System-defined fields appear in almost every Helpdesk. Helpdesk administrators can turn off display of some of these fields by opting to "hide" them, however, these fields can never be deleted from the Helpdesk system.
The system-defined fields are as follows:
Ticket status: CNAV assigns the default status "New ticket".
Requestor: The ticket submitter uses this field to enter the name of the person for whom she is entering this ticket. If she is entering this ticket on her own behalf, she simply leaves this field blank. Note that this entry field uses a dynamic list display.
3rd party notify: This field is used when the submitter wishes to send notifications of the status and resolution of this ticket to a third party (that is, someone in addition to the submitter and requestor). This field uses the same dynamic list display as Requestor.
External user: This checkbox is ticked if the submitter is entering the ticket on behalf of a user who is not strictly part of the campus community. When this checkbox is ticked, the submitter must enter the name, email address, and phone number of the external user as well as the name of the campus person to contact on behalf of this external user.
Request summary: The submitter uses this field to hold a short text description of the request. This field is required.
Request description: The submitter uses this field to enter a longer, more detailed description of the request.
Error message: If the user is reporting a specific error message in this request, this field can be used to record the number and text of that error message.
Ticket priority: The submitter uses this drop-down field to select a priority that accurately represents the importance of this ticket.
Need by date: This field holds the date by which the requestor needs to have this problem resolved. This date must be entered in the format mm/dd/yyyy. Note that the year must be specified using four digits.
Estimated completion time: These drop-down lists allow the worker to enter the amount of time (in days, hours, and/or minutes) that she estimates it will take to resolve this request.
Building: This field identifies the building in which the problem occurred. Note that this entry field uses a dynamic list display.
Department: This field identifies the department to which the requestor belongs. This entry uses the same dynamic list display as Building.
Room number: This field identifies the room number of the requestor.
Phone number: This field identifies the phone number of the requestor.
Worker: This field identifies the person or persons assigned to resolve this Helpdesk ticket. CNAV can assign a default value (possibly a group) to this field. The Helpdesk administrator, request owner, or designated worker can then change this designation to indicate one or more workers. For each worker assigned, the request owner or worker can add a Worker status for this ticket and the Priority/Order of this worker's task. A Primary worker can also be identified. The primary worker is the person who needs to serve as the point of contact with the user if required.
Owner: This field identifies the person or group who “owns” the ticket and is ultimately responsible for seeing that the problems reported are resolved in a timely fashion. CNAV can assign a default value (possibly a group) to this field. Only the Helpdesk system administrator can change this default value.
Resolution note: In this field, the Helpdesk worker explains in plain English how the problem was solved. The explanation here should be understandable by the end user. A ticket cannot be closed until a resolution note is entered.
Technical note: In this field, the worker adds any high-level technical details required to solve the problem. The contents of this field may or may not be understandable by the end user. The main purpose of this field is to record any technical procedures for reference by other Helpdesk workers in addressing similar problems in the future.
Private note: This field is not viewable by the end user. Helpdesk workers can use this field to record information that they don't want end users to see. For example, that the problem was caused by user error.
Category of problem: The bottom of each ticket entry form contains a list of category checkboxes that describe the common types of problems reported to this Helpdesk. Categorizing problem types allows CNAV to accumulate data and generate reports on the types of problems generally encountered, standard resolution times, etc. This data is invaluable in planning and budgeting for IT staff needs in terms of Helpdesk support.