Siebel Employee Relationship Management Administration Guide > Setting Up HelpDesk >

Working with the HelpDesk Solutions Database

Solutions are answers to frequently asked questions. Solutions are documented by service agents and call center administrators and are stored in the database. HelpDesk agents document solutions, and agents and customers can frequently resolve service issues by searching this knowledge database. Employees can search the database and retrieve solutions to common problems without having to wait for help desk personnel to become available.

To publish Siebel Solution records, you must first create the solution records and then categorize them using the appropriate Siebel ERM catalogs. After the solutions are categorized, they appear in the appropriate views. To restrict user access to specific categories, you can apply access control to the categorized solutions. After the solution record is created, you must associate the record with the appropriate category.

• For more information creating solutions, see Siebel eService Administration Guide and Siebel Field Service Guide.
• For more information on catalog and category administration, see Siebel eSales Administration Guide.
• For information on setting up auto response for solutions, see Siebel Smart Answer Administration Guide.

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Siebel HelpDesk and includes a number of related tasks.

Related Tasks

• Categorizing Solutions
• Creating a Resolution for HelpDesk Users
• Categorizing a HelpDesk Resolution

Categorizing Solutions

You can use the Catalog Administration view to associate solutions with a category. For example:

• To display solutions in the General FAQs list in Siebel HelpDesk, the Solutions must be categorized in the catalog called ERM Catalog.
• To display solutions in the Top FAQs list in Siebel HelpDesk, the solutions must be categorized in the catalog called ERM Top Solutions, and the category called ERM Top Solutions.

To add a solution to a Siebel ERM Category

1. From the application-level menu, choose Navigate > Site Map > Administration - Catalog > Catalog Administration.
2. In the Catalog list, query to find ERM Catalog.
3. In the ERM Catalog record, click the link in the Name field.
4. In the Categories list, select the category.

   Expand the Category folder to see subcategories.

5. From the categories list, click the Solutions link, and in the Solutions list, add a new record.
6. In the Add Solutions dialog box select the solution information you want to add to the category, and then click OK.

   The selected solution is associated with the category.

Creating a Resolution for HelpDesk Users

A resolution is a content item, typically a text document or product literature item, which includes information that is relevant to solving a service request. To make a resolution available to Siebel HelpDesk users, you perform the following tasks:

1. Adding the desired content to the literature catalog. You can specify a path, browse for a file, or link to the file through a URL. For more information about literature, see Applications Administration Guide.
2. Create a resolution record, provide a name for the resolution item, and specify the type of the resolution item that has been added.
3. Optionally, associate the resolution item with a resolution category.
4. Associate the literature that has been added to the catalog to one or more catalog categories.

   For more information on catalog and category administration, see Siebel eSales Administration Guide.

To create a resolution for Siebel HelpDesk

1. From the application-level menu, choose Navigate > Site Map > Administration - Resolution Documents.
2. In the Resolutions Documents list, add a new record, specify a type, and complete the remaining fields.

Categorizing a HelpDesk Resolution

You can use the Catalog Administration view to associate existing resolutions with a category.

To add a resolution to a category

1. From the application-level menu, choose Navigate > Site Map > Administration - Catalog > Catalog Administration.
2. In the Catalogs list, query to find ERM Catalog or ERM Top Solutions.
3. In the catalog record, click the link in the Name field.
4. In the Categories list, select the category with which you want to associate the resolution.
5. Click the Resolution Item link.
6. In the Resolution Items list, add a record and complete the fields.