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Configurable and Customizable Queries in Dovetail Agent

November 8, 2016 I’ve talked in the past about the power of queries within Dovetail Agent and how end users can build and use them.In this post, I’ll dive a bit deeper into how queries are configured, and how they can be configured and customized.  Query ConfigurationQueries within the app are driven by filter config files. This includes:Adhoc Queries available from the top-level Query menu, including:Work Items (Case/Subcase/Solution/Change Request/Part Request)Accounts, Contacts, Contracts, Employees, Site Parts, SitesCustom queriesTabs that contain filterable queries (such as the Contacts tab on the Site page) Filter Config FilesFilter Config Files are XML files that define:what tables/views are being queriedjoinswhat filters (facets) are available for the user to filter the query bywhat non-facet fields are queried for use in output datawhat output data is returned to the front-end of the application (columns)required privilege to make the entry available in the top-level…

Comparing Parent-Child Cases to Subcases

November 4, 2016 Within Dovetail Agent, we support both Subcases, and Parent-Child Cases. A common question is: What’s the difference, and when would I use one vs the other? So lets address that question here.   Subcases Subcases allow for multiple employees to work in parallel on a single Case.  You can “subcontract” pieces of the work to other employees. For example, we may have a Case for a New Employee. As part of that, we can create 3 subcases: Create a General subcase for setting up the employee’s network account and dispatch to the Network queue. Create an Administrative subcase for ordering business cards and assign to the office admin. Create a General subcase for creating the user’s account in the CRM system, and dispatch to a queue based on auto-destination rules. All of those 3 subcases can be worked by different…

What’s New in Dovetail Agent 13 – including expanded queries, T&E tracking, and parent-child cases

November 2, 2016 We recently released Dovetail Agent version 13.   Highlights include: Log Time and Expenses Parent-Child Cases Individual Contacts Adhoc Queries Querying with a specific time History improvements for small images Lets take a closer look at these.   Log Time and Expenses Cases and Subcases now include Time and Expenses tabs, allowing for tracking billable and non-billable time and expenses. T&E logs are often used in Field Service organizations, but many other service and support organizations use this functionality as well. Time and Expense logging can be enabled/disabled individually on a system wide basis, and is also privilege-class controlled, allowing organizations to control who is allowed to log T&E.   Time On the Time tab, we include a summary of time broken down by Billable and Non-billable categories. In addition, we include any time logged as part of the Log…

How to include a solution in a log email

September 27, 2016 Photo by @justmekirsty   When working a case, we can link a solution to the case, indicating that the given solution resolves the problem at hand. Now that we’ve linked it, we often want to email that solution to the customer. Using the Canned Responses feature within Dovetail Agent, this is easy to do. I see two options for how we could email the solution to the customer: Send the customer a link to the solution, which allows them to view it online in a Selfservice/WebSupport-type app Send the customer the actual solution content Lets look at how to do both of these options.   Admin Setup – Rule Properties The first thing we want to do is be sure that our Sys Admin has setup rule properties for the Linked Solution. Canned Responses uses these rule properties for resolving…

Replacing custom scripts with the SDK Toolkit extension

September 19, 2016 Recently, I talked about the new SDK Toolkit Extension in Dovetail Carrier, which allows for executing methods within the Dovetail SDK Toolkits, without writing any code. Once that was released, I was able to remove some custom scripts from our own production environment, and replaced them with this new SDK Toolkit extension.   Change Status This is the business rule that we has in place: Object Type Case Rule Name/Description When a customer logs a note via SelfService, change the case status to Customer Update Start Events Log Note Cancel Event None Conditions Logger = SelfService Action Title Change Status Create Activity Log Entry? true (checked) Who to Notify no one (leave empty) Start Action 0 minutes From Event Creation Using Elapsed Time Repeat    Never Message Type Command Line Message C:\Dovetail\custom\RuleManagerActions\ChgStatus\ChangeCaseStatus.bat [Object ID] 'Customer Status changed automatically due to action…

Refresh Cache actions in Dovetail Agent

September 16, 2016 Within Dovetail Agent, there are two different Refresh Cache actions Refresh Application Cache Refresh User Cache This post is a quick rundown of what they do and how they’re different.   Refresh Application Cache From the Admin menu, there’s a Cache option   This controls the application cache which includes schema, lists (application and user-defined), configuration items, strings, etc. When the application starts up, a bunch of information that rarely changes is cached, to improve application performance. The most common use of this is for when you change list values – both application lists (such as Case Type), and user-defined lists (such as Contact Expertise). You can edit your lists using Dovetail Admin, refresh the cache in Agent, and the updated list values will appear.   Refresh User Cache On the user Profile page, there is a Refresh Cache link.…

Simplify and Reduce your Auto-Destination Rules using printf

September 13, 2016 Photo by @benchaccounting   When setting up your auto-destination rules, it’s easy to end up with rule bloat, sometimes due to no fault of your own. Due to business requirements, you may end with a lot of rules, which end up making it difficult to manage all of them. For example, we may have auto-dest (routing) rules that dispatch a case to a queue based on its case type and the country of the reporting site/contact. If the contact is in the USA, and it’s a Payroll case, send it to the USA_Payroll queue. If the contact is in the USA, and it’s a Benefits case, send it to the USA_Benefits queue. If the contact is in France, and it’s a Payroll case, send it to the France_Payroll queue. If the contact is in France, and it’s a Benefits case,…

Understanding Change Request Workflows and Transitions

September 12, 2016 Dovetail Agent includes support for Change Requests.  Recall that a change request is a task you create in response to a reported software bug, hardware defect, or enhancement request. As Change Requests are worked, they follow a workflow process. We use Statuses and Transitions to define the process, and define who can move the Change Request through its workflow steps. Technically, Cases also support a workflow and defined transition. It’s just a very simple one. We can use Cases as a simple example before moving on to the more robust workflow options with Change Requests.   Case Workflows Cases have just 2 conditions: Open, and Closed. A case can move from Open to Closed, and from Closed to Open. Within each of those conditions, there are also a set of allowable statuses. For example: Open status options may be: Researching,…

Making URLS in textboxes be clickable in the Clarify Classic Client

September 7, 2016 I was recently posed a question about how to make a URL in a textbox be automatically clickable. I’ve posted in the past about using hyperlinks in the Clarify Client, but this question was a bit different. For example, on the Account form in Clarify, there is a web site textbox. If you type in a URL in that textbox, it is automatically turned into a clickable hyperlink.   Lets say that you wanted to do something similar on a custom form. You add a textbox to the form, set its contextual object properly, type in a URL, and then – nothing. It’s not automagically converted into a hyperlink. What’s going on here?   Website control on the Account form What Clarify is doing on that website field on the account form is that they're actually using a multiline textbox…

Dovetail Agent 12 – now with Change Requests

September 6, 2016 The recent release of Dovetail Agent 12 adds support for Change Requests. This post will walk through an overview of Change Request functionality within the app.What is a Change Request?From the Clarify documentation:A change request is a task you create in response to a reported software bug, hardware defect, or enhancement request. It constitutes a complete and formal record of the problem or enhancement request, and what has been done to fix the problem or implement the enhancement.Overview of FeaturesCreate and Edit Change RequestsWorkflow: Accept, Assign, Dispatch, Forward, Reject, YankStatus Changes:  Fix, Fix Failed, Close, Close as Duplicate,ReopenActions: Log Email, Log Notes, Replicate Change RequestChange Requests are available in My Work, Queries, and Recent ItemsBatch actions are available from My Work and other queries QueryingNaturally, the querying functionality includes support for Change Requests.Users can create their own queries, share queries, favorite…