Installation
Handled by a certified vender reseller, the implementation of a Heat
solution can be accomplished in a variety of ways, dependent upon the
customer's needs. FrontRange offers implementation packages ranging from
Rapid to Advanced or a custom solution.
Implementation
The Rapid Implementation is one of many implementation packages designed
for customers who'll require FrontRange Solutions to deploy a production
system for them in a short period of time (around five business days). The
Rapid Implementation includes the full HEAT installation and configuration
including a server and up to 10 workstations, system design and
customization and configuration of Alert Monitor. The following training and
consultation is also included: attendance of one person to the HEAT System
Administrator Training course and a design meeting with a certified HEAT
consultant. The customer will have the ability to use the HEAT system in a
production environment upon the conclusion of the implementation process.
Installation Requirements
Client Workstations: Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 (Service Pack 4, 5, 6 or 6a)
or Windows 2000. Database management software: MS Access 97 or 2000; MS SQL
Server 6.5 or 7.0 (Service Pack 2); Oracle 8.05, 8.06, 8.16 (using 8.05
drivers); Sybase Adaptive Server Anywhere 6.03 and Sybase Adaptive Server
Studio 7. Storage space and processor requirements vary based on database
size and number of records.
Features
The following features are included with a standard Heat purchase.
Business Process Automation Module (BPAM) allows the creation of automation
and escalation rules. BPAMs are used to automate business processes and
monitor the system for problem issues. Call Logging allows technicians to
log and track calls. The Auto Ticket Generator automatically creates new
call tickets and updates existing call tickets via a variety of sources,
including MAPI (i.e., Outlook, GroupWise, etc.), VIM (i.e., Lotus Notes) and
POP3. Additionally, Auto Ticket Generator can automatically respond to
requests for call ticket information and status. The HEAT Answer Wizard
provides selection from over 200 predefined reports; Crystal Reports also
provide answers to key business questions. The HEAT Manager's Console
monitors key metrics and graphically illustrates service and support center
status. First Level Support is a simple, yet powerful tool used for building
knowledge bases. iHEAT grants technicians remote access to HEAT over either
network connections or dial-up access with no additional plug-ins required.
iHeat enables remote access to core HEAT functionality from anywhere.
Add-on modules designed to enhance and provide specialized product
functionality are also available. Knowlix, FrontRange's knowledge base
application, allows users to perform an auto-search in Call Logging, find
the solution using KnowlixFrontline, and then post the solution back to the
Call Record. The enhanced relevancy ranking within KnowlixFrontline is
continually refreshed with daily use of the system. As you search for
resolutions, KnowlixFrontline tracks search criteria and results. The Self
Service module allows customers to access their own issue history to check
resolution status or start a new trouble ticket. Asset Tracker manages
hardware, software and non-scannable assets throughout their lifecycles.
Further, FrontRange offers compatibility with other products, adding
additional functionality to HEAT through partnerships with: Broadfax,
Control-F1, VineyardSoft and many others.
Operational Testing
Key to understanding this product and hopefully benefiting from this
review is to keep in mind that HEAT is a fully customizable solution. The
system we tested was a demo unit configured to let us push all of the
buttons without having to spend the time setting up a database, defining
rules and creating mock personnel to populate the system. The HEAT product
is a modular front-office solution, which works in conjunction with
provisioned-for backend databases. Heat does provide out-of-box
functionality, but its true power is only realized in its provisioning for
system definition and refinement without the need for a programmer. Creating
rules, alerts, Auto Tasks and Business Process Automation can be done quite
simply. This allows HEAT administrators to engineer the system to respond in
their own self-prescribed manner to what's most important to their
business ' without the necessity of a deep programming background.
Call Logging
Call logging provides the foundation of the HEAT application. This is
where support personnel log, assign, detail and track calls. Call Logging
has a very robust interface allowing support personnel to gain access to
other modules and supplemental functions of the HEAT suite of programs. Call
Logging provides many ways to parse its information display, most notably
though is the pane-like design of the GUI. The column-shaped left side of
the GUI provides at-a-glance information, letting support personnel know how
many assignments have been delegated, journal information on the customer
and HeatBoard details. The Call Logging main window seems suited to quick
and easy viewing, providing a toolbar for many Call Logging shortcuts such
as creating new call records or groups, validating fields, creating a Hot
List and spell checking. A Call Status Banner flies near the top of the GUI
displaying the Call ID for the open call record and includes the Stopwatch,
Call Counter and other metrics. The Call Log form is displayed initially
when a call record is opened, and tabs can be selected to view Detail,
Assignment and Journal information about that call record. With so many
bells and whistles, the Call Logging GUI seems a bit daunting at first, but
after a short period of acclimation, proved to be a gateway for fast access
to critical call and customer information.
Alert Monitor
Alert Monitor notifies a support person that they've had a call
assigned to them. Alert Monitor works in conjunction with Call Logging to
notify support personnel when certain conditions are deemed important by
company and team standards. The features of Alert Monitor allow individuals
to: set database polling intervals; set away time; launch Call Logging from
within Alert Monitor; acknowledge assignments from the Alert Monitor module;
set messaging alert preferences; and set viewing options. We found Alert
Monitor to be especially useful in work environments where calls are logged
by one employee and assigned to another for resolution. This is often the
case with businesses that have a call center fielding all incoming calls,
thereby disseminating certain calls to support for resolution. Additionally,
the employee responsible for the problem resolution may not be at their desk
at the time of the assignment; perhaps they're in the field or on the
road. The Alert Monitor can be set to notify personnel of events that occur
within Call Logging whether or not that person is logged into the Call
Logging module. HEAT's Alert Monitor doesn't require concurrent license
agreements.
BPAM
The Business Process Automation Module (BPAM) helps to automate business
processes by identifying processes and alerting technicians when an issue
occurs outside certain identified criteria. The Business Rules Editor (BRE)
is part of the BPAM feature; it defines rules or formulas that BPAM applies
to determine process criteria. Although many Business Rules were included
with our demo system, the Business Rules Editor makes it easy to create your
own. For example, you might want to be notified about open call records that
have not been updated within a certain timeframe or you may want to be
notified should any new assignments be added. Accessing the BRE, we were
able to create some simple business rules. The Editor provides many
templates to make rule generation much more simple than starting from
scratch. We chose to fashion a rule to alert a supervisor if an assignment
wasn't resolved in a certain period of time after it was assigned. By
choosing the appropriate template and having administrative privileges, the
Business Rules Editor Wizard walked us through the rest. We then chose the
time frame to act upon this occurrence (four hours), followed by the
Calendar to use (24/7, Help Desk hours, customer hours, etc.) and which
calls to act upon (all non-closed calls or all calls within a Call Group).
Last, an action must be appended to the rule to notify the correct party of
the occurrence, or lack there of. Notification can be achieved by choosing
an e-mail or AutoTask-type of alert. (An AutoTask is a macro program in HEAT
that lets you link a series of actions to create one task that can be
executed automatically.) Here's what we achieved by creating a Business
Rule: Any assignment that went beyond four hours without a resolution
triggered an e-mail, which was sent to the technician's supervisor to make
him or her aware of the condition.
Self Service
Any business utilizing FrontRange's HEAT solution may want to enable
customers to pose help or status queries using media other than just the
phone. Self Service provides customers with a Web interface to check up on
an existing trouble ticket or to start a new one. Because FrontRange claims
25 to 35 percent of help desk calls come from new service requests or status
checks, they've provided Self Service as an avenue to circumvent queued
phone calls for the customer, reduce phone traffic and free support
resources from data entry. The administrator can design the look and feel of
the Web pages as well as what's displayed to the customer. Logging into a
Self Service session with a user name and password allows a customer to view
their issue history. The spreadsheet-like interface provisions the user with
several different types of searches for parsing existing information into
digestible chunks. The customer can also provide an e-mail address for
delivery of a confirmation notice that the issue has been received. After
logging in and opening an existing call record, we were able to determine
whether or not an issue had been resolved, who it was assigned to, what
solution information was provided and additional notes left by the
technician. If choosing to start a new issue, the Auto Ticket Generator
creates and updates new call records directly from an external source.
Room For Improvement
Your definition of support will directly affect what you think should be
included within a support package. As one strong possibility for a support
solution provider is provisioning for help desks, it seemed likely that some
form of remote control functionality should have been included within this
product, though FrontRange does offer remote control through a partnership
with a company called Control-F1 for an additional charge; Control-F1's
ASP product was reviewed by TMC Labs in the July/August issue of Communications
ASP' magazine (http://www.tmcnet.com/casp/0701/0701labs2.htm).
We missed not having any ANI (automatic number identification)
functionality. CTI integration is a time-saving and worthy foray in support
and service environments. After discussing this functionality with some
degree of detail, our contact at FrontRange revealed that they are planning
for screen pops in the near future. In fact, by the time this review goes to
press, the functionality may already be built into the product. At the time
of testing, however, we saw this as a definite product need.
Conclusion
Overall, HEAT seemed to be a very complete support solution that's
easy to use, easy to set up and easy to maintain. Its deep degree of
customization and automation make it powerful; its wizard-like interfaces
provide a simple approach to the mastery of some very mature capabilities.
Well-thought-out GUI design provides the maximum amount of functionality in
the limited space of a desktop, and while it takes a little time to learn
where everything is, that time is consumed learning its feature set rather
than due to a lack of intuitiveness. The modular approach FrontRange has
employed in designing HEAT allows companies to purchase what they want, as
opposed to having to by add-ons they don't need or can't use. Self
Service and Knowlix provide additional functionality while alleviating
beleaguered support staff by affording customers the ability to search for
answers to questions themselves without waiting in a queue, start their own
trouble ticket or check up on the status of an existing ticket. It is for
these and additional merits that TMC Labs applauds FrontRange's HEAT,
decorating it with an Editors' Choice award.
[ Return To The
May 2002 Table Of Contents ]
|
SUBSCRIPTIONS
TMCnet LOGIN
WEBINARS
