Service Desk Console

The Service Desk console is used primarily by service desk analysts to register new requests for users. The Service Desk console has only one field, the User field. When this console is opened by a service desk analyst, the User field is empty. This allows the service desk analyst to select a user who has contacted the service desk for an update of a previously submitted request, to reopen a request which solution the user considers unsatisfactory, or to submit a new request.

The easiest way to select a user in the User field is to enter the first few characters of the user’s first or last name until the list of suggestions below this field contains the user. It is also possible to find users by entering the first few characters of a word that occurs in the name of the user’s organisation. Another way to find a user is to enter the user’s support ID in the User field.

If a user cannot be found, this person can be added by clicking on the New User button.

After a user has been selected, the user’s information is displayed. A list of previously submitted requests of the user is listed below the user’s information. The user is selected in either the Requested by field or the Requested for field of these requests. In addition to the user’s information and requests, the services for which the user is covered by an active SLA are displayed on the right side of the screen. To the right of these services, the user’s configuration items are listed.

Registering a New Request

There are several ways to open a new request for the selected user:

• Click on the New Request button.
  This opens a new request. The user is already selected in the Requested by and Requested for fields of this new request. If the user who contacted the service desk is submitting the request on behalf of someone else, then this person can be selected in the Requested for field.

• Click on one of the user’s services.
  Selecting one of the services on the right side of the screen causes the list of available request templates for that service to be displayed. However, if the user is covered for multiple service instances of the selected service, then the applicable service instance for the new request can be selected before the request templates are presented. After selecting a request template, a new request is opened. This new request is linked to the service instance and it is populated with the information from the template.

• Click on one of the user’s configuration items.
  Selecting one of the configuration items on the right side of the screen causes the list of available request templates to be displayed for the service to which the configuration item is related. After selecting a request template, a new request is opened with the configuration item, the service instance and the information from the template already filled out.

• Use the Search field to look up a request template
  Entering some key words in the Search field that is available above the user’s services and configuration items causes a list of request templates to be suggested. A request template can be selected from this list. Alternatively, pressing the Enter key executes a complete search through the Subject, Instructions and Note fields of all request templates that are allowed to be applied for the selected user. One of these request templates can then be selected from the search results. If the selected request template is linked to a service and the user is covered for multiple instances of this service, then the applicable service instance for the new request can be selected. When the new request is opened, it is already populated with the information from the template and with the service instance.

When the new request opens, the Service Hierarchy Browser is automatically opened to the right of the new request. The SHB lists all the service instances for which the person selected in the Requested for field is covered by an active service level agreement.

To reset the Service Desk console, click on the Select a different user button next to the name of the selected user, or click on the Service Desk console icon in the toolbar.

Non-Service Desk Analysts

The Service Desk console can also be used by IT managers and IT specialists to review the status of their requests or to submit a new request. When they open the Service Desk console, their name is already filled out in the User field. Their information and their requests are presented in the same fashion as they are shown after a service desk analyst has selected a user in the User field. An IT manager or IT specialist can also submit a new request in the same ways that a service desk analyst can.