5.4 Privileges

5.4.1 Privileges

The Privileges tab contains global setup options that govern the application behavior, how Customers and Users can interact with the system and define system defaults.

Ideally, Privileges are set upon initial configuration, however, the system will adapt to changes made later.

There are four tabs within Privileges:

5.4.2 User Privileges

Within the User tab, privileges for Users with the Technician and Partner Role can be configured by customizing the options within the Technicians options list. This also includes enabling functionality related to all User work hours and public holidays. Defaults can also be adjusted for Users across the Knowledge Management and Configuration Management processes.

Specific to Technician Users, the following privileges include the ability to:

  • Create new Customers

  • Create new Items

  • Reassign requests

  • Edit other Technicians' requests

  • Create, edit, publish and delete Knowledge Base Articles by default.

NOTE:Privileges assigned to the Technician Role are also applied to the Partner Role.

Enabling User Privileges

To configure User Privileges:

  1. Select Setup>Privileges

    The User tab is displayed.

    User Privileges

     

    Technicians

     

    Create Customers

    Allows Technicians to create Customer Accounts.

    Reassign Requests

    Allows Technicians to reassign requests to another Technician within the same Team. When disabled, requests can only be reassigned through Escalation or changing the status of the request by the Supervisor.

    Duplicate Requests

    Allows Technicians to copy requests to fast track request creation. Supervisors have this privilege by default.

    Manual Request Time

    Disables the timer that automatically monitors and records the time when a request is in Edit Mode.

    NOTE:This option is not available when Contracts are enabled in the Setup>Billing tab, as time worked on a request must be added to Notes manually by Users.

    View All Requests

    Allows Technicians to view all the requests, regardless of Team assignment, logged in the system for the Processes they are assigned.

    It also allows Technicians to edit requests that are assigned to fellow Team members.

    Update Closed Requests

    Set to Yes to enable Technicians to add Notes to requests that are assigned a Workflow Exit State.

    Search All Items

    Within the Items tab of a request, the All Items option is displayed in the Find Item box for Technician Users, if this option is enabled.

    Include Globals Default

    By enabling this option, the "Include Global* Options" is ticked by default in the Find Item field, when a User is creating a request.

    Subject Required

    To make the completion of the Subject field mandatory for Users during the request creation process, set the option to Yes.

    Technician Alerts

    Allows Technicians to create system Alerts.

    Work Hours

     

    Define Work Hours

    Allows the Technician's availability to be configured within the Users>Schedule tab. This ensures that Requests are only forwarded to the User during the Defined Work hours, unless there are no other Users available.

    *If this option is enabled, the Users Work Hours must be defined for each User, otherwise the built-in technician assignment logic will be ignored and all new requests will be assigned to the Team Lead.

    Scheduled Vacations

    Allows leave to be scheduled for Users, within the Users>Schedule tab. This allows vacations to be planned and automatically detected by the System when the User commences leave. The System will not assign the User new Requests when they are on vacation.

    Vacation Reassign

    This option becomes available when the 'Schedule Vacations' option is active. When enabled, this option ensures active requests of the User commencing leave are automatically re-assigned to available Technicians within the User's Team.

    Login during Vacation

    This option becomes available when the Schedule Vacations option is active. When enabled, users can login into Service Desk and work on requests during vacation. The System will not assign the User new Requests when they are on vacation..

    Schedule by Technician

    This option becomes available when the Schedule Vacations option is active. When enabled, users can login into Service Desk and work on requests during vacation. The System will not assign the User, new Requests when they are on vacation.

    Observe Public Holidays

    This option ensures the System gives consideration to public holidays when calculating SLA times, escalations and breaches.

    NOTE:When enabled, the Public Holidays sub-menu option is visible within the Admin>Localization>Holidays tab.

    Assignment Control

    When enabled provides the Assignment option within the User Information screen. This allows a Supervisor or Administrator to turn request assignment off for a User who is available in the system.

    Edit Customer Partner

    Allows Customers to be assigned to Partners within the Customer Information tab.

    Create Outage

    Enables a Technician to create outages for Items.

    Force Analysis

    The system will propose relevant Solutions within the Analysis tab, during the request creation process.

    Configuration

    Roles

    Set the default privileges for the User Roles' ability to create, edit and delete Item information in the CMDB.

    If you change the default privileges, for an existing user the privileges will not be updated. Since, these settings are not system level settings. But when you create a user the default privileges are assigned.

    Individual settings below user information section will determine the actual privileges for that user. If you want to change these settings for many users, use the Bulk edit feature.

    Knowledge

    Roles

    Configure the default Knowledge Base authoring permissions for each User Role.

  2. Click Yes to enable, or No to disable a Privilege option

  3. Click Save.

5.4.3 Customer Privileges

Customer Privileges specify the options that are available to Customers within the Customer Portal.

Enabling Customer Privileges

To enable Customer Privileges:

  1. Select Setup >Privileges >Customer

    The Privileges screen is displayed.

    Customer Privileges

    Description

    Create Account

    Allows Customers to create their own account from the Login screen.

    Default Web Access

    Define the default setting for Web Access on newly created Customer Accounts.

    Generic Requests

    Define if Customers can view, create or edit Generic Requests in the Customer Portal.

    Generic Request Type

    This option becomes visible when Generic Requests option is active. Define the type for generic request from Incident, Service Request or Change Request. For example, if your generic request type is set to Incidents, when you create a generic request, the request gets listed as incident in the User portal. Then the technician can include item details.

    Incidents

    Define if Customers can view, create or edit Incidents in the Customer Portal.

    Change Requests

    Define if Customers can view, create or edit Change Requests in the Customer Portal.

    Service Requests

    Define if Customers can view, create or edit Service Requests in the Customer Portal.

    Service Incidents

    If the option to create Incidents in the Customer Portal is enabled, this can be refined by defining if Incidents can be logged against Service Items. If this option is disabled then Services are not displayed in the Category drop-down list during the Incident creation process.

    Also, if a Customer attempts to log an Incident against a Service via email by including the Item# in the Subject line, and this option is disabled, the system will send an error message. The "NoServiceIncidentContent" error message can be customized in the Admin>Setup>Email>Templates>Error Message filter.

    Default Request Type

    Define the default request type from Generic Request, Incident, Service Request, Change Request or Quick Call. The list shows if the options are enabled. For example, if Service Request option is turned off, then Service request option is not shown as an option.

    Items

    Define if Customers can view, create or edit their own Item details within the Customer Portal.

    Show Only Active Items

    Allows Customers to only view Items that are marked as Active in the system.

    Show Subject Field

    Displays the Subject field above the Description field in the Customer Portal.

    Show Status Field

    Allows to hide or display the Item status in the Customer Portal.

    Show Priority

    Enables Customers to view and set the Priority of their requests. Alternatively, the Urgency can be shown, which will be associated with the Item Criticality to set the Priority. Select "Off" to disable this functionality completely.

    Item ID search

    Allows Customers to search by an Item's ID when creating a new request.

    Force Search

    When enabled, proposes solutions for Incidents based on the Item Type, Classification and Description provided.

    Create Forum Topics

    Allows Customers to create a new Forum topic through the Customer Portal.

    Display Room

    Displays the Room for an Item when creating a request.

    View Technician

    Yes allows Customers to view the details of Technician assigned to their request in the Customer Portal.

    Show All Services

    Enables the Service Catalog link in the Services tab of the Customer Portal. This allows Customers to view and log requests against all Services offered by the support organization (i.e., request access to a service). Services listed here are not assigned an Exit Item Lifecycle State.

    Show Service Targets

    Displays the Response, Restoration and Resolution targets for the SLA assigned to the request in the Customer Portal.

    Enable RSS

    When enabled, provides the RSS Requests Menu option in the Customer Portal.

    Enable Titles

    When enabled, displays the Titles Tab within the Setup, which can be customized. This list is then displayed in the Title field in the User and Customer Information screen. See Titles.

    Enable Item Shadow

    When enabled, if requests are logged against an Item on the Customer Portal, Technicians can amend the Item assigned to the request without the Customer seeing the change.

    Customer Defined Contact

    When enabled, this option allows the Customer to define their preferred method of contact in their Profile or My Account screen. Their preference applies when a Team has the Customer Notification option set to Customer Defined.

    Record GPS

    When enabled, the Customer's GPS location when they last logged into the Customer Portal, is recorded within their Customer Information screen.

    Default Date Style

    Sets the default Date format to be used across the application.

    Default Timezone

    Sets the default time zone across the application. This can be overridden on a per User basis, by a User who sets their time zone for their log in account

    LDAP/AD

    (Visible when an LDAP/AD connection is configured.)

    Include Customers

    Set to Yes if the system is to import Customer details when synched with an LDAP/AD server.

    Mixed Mode

    Allows Customer accounts to be created directly through the system, as well as being imported via LDAP/AD.

    View Shared

    Requests

    (Request visibility options for the Customer Portal.)

    By Ownership

    Allows requests to be viewed by all Owners of the Item, when logged against a Shared or Global Item.

    (See the table below for toggle option outcomes.)

    By Org Unit

    (This option is visible when the By Ownership is enabled.)

    Allows requests to be viewed by all Customers of an Org Unit assigned to the Item, when logged against a Shared or Global Item.

  2. Click Yes to enable, or No to disable a Privilege option

  3. Click Save.

Setting the View Shared Requests options

When setting the visibility of requests logged against shared Items, refer to the table below to ensure the correct visibility option is configured for your organizational requirements:

By Ownership

By Org Unit

Shared Request Visibility

No

Only visible to the Customer who logged the request.

Limited

No

Visible to the Customer who logged the request and other Owners in the same Org Unit, assigned to the Item.

Limited

Limited

Visible to Customer who logged the request and members of Org Unit they belong to, if the Org Unit is also assigned to the Item.

Limited

Yes

Requests visible to Owners within all Org Units assigned to the Item.

Yes

No

Visible to Customer who logged the request and other assigned Owners.

Yes

Limited

Visible to Customer who logged the request, other members of the Org Unit the Customer logging the request belongs to and other Owners assigned to the Item .

Yes

Yes

Visible to everyone who share the Item assigned to the request.

5.4.4 Requests Privileges

Requests Privileges allows the Administrator to control the functionality available for requests and set default requirements. These privileges are applied system-wide.

Enabling Requests Privileges

To enable Requests Privileges:

  1. Select Setup>Privileges>Requests

    The Requests Screen appears.

    Request Options

     

    Enable Escalation Control

    Enables escalation to be enabled or disabled on a per request basis. This option is only available to Supervisor Users.

    Queues

    Allows Teams to use a holding bay for requests that are received via email or the Customer Portal. The Queues can be enabled within the Team Information screen, on a per Team basis.

    Control Deployments via RFC

    When enabled, Change Requests are automatically created from newly entered Deployments, and will require approval before work commences on the Deployment.

    Control CMS via RFC

    When enabled, changes made within the CMDB by a Technician will generate a Change Request requiring approval before the change is implemented.

    Customer CMS via RFC

    When enabled, Customers creating Items via the Customer Portal generate a Change Request that requires approval before the change is implemented in the CMDB.

    Minimum Solution Relevance

    Define the minimum degree of relevancy for content included in the Description field of a request, when the system automatically searches the Knowledge Base to propose solutions.

    Enable Quick Calls

    Enables the functionality that allows the Supervisor to profile Requests using Quick Call Templates. These can be used by other system Users when creating new requests.

    Request Priority

    (Derived/Selected)

    Enable Derived to allow the system to derive the Priority based on Urgency and Impact of the request . Enable 'Selected' to manually apply the Priority from a list of options.

    Default Priority

    **This option is displayed when the Incident Priority is set to Selected. The selection made from the drop-down menu, is automatically applied as the default Priority for newly created requests.

    Handshaking

    Enables notifications to be sent to a Customer using the Propose button within an Incident or Request, stating the Incident/Request will be closed if no reply is received from them within a set number of days.

    NOTE:Note: The Solution button within an open Incident/Request is not accessible when the Handshaking facility is enabled.

    When enabled, if Problems or Changes are closed, any related Incidents or Requests are moved to the Pending - Approval State not to the default Closed State.

    Handshaking Close Action

    Sets the system default number of days to lapse before an Incident or Request will close if the Customer does not respond to the handshake email notification. This can be adjusted on a per Org Unit basis.

    NOTE:Note: To allow Customers to re-open an Incident or Request using the link in the handshake email, the web server must be using Port 80.

    Approval Reminder

    To automatically send Managers reminder emails regarding Requests requiring their approval, set this option to Yes. When Yes is selected, define the number of days to lapse before a reminder will be sent.

    The content of the reminder email is drawn from the ApproveChange or ApproveServiceRequest template. These are configured within Setup>Email>Templates tab.

    Default Notes Visibility

    Sets the system default visibility of Notes, when added to requests. If it is expected that the majority of Notes are to be emailed to Customers, select Public.

    Allow Unknown

    When set to No and a User opens a request that is assigned the Unknown Service Item, the User will be prompted to update the Item before saving the request.

    Archive Requests

    When enabled, the number of days a request is closed before being removed from the List View and archived is to be set.

    Requests that are archived have attachments removed and they are no longer included in the full text index for searching. They are still accessible for reporting purposes and attribute based searches.

    Default SLA

    Is used as the Default SLA when a new request is created without an SLA defined for the Item, Customer or Org Unit.

    Default Incident* Team (required if using AMIE)

    Set the Default Incident Team, which is used for AMIE integration and also set as a default Support Team for Item Types.

    Default Problem* Team (required if using AMIE)

    Set the Default Problem Team, which is used for AMIE integration and also set as a default Support Team for Item Types.

    Default Change* Team (required if using AMIE)

    Set the Default Change Team, which is used for AMIE integration and also set as a default Support Team for Item Types.

    Default Request Team* (required if using AMIE)

    Set the Default Request Team, which is used for AMIE integration and also set as a default Support Team for Item Types.

    Review Options

     

    Review SLA

    When enabled will display the Review date field in the Service Level Information screen. The default number of days between reviewing SLAs should be set and the number of days before the review date for an Alert Reminder, should also be entered.

    Review RFC

    When enabled the system will display a Review date in the RFC Information tab. The default number of days between reviewing RFCs should be set and the number of days before the review date for an Alert Reminder, should also be entered.

    KBA Options

     

    Control KBA via Request

    When enabled, a Request is generated when the KBA is created, deleted or amended and can only be published to the KB by a User with publishing privileges.

    Request Type

    Specify the type of request to be generated when new or amended KB content is moved to a "Pending Publication" state.

    (The options are based on the ownership of Change and Service Request licenses.)

    Default SLA

    Set the default SLA to be used for when requests are logged regarding updates in the knowledge base. Applying an SLA here, determines which workflow and team will receive the requests for approval, as with any other request logged in the system.

* To be set after Teams have been configured.

  1. Click Yes to enable, or No to disable a Privilege option

  2. Click Save.

5.4.5 System Privileges

The System Privileges screen allows an Administrator to control the following options:

  • Knowledge Base

  • Surveys

  • Forums

  • Chat

  • Outages

  • Other general settings.

Enable System Privileges

To enable System Privileges:

  1. Select Setup>Privileges>System

    The System Privileges tab is

  2. The following information is displayed:

    Customer Privileges

    Description

    Host Address

    To be completed with details of the machine hosting the application, if required.

    Edit Item Numbers

    Allows users to edit the identification number of an Item.

    Public Knowledge Base

    Allows access to the Public Knowledge Base on the Login Page.

    Public Surveys

    Provides access to Public Surveys on the Login Page.

    Public Alerts

    Alerts with the visibility defined as "Everyone" will be made available on the Login Page.

    Passwords

    When LDAP or Active Directory Authorization is not used internal authentication is used. To define the password type to be used by the system select:

    Random: the system will generate a random string whenever a password is reset.

    Email: The Users Email Address will be used as the password.

    Manual: Allows the User to manually create a password.

    Password Questions

    Enables the ability to set security questions within the My Account screen for Customers and Users, which are referenced when resetting or re-sending login credentials.

    Session Timeout

    The number of minutes the system waits before terminating idle sessions.

    NOTE:Ensure that the session timeout on the server hosting the application, is equal to or greater than the Timeout option defined in the System Privileges. For changing the timeout option on the server that is hosting the application, edit as follows:

    • For a standalone application: Edit the /<MFSD_server_installation_path>/Server/webapps/LiveTime/WEb-INF/web.xml file.

    • For an appliance: Edit the srv/tomcat6/webapps/LiveTime/WEB-INF/web.xml file.

    Terminate Active Session

    When enabled, if a User attempts to log into the system when they already have an active session, they will be prompted to end the active session to allow for the new login.

    Default Name Pattern

    Select the order for names being displayed in the system, when the First and Last Name are shown together on a screen.

    Outbound Web Services

    When enabled, request Workflow States and Item Lifecycle States can be assigned a 'listener', which allows these details to be updated in external systems. (Refer to the Extend section of the LiveTime website for details on how to develop a listener.)

    OpenID Provider

    Enables the system to function as an OpenID Provider for User authentication across network resources, as the user authentication source.

    The OpenIDProvider URL should be:

    <PROTOCOL>://<SERVER>/LiveTime/WebObjects/LiveTime.woa/

    wa/providerLookup

    The Protocol should be set to http or https and the server details should include where the system is hosted.

    OpenID Consumer

    Enables the system to delegate authentication of Users and/or Customers to one or more OpenID Providers (i.e., Google, Yahoo). OpenID Providers that are to be used as delegates are configured in the Setup>Authentication>Social tab.

    Telemetry

    Telemetry enables Micro Focus to collect statistical data about your usage of Service Desk. This data will enable us to ensure that you have the best possible experience with Service Desk.

    Telemetry is scheduled to run once a month.

    If your Service Desk server does not have outward connectivity and you want to upload the data manually, then perform the following:

    1. Copy the telemetry enc file from the following location:

      • Windows: \Program Files\ServiceDesk\LiveTime\Telemetry

      • Linux: /usr/local/ServiceDesk/LiveTime/Telemetry

      • Appliance: /LiveTime/Telemetry

    2. Using any FTP client connect to productfeedback.microfocus.com with username: anonymous and password: blank (optionally use your email-id).

    3. Upload the file to the stats/MFSDTelemetry folder.

    Mandatory Product Data

    Telemetry collects the following mandatory product data:

    • License type

    • Technician count

    • Customer count

    • ZENworks integration

    • Database type

    • Operating system

    Gather Configuration Data

    (Optional) This collects the list of categories and count.

    Gather Feature Usage Data

    (Optional) This collects the following feature usage data:

    • Quick call count

    • Request info and count

    • Process info and count

    Forum Options

     

    Use Forums

    This option enables and disables all Forums within the system.

    Default Sort Order

    Sets the default Forum Topic sort order to either ascending or descending.

    Public Forums

    This option enables Public Forums to be viewed from the login page and does not require an account to view.

    Chat Options

     

    Enable Chat

    Select 'Yes' to activate Chat facility within the application.

    Chat Request Assignment

    Set to Technician if Customers are to be restricted to chatting only with the Technician assigned to their Request. Set to 'Team' to allow Customers to chat with any member of the Team assigned to their request.

    Default Technician Availability

    Sets the default availability for chat status in newly created Technician Account information screens.

    Outages Options

     

    Planned Outages Page

    A link to the Planned Outages page is displayed on the Login Screen. Outages can be set within Configuration Item properties to schedule when the item will be off-line.

    Outages Page

    A link to the Outages Page is displayed on the Login Screen.

    Minimum Criticality

    Defines the Minimum Criticality required for Items to be displayed on the Outages pages.

    Show Affected Relationships

    Enables Item from the Outages page to show the Item's Relationships.

    Show Affected Users

    Allows Item owner's details to be displayed on the Outages page.

    Show Inactive Items

    Displays inactive Items on the Outages page.

    An inactive Item is an Item that is currently not in use by the organization.

    Show Change Requests

    Allows Customers to view Change Requests related to Outages displayed in the Customer Portal.

    Search Outages

    Enables Outages to be searched using the Customer email addresses or Item number.

    KBA Review Options

     

    Review KBA

    When enabled a Review date field is displayed in the KBA Information screen. The default number of days between reviewing KBAs should be set and the number of days before the review date for an Alert Reminder, should also be entered.

  3. Click Yes to enable, or No to disable a Privilege option

  4. Click Save.

NOTE:Note: All Outages options apply to Service Manager only.

Re-Index Button

The Re-Index button at the base of the System Privileges page is used to re-build the system index. If the search engine appears to be failing text searches, this process will re-create the index. The indexing rebuild runs as a background process.

The following content and attachments is re-indexed:

  • Knowledge Base

  • Forums

  • All requests

  • Items.