Viewing Tickets

Viewing tickets is simple: once you log in to SmarterTrack, select Tickets from the navigator. SmarterTrack defaults to the agent's Active tickets tab in the content pane. (I.e., My Tickets -> Active.) To change the list of tickets that are displayed, an agent simply selects a different tab to view: Active, Waiting, or Closed. These tabs are the same regardless of where you navigate to in the navigation pane -- My Tickets, Recent, tickets for the various departments the agent is part of, the Queue, as well as for managers viewing All Tickets, tickets by department, or tickets by Agent.

To view the contents of a ticket, simply click the desired ticket and it will load in the preview pane. If you would rather view the ticket in a pop-up window, double-click the ticket in the content pane. (You can also click the pop-out icon from the toolbar on the ticket itself.)

In general, the following options are available from the preview pane toolbar when viewing a ticket, or on the ticket itself when it's popped-out:

Take - This option is only available if an agent is a part of a ticket group but does not have possession of the ticket. It allows an agent to "take" ownership of a ticket from another agent (or from the Queue) and make it an active issue in their own queue.
Reply - If the agent owns the ticket, this allows them to compose a reply to the ticket. For more information on replying to a ticket, see Replying to Tickets. A side note, SmarterTrack allows administrators to set a "Default Reply Option" for tickets -- to either Reply or Reply All. This setting dictates whether this button will display as Reply or Reply All for agents. By default, this is set to "Reply", so that is what most agents will see.
Reply All - If the agent own the tickets, this allows them to compose a reply to all of the emails listed in the To field of the ticket.
Transfer - Transfers the ticket to another group or agent. For more information on transferring a ticket, see Transferring Tickets.
Add - Click this button and select the appropriate option to add a comment, task, file, time log, call log or other related item to the ticket.

Comment - Adds a comment to the ticket. Agents can select the type of comment they want to add: General, Resolution, Transfer, Follow-Up, or Sticky. Comments will appear within the timeline of the ticket -- that is, they'll appear between ticket responses based on when the comment was made. The exception are Sticky comments, which are always displayed at the top of the ticket response timeline. Ticket comments are only visible to agents and managers.
Resolution - (NOTE: This is the same as adding a "Resolution" comment to a ticket.) When an agent adds a Resolution to a ticket, this information is stored in a searchable database that can be used to quickly and efficiently resolve tickets that detail issues similar to the ticket receiving the Resolution. Tickets with resolutions appear when an agent selects Resolved Tickets option from the ticket's Actions menu. (See below.)
Internal Attachment - Attaches a file to the ticket that is only available to the agents who work on the ticket. When an agent adds an internal attachment to a ticket, this information is stored in the Attachments and Communication tabs of the ticket.
Related Item - Adds an existing ticket, call log or live chat to the ticket. When an agent adds a related item to a ticket, this information is stored in the Related Items tab.
New Task - Allows the agent to create a new task then attaches that task to the ticket. When an agent adds a task to a ticket, this information is stored in the Related Items tab and appears in the Tasks section of the management interface.
New Time Log - Allows the agent to create a new time log then attaches that time log to the ticket. When an agent adds a time log to a ticket, this information is stored in the Time Logs tab.
New Call Log - Allows the agent to create a new call log then attaches that call log to the ticket. When an agent adds a call log to a ticket, this information is stored in the Related Items tab and appears in the Call Logs section of the management interface.

Delete - Deletes the selected ticket(s). For more information on deleted tickets, see Deleting Tickets.
Pop-out - Allows the agent to open the ticket in a pop-out window.
Actions (…) - Click this button and select the appropriate option to mark the ticket for follow-up, change the status or priority of the ticket, view user details, get assistance or print the ticket.

Status - To change the status of a ticket or to pin a ticket, select the appropriate option. For information on the different status types, see Tickets Overview.
Follow-up - To schedule or remove a follow-up for a ticket, select the appropriate option. For more information on follow-ups, see Scheduling Tickets for Follow-up.
Priority - To change the priority level of a ticket, select the appropriate option. For information on the different priority levels, see Tickets Overview.
Pin - To pin or unpin the ticket, select the appropriate option.
Send Form - Allows the Agent to send a Form to the ticket originator.
Change Email Address - Select this option to change the email address associated with the ticket. Agents can change the email address to better track tickets by allowing them to be found more easily when searching, sorting or browsing. When the email address associated with a ticket is changed using this control (rather than editing the To field on replies), the new email address will be automatically included for all future replies to the user. The user may adjust the subject on their reply, however, this will not change the subject displayed in the preview pane and will only show in the header of the user's reply on the Communication tab.
Change Subject - Select this option to change the subject of the ticket. Agents can change the subject to better track tickets by allowing them to be found more easily when searching, sorting or browsing. When the subject of a ticket is changed using this control (rather than editing the subject on reply), the new subject will be used for all future replies to the user. The user may still adjust the subject on their reply, however, this will not change the subject displayed in the preview pane and will only show in the header of the user's reply on the Communication tab.
Print - Prints the information contained in the communication, custom fields, and details tabs of the ticket. Note: If viewing the management interface from a mobile device, this option may not be available.
Assistance - Click this button and select the appropriate option to view relevant knowledge base articles or ticket resolutions or to get assistance from another agent.

Knowledge Base Articles - Displays a list of knowledge base articles that may be related to the selected ticket. Agents can use search terms to find the knowledge base article that best relates to the ticket.
Resolved Tickets - Displays a list of resolutions that may be related to the selected ticket. Agents can use search terms to find the resolution that best relates to the ticket.

Manual Events - At the bottom of the Actions are listed any manual events an agent has created that can be performed against the selected ticket. For more information, see the Events Overview page of the online help.

Tabs within the Ticket

Ticket information is organized within the following tabs. (NOTE: A tab is only displayed for a ticket if there is an item associated with that tab. For example, if there are no attachments for a ticket, the Attachments tab is not displayed.)

Communication - This tab includes all correspondence and comments pertaining to the ticket, with the most recent communications listed first. Agents collapse or expand correspondence using the icons on the top right corner of each communication. Note: By default, only the 15 most recent items will display when an agent views the ticket. To see all communication items, click the button to view additional items at the bottom of the ticket.
Comments - This tab displays any comments agents would like to note about the ticket or customer. Comments are only visible to agents.
Attachments - This tab lists any files that were uploaded to the ticket by an agent or customer.
Forms This tab displays any Forms that were sent to the ticket originator. Agents can then view the information contained with in the completed Forms by opening them.
Time Logs - This tab lists any time logs attached to the ticket.
Related Items - This tab lists any tickets, live chats, call logs, time logs, tasks or files attached to the ticket.
Custom Fields - This tab includes any custom fields the administrator created to help customize your company's tickets. This information can be populated by a user, an agent, or a third-party application (via the administrator).
History - This tab summarizes any actions associated to the ticket.

Individual Ticket Message Options

At the right side of each message within a ticket is another Action icon. Clicking on that reveals different options, depending on whether viewing an agent response or a user response. Generally, these are:

Show HTML - For incoming OR outgoing messages, allows you to view the pure HTML of the message. While the Preview Pane will only display information that is generated from within SmarterTrack, and standard-format HTML messages that are sent to SmarterTrack, the Show HTML option will display non-standard HTML encoding. For example, emails that are generated from a third-party product, like a billing application, but that have a reply-to address that sends the email into SmarterTrack. While the billing application email may not display in the preview pane, it WILL display when you select the Show HTML option.
Raw Content - Shows the complete details of the ticket in text format, including all header information. Note: Raw contents for tickets are compressed after 1 day of inactivity to reduce disk space and reduce the number of files on the server.
Translate - When viewing a user response in a foreign language, this allows the agent to translate the text, based on the methods set up by the system administrator for translation.
Create Ticket - When viewing a user response, this allows an agent to create a new ticket that is based on the response being reviewed. This allows agents to separate different issues into different tickets, thereby keeping issues separate and worked on individually, ensuring issues are not lost.
Reply With Copy - This allows an agent to copy the text of a previous reply and include it in a new reply back to the customer. For example, if steps were laid out for a user, but they were missed, the agent can simply reply back to the user and re-use that previous reply, keeping them from having to re-type what could be a lengthy explanation.
Quote Email - For incoming messages only, allows you to quote a specific message within a ticket thread to send in a new outgoing message.
Resend - For outgoing messages, allows agents to resend the message.
Forward - For incoming OR outgoing messages, allows you to forward the message contents, including attachments, in a new outgoing message.

Viewing the Ticket Header

Looking at the primary email ticket interface diagram, you'll see a section labeled "Ticket Header". There are several critical pieces of information contained within the ticket header as well as some actions available for a user's email address that should be discussed.

A ticket's header is laid out as follows:

Line 1: Ticket Subject - Status - Priority and Pin status
Line 2: User (User's Email Address) - Duration and Idle Time
Line 3: Department Assigned/Group Assigned/Agent Assigned/Ticket Number
Surveys - If a survey has been completed for the ticket, a star rating indicator will appear on the ticket header. Agents can double-click on the rating to bring it up in a new window.

Regarding the User Email Address, in many instances you'll notice the user's email address is underlined. When you click on an email address with an underline, the user details will load in a pop-up window:

User Details - User Details display a variety of data about the user. For example, the user's role in SmarterTrack, a list of any tickets started from that email address, any live chats started from that email address, any call from a user with that email address and if any custom fields are associated with the user, those are displayed as well. Also available are tabs for ticket history and customer statistics, which includes information on the number of tickets, live chats, calls and time logs over specific periods of times. Custom fields can be associated with any user, and, if present, any agent or manager can view them by selecting "User Details" from the email address mouseover.

Viewing Tickets in the Queue

On occasion, tickets are directed to the queue instead of directly to an agent. Generally, this happens because all agents for a group are either logged out or are not receiving tickets, the ticket limit for an agent (or for all agents) has been reached, or the ticket distribution method for agents is set to Pull From Queue. Regardless of the reason, if agents can not receive tickets then they will go directly to the ticket queue. To view tickets in the queue, simply click Queue in the navigation pane. By default, the Active tab is displayed. To change this, select the desired status tab.

Viewing Recent Tickets

To view tickets by recent activity, select Tickets from the navigator. Within an agent's tickets area there are two sections for recent tickets: Recent and Recently Transferred. These sections allow agents to more easily locate tickets. The Recent view will show the 100 most recent tickets that an agent has touched or modified, regardless of ticket status. (I.e., Active, Waiting, or Closed.) "Touched" or "modified" includes tickets that have been responded to, had comments added, the ticket status changed, etc. The Recently Transferred view will show the 100 most recent tickets that have been transferred from an agent's queue, regardless of whether the agent transferred the ticket out or if an agent has taken the ticket. Tickets within these two sections are sorted by most recent activity, with the most recent shown at the top.

Viewing Tickets by Brand

To view tickets by brand, select Tickets from the navigator and at the top of the navigation pane a dropdown is available. Clicking on the dropdown allows you to select a specific brand and view the tickets for that brand. Agents can then select the type of tickets they want to view (options include active, waiting, and closed tickets) for whatever department and group they're a part of. Note: Agents can only view the tickets for which they are responsible. Managers can only view the tickets for the groups/departments in which they belong.

Viewing Tickets By Agent

To view tickets by agent, select Tickets from the navigator, expand By Agents and click the appropriate agent in the navigation pane. All active tickets for the selected agent will load in the content pane, by default. Note: The ability to view tickets by agent is only available to managers using installations with less than 500 agents. In addition, managers can only view tickets for the groups/departments in which they belong.

Viewing Deleted Tickets

To view deleted tickets, using Advanced Search is the best option. Simply click Advanced Search from the navigation pane, and change the "Items to Include" to "Only deleted items". The only other thing that could be changed would be the Date Range for the search. SmarterTrack will default to January 1, 2000, so if a more granular search is required, then the start and end dates would need to be adjusted.

Of course, other fields can be modified: the agent who deleted the ticket, the department/group the ticket belonged to, etc. All of these fields can be modified as needed -- the most important thing when searching for deleted tickets is that the "Items to Include" is changed to "Only deleted item". This ensures ONLY deleted tickets are displayed in the results of the search.