FAQs

Use the FAQ sections below to quickly find out more about specific areas of IssueCentre that you need to know about.

General (5 articles)

General questions about IssueCentre
- Can my customers see their own tickets?
  
  Yes, IssueCentre provides the ability for your customer to login and view tickets assigned to them. A simple Web based portal give access to add event information and upload associated files that will help the agents resolve the ticket.
- What can IssueCentre be used for?
  
  We believe that IssueCentre is the perfect solution for Helpdesks, Project Management teams and Software Development Bug Tracking, but it can be used in any scenario where events need to be managed and tracked. A flexible approach allows IssueCentre to be tailored to your business quickly and simply.
- How can IssueCentre help my business?
  
  IssueCentre has been designed to help the smooth operation of your business with tools to proactively manage the issue lifecycle. The SLA monitor prevents outstanding issues from ever being forgotten or overlooked. A powerful notification and reminder system keeps your customers and agents updated. For managers, a built-in audit provides vital information for ongoing resource planning.
- Is IssueCentre a new product?
  
  IssueCentre has been in existence for 10 years but has only just been released as a product. It was developed as the central system for a successful technical services company where it stores and manages all of their support calls and is core to their ISO 9001 processes ensuring that tickets get actioned consistently to the business processes.
- What is a "Brand" and why would I use multiple brands?
  
  Brands provide the ability to setup logically separated data and configurations. This means that the picklists, branding, tickets, FAQs and reports that you see will all be different for each brand. To prevent the need to reconfigure and duplicate certain common picklists there are some things that you can choose to share across brands. For example, you may wish to use the same priority definitions across all brands, but equally these could be configured differently for each brand if required. Branding is set at the brand level, so that whenever an agent switches to a different brand they will view the associated branding. The ability to setup multiple brands is a unique feature of IssueCentre and can be used in a variety of ways.
Technical (7 articles)

Questions about how the product works and the technology that it works with
- What Databases are supported?
  
  Currently Postgres version 8.3 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005/2008 are supported. Support for other versions of Postgres and MySQL will be added soon.
- IssueCentre is Java-based - what J2EE platforms are supported?
  
  To date IssueCentre has been developed and tested on the JBoss platform only. We do not foresee any problems with running it from other J2EE servers and plan to perform testing and certification of other servers in the coming weeks and months. If you have a particular J2EE server requirement please contact us and we can advise you on our progress to date.
- What standards does IssueCentre comply with?
  
  IssueCentre is based around Internet standards. Email integration uses IMAP and SMTP. Our API uses HTTP(S) Webservices with XML data returned. The server application is written to the J2EE Server 1.5 specification.
- What browsers are supported?
  
  Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox version 3 are fully tested. IssueCentre has been written using HTML standards and therefore we do not anticipate significant issues when using Chrome, Opera and Safari but to date have not been fully certified. Internet Explorer 8 is currently undergoing certification.
- What technology is IssueCentre based on?
  
  The application is written and certified for the JBoss Java J2EE platform, storing all its data in a PostgreSQL database. Support for other J2EE application servers and database servers will be added based on customer feedback.
- Can IssueCentre scale to the size of my business?
  
  IssueCentres core is built using Enterprise-ready scalable technologies. For small deployments these can be deployed on a single server, for large implementations a multi-tiered server approach can be adopted.
- What is the minimum resolution the application works with?
  
  All the screens are designed to work with a minimum resolution of 1024x768. Agents can gain advantage by working with higher resolutions so as to display more information on screen at any one time. Also multiple monitors can be an advantage when viewing/editing multiple tickets in popup windows.
Purchasing & Licensing (5 articles)

Questions about how to buy the product and its licensing model
- What does the annual maintenance provide?
  
  Annual maintenance provides you with all software upgrades released during the maintenance brand period. Standard user and configuration support is also provided Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm. Additional support and time coverage can be provided, details available on request.
- Can you host and manage IssueCentre for me?
  
  Yes. A fully hosted and managed IssueCentre option is available for a simple very cost effective monthly rental fee.
- How can I buy IssueCentre?
  
  Contact us on +44(0) 333 900 1123 to discuss your license requirements and we can then take you through the purchase process.
- How is IssueCentre licensed?
  
  IssueCentre is licensed as a combination of servers, brands and the number of named agents. Please see the licensing page for more information.
- What other costs do I need to budget for deploying IssueCentre?
  
  This depends on your choice of deployment platform. IssueCentre can be deployed without purchasing any further software by using all Open Source technologies; Linux for the Operating System, JBoss for the application server and PostgreSQL for the database. For secure working over the web we recommend the purchase of a digital certificate.
Product Details (4 articles)

Questions about how the product works and what it includes
- Can IssueCentre be integrated with other systems?
  
  Yes, absolutely. Using our WebServices API, you can query, add and update tickets from your existing systems. Documentation and sample code is available here.
- Does IssueCentre work with Active Directory?
  
  Yes, your agent details can be retrieved from your AD or LDAP directory with authentication integration too.
- What email integration does IssueCentre provide?
  
  IssueCentre uses Internet standard SMTP and IMAP to connect to your email server. Outbound emails are automatically branded, audited and linked to tickets. Inbound emails are presented in a user-friendly format and can be linked to existing tickets or used as the basis for new tickets. File attachments are split out and stored with in the ticket for convenience. In this way, all communications are centralised and instantly available benefiting you and your customers.
- Can I use my branding in IssueCentre?
  
  For both agents and customers using the application the screen is coloured and branded according to the brand the user is working on. This includes the header displaying a company banner and various title bars being colour coded to the brand colour. This is particularly important if your agents work on multiple brands as it serves as a constant reminder as to what they are working on.

"IssueCentre: Easy, Powerful, Obvious"

File Attachments
Store all documents with the ticket.
Easily branded
Simple to add in your Corporate Look and Feel.
Categorisation
Classify and report on tickets to suit your needs.
Developer API
Integrate IssueCentre into your backoffice systems.
Customer Service Portal
Self Service access for your customers.
Full Audit
Tracks every event, protecting you and your agents.