Frontline Education is happy to announce the release of Help Desk version 6.3, which includes support for a Rich Text Editor, In-App Notifications, resolving tickets through the User Portal, and viewing previous tickets by tag through the Service Desk.

Release Overview

Highlights include:

• Rich Text Editor
• In-App Notifications
• User Portal Resolve Ticket
• Service Desk View Previous Tickets (Tag)

Rich Text Editor

Both the Service Desk and User Portal can now add or edit video, emojis, links, and other components in the description text and public comments in tickets.

Add/Edit Ticket - Description and Public Comments

• Rich Text Editor is now set up by default in Help Desk Management.
• Rich Text Editor is enabled for ticket description and public comments.
• Vertical Ellipsis next to the Insert Image icon offers options to upload video, files, emojis, special characters, and horizontal line
• Video Icon: Add videos in the body of the ticket description by using the Link icon to paste the video URL or the Upload icon to choose a file from your computer. Option to select the video to Autoplay is not set by default.

Example of embedded video in ticket description.

• File Upload Icon: Files can be added as attachments right in the body of the email. As a user, you can add the file by choosing it in the file finder or dropping the file in the drop box.

• Emoji Icon: Emojis can be added using the Smiley Face icon. Emojis can be pasted in the field as well or chosen from the dropdown.

• Special Characters Icon: Special characters can be added using the $. These characters can range from special letters to mathematical figures and symbols.

• Line Break Icon: The line break allows for an aesthetic way to separate text, images, or videos for easier consumption in the description or comment fields.

• Inbound Emails: When an email comes in to Help Desk Management to create a ticket or respond to a comment with an embedded link then the following will happen:
  • If display name is the same as the URL, or one contained the other, then only one is kept, e.g. www.google.com <http://www.google.com > displays as www.google.com.
  • If display name was different from the URL, then both are kept, e.g. Google <http://www.google.com > displays as Google [http://www.google.com ].
  • This will keep the solution secure from any ransomware. The links will not be clickable but can be copy and pasted into a browser.
• Outbound Emails: When an email is sent from Help Desk Management with an embedded video, image, or attachment, it will show as a link with the file name in the email. The link will send the user to the Help Desk to view the ticket. This is due to security concerns and preventing a ransomware attack.

Other Considerations

• When using rich text editor for the ticket comments and ticket description, these fields will display videos and emojis as “errors” on the tickets grid.
• Rich text editor is not accessible for all fields, that includes status change comments.
• The "Knowledge Base" rich text editor is different from the "Ticket" rich text editor for description and public comments and private notes.
• Pictures and links can be copied and pasted into the drop boxes.

In-App Notifications

Help Desk Management now supports "In-App Release Notifications" for both the Service Desk and User Portal. These notifications will alert users when service is planned (e.g., new release, scheduled maintenance) or any other critical information about the system from Frontline Education.

"In-App Notifications" will be shown on the right side of the screen upon logging in. There are two types of notifications: the orange triangle means “warning” and the "I" in the circle means “information.”

The notifications will display on the home screen until the user exits out of them using the "X" on the top right. The notifications are only present in the service technician portal for admin and technicians.

User Portal Resolve Ticket

Without contacting a technician for support, Staff and Student Help Desk User Portal users will now have the option to resolve their own tickets directly.

1. From the User Portal, when a user opens their ticket (whether the ticket was created via email or through the User Portal) the user can “Resolve” the ticket without the help of a technician.
2. The end user will navigate to the ticket, open the ticket, and click on the Resolve button on the right hand-side.

3. When the user clicks the Resolve button, the status pop-up to add a resolution note will appear.

4. A resolution note must be added for a user resolved ticket. The Confirm button will not be activated until a note is entered.

5. When the resolution note has been entered and confirmed, the ticket status is now updated to reflect the change.

6. The option to have a notification will be sent to the technician. To enable this option, an admin will navigate to the "Admin Notification" page and choose who they want to see the resolution email notifications.
7. The resolution note will be present in the resolution notes section of the ticket and on the “All Tickets” grid.

Other Considerations

• A user can only resolve their own tickets from the User Portal. This action cannot be performed via email reply.
• We understand that there is no asterisk next to the comment field to indicate that it is required. We will address this in a future release.
• If the admin would like to set up a standard workflow for "Resolved" tickets to automatically change to "Closed" status, this can be accomplished in Ticket Routing > Ticket Updates.

Service Desk View Previous Tickets (Tag)

View previous tickets associated to a tag so technicians can quickly have more context when working on a ticket. "Tag History" lets you see the quantity of previous tickets for that tag and quickly view past tickets.

1. When a ticket has a tag associated, previous tickets opened for the tag can be viewed on the right side of the screen on a tab called Ticket History. The Ticket History tab will also display in parentheses the quantity of previous tickets for the tag.

2. When the Tag History tab is clicked, a listing of the previous tickets will display. The tickets are shown in order of most recently submitted. The Tag History tab will show up to 8 tickets in the listing. The technician or admin can page through to older tickets to find what they are looking for. Clicking on one of the tickets will open the ticket in a new tab so the technician or admin does not lose their work on the original ticket.

3. If there is a knowledge base article relevant to the ticket and previous tag history tickets, the Quick Help tab will be first, followed by the Tag History tab. When one of the tabs is clicked to display results, the other tab can be found on the left side for the user to toggle between tabs, as shown below.

4. If a technician or admin performs a Search while viewing a ticket with Quick Help or Tag History tabs present, the two tabs will be hidden behind the search results. Quick Help or Tag History tabs will not be viewable until the search results are closed.

Other Considerations

• Quick Help has a new look to be consistent with Search results and Ticket History. The Quick Help background is now blue.
• Depending on the resolution of the computer/browser of the customer, the Quick Help and Ticket History tabs may have more or less spacing between them. We recommend using 100% resolution on your browser window.

Previous Releases

The following are release notes for prior releases.