Using the Applix Weblink

The test environment URL is . You must use Internet Explorer to use the Applix Weblink.

The production environment URL is , which is in the process of being setup. You will be notified when the production server is available.

Note: Even though this is a web interface, DO NOT use the web Back and Forward buttons. Where applicable, Applix provides Save, OK and Cancel buttons at the bottom of their screens for you to use.

Logon to Weblink

  1. Enter your RCS userID in the Database User field.
  2. Enter your initial password in the Database Password field. (Your initial password is the same as your userID. If your userID doesn’t work, try your RCS userID password.)
  3. Click the Login button.

If you do not have access to Weblink, or are having trouble logging in, contact Judy Shea at . She will need to know which group you are in.

Next, click on Applix Helpdesk. This will expand the menu and give you the functions available.

Log an Incident

  1. Click on Log An Incident (RPI) as shown below.

The Log An Incident form will appear, as shown below. The Logged by: and Owner Group fields will already be pre-filled. In the example below, the Logged by: field is your RCSUserID and the Owner Group is IT-OPS.

Note: That the Incident ID, Log Date, First Name, Phone, Email, Contact location building and Room fields that are grayed out. These are protected fields and cannot be entered or changed. .

The icons at the top left of the form are:

  • Cancel: Cancels the current action and exits the form.
  • Clear: Clears (erases) data from all input fields in the form.
  • New: Creates a new record
  • Save: Saves the data you just entered or updated
  • Attach: Allows a file to be attached to an incident
  • Help: accesses the online help function (This currently does not work)
  • Current Active Reps: Shows which CIS reps are current attached to Weblink
  • Incidents of Similar Type: Allows you to select a problem type and get similar problems
  • Incidents of Similar Type – Last 24 hours: Functions the same as the above, but only for past 24-hour period.

To Complete the Log An Incident Form

  1. Enter the RCS UserID of the person reporting the problem and press the tab key. The Last Name field, as well as the other grayed out fields, will then populate with the rest of the user information. Verify that this information is correct.

Note: This field is case sensitive and needs to be entered in lowercase.

  • If the contact person is someone else other than the person reporting the problem, put their information in the detail field. Make sure to include their name and phone number.
  • If you don’t know the persons RCSUserID, you can enter the first few letters of their last name and click on the ellipsis . This will bring up a list of userID’s that start with the letters you entered. Select the radio button to the left of their userID. Click the Select button located at the bottom of the screen.
  • If the user has no RCSUserID, enter NOUSERID (all uppercase) in the rcs_userid field and include the contact information in the Details section.
  • If the person is reporting a phone malfunction, provide an alternate way to contact the person.
  • If it’s the beginning of the semester, make sure the contact person has voicemail setup.
  1. The Incident location building refers to the building where the incident occurred. This field is very case sensitive. The recommended search is to enter the first letter of the building in upper case and then click on the ellipsis . (Otherwise, if the field is blank and you click on the ellipsis you will get all the buildings on campus.)
  1. Enter the Room number within the Incident Location Building where the incident occurred.
  1. Enter the Details of the problem. Make sure to note all pertinent information when entering the details. Make sure to include error messages or error codes. Find out the details of the problem. Entries like: “doesn’t work,” “needs to be fixed,” and the ever popular “it’s broken” are not useful to the people trying to resolve the issue.
  1. Report the symptoms of the problem. Careful examination reveals the absence of a “diagnosis” field on the report.

Questions to Ask:

General

Did you make any hardware changes?

Did you make any software changes?

Is this the first time you have had the problem?

Did you already report this to us?

When did the problem start?

Has it ever worked? If not, when was the last time it worked?

What is your system configuration?

What OS are you using?

When can you meet with someone to resolve this issue?

Networking

What application are you using? Browser? Email?

What method are you using to connect? Dial-up, VPN, wireless?

Is the configuration Static IP or DHCP? IP Address? MAC Address? DHCP Server?

Does the network work on another laptop? Does your equipment work in another room?

Where/what are you trying to connect to or from?

Is there an error message?

Telephone

If the problem phone can't receive calls, provide an alternate contact number.

Can you receive incoming calls or place outgoing calls?

Can you hear the caller? Can the caller hear you?

Is there static on the line?

Can you hear other phone conversations in the background?

Does the phone continue ringing when you answer it?

Which jack is broken -Wall, Base to wall, Base to headset, Headset to base?

Which cord is broken - Handset or wall cord?

Office phones - What is the type/model of phone?

Residence Facilities - missing/broken cords and handsets, missing phones or returning

phones? - Visit Res Life.

VPN

External or Wireless?

What OS are you using?

What version of VPN client do you have?

Can you ping the VPN server? - VPN server = vpnw1.net.rpi.edu

Do you get past the RCS userid authentication ok?

What error message(s) are you receiving?

Do you have a personal firewall installed on your machine?

What is your RCS ID and what time did you try to connect to VPN?

Do you get an IP address from the DHCP server? If yes, what is the IP address?

  1. Select the Type that most closely categorizes the incident. These types are listed below.

Account Access ServicesRPI SoftwareRPI Other

BannerApplication

Library PinOperating System

RCS

SISRPI Hardware

TelephoneAudio Visual

OtherLaptop 600E

Laptop T20

ConnectivityLaptop Other

Campus NetworkPrinter

Dial-upTelephone

External ISPWorkstation

SambaPC Desktop

Cable TVOther

Other

  1. Enter the Source in how the incident is being reported.
  • In Person
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Other
  1. Click either the OK or Save button.

Clicking OK will assign an incident number, save it and close the log form.

Clicking Save will assign an incident number and keep the form open. (This is useful if you wish to enter another incident report.)

Note: If this incident is going to be assigned to yourself, enter your RCSUserID in the Owner Rep field. If the incident is being assigned to your group, enter your Group name in the Owner Group field. Otherwise, leave the default as IT-OPS.

View Incidents Assigned to Owner Rep (you) or Owner Group (your group)

  1. To view the incidents that are assigned to you, click on Incidents Assigned to RCSUserID.
  2. To view the incidents that are assigned to your group, click on Incidents Assigned to Current Group.

A list of all incidents assigned to you or your group will appear.

To select an incident to view more details:

  1. Click on the radio button to the left of the incident number, and then click on the Select button located at the bottom left of the screen.
  2. Alternately, you may click on the Incident number.

The incident form will appear as shown on the following page.

The RCS userID and contact information is listed along with the details of the problem.

If the incident does not belong to you or your group, use the Owner Rep or Owner Group to reassign the incident.

When to use Transferred Rep or Transferred Group

Use the Transferred Rep when another person (either from your group or another group) needs to complete work first before you can complete your portion of the incident and close the incident.

Use the Transferred Group when another group needs to complete work first before your group can complete your portion of the incident and close the incident.

We also recommend that you use the Must be Returned? checkbox when using the Transferred Rep/Transferred Group. When the checkbox is selected, the incident is transferred to the Transferred Rep/Group. When the Transferred Rep/Group is finished with their portion, they simply click on the checkbox to the left of Return to Owner In this way, the Owner Rep maintains control of the incident.

Using the Diary Tab

Use the Diary Tab when you need to make additional notes or add more information regarding the incident.

Adding a Diary Note

  1. Click on the icon in the top left corner, as shown below.

This will bring up the Diary Note form, as shown below.

  1. Enter a Diary Topic and Diary Notes in the appropriate fields.
  2. When finished, click on OK or Save.
  3. OK will save and close the Diary form.
  4. Save will save the form and leave it open for you to add another diary note.

Searching for an Incident

  1. Click on Incident Field Select, as shown below.

The Incident Field Select form will appear, as shown below.

You can search for an incident in several ways, using any combination of any of the fields listed on the above form. For example:

  1. If you have an incident number, enter it in the Incident ID field and click on OK. This will bring up the details of the incident.
  2. If you know the user’s RCS UserID, enter the ID in the rcs_userid field and click OK. This will bring up a list of all incidents posted/reported by that user.
  3. Enter a Y in the checkbox next to Logged/Closed in One Step to display a list of all incidents logged/closed in one step.

Closing an Incident

  1. Bring up the incident that you wish to close.
  2. Click on the Resolution tab.

This will bring up the Resolution form, as shown below.

  1. Enter the steps taken to resolve this incident in the Resolution text box.
  2. Click on the checkbox to the left of the Close Incident? option
  3. Click on either OK or Save.

State and Status

Generally speaking, the State and Status fields do not require intervention; both tend to take care of themselves, especially if an incident is created, assigned, and closed in the usual manner. (However, note that this is not true if you use the Left Message, On Hold, or Researching options.)

State

Unassigned - Log incident, route to owner group, do not assign owner rep

Assigned - Log incident, assign owner rep

Acknowledged - Incident reviewed/updated by owner rep after being assigned

Transferred - Owner rep transfers incident to a transferred rep

Returned - Transfer rep completes their work and returns the incident to the owner rep

Deassigned - A rep is removed from an incident, no longer associated with the incident, probably initially assigned in error.

Reassigned - A new rep is assigned to the incident

Closed - The incident is completed and locked (read only)

Reactivated - The incident is unlocked and assigned to an owner rep for additional work

Status

In Progress - The status of most active incidents

Left Message – contacted and left message

On Hold – used for incidents that are awaiting action

Researching – ongoing action

Resolved – The owner rep has resolved the incident, but the incident can still be updated until it is closed. Note: If the owner rep does not change the status to resolved, it will automatically change to Resolved when an incident’s state is changed to closed.

Reports

Click on Reports to view the reports that are currently available.

There are two types of reports:

  1. Applix generic reports, which are
  2. Incident Details
  3. Single Incident
  1. RPI specific reports, which are
  2. Incidents Assigned to Current Group
  3. Incidents Assigned to Current Rep

Note: Use the Report option if you want a printed copy. Otherwise, use Queries to view the information on the screen only.

Incident Details Report

The Incident Details report form, as shown above, gives you several ways to generate this report, using any combination of any of the fields listed. For example:

  1. If you want a report of all incidents In Progress by Owner Group, select In Progress and the Owner Group of your choice, and click OK.
  2. If you want a report of all incidents In Progress, select In Progress, and click OK.
  3. If you want a report of all incidents reported for a specific RCS user, enter rcs_userid field and click OK.

Note: When generating reports, a second window opens. So if you don’t see your report appear, check the other Internet Explorer window.

Single Incident Report

To generate a report for a single incident, click on Single Incident Details, as shown below.

The Single Incident form will appear, as shown below.

Enter the incident ID number in the field and click OK.

The report will appear, as shown below, containing information such as the incident’s state and status, incident location and room, all detail information, and the caller’s name and phone number, as well as any diary information entered.

Incidents Assigned to Current Group

To generate a report of all open incidents assigned to your group, click on Incidents Assigned to Current Group, as shown below.

The name of your group will automatically appear in the Owner Group field. Click on OK to generate the report.

Incidents Assigned to Current Rep

To generate a report of all open incidents assigned to you, click on Incidents Assigned to Current Rep, as shown below.

The following window will appear. Click OK to generate the report.

Revised Ed. November 26, 2002

Page 1

mahont\public_html\applix\WebLink.doc