Templates Overview

HelpMaster has been built around the design concept of using templates to perform common, or repetitive work. Templates allow a business to model and create template based around their business practices. These templates can then be used over and over again by staff and clients using HelpMaster. The strength of the HelpMaster suite relies on how effectively the template system has been implemented and configured. When you have configured the template system of HelpMaster to match your business needs, you will find that the Desktop edition, the Email Manager, the Priority Manager and the Web Interfaces all combine to deliver an effective and powerful service management tool.

It is highly recommended that system administrators spend time to fully understand how the HelpMaster template system works, and how each of the template types interacts with each other. Only by doing this will you be able to fully leverage the functionality that this powerful workflow system can deliver.

HelpMaster supports the following template types:

Job templates to create jobs
Action templates to update jobs, reassign, change status
Email templates to send email

What is a template?

Think of a template as a blueprint of a particular entity from which new entities can be based upon. A template is thus used to speed the process of performing a repetitive task while at the same time maintaining a standard method of performing such a task. A single template can be used over and over again.

Each template will produce an exact copy of itself which may then be modified.

Icons used throughout HelpMaster

	Job Template
	Action Template
	Email Template
	Billing Templates allow you to define different billing profiles that can be used whenever a chargeable (billable) action is performed on a job
	The Template Manager - An administration screen to assist in building and linking your templates together

Advantages of using templates

Greatly speed up the process of logging a job, adding an action or sending an email
Provides a consistent, common approach to helpdesk workflow
Helps new helpdesk users to become productive more readily
Users can "subscribe" to a short-list of available templates to further assist helpdesk activity

Template hierarchy and linking

Templates can be linked to each other to form a workflow model for particular business requirements or processes. This hierarchical linking system conforms to the following template rules.

Job templates can contain 1 or more Action templates
Action templates can only contain Email templates, that is, they cannot contain a Job template.
Action templates can contain 1 or more Email templates
Email templates cannot contain any other templates

Template job links

At the top of the template hierarchy is the job template, followed by Action templates, and finally email templates.