External Providers

Administrators with programming knowledge can extend the functionality of SmarterTrack through the use of external providers. By integrating external providers into SmarterTrack, companies can do the following and more:

Integrate their login system to LDAP.
Copy the user's ID that the billing system uses into a custom field in SmarterTrack for easy reporting.
Show and hide custom fields based on the department a user has chosen.
Redirect any tickets that have certain custom field values or keywords to an escalation department.

To access this section, log into the management interface with an administrator account. Select Settings from the Navigator, then click on External Providers in the navigation pane. The settings will load in the content pane and the following tabs will be available.

NOTE: For technical details, refer to the examples found in the SmarterTrack External Provider Technical Documentation.

Options

Use this tab to enable external providers. For each external provider enabled, the corresponding tab will become active:

Enable login provider - Checking this box will enable the login provider and allow the administrator to configure the settings on the corresponding external provider tab.
Enable registration provider - Checking this box will enable the registration provider and allow the administrator to configure settings on the corresponding external provider tab.
Enable custom field provider - Checking this box will enable the custom field provider and allow the administrator to configure the settings on the corresponding external provider tab.
Enable ticket provider - Checking this box will enable the ticket provider and allow the administrator to configure the settings on the corresponding external provider tab.
Enable live chat provider - Checking this box will enable the live chat provider and allow the administrator to configure the settings on the corresponding external provider tab.
Enable user information provider - Checking this box will enable the user information provider and allow the administrator to configure the settings on the corresponding external provider tab.
Enable events provider - Checking this box will enable the events provider and allow the administrator to configure the settings on the corresponding external provider tab.

Login

A login provider can be implemented that allows SmarterTrack to query existing systems for user login, authentication, and creation. Every time a user logs in or returns to the site with a login already stored in their cookies, this provider is called. Administrators can use the built-in provider or an external web service. If an external web service is chosen, the following fields are available:

Web Service URL - The URL to the web service.
Web Service Password - The password used to authenticate the web service.
Forgot Password URL - The URL used to recover password information for SmarterTrack users.
Custom Login URL - The URL to which all users will be redirected in order to login. When a URL is entered here, users will be redirected to the specified site instead of seeing the standard login modal.
Default Role for Users - To specify whether users are considered registered or anonymous after logging in, select the appropriate option from the list. Note: If users are considered anonymous, the administrator will have to manually grant the user role to new users. For this reason, it is recommended to select registered users as the default role.
Mark email addresses as verified - Checking this box will automatically verify that email addresses for users are valid.
Enable single sign-on cookies from other sites - Checking this box will allow the web service to accept session cookies from another site.

Registration

A registration provider can be implemented that allows SmarterTrack to work with existing systems for user registration. When a user registers in the existing system, this provider can be called. Administrators can use the built-in provider or an external web service. If an external web service is chosen, the following fields are available:

Web Service URL - The URL to the web service.
Web Service Password - The password used to authenticate the web service.

Custom Fields

A custom field provider can be implemented to allow a custom set of fields to be displayed when creating tickets and live chats. The custom field provider is called when a ticket or live chat is first created and allows the administrator to add or pre-fill fields based on the user's login credentials or other information. Administrators can use the built-in provider or an external Web service. If an external Web service is chosen, the following fields are available:

Web Service URL - The URL to the web service.
Web Service Password - The password used to authenticate the web service.

Ticket

The ticket provider is called right before a ticket is started. It can be implemented to allow the system to redirect the ticket to another department, set other customer fields (like a customer ID in an external billing system), or reject the creation of the item. Administrators can use the built-in provider or an external web service. If an external web service is chosen, the following fields are available:

Web Service URL - The URL to the web service.
Web Service Password - The password used to authenticate the web service.

Live Chat

The live chat provider is called right before a live chat is started. It can be implemented to allow the system to redirect the live chat to another department, set other customer fields (like a customer ID in an external billing system), or reject the creation of the item. Administrators can use the built-in provider or an external web service. If an external web service is chosen, the following fields are available:

Web Service URL - The URL to the web service.
Web Service Password - The password used to authenticate the web service.

User Information

The user information provider can be implemented to automatically pull information from an external database and display the information in the Communication tab of tickets. A business can use this provider to display important customer information (recent purchases, licensing information, number of past tickets, etc.) so that agents have all available details when viewing tickets. If an external web service is chosen, the following fields are available:

Web Service URL - The URL to the web service.
Web Service Password - The password used to authenticate the web service.

Events

An events provider can be implemented to automatically update third-party software and databases when agents perform specific actions. Administrators can use the built-in provider or an external web service. If an external web service is chosen, the following fields are available:

Web Service URL - The URL to the web service.
Web Service Password - The password used to authenticate the web service.