Skype Calls From New Outlook HelpDesk Ticket

Call support customers by clicking a button inside the helpdesk ticket? Yes, this will be possible with Folder HelpDesk V13, as this Outlook helpdesk application can now communicate directly with calling applications like Skype.

A while ago I wrote about the new ticket form for the next version of the kalmstrom.com incident management application for Microsoft Outlook. Now the development is nearly finished, and I can show a videodemonstration that gives a presentation of the new Folder HelpDesk. I can also tell you more about the enhancement of the ticket form in this helpdesk software.

Addition: This version has now been released and is shown in the demo below.

Outlook post item gives ticket preview
For many years already, Folder HelpDesk has kept the attachments and the e-mail formatting when incoming e-mails have been converted into helpdesk tickets. Now the kalmstrom.com developers have taken another step, as they have found a way to use a standard Outlook post item for the Folder HelpDesk tickets.

This is an important enhancement, because it makes all the Outlook formatting features available for the tickets. Adding attachments and insert or copy/paste inline images to a helpdesk ticket will be as easy as doing it in an e-mail, and it is possible to use a preview window, just like you can do with e-mails. Folder HelpDesk will also be more stable, and future development will be quicker and smoother.

Call back
Folder HelpDesk can send out a number of automatic e-mail notifications, for example when tickets are created or closed. This Outlook helpdesk add-on also has an icon for sending the ticket as an e-mail, after adding a comment or solution.

An e-mail answer with links and images is often the best communication alternative, but sometimes a call is better for a short clarification. Then you may of course pick up the phone, but nowadays when many calls are international people are often using Skype or other desktop calling applications. Then it is convenient to make the call directly from inside the helpdesk ticket.

When Folder HelpDesk was first created more than ten years ago, no one had heard of calling applications like Voxox or Skype. Today such apps are widely used, and with version 13 it will be possible to call back using calling applications instead of e-mailing. You can do it directly from inside the helpdesk ticket, as long as there is a telephone number or Skype name in the Phone field.

I was a Skype product manager for five years, before I in 2010 decided to leave Skype to concentrate on my own products. I have many good memories from my Skype days, as well as a keen intrest in calling applications, so I am especially happy to offer this new feature to Folder HelpDesk users.

More demos
Kate Kalmström is responsible for the documentation of the kalmstrom.com products, but nearly all team members assist her. For the demo below she got help from my wife Siret, our Sales and Relations Officer, and she has recorded several more videos about Folder HelpDesk V13.

All videos will be displayed on the Folder HelpDesk Demonstrations page as soon as the new version has been released, to help users understand the new features.

Quicker manual conversion
When Folder HelpDesk has converted an Outlook e-mail, task or appointment to a helpdesk ticket, it asks if the ticket should be opened – if it has been a manual conversion by pressing the conversion button, of course. Such questions are never asked at automatic conversion.

In the new version of the kalmstrom.com Outlook helpdesk there will be a “remember my choice” checkbox. When it is checked, the dialog is not shown, and the user does not have to make this choice each time.

Attachments in outgoing e-mails
Folder HelpDesk gives a possibility to restrict the inclusion of attachments in outgoing e-mails. Now we will add two checkboxes for this restriction, one for the automatic e-mails you can let Folder HelpDesk send out ,and one for answers to callers sent manually from within the helpdesk tickets. This way attachments may be included in the e-mails sent from the helpdesk tickets but excluded from the automatic e-mails.

Sponsorships
Several of the new features in version 13 of our Outlook helpdesk have been sponsored, and the main sponsor has already received a copy of Folder HelpDesk V13 for testing and approval.

We hope to release the new version by the end of this month, but before that I will come back with information about more news – not only about the helpdesk tickets but about other features that help you work with incident management and user support in a structured and efficient way. For now, please watch the demo, and I welcome you to learn more on the Folder HelpDesk Plans page.



By Peter Kalmström
Documentation and Marketing
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions