Question Mappings

You can assign a call template for Users who submit a query using the Ask a Question feature in the Self Service Portal.

The Question Mapping function is ideal for support organisations that want their self-service users to be able to log various tickets easily from the customer portal, without the need for a lot of back end configuration.

Users who are registered on Self Service Portal can Ask a Question if you have enabled it in Self Service Portal Settings.

You can create question maps so that when they specify particular knowledge profiles, services and/or issue types, the specified call template will be used to log a call for their question.

Consider this example use case: A service and Support organization wants users to submit tickets from the portal but they do not want a lot of overhead or configuration to enable it. They do not want to publish numerous kinds of incident types on their portal and they do not want to create submission screens for the users.

They want to be able to easily manage any scenario without the need for a lot of configuration.

They want the call template selected to be dynamic based on what the user tells them the symptom of the problem is and nothing more.

This is how this organization got the portal to deliver exactly what they wanted:

1. In IPK Management>Type Tiers, we setup type tiers that describe the symptom of a users issue. The type tiers are short and reflect plain language.

2. In Call Template Administration, we created call templates that correspond to these issue types that are assigned to the correct screens and teams and prefilled with all the necessary information.

3. In IPK Workflow Rules we created notification rules and other automated actions required by the given call type.

4. Next, we setup question mappings linked to those templates like this:

   • Hardware and Functionality Issues

   • General questions about items not functioning as expected

   • Issues where the Service is Email

   • Issues where the service is Virtual Infrastructure

   • And so on....

In the Self Service Portal, their end users need only answer a few questions to submit a ticket and the ticket will dynamically route to the correct team for quick resolution!

As you can see, the name Question Mapping doesn't even begin to define what you can really do with this capability. Think of it as Problem mapping or Incident and Service Request Automation. That's what it really is!

Organizations are also making use of the Shift-Left approach and incorporating more knowledge base-based actions into their portals.

Suggested Knowledge, all KB Articles, and the FAQs will, in most cases, automatically open a call in order to record the users interaction and then provide the user with the option to either click a button "Solved! Close my call", or to submit a ticket for their issue if they were unable to find the answers they needed.

If the user clicks 'Solved! Close my Call", ASM will automatically close the call thereby recording the interaction even if support did not actually make contact.

Creating a Question Mapping

Before you start

You must have Self Service Portal Setup enabled within your General Access Security Role in order to configure any Self Service Portal administration settings.

Ask Questions must be selected in the Self Service Portal Settings window for Users to use this feature.

1. Select Admin > System Administration. The System Administration window appears.

2. In the Explorer pane, expand Self Service Portal.

3. Select Question Mappings to open the window.

Existing question maps are displayed in the browse table. You can see the name of the question map, the knowledge profile, entity and issue type it is filtered by, as well as the call template users are presented with on selection of these options. You can adjust the column widths if required.

1. Select the New icon. The Question Mapping Details window appears.

1. In the Name field, type a name for the Question Mapping you are defining.

2. Select the checkbox to filter the question map by service. Then select a service using the search function.

3. Select Save

4. Open your new Map and complete the configuration:

   • Specify the option/s for the Question Map. You can select one or a combination of the following options:

Knowledge Profile	Select the checkbox to filter the question map by knowledge profile. The Default Profile will automatically be selected. Once you have saved the initial configuration, you can select and pick an option from the Knowledge Profile list. The options within this list are defined in Knowledge Profiles.
Type	Select the checkbox to filter the question map by issue type. The default Type will be automatically selected. Once you have saved the initial configuration, you can select and pick an option from the Type list. The issue types in this list are defined in Type Tiers.
Call Template	Use the drop-down list to select the call template you want to use for the question map. The call templates in this list are defined in Type Tiers.

1. Select the Save icon to save the changes.

2. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.

If you leave all of the options deselected, you will receive a warning message that the system default question map already has these settings, and will not be able to save your changes. You must select at least one of the filter options.

Best Practice

The default question screen will ask the user to make selections for Profile, Type and Service. In many cases, Knowledge profile will not be relevant to the user if it has been configured according to Best Practice. e.g., you only have a Public and an Internal profile. It can be hidden in Screen Designer.

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When the user submits this question, ASM will match it to an existing map with the same service, Type, and/or Knowledge profile and log the call using the template you have specified.

Updating a Question Mapping

1. Select ≡ > Admin > System Administration. The System Administration window appears.

2. In the Explorer pane, expand Self Service Portal.

3. Select Question Mappings to open the window.

4. Existing question maps are displayed in the browse table. You can see the name of the question map, the knowledge profile, entity and issue type it is filtered by, as well as the call template users are presented with on selection of these options. You can adjust the column widths if required.

5. Select the Question Map you want to modify by clicking on the entry from the browse table. The entry is highlighted.

6. Select the Edit icon. The Question Mapping Details window appears.

7. Update the settings as required.

8. Select the Save icon to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.

If you leave all of the options deselected, you will receive a warning message that the system default question map already has these settings, and will not be able to save your changes. You must select at least one of the filter options.

Deleting a Question Mapping

You cannot delete the system default. This is typically called Unspecified, but may have been renamed by your system administrator.

You cannot reverse this procedure. If you delete a question map by mistake, you have to re-create the entry by creating a new question map.

1. Select ≡ > Admin > System Administration. The System Administration window appears.

2. In the Explorer pane, expand Self Service Portal.

3. Select Question Mappings to open the window.

4. From the browse table, select the Question Map you want to delete.

5. Select the Delete icon. If you attempt to delete the system default, you will receive a warning message.

6. Select the Save icon to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.