LanSupport Feature Guide

Quick Setup

LanSupport is designed for very rapid deployment which has been a major factor in its becoming a top service desk solution in East Africa. Businesses today do not want long drawn out implementations that pull out key resources from their main line operations.

Intuitive User Interface

LanSupport has a very to use interface which reveals additional functionality with roles. An administrator is able to access advanced functionality that will not be visible to general service desk and technical users.

Multi-channel Call Logging

LanSupport supports logging of calls via client login or automatic creation of even logs from email. Events may also be logged by service desk personnel on behalf of the clients.

Alarm Notification

LanSupport triggers automatic email notifications to Support personnel of new issues requiring their attention.

• Support personnel are automatically informed of relevant events
• Dispatchers receive email alerts whenever end users submit service requests
• Alerts are generated to the appropriate support staff whenever requests are forwarded to queues, put into service, updated, resumed on their scheduled dates, etc 

Flexible Workflow

LanSupport allows predetermined workflows to be established so that events are automatically routed to the most appropriate technical resource. The help desk can be configured so that service requests travel in a direct route from being logged to support representatives.

Auto Escalation

Escalation in LanSupport is fully customizable and is automatic based on priorities and
service levels.

• Service requests can be automatically escalated according to their priority and customized escalation interval settings.
• Priority escalation can also be configured to assign different escalation schedules to each area of the help desk.
• Mission-critical problems such as email outages can be escalated faster than less urgent matters such as printer malfunctions.
• Separate escalation regimens can assist the help desk in meeting different levels of Service Commitments.

Best Solutions Knowledge Base

LanSupport has a built in knowledgebase which allows one click addition of problems and their solutions from the service desk. Additionally it allows attachments and  hyperlinks to the internet for further reference.

Self-help is a very cost-effective means of support - end users can resolve their problems without contacting the help desk.

• Best Solutions enable the help desk to build a database of common problems and their solutions
• “Internal” solutions allow support reps to quickly resolve problems, while keeping this information inside the help desk
• Junior reps can resolve problems they might otherwise need to escalate, and training times for new support staff are greatly reduced
• “Public” solutions are searchable by all users

Historical Searches & Suggested Solutions 

LanSupport supports simple and complex searches throughout the database and captured information will always be available.

End users and service desk personnel are offered potential solutions to the issue at hand automatically retrieved from the knowledgebase.

• Support personnel can find and examine previously resolved requests via a powerful text-based search
• All information recorded by requesters and reps is available to the entire support team.
• When support staff leave the organization, the knowledge they accumulated over time is retained and accessible.
• Support reps can instantly find solutions to end user problems.
• Suggested Solutions are automatically hyperlinked to service requests for immediate access by the requesters.
• Suggested Solutions accelerate problem resolution, increase the frequency of first call resolutions and reduce the ramp-up time for new hires.

Follow-up Reminders

LanSupport allows technical resources to create reminders for tasks. These are then
triggered via email at the given date time. When updating service requests, users can schedule automatic Follow-up reminders for themselves for tasks that require their attention on a certain date or time.

Email Support

LanSupport is fully integrated with email and is able to automatically create and
acknowledge support requests via email.

• LanSupport automatically turns requesters’ email messages into service requests.
• Email replies are automatically generated (with a reference number) for requests submitted via email.
• Email file attachments can be processed, and a filter allows specific file types to be blocked.
• Requesters can be automatically notified via email when their open requests are updated.
• New end users, already familiar with email, are able to use LanSupport immediately.

Web Portal

LanSupport is a fully web enabled application with a client login to allow users to log and track the status of their queries through both the intranet and the internet.

• End users can access LanSupport via a browser - there’s no need to install LanSupport on every workstation.
• Requesters can submit service requests, search the Best Solutions database, check the status of their open requests and give approval ratings to their closed requests.

Attachments

LanSupport fully supports attachments to incident requests and within the knowledge base. All Attachments in LanSupport are stored in the database (instead of in the \Attachments folder on the database server).

• End users can attach screenshots, problem documents, faulty reports, etc. to precisely demonstrate the issues they are having.
• Support reps are given a clearer understanding of the problems that requesters are experiencing.

Business Rules

LanSupport has a sophisticated service manager that interrogates multiple POP3 addresses and routes the various incident reports to the correct resources. It runs as a windows service on the server

• Enable you to customize service request workflow, memo updates and request notifications to automate your workflow and assist in service level management.
• Rules can also be applied to incoming email received via the service manager which runs in the background as a service, automatically executing at their scheduled times.
• You can utilize rules to notify management of critical changes or events

User Defined Fields

LanSupport has user defined fields in both the service desk and asset management modules that allow users to align the application with the business.

Database Administration

LanSupport relies on inbuilt backup utilities of SQL 2005/2008, but allows administrators to attach or detach databases to the application through a connection manager built into LanSupport.

Dashboard

A dashboard displays a selection of charts that provide an instant overview of your help
desk’s performance and the charts can alert you to recurring problems and workload
imbalances. 

Both users and administrators get a graphical status dashboard that allows them to
track performance on a real time basis.

Standard Reports

LanSupport ships with a large library of reports with extensive Boolean filters. All reports
have permissions assigned to them so that they are viewed by appropriate people only
and all reports can be exported directly to word, excel or PDF.

• You can choose from a variety of detailed, summary and line item summary work reports that focus on service requests.
• One can also select from reports that focus on support rep efficiency, first call resolution, suggested solutions, etc.

LanSupport ships with a large library of reports with extensive Boolean filters. All reports have permissions assigned to them so that they are viewed by appropriate people only and all reports can be exported directly to word, excel or PDF.

• You can choose from a variety of detailed, summary and line item summary work reports that focus on service requests.
• One can also select from reports that focus on support rep efficiency, first call resolution, suggested solutions, etc.

Custom Reports

LanSupport ships with a Custom report writer for advanced users who prefer to build their own reports from scratch but users in possession of and familiar with Crystal Reports or other report writers can build their reports from LanSupport. LanSupport custom report designer allows creation and storing of custom queries for reporting.

• Create and modify your own selection criteria (filters).
• Save and run custom reports to quickly generate focused data that meets your specific needs.
• Use the designer to create custom reports that incorporate user defined fields.

First Call Resolution Analysis

LanSupport ships with a First call Resolution Analysis report in the standard report
library.

• Designate first call resolution requests in order to evaluate help desk performance
• Analyze first call resolution rates to identify areas requiring additional staff training or other improvements.

Monitor Support Costs

LanSupport allows input and tracking of billing information so that support costs of both
in-house and external support teams can be monitored.

Auto Discovery (Inventory Auditing)

LanSupport ships with a proprietary PCProbe audit tool that scans and tracks PC
configurations on the LAN.

This tool was used to great effect by one client who was able to unearth a scam in which a service provider was removing RAM from PCs during Preventive Maintenance routines.

The tool automatically and unobtrusively scans and imports both hardware and software data from the PCs on your LAN So that you can run queries for detailed analysis of the collected data.

The audited data ensures that your support reps have requesters’ workstation information at their fingertips and your help desk will improve first call resolution when support reps know what’s installed on users’ workstations.

Asset Management

LanSupport has a built-in Asset Management module and a software library which keeps track of both cost and movement of the assets within the organization.

This module helps optimize your IT resources, control your hardware and software expenditures, examine workstation configurations and service histories, track and manage asset maintenance and monitor software licensing compliance, etc.

The reports generated help you review your technology investments, prepare budgets and plan upgrades.

Requesters can associate problem workstations or other troublesome assets with their service requests. The associated workstation and asset data can be used to pinpoint the origins of user problems, identify the most troublesome assets and workstations, as well as those that have the highest support costs.

Assets are associated with incidents and with customers so that a comprehensive profile of the asset is always available.

LanSupport Service Manager

LanSupport has a service manager that manages escalations, email, custom emails, etc. This utility runs as a service on the server. It is a separate system-monitoring tool designed to run in tandem with LanSupport. It works in the background - automatically performing activities such as escalating requests, processing email, generating alarms for due requests, activating scheduled requests etc.

Active Directory

LanSupport has an AD sync utility that allows import of users and notifies admin of changes in users in either AD or LanSupport. Administrators can configure LanSupport to import groups of users and related fields from Active Directory.

Multiple Business Unit support

LanSupport can be extended to as a helpdesk solution to other business units. This is significant because most service desk solutions are designed exclusively for IT support and in the event that other business units like customer service require a helpdesk they will have to have multiple installations.