Northgate Public Services
Northgate Customer Portal
1
stOctober 2012
Report summary:
This document outlines the standard process followed by
Northgate Public Services customers to access and use the
functionality of the customer portal. Information is based on the
VMware Service Manager v9 Portal.
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Distribution
Name Job title
Customer of Northgate Applications
Document control
Change control table:
Version Description Release date Reason for change
0.1 1st draft July 2012 Document Created
1.0 Release August 2012 Released to trial customer
1.1 Update October 2012 Included call template and online help instructions
Prepared by:
Name Contact details
Clark Stalham [email protected]
Contacts:
Contact 1 Contact 2
Clark Stalham
CSC Support & Development Manager
Northgate Information Solutions M: 07983 609647
Samantha Houghton
CSC SM Development Consultant
Northgate Information Solutions M: 07920 821055
Table of Contents
Change control table: ...2
1
Introduction ... 4
1.1 Purpose ...4
1.2 Intended Audience ...4
1.3 Terminology ...4
1.4 Assumptions ...5
2
The Northgate Customer Portal ... 6
2.1 Overview ...6
2.1.1 Accessing the Portal ...6
2.2 Home Page ...7
2.3 Latest News ...8
2.4 Log a Call...9
2.5 Review Past/Current Incidents ... 12
2.6 Add Note to Your Incident ... 13
2.7 Attach Object to Your Incident ... 14
2.8 Closing a Call ... 15
1
Introduction
1.1
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to describe the correct procedure for accessing and using the facilities available via the Northgate Customer Portal
1.2
Intended Audience
The intended audience for this document are any end users that have been granted access to the Northgate Customer Portal
1.3
Terminology
The following terms have special significance throughout the remainder of this document:
Configuration Item (CI): Any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT Service. Information about each CI is recorded in a configuration record with the configuration management system (CMS) and is maintained by the Configuration Management Team. They typically include IT services, hardware, software, building, people and formal documentation
Incident: An unplanned interruption to an IT service or reduction in the quality of an IT service. Failure of a CI that has not yet affected service is also an incident.
IncidentRecord: A record containing the details of an incident. Each incident record documents the lifecycle of a single incident
IncidentManagement: The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all incidents. The primary objective of Incident Management is to return the IT service to customers as quickly as possible.
Priority: A category used to identify the relative importance of an Incident, Service Request, problem or change. Priority is based on impact and urgency and is used to identify required times for actions to be taken
ServiceDesk: The single point of contact between the service provider and the users. A typical service desk manages incidents and service requests and also handles communication with the users. Service Level Agreement (SLA): An agreement between an IT service provider and a customer. The SLA describes the IT service, documents service level targets and specifies the responsibilities of the IT service provider and the customer
1.4
Assumptions
End Users should have the following understanding:
The ability to use a web browser
2
The Northgate Customer Portal
2.1
Overview
The Customer Portal allows end users of service(s) delivered by Northgate Public Services to access a secure website, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in order to accomplish a number of tasks relating to the support of those services. By accessing the portal end users are able to:
Raise Calls
Review and update support calls
Review and update service requests
NOTE: Online help files & video tutorials are available to support the use of the portal which cover all aspects of this document. To access click on „HELP‟ in the far right hand corner of the customer portal
2.1.1 Accessing the Portal
The portal can be accessed via inputting the below URL in to a web browser:
https://psinfra.northgate-is.com/infraportal
This link will display the portal logon screen with prompts to enter your supplied username and password. Your supplied username and password will be identical to that which was used to access the previous Infra customer portal.
Note: It is advisable that any pop-up blockers are disabled when accessing this site, contact your local IT department to ascertain how to enable pop-ups for a specific site.
Note: The Customer Portal is best displayed using Internet Explorer v7/v8/v9. Functionality and page display may be affected using other browser versions.
2.2
Home Page
On accessing the system the first page displayed will be the home page. This page, and all
subsequent pages throughout the site, is divided in to frames. The left hand frame lists navigation options to other parts of the site and remains in place whatever is selected. The frame on the right displaying the details/results of the navigation options selected.
The main frame on the home page shows a summary of the current activity on your account:
Display Description
Latest News Shows any notices that have been posted by the Service Desk in
relation to provided services, this could include such information as major incidents or pending service downtime.
Your Faults & Service Requests
A summary of Incidents / Service Requests that you have raised with the Service Desk
Your Configuration Items A summary of configuration items that are assigned to you e.g. your desktop or laptop
The arrow next to each of the results in the summary window allows you to access further details against that result. In addition it will enable the call closure option whereby an open call can be closed directly by yourself (see section 2.8).
Note: The Latest News section is currently not enabled , this functionality may be introduced at a later date.
The navigation frame on the left lists general information and site navigation options:
Each option form the navigation frame is detailed in the following sections
2.3
Latest News
This option enables end users to view further information as displayed in the Latest News header on the home page.
Note: The Latest News section is currently not enabled , this functionality may be introduced at a later date.
2.4
Log a Call
This option enables end user to raise a new fault or service request for progression by the Northgate Application Teams. When this link is clicked on you will be asked to select the type of call you wish to raise:
A description of each available template is below:
Template Description
I have a Fault or Potential Fault
To be used when you are experiencing an issue with a supplied service ie you are unable to access the service or it is not performing as expected. I would like advice or
information
To be used when you have a general query regarding your supplied service or you wish us to consider a change to your service
I would like to provide feedback
To be used when you which to either leave us a general comment about our services or to raise a complaint or compliment with us
After selecting the required template the Log a Call screen will appear:
Any items marked with a red asterix are required to be completed. Other fields, whilst not mandatory, should be completed where possible to help ensure a speedy resolution to the issue experienced.
A description of each field is below:
Field Description
Service The service the call relates to. This is a drop down list and will display
only service for which you have access to raise a call against.
Module Depending on the Service selected this dropdown list will populate with
the area of the service the call is related to e.g. if you select your revenues service then only modules specific to the revenues service will be displayed.
Module Item Depending on the selected service and module this dropdown list will
populate with specific options for the module selected e.g. if the service was Revenues and the module was CTax then only CTax specific items
will be display i.e Create Discount Type. NOTE: Note all Modules require
a Module Item. If this is the case the Module Item drop down will display the text “No Item Required”
(see below for description of each type available)
Priority The importance of this call, ranging from High Priority ‘P1’ to low ‘P4/5’
Description Free text field for you to record as much relevant information as possible
in relation to the fault being experienced
Environment Whether the call is in relation to your Live system, Test system etc
Version Free text field to record the version of software the call relates to
Alt Contact Free text field to enter a name and contact number of a colleague who
needs to be updated in relation to this call e.g. if you will be unavailable to deal with the call directly.
Your Reference Free text field to record any reference for the call that you may have on
your own internal systems e.g. If you have also raised the call with your Service Desk and they have supplied you with a reference number.
Attach File Ability to upload a file for the call being raised to aid investigation
The available types for call categorisation are available below.
NOTE: Types are specific to the call template used, if you have incorrectly selected the wrong call template you will need to click on ‘Log a Call’ to be taken back to select the correct one.
2.5
Review Past/Current Incidents
This option allows end users to search for open or closed calls that they have raised with the Application Teams via any contact method. By clicking on the link a search screen will appear requesting various criteria to display the required calls:
A description of each available field is below:
Field Description
Incident No. To search for a specific call number enter the number here and click OK
Incident State Radial button to enable search for open incidents, those closed in the
last week or those closed in the last 4 weeks.
Text Search The ability to search on specific text in calls raised
Service This lists all services which are available to the end user, needs to be
used in conjunction with other Advanced Search Criteria options to return results. Multiple services can be selected by using the shift key when selecting them.
Type The ype of call that was logged e.g Incident/Forgotten Password. Needs
to be used in conjunction with other criteria
Priority Ability to search via call priority, must be used in conjunction with other
Advanced Search Criteria
Log Date Date Range for returning results, use in conjunction with other criteria
Open Select to view all open calls, can be used independently of other criteria
2.6
Add Note to Your Incident
This option allows end users to update calls that have been raised by adding a note to a call. Adding notes will update the call and be visible to the Service Desk for actioning.
To add a note click on this option, enter the Call No you wish to update then enter the text of the update in the description field.
An email can also be sent to the current member of Northgate staff who is working on the call by selecting the ‘Send Email’ option.
Note: The ability to add a note to a call is also available via the Home Page on calls that are listed under the „Your Incidents‟ section. By clicking on the arrow next to the call, this will open up the call details window and the ability to add a note is an available option from there.
2.7
Attach Object to Your Incident
This option allows end users to attach objects to open calls that have been raised by them.
To attach an object click on this option, enter the call number you wish to attach an object to, click on browse and navigate to the folder and object to be attached, finally enter a description to go with the object.
As with adding a note the ability to send an email to the current Northgate member of staff working on the call is available from here.
Note: The ability to attach an object to a call is also available via the Home Page on calls that are listed under the „Your Incidents‟ section. By clicking on the arrow next to the call, this will open up the call details window and the ability to attach an object is an available option from there. Objects are documents, screen shots and other general files which may help the support team to investigate your issue.
Note: The Send Pager option whilst appearing on the attach and object screens is not current functionality and performs no purpose.
2.8
Closing a Call
Customers are able to close calls that are open on the system, directly through the customer portal. This option is available from either viewing the details of an open call from the Home Page (section 2.2) or by searching for open calls as in section 2.5.
When viewing the details of an open call a close call button is visible at the top of the page:
To Close the call click on the close call button. This will load a new section of the page asking you to select the reason for closing the call:
Select an option from the drop down list and then click on confirm closure. If the system criteria has been met for closing the call a message will display stating the call has been successfully closed. If criteria has not been met then a message will display asking you to contact the service desk. NOTE: The ability to close a call is based on defined security policies within the system. Customers without the necessary security roles will not be presented with the call closure option. In addition if the call has already been closed then the closure button will also not appear.
3
Further Information
For further information in the use of the customer portal please contact [email protected].
