Categories

In the Administration screen, expand the [Workspace Configuration] node and select [Categories]. In the right hand pane right click and select [New Top Category...].

1. Under the "General Properties" section, [Belongs to:] needs only be assigned if this were a sub category, as this is a top category, we leave it blank. [Name] can be anything that best describes the category you wish to create.


2. Under the "Values for the category" we can set the tagging values for messages. Optionally you could use subcategories and their values, if another tier is needed. To add values simply click the green [+] button right of the entry field and to delete an entry, click the black [X].

When done setting up your category, click [OK].

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If your category needed the creation of a subcategory, you can add it now by right clicking your created top category, and selecting [New subcategory...]. A new popup will appear for the subcategory's configuration.

1. The [Belongs to:] field will automatically be filled in as this subcategory was created under the top category.


2. The remaining sections are completed accordingly, as we did during the creation of the top category.

Click [OK] when you are done.

Categorizing Tickets

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Looking at a message which we want to label with a category, we simply right click the message and select [Categories...].

Set the categorical labels as required and click [OK]. For this demonstration we will assume the billing complaint message has been resolved and satisfactorily so.

We can now see our message has a new icon showing it has been categorized. We can now locate it and other categorized messages in the Reports Center.

Enforcing Categorization

When tickets are closed a popup asks for the reason and allows the ticket to be categorized. You can set the category at the closure of a ticket as well.

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If categorization is critical in your FocalScope environment, you can enforce it as a prerequisite for closing a ticket. To set this up for a ticketbox, right click the ticketbox folder and select [Properties]. The "Folder Properties" page will load. Under the [General] tab, at the bottom of the page, tick the flag [A category must be defined when closing a ticket:].

Now your users must define a category for all tickets as they close them, which will later help you pull more accurate and detailed reports on these tickets. Let's take a look at pulling a report on categorized tickets.

Pulling Reports

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In the [Report Center] double-click the [Statistics - Number of open/closed tickets per category] entry.

Please Note: For a detailed guide on using reports please see the Reporting lesson in this manual.

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Please Note: Since this report was pulled from a real business environment, the names of customers are blurred out. The example is not affected by this omitted information.

Set your filtering options as required and click [Preview]. You will see the tabulated data on all categorical messages and their status and scrolling down you can this data in graphical format.