A1 Support - Tools to Help You Help Your Customers

Overview

Feature Comparisions

Installation, Admin & Use

Server Requirements

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Installation
Administration
Use

Use:

Customer Support Entry

Customers initiate a support case by entering data into your support form. A template form is provided in "a1s_new_support_case.htm". You can customize this form as needed to match the look and feel of your site. Just make sure you keep the names of the variables the same as in the template form.

A typical call to the support form would be:

http://www.myserver.com/a1s/a1s_new_support_case.htm"

You can, of course, move this page to any location desirable.

After a user completes the support form, they submit it. This runs the script "a1s_cs1.pl", which checks the data entered, assigns a unique case reference number, and enters the data into the MySQL database. You will (optionally) get an email notification of this new support case entry IF you have set the variable "$Notification_email_address" to your email address in the "a1s_config.pl" script.

To check the current support Queue, login to your A1 Support server as one of the support personnel. A typical URL to get to the login page is:

http://www.myserver.com/a1s/a1s_login.htm

Use an authorized login and password as entered under the Administration section.

A1 Support (standard)

click here for A1 Support Pro

If you are running A1 Support (standard), you will see the Support Queue, similar as follows when you have support cases

The items marked in Red (under the Date Opened column) are new support cases or cases needing your reply. The other items are simply open support items.

You can get the details (complete discussion thread) of any support case by simply clicking on the Subject link. This will open a window, similar as follows:

Each case details shows the status of the case (active or closed), a header, all correspondence (from both the customer and support), and a Reply section.

Options to handle a case are:

  • Comment on a case. This enters a note in the database, but this note is NOT sent to the customer nor is it visible to the customer when they view the Case. You can also optionally Close the case by clicking the "Close Case" checkbox.
  • Add a Reply and Send. This enters a reply in the database, and this reply is sent to a customer. You can optionally Close the case by clicking the "Close Case" checkbox. It is important to note that IF you close a case, and a customer subsequently replies to the case, the case will automatically reopen. Hence in order to keep the Queue list small, it is often desireable to close cases after replying (unless you know you are awaiting some further information).
  • Close Case. This is just a direct way to close a case with no comment nor reply.
  • Reopen Case. This reactivates a case which may have been previously closed. It will simply make the case once again appear in the active Queue after the Queue is refreshed.

When a customer receives a reply, they are sent the reply message with a unique link (URL) based on their email address and case reference number which will let them view the entire discussion thread. They are NOT shown comments. They then have the opportunity to further reply and/or submit up to three additional images.

A1 Support Pro

If you are running A1 Support Pro, you will see the Support Queue, similar as follows when you have support cases:

You will only see the full Queue if you have permission to view all queue items. If the support person does not have such permission, then the support person will only see those cases assigned to him/her.

The items marked in Red (under the Date Opened column) are new support cases or cases needing your reply. The other items are simply open support items.

You can get the details (complete discussion thread) of any support case by simply clicking on the Subject link. This will open a window, similar as follows:

Each case details shows the status of the case (active or closed), a header, all correspondence (from both the customer and support), and a Reply section.

Options to handle a case are:

  • Comment on a case. This enters a note in the database, but this note is NOT sent to the customer nor is it visible to the customer when they view the Case. You can also optionally Close the case by clicking the "Close Case" checkbox.
  • Add a Reply and Send. This enters a reply in the database, and this reply is sent to a customer. You can optionally Close the case by clicking the "Close Case" checkbox. It is important to note that IF you close a case, and a customer subsequently replies to the case, the case will automatically reopen. Hence in order to keep the Queue list small, it is often desireable to close cases after replying (unless you know you are awaiting some further information).
  • Close Case. This is just a direct way to close a case with no comment nor reply.
  • Reopen Case. This reactivates a case which may have been previously closed. It will simply make the case once again appear in the active Queue after the Queue is refreshed.

In addition to the above functions which are common between A1 Support and A1 Support Pro, Pro also offers the following options

  • Reassign a Case (only shown IF the support person is permitted). With this function, you can choose a designated support person for this specific support case and reassign the case to him/her.
  • Select Commonly Used Reply Text. Many times we are asked for the same information, have a popular URL to provide, etc. The "Reply Text" function lets you readily insert the text into the Reply area by simply choosing the item from the Reply Text popup menu. The Reply Text popup menu itself is loaded each time you look at the details of any support case. This menu can easily be customized by editing the file "a1s_preset_text.txt" which resides with the other A1 Support Pro HTML files (in the "a1s" directory you created).
  • Copy (cc) or Blind Copy (bcc) another support person on a reply or comment. You just need to choose the person(s) name from the popup menu. It will be entered into the edit box to the right of the popup menu. In this manner you can readily copy anyone on your replies (you can actually manually enter an email address into either the "cc" or "bcc" edit box should the need arise.

When a customer receives a reply, they are sent the reply message with a unique link (URL) based on their email address and case reference number which will let them view the entire discussion thread. They are NOT shown comments. They then have the opportunity to further reply and/or submit up to three additional images.

Searching Support Cases

Both A1 Support and A1 Support Pro provide the capability of searching all text in support cases. In addition, you can limit this search to specific clients by name. The search facility is the same for both version of A1 Support and provided at the bottom of the main search Queue:

Search results are provided in a list on a separate page. Through this list you can readily retrieve the discussion details of any individual case. Individual case discussions are provided in easy to copy text area boxes. This way, you can readily copy an answer from one previously handled support case to a new support case.