo.ca/rt RT Tips RT log in http://rt.uwaterloo.ca Questions? ltomalty@uwaterloo.ca Thank you!