Manager / Technician Communication Solution

[sqdge]

Basically, this topic is about help desk systems. However, before you say "why didn't you just search the forums" I have and I think my problem is different enough to warrent its own topic (plus it makes me feel more important than I actually am).

 

We are not a large school so there are only three active members in the ICT dept. The Network Manager (me), the Co-ordinator, and the Technician. The technician works in the morning, and I work in the afternoon (the co-ordinator is a teacher and I think she lives here...although I haven't found a bed or anything).

 

The problems we currently face is keeping up with what the other person is doing. In theory, we are all working on seperate tasks: the technician works on the 'here and now' tasks, I work on the future tasks (basically, buying stuff), and the co-ord deals with the edu side. However, ocassionally we need to find out what each other is doing. Therefore, I am looking for some sort of (free) task logging / incident reporting / calendar program that wil allow everyone in the dept. to see what each other is doing.

 

Budget really isn't on our side for this thing, so while I like the look of ServiceDesk Plus I can't really warrent spending the money on it (and I'm under the impression that the free version only allows for 25 nodes before it gets stressed).

 

Any ideas?

[Ric_]

GLPI has this functionality... I'm currently changing to it from One||Zero because it ties into OCS-NG.

 

You can do basic project management, have public notes, private notes, task lists, record helpdesk calls.... (it's quite comprehensive but you don't have to use all the features).

[localzuk]

It is also expandable and has a variety of plugins.

[russdev]

Yes GLPI here two think this is what you need.

 

Russ

[Norphy]

A task list in Sharepoint Services would do this. It's free if you're running Windows and is relatively easy to set up.

[Andie]

Dare I mention the FITS toolkit stuff???? (Preparing the barricade..)

 

There is some discussion on this topic and a bit about helpdesk software here:

 

http://www.edugeek.net/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=295&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

 

I'm part-time too, and we are starting to implement Primary FITS (slowly), so I'm looking into this kind of thing too. Liberium was recommended to me by a local techie, but it looks like GLPI is more popular. Excuse my ignorance, but how do you get hold of it?

[sqdge]

I have often looked at GLPI but found it a little daunting. I'm not a Linux man, and although I know it can be installed on a Windows machine, strikes me as something that would take quite a while to configure.

 

Does anybody know of a guide that may put me at rest (and by that I mean help me rather than kill me).

[Anglo_Jaxon]

http://www.spiceworks.com/

 

This might help... look at the Help desk bit... it can be run as a webserver - people can request tasks and then be informed in what is being done! (And each other!)

 

(XP SP2)

 

It is quite cool at "auditing kit" too!

 

J

[sqdge]

http//www.spiceworks.com/

 

This might help... look at the Help desk bit... it can be run as a webserver - people can request tasks and then be informed in what is being done! (And each other!)

 

(XP SP2)

 

It is quite cool at "auditing kit" too!

 

J

I did like spiceworks, but I found it took forever to do anything. At the moment, I'm finding the demo of GLPI quite fun to play with. I might investigate that option further.

[Ric_]

@spdge: I know that Linux can be a little daunting but it is relativvely easy to setup Ubuntu Server on an oldish machine (just select the LAMP install) and then the instructions are very good (and easy).

 

You can see the install instructions on the GLPI website at http://www.glpi-project.org/spip.php?article61

 

OCS Inventory NG is even easier to install... it comes with a handy script. This can then be integrated with ease if you so desire.

[alonebfg]

i thought the same about linux till I joined this fourm now i have 3 linux boxes openfiler, a web server (ubuntu) and one other i use for testing new projets and stuff. The thing i like about linux is that you can control it from any machine using putty. There is a good founrm called edugeek if you have problems also i found howtofourge a very useful source as it goes through step by step from basics.

[limbo]

Just be a little bit careful - helpdesks are hugely advantageous - but keeping them up to date is an extra job for you to do - and can be quite a big job.

 

There are two ways the jobs can get on the helpdesk - the first is you put them on yourself when they are handed to you. This can be a real pain - especially if you are already busy and the temptation to not bother putting some jobs on increases with time.

 

The second option is to have staff log it themselves through a web interface or something similar - but this two things will definately happen. the first being that some people will love it and suddenly start putting hundreds of jobs on - which is positive, but can increase your work load. The other thing that will happen is that lots of people will hate it / be reluctant to use it and they will ignore it completely and still bring things to you directly so now you either have to be strong willed and insist they log it or be soft and log it yourself (or not bother to log it at all) and your work load has increased.

 

I am not saying you should not run a helpdesk - far from it, it is the single most impacting thing you have do to improve service to the customer. But along with it comes extra work - and an increased accountablility if it is published - conversations like "I put his on the helpdesk two weeks ago and you have done nothing about it" will become common and you suddenly have to make sure you have an answer as to why it has taken two weeks (which is usually because you have been waiting for more information for 13 days of that two weeks!).

[Andi]

We have servicedesk plus and have found it to be great so far in playtime mode. Basically we have only used it ourselves so far and haven't dished it out to the staff yet, that is something we will be doing during this summer break.

 

However, for the last 2 years we've been using a shared Outlook task list (the administrator account which all the ICT support staff have access to from their own account) which has worked fine for keeping up-to-speed with what jobs are outstanding and where people are with them.

 

I also toyed with Liberum which is completely free and open source which seemed to do a great job, but I was always too busy to ever implement it properly. http://www.liberum.org/

[Scotmk]

I have just setip Liberum and works great, does reports n everthing. Very easy to setup on ASP.

 

We have servicedesk plus and have found it to be great so far in playtime mode. Basically we have only used it ourselves so far and haven't dished it out to the staff yet, that is something we will be doing during this summer break.

 

However, for the last 2 years we've been using a shared Outlook task list (the administrator account which all the ICT support staff have access to from their own account) which has worked fine for keeping up-to-speed with what jobs are outstanding and where people are with them.

 

I also toyed with Liberum which is completely free and open source which seemed to do a great job, but I was always too busy to ever implement it properly. http://www.liberum.org/

[sqdge]

Just be a little bit careful - helpdesks are hugely advantageous - but keeping them up to date is an extra job for you to do - and can be quite a big job.

 

At the moment we have a help desk system in the form of "The Red Book", which is always kept in one part of school - which is not always practical for me to write in. So, a digital helpdesk would be replacing the work that goes into the Red Book - so, in our case, I don't think it will be increasing the workload but streamlining it instead.

[wesleyw]

Okay seeing as I have setup and installed Liberium, One||Zero and GLPI in the past I'll hopefully be able to ease your fears on the installation. Out of all of them Liberium was the easiest. One||Zero was very easy to but was more difficult to configure for use with either our DCs or authentication from our IMAP server. Liberium was very simple. GLPI was probably the most difficult but thats not a fair reflection of how easy it was to setup up. an analogy would be Liberium is as easy to install and setup as eating an apple, One||Zero as easy as eating a banana and GLPI as easy as eating a pineapple all relatively easy just a few thingas to setup first with GLPI. With any of these you need a working web server now you can use LAMP, WAMP or IIS if you use LAMP you will need a little knowledge of linux but not too much, WAMP is quite easy too especially if you download the XAMP installation package with installs Apache. PHP, MySQL without more than a few clicks. IIS is a real pain sometimes when you want to install PHP and Perl but Apache is a breeze. However if you download OCS NG which I know a lot of the members here have done it includes the XAMP installation which means one 98mb file about 5 clicks and you have an inventory system and a full web server took about 5-6 mnutes for it all to be up and running. GLPI can then be installed straight after and this will make it very easy (I found it more difficult to install than the others because I was installing it on NetBSD via command lines so not the easiest thing if you have very little knowledge like I do ) GLPI is very good and using it off our IMAP ment that the Teachers, Staff and Pupils can log calls from home as well as in school (none have abused it either which is a shock lol) with this very simple installation of a webserver you can install things like MRBS for room/resources booking and web calendar I've implemented all of these and they work very well the schools extranet has grown considerably since I started here and of course our VLE is making major progress now. FITS is easy now lol.

 

 

 

Wes

[sqdge]

Thanks a lot Wesleyw!

 

I have looked at Liberum and One||Zero, and while I like their help desk layout, there aren't enough 'other things' that they do (calendar, bookings, etc.) So I think I will tackle GLPI. I have previously attempted to install OCS NG, but got into a bit of trouble, but I'm ready to try again now (some days are best designated as "Ink cartridge replacement day"!)

 

I've come across enough tutorials in English on how to install GLPI now (I wish I could read French) - so I will probably have a go this afternoon.

 

I've downloaded XAMP in the past, but could not get it to start all the services. Again, I'm ready to tackle it again now. Or, I'll see if there's an inkjet printer needing a refill.

[wesleyw]

Firstly make sure IIS isn't installed! This will stop the apache services running as it runs on the same ports as apache (You can change this but why use Apache AND IIS? other than ASP pages of course). Install the web components with OCS NG don't install XAMP first. Strangely enough these are all mistakes I made lol. Follow the english notes on sending out the OCS NG client software package via GPO (first package I've ever had where it went on flawlessly first time ) Then install GLPI it'll be much easier lol.

 

if you struggle with it PM me and I'll let you have the school number and we can go through any problems.

 

Plexer if a fount of all knowledge when it comes to OCS so if I can't help he can lol.

 

 

 

Wes

[sqdge]

Firstly make sure IIS isn't installed! This will stop the apache services running as it runs on the same ports as apache (You can change this but why use Apache AND IIS? other than ASP pages of course). Install the web components with OCS NG don't install XAMP first. Strangely enough these are all mistakes I made lol. Follow the english notes on sending out the OCS NG client software package via GPO (first package I've ever had where it went on flawlessly first time ) Then install GLPI it'll be much easier lol.

 

if you struggle with it PM me and I'll let you have the school number and we can go through any problems.

 

Plexer if a fount of all knowledge when it comes to OCS so if I can't help he can lol.

 

 

 

Wes

 

I'm going to install this on a completely blank machine this time, so hopefully that will eliminate some of the problems I had last time.

 

In return for your help, I'll offer you my garden for any BBQs you may want to have, my services as a photographer, and my ability to draw sheep.

[wesleyw]

Cool! Thanks.

 

Just been demoing the system to another school in our neighbouring LEA they seem to like it and are going to install it soon. I have to admit the combination of an Inventory System and Helpdesk has really helped. If you own say Stone, HP, Dell machines they have their serial numbers tagged into the BIOS which OCS will pick up on, some monitors as well. You can then export them to FMS or another equipement register or just leave them as is. You can add other equipment into OCS as well such as projectors, IWB et cetera then the when a helpdesk request comes in you can match it directly to the equipment and at a later date build reports on which machines have gone down, how many times, the actual faults and you can then get patterns of behaviour for the machines and users so if a machine is always dying then replace that machine or if it only has problems mondays after a full moon when its raining then worry about flooding.

 

Wes

[Friez]

Over here we employ a high tech solution of writing things that need doing / are in progress on a whiteboard.

[NetworkGeezer]

A clip round the ear normally does the trick

[sqdge]

Cool! Thanks.

 

Just been demoing the system to another school in our neighbouring LEA they seem to like it and are going to install it soon. I have to admit the combination of an Inventory System and Helpdesk has really helped. If you own say Stone, HP, Dell machines they have their serial numbers tagged into the BIOS which OCS will pick up on, some monitors as well. You can then export them to FMS or another equipement register or just leave them as is. You can add other equipment into OCS as well such as projectors, IWB et cetera then the when a helpdesk request comes in you can match it directly to the equipment and at a later date build reports on which machines have gone down, how many times, the actual faults and you can then get patterns of behaviour for the machines and users so if a machine is always dying then replace that machine or if it only has problems mondays after a full moon when its raining then worry about flooding.

 

Wes

 

So, and I know you'll probably shudder at the this, but I have got GLPI working on a windows machine (XP Pro) running EasyPHP. However, I can not access the system from any computer that isn't the local host.

 

I have a feeling that it is something to do with EasyPHP - but wouldn't mind someone with more experience to confirm this.

 

I think I'm currently in a situation that would normally be known as a "steep learning curve".

[wesleyw]

firewall? what happens when you try to go to the machine in ie?

 

Wes

[sqdge]

firewall? what happens when you try to go to the machine in ie?

 

Wes

 

There is no firewall - it's an SP1 machine.

 

When I go to the machines IP address on ie on another computer I get a message saying that it can not communicate with the server. However, I can ping the GLPI computer.