What's New in ServiceWise 6.1

AssetWise Discovery
AssetWise Discovery is an enhancement for AssetWise that provides automatic asset discovery of network devices, hardware, and software. AssetWise Discovery integrates with AssetWise inventory management and TechExcel HelpDesk service management applications to provide more complete information to your IT service team.

AssetWise Discovery includes the following components:

• Discovery Agent(s)
  A tiny application installs on network computers and detects information about the host and information about network devices within the subnet. Information collected is stored in a central repository for analysis. The tiny footprint and minimal bandwidth consumed ensure discovery agents do not affect network performance.

• New TechExcel HelpDesk Client Interface
  TechExcel ServiceWise Client allows support team to access detailed asset information for automatically discovered network devices.

• AssetWise Control Center application and improved HelpDesk Admin Client
  A new administrative client for IT inventory management and network discovery configuration. Using the Control Center, administrators may view existing network information, configure how the Discovery agent is deployed, and define what networks the agent should detect.

  A new AssetWise Control Center client and enhanced Admin Client interfaces give TechExcel ServiceWise administrators complete control over asset integration including:

  • Discovery Agent Deployment Options
  • Software Licensing Management
  • Detailed Asset Location, Hardware, and Software information
  • Field Mapping Configuration
  • Synchronization Schedules

AssetWise Integrations
Requires additional asset integration module

For customers with existing asset management software TechExcel offers two additional asset management integrations for TechExcel ServiceWise:

• LANDesk
• Microsoft SMS

Auto-Routing - Team Member Availability Option
Team member availability may now be included as part of Auto-Routing rule criteria. New settings allow administrators to configure routing rules that route incidents to team members only when they are logged in. Auto-routing by availability ensures incidents are assigned only to available team members. Availability settings are project, rule, and team member based so administrators may define which rules require an available team member.

Crystal Reports 11 support
Customers using Crystal Reports 11 may now design custom reports and display them within the TechExcel Report View page.

Events - Create events using Web Click Manager
Events may now be created directly from the Web Click Manager. This allows team members responsible for web activities to create follow-up tasks and other events more easily.

Events - Trigger creation of a global event in another work project
Improve event management and task driven workflow with new global event creation. Now, event workflow may be configured to trigger the creation of new global events in other work projects improving task management across projects.

Forward, Close, and Re-Open page improvements
The Forward, Close, and Re-Open page have been enhanced to support the following:

• Administrators may add additional system fields and custom fields
• Administrators may configure field positions and additional properties
• Pages now support master/detail relationships between fields

Knowledge Auto-Recommendation is work project based
Administrators may now enable KnowledgeWise Auto-Suggest for specific work projects. In prior versions, enabling Auto-suggest affected all work projects.

Knowledge View HTML Editor
An HTML knowledge editor may be used within the web client. When enabled, support team users may create topics in the Knowledge View using a toolbar with editing features similar to popular text editors. End-users do not need to know any HTML in order to use the editor, but an HTML source editor is available advanced that want to modify the HTML directly.

New Administrator Account Types Privileges
The Account Types privilege "Can close and reopen incidents" is now two distinct privileges:

• Can close incidents
• Can reopen incidents

New Email Merge Fields
Additional mail merge fields are available for administrators when defining the email templates. Additional merge fields include:

• Additional Customer Merge Fields
• Additional Incident Merge Fields
• Incident Quick Edit

This mail merge field inserts a hyperlink into the email that opens a browser directly to the incident for quick updating.

• Event Quick Edit

This mail merge field inserts a hyperlink into the email that opens a browser directly to the event for quick updating.

Email Notification and Escalation Enhancements
Incident notification, incident escalation, event notification, and event escalation are all substantially improved in 6.1. Features include: rule-based notification and escalation definition, notification and escalation subscription options, and fully customizable email formats.

Firefox Web Browser Support
The Mozilla Firefox web browser is now supported in the Client Web and Web Portal.

Query on web conversations with no response
A new query option allows users to build queries that return incidents with unanswered web conversations. This allows support team members to view incidents that may need a follow-up response. The new query checkbox is located in the Other tab in the detailed query view.

Reporting graphics server improvement
Updated reporting graphics improve the readability of all graphical reports including: bar chart, stacked bar chart, pie, and trend reports.

Reports Support Multiple Select Field Type
Reports now support a column to show multiple selection field type data. Selection choices may now be added to reports and used in queries.

A Group Folder may be assigned as primary support
Team members may now assign a group folder as the primary support engineer for customers and employees. In past versions, only specific team members or Unassigned were options as primary support engineers.

User Identity Confirmation for Incidents and Events
User Identity Confirmation improves the security and accountability of your critical incident and event driven processes. User Identity Confirmation may also serves as an electronic signature and meets the requirements of the FDA 21 CFR part 11 for electronic signatures.

Using your existing incident and event workflow, User Identity Confirmation allows administrators to define actions or changes that require additional security. When the action is performed, the end-user will be prompted to confirm their identity by re-entering their protected password.

Windows GUI Improvements
The Windows client interface is improved to support more user friendly searching and usability.

• No issues/events found display in Windows Client - When no issues meet the user search criteria a message will display informing the user.
• Workflow Buttons in Windows Client - New buttons show user available actions based on workflow settings.
• Quick Search in Windows Client - Quick search now available in Windows toolbar.

Workflow - Create state-based workflow without graphical editor
Administrators now have an additional option for maintaining workflow settings in projects using state based workflow. In addition to using the graphical workflow, administrators may now Add, Edit, Delete and configure other workflow options using the Workflow Settings interface found in pre 6.0 versions.

Workflow Enhancement - Definable closed states
Any workflow status may now be defined as being a closed state. Multiple workflow statuses may be defined as closed to allow better categorization of closed incidents. Workflow may now be configured to close an incident directly from submission, reducing the number of clicks end-users performs to close an incident.