Roles

Every SmarterTrack user (i.e., anyone using SmarterTrack, from a customer or end user to an administrator) is assigned a role. Roles define permissions and dictate which features the user has access to. In addition, a user's ability to work within SmarterTrack is dictated by the combination of roles that are assigned to the user. Therefore, if a custom role is created, the permissions assigned to all roles for the user may need to be modified to ensure that the custom role's permissions are actually enforced. This is especially true of the Everyone and Agent roles because the Everyone role applies to everyone that interacts with SmarterTrack, both agents and end users, and because the Agent role is necessary for any employee that is going to interact with end users and customers. By default, SmarterTrack has six predefined roles:

• Everyone - Typically a customer or portal visitor. The Everyone role can view and search Knowledge Base articles, and view articles and news items. The Everyone role is assigned to every user within SmarterTrack and cannot be removed.
• Agent - Typically an employee that has access to the management interface and that will interact with customers and end users. An agent is able to view and respond to their own tickets and live chats; create their own call logs and follow-up tasks; manage knowledge base articles, news items, and canned replies; and view Who's On. It's worth noting that employees with the Agent role can only interact with their own items - they do not have access to other agent's tickets, live chats, etc. In addition, agents are only able to receive tickets for groups that they are members of.
• Manager - Generally an employee that has supervisory capabilities. In addition to having the same permissions as an agent, a manager also has the ability to view all tickets and live chats, for all agents, in any department where they belong to at least one group. Note: Managers must also have the agent role enabled.
• Administrator - An administrator has access to every area of the SmarterTrack installation: the system settings, management interface and database information, all tickets, live chats, call logs and tasks, all Community categories, Brands and reports. Typically, the administrator role is given to one or more Managers, so those employees can can also manage departments, groups, and users, as well as manage SmarterTrack as a whole. Rarely is there an administrator who ONLY has the administrator role, but it does happen, especially in larger installations.Note: For new installations, the initial administrator also has the agent role enabled by default.
• Registered User - A customer, website, or portal visitor that has a registered account. Typically, a registered user can submit tickets and/or live chats and view and search Knowledge Base articles and news items. Registered Users can also have Community privileges such as editing posts, deleting posts, etc. However, system administrators may want to limit the Community access this role has so as to limit the potential for abuse of Community topics.
• Registered User with Verified Email - A customer, website, or portal visitor that has a registered account and has successfully confirmed that the email address provided is valid. Typically, a registered user can submit tickets and/or live chats and view and search knowledge base articles and news items. This role also has Community privileges that can be extended by system administrators as these users have verified their contact email addresses.

To access this section, log into the management interface with an administrator account. Select Settings from the Navigator, then click on Roles in the navigation pane. The default and custom roles associated to your company will load in the content pane.

In general, the following columns are available:

• Checkbox - Use these boxes to select multiple roles. Roles must be selected before choosing an action from the actions toolbar.
• Role - The name of the role.
• Role Type - Indicates whether the role relates to company employees or users (customers).
• Users - The number of SmarterTrack users assigned to the role.
• Custom Role - Indicates with a checkmark whether the role was created by the administrator to meet specific company needs. Predefined roles will NOT have a checkmark in this column.

The following options are available from the content pane toolbar:

• New - Creates a new role.
• Edit - Allows the administrator to make changes to a role's permissions.
• Delete - Permanently deletes the selected role(s).

Editing Roles

To view the configuration of a specific role, select it by checking its box and then clicking the Edit button. Alternatively, you can double-click the role. The role settings will load in the content window and the following tabs will be available:

Options

Use this tab to specify feature permissions for the features listed. By default, features will have permissions based on the role type, and the items shown will vary based on whether the role is available for Users or Employees. For the Employee role, all feature permissions default to "Full Control". (Items with an asterisk (*) are specifically for the Employee role.)

• Role Name - The name of the role.
• Role Type - To specify whether the role relates to company employees or end users, select the appropriate option from the list.
• KB Articles
• KB Feedback
• Canned Replies
• Community
• News*
• Tickets*
• Tasks*
• Call Logs*
• Live Chats*
• Who's On*
• Reports*
• Distribution*
• Events*
• Survey*
• Users/Organizations*

Feature Permissions

Each feature has its own permission set. There are standard permissions as well as a Custom setting. The Custom setting allows an administrator to apply a more granular set of permissions for the feature to the Role. Therefore, when Custom permissions are selected, the Tab for that specific feature is displayed in the content pane and the administrator can click on that tab and set the permission detail as needed. The standard permissions available for both Users and Employees include:

• Full Control - Gives the Role complete control over the feature. This includes things like creating new items, editing items, deleting items, etc.
• Modify - Gives the Role the ability to change something in the feature, such as clear Helpfulness Ratings for KB articles.
• Read Only - Gives the Role only the ability to read an item -- not create, modify, edit or delete it.
• None - Removes the Feature from the Role entirely.
• Custom - Allows the administrator to set a granular level of permissions to that feature for a specific Role. For example, if a system administrator wants to limit the ability for the Agent role to transfer things like tickets and live chats, they'd set the Employee Role permissions for Distribution to Custom, then edit the Distribution tab and remove (uncheck) the ability to "Transfer Work Items" and "Transfer Work Items to Specific Agent". Custom permissions can be set for any feature available in SmarterTrack.

User and Employee Feature Permissions

There are a few Roles that are shared by both Users and Employees. These Roles, while spanning both, do offer some different permissions types based on who the Role is created for. Below, we've listed these shared Roles, and any permission that is exclusively for Employees is in bold. For Custom permissions, those are listed as well.

KB Articles

Use this tab to specify knowledge base permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom KB article permissions in the options tab. Knowledge base permissions cover the following:

• Full Control
• Create
• Delete
• Edit
• Move
• Copy
• Transfer
• Clone
• Mark - Public, Private, Draft, Reviewed, Review
• Add Feedback
• Clear Helpfulness
• Review
• Event
• Scan Broken Links
• Modify -- Also controls the ability for agents to "Clear Helpfulness".
• Create
• Delete
• Edit
• Move
• Copy
• Transfer
• Clone
• Mark - Public, Private, Draft, Reviewed, Review
• Add Feedback
• Scan Broken Links
• Read Only
• Scan Broken Links
• None
• Custom
• Create - Create new KB articles.
• Modify - Essentially edit KB articles, including the ability to clear Helpfulness ratings and feedback.
• Delete
• Review - KBs can be marked as "Needs Review". This permission gives the Agent the ability to remove that Review flag.
• View

As an aside, if multiple KB folders are available, permissions can be set and/or modified on a per-folder basis.

KB Feedback

Use this tab to specify knowledge base commenting permissions for this role. These permission cover both the Portal as well as the Management Interface, where applicable. (E.g., it's possible to reply to a comment from the Portal as well as from the Management Interface.)Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom KB comment permissions in the options tab. Knowledge base feedback permissions cover the following:

• Full Control
• Create
• Reply
• Edit
• Delete
• Report/Moderate
• Modify
• Create
• Reply
• Report/Moderate
• Read Only
• Report - Portal only
• None
• Report - Portal only
• Custom
• Create
• Reply
• Edit personal
• Edit all feedback
• Delete personal
• Delete all feedback
• Moderate

Canned Replies

Use this tab to specify Canned Reply permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom Canned Reply permissions in the options tab. Canned Reply permissions cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• View/Insert
• Create
• Edit
• Delete
• Mark Draft
• Change Canned Reply Type
• Change Canned Reply Language
• Modify
• View/Insert
• Create
• Edit
• Mark Draft
• Change Canned Reply Type
• Change Canned Reply Language
• Read Only
• View/Insert
• Custom
• Create
• Edit
• Delete

Specific User Roles will have extended permissions. For example, the Registered User with Verified Email Role has different, more expanded permissions than the Everyone Role. This is because a User who has registered an account within the Portal, and who than has their email address verified, can be someone who has expanded permissions by the help desk staff. For example, these users can act as Moderators for the KB system or the Community.

Community

Use this tab to specify community permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom community permissions in the options tab. Community permissions cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Create Thread
• Edit Thread
• Delete Thread
• Create Post
• Edit Post
• Delete Post
• Most Post
• Report
• Read Only
• Create Thread
• Create Post
• Report
• Custom
• Moderate
• Edit all Posts
• Delete any Post
• Change Status

Employee Only Feature Permissions

News

Use this tab to specify news permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom news permissions in the options tab. News permissions cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Create
• Edit
• Delete
• Mark Public
• Mark Private
• Mark Draft
• Mark Reviewed
• Mark for Review
• Scan Broken Links
• Clone
• Modify
• Create
• Edit
• Mark Public
• Mark Private
• Mark Draft
• Mark Reviewed
• Mark for Review
• Scan Broken Links
• Clone
• Read Only
• Scan Broken Links
• None
• Custom
• Create - Create News articles.
• Modify - Essentially edit KB articles, including the ability to clear Helpfulness ratings and feedback.
• Delete
• Review - News items can be marked as "Needs Review". This permission gives the Agent the ability to remove that Review flag.
• View

Tickets

Use this tab to specify ticket permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom ticket permissions in the options tab. The Ticket permission cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Create
• Reply
• Take
• Delete
• Transfer
• Merge
• Change Status
• Change Priority
• Change Email Address
• Change Subject
• Pin
• Follow-up
• Assistance
• Add Comment
• Add Resolution
• Add Attachment
• Add Related Item
• Add Task
• Add Time Log
• Add Call Log
• Advanced Search
• Access the Queue
• Modify
• Create
• Reply
• Merge
• Change Status
• Change Priority
• Change Email Address
• Change Subject
• Pin
• Follow-up
• Assistance
• Add Comment
• Add Resolution
• Add Attachment
• Add Related Item
• Add Task
• Add Time Log
• Add Call Log
• Custom
• Mark as Deleted
• View Queue -- This would limit the agent's ability to see the Queue, and would only see tickets assigned to them via Round Robin distribution.

Tasks

Use this tab to specify task permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom task permissions in the options tab. Task permissions cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Create
• Delete
• Transfer
• Edit
• Change Status
• Change Priority
• Event
• Advanced Search
• Task Scheduler
• Modify
• Create
• Edit
• Change Status
• Change Priority
• Advanced Search
• Task Scheduler
• Read Only
• Advanced Search
• None
• Custom
• Create
• Modify
• Delete
• Change Start and Due Dates

Call Logs

Use this tab to specify call log permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom call log permissions in the options tab. Call log permissions cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Create
• Delete
• Transfer
• Edit
• Add Attachment
• Add Related Item
• Add Task
• Add Time Log
• Add Ticket
• Assistance
• Events
• Advanced Search
• Modify
• Create
• Edit
• Add Attachment
• Add Related Item
• Add Task
• Add Time Log
• Add Ticket
• Assistance
• Advanced Search
• Read Only
• Assistance
• Advanced Search
• None
• Custom
• Create
• Modify
• Delete

Live Chats

• Full Control
• Take
• Transfer
• Add Comment
• Add Related Item
• Add Task
• Add Time Log
• Add Ticket
• Manual Event
• Assistance
• View the Queue
• Advanced Search
• Modify
• Take
• Add Comment
• Add Related Item
• Add Task
• Add Time Log
• Add Ticket
• View the Queue
• Advanced Search
• None
• Add Comment
• Add Related Item
• Add Task
• Add Time Log
• Add Ticket
• Advanced Search
• Custom
• View Queue

Who's On

Use this tab to specify Who's On permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom Who's On permissions in the options tab. Who's On permissions cover the role's ability to "View Who's On Visitors" and interact with them.

• Full Control
• Live Chat
• None
• Custom
• View Who's On Visitors

Reports

Use this tab to specify report permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom report permissions in the options tab. Report permissions give managers the ability to only grant access to specific reports for the role.

• Full Control
• Create Custom
• Delete Custom
• Edit Custom
• Schedule Email
• Email
• Print
• None
• Custom
• View specific reports -- Each report is listed, and administrators can grant or revoke permissions to view each as needed.

Distribution

Use this tab to specify distribution permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom distribution permissions in the options tab. Distribution permission cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Can do Transfers
• None
• Custom
• Transfer Work Items - limits the role's ability to transfer tickets, live chats, etc. to new groups only.
• Transfer Work Items to Specific Agents - allows the role to transfer tickets, live chats, etc. to both groups and individual agents within the group. Requires "Transfer Work Items" before it can be activated for an agent.
• Manage Agent Status - Limiting this means an agent can NOT mark themselves as active or inactive in the various groups they're a part of. This would be managed by a user with a role that has this permission, such as a manager or senior agent, if this is restricted for the role.

Events

Use this tab to specify events permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom events permissions in the options tab. Events permission cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Create
• Edit
• Delete
• None
• Custom
• Create and Edit My Events
• Trigger system-level manual events

Surveys

Use this tab to specify survey permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom survey permissions in the options tab. Survey permissions cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Can View
• None
• Custom
• View Summary - Allows the role to see the Survey tab for tickets and live chats. It also will allow agents to see the survey stars on tickets and live chats, and on the User Details Survey and Users/Orgs Survey tabs. It will also allow them to see the Reports > Surveys > By Brand, By Agent, and By Survey survey reports. (IF they have access to the Reports.)
• View Details - Allows the role to view the complete survey results everywhere they see survey stars / survey entries in a grid. (Requires "View Summary" before it can be activated for an agent.) However, they'll only have access to view the Reports > Surveys> By Brand, By Agent, and By Survey reports ONLY if they have permission to view at least one Survey Report.

Users / Organization

Use this tab to specify user and organization permissions for this role. Note: This tab is only available if the administrator selects custom user / organization permissions in the options tab. User / Organization permissions cover the role's ability to:

• Full Control
• Create User/Organization
• Edit User/Organization
• Delete User/Organization
• Clone User
• Add User Comment
• Add User Ticket
• Add User Call Log
• Add Organization Comment
• Add Organization Call Log
• Create Organization Member
• Edit Organization Member
• Delete Organization Member
• Modify
• Create User/Organization
• Edit User/Organization
• Delete Organization
• Clone User
• Add User Comment
• Add User Ticket
• Add User Call Log
• Add Organization Comment
• Add Organization Call Log
• Create Organization Member
• Edit Organization Member
• Delete Organization Member
• Read Only
• Add User Ticket
• Add User Call Log
• Can View Organizations
• Custom
• Edit a user's profile
• Create and Edit organizations
• Add and Edit organization users
• Create a user's profile
• Delete a user's profile

Custom Roles

System Administrators have the ability to create "Custom Roles" for either end users or employees. Custom roles can be extremely useful for things such as adding responsibility to users. For example, if your Community is especially popular, you may want to assign some users moderation roles. This new custom role could allow these users to edit posts, delete posts, report abuse, etc. However, to do this they'd need a custom role. For information on how to create roles, please see the SmarterTrack area of the SmarterTools Knowledge Base.